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WoW Archivist: Life and death
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? World of Warcraft is without a doubt a massive cultural phenomenon unlike any other online game to date. It has given us countless hours of entertainment, introduced friends and couples to one another, and touched the lives of millions. For some, the game has made a bad situation better, or even -- in at least one case -- possibly saved their lives. For others, it has cost them everything. Fair warning: This column describes some intense and tragic events. Hans and the moose In 2007, twelve-year-old Hans Jørgen Olsen of Norway and his sister (ten) decided to take a shortcut through a garden on their way to school. The choice would prove fateful. A moose had wandered into the area and promptly took a dislike to the children. "It ran straight towards us when it saw us," Hans told Norwegian news station Nettavisen. "I screamed at it to scare the moose, but I soon realized that it was not going to stop. Then I turned and ran and ran until I couldn't run faster." The charging moose caught up to Hans and slammed into him. His backpack cushioned the blow, but the impact knocked Hans to the ground. Unsatisfied, the moose remained. "We held eye contact for a while," Hans said, "and then it suddenly struck me."
The Perfect Ten: MMO tributes to real-life people
When a beloved friend, family member, hero, or role model dies, we feel the pain of that loss and grieve in many different ways. Part of that grieving and healing process is often entails those left behind constructing some sort of tribute to the dearly departed. Sometimes this comes in the form of a shrine of flowers, sometimes it's the establishment of a charity, and sometimes it's creating an in-game memorial that thousands if not millions of people will see over the course of years. So while death and illness are depressing topics to dwell upon, I find the many MMO tributes that studios and even gamers have erected to be inspiring and a celebration of individual players' lives. With the help of my fellow Massively staffers, I researched 10 wonderful in-game tributes that serve to honor the lives of fellow gamers.
Ezra Chatterton passes away
You may remember the story of Ezra Chatterton. He and his father played together in Azeroth, using the World of Warcraft to spend quality time with one another. Ezra had a brain tumor. Thanks to help from the Make-A-Wish foundation and Blizzard, Ezra was able to live out some of his dream of being a game developer. You can see his influence in the Merciless Gladiator's Crossbow of the Phoenix, which is finely crafted to ePhoenix's specification. Ezra was the rider for the first phoenix mount in game. But, only a few months ago, we heard the frightening news that Ezra had suffered a stroke. Reader Sedna directed us to Ezra's web site for the saddening news. Ezra passed away on Monday, October 20th, at 10PM pacific time. We at WoW Insider would like to offer our sympathies to Ezra's family. Both they and Ezra are in our thoughts. His story was an inspiring one, and we will not forget ePhoenix. (Edit: We are turning off comments for the evening. We thank everyone for their positive thoughts, and are happy to see so many warm feelings from the community for someone who deserves them.)
WoW Insider's top ten WoW stories of 2007
We had a gigantic year at WoW Insider-- from January 1st to December 31st, we've posted over 4,500 stories here on this very site, about nearly every facet of the World of Warcraft (and you guys didn't slouch, either-- we had over 150,000 comments on the site in 2007). We've reported on everything from hearthstone soaps to Norweigan mooses, and everything from Arena PvP to Zul'Aman. We've posted guides, rumors, insights, jokes, and everything else we could find connected to this game that we all play (17 hours a week on average).And seeing as 2007 is just about to end, we figured it would be fun to take a look at the year behind us, and list the top ten stories that we reported on during that time. From comedic to controversial, these ten stories run the gamut, and they also comprise the most important news that happened in the World of Warcraft this year. As a staff, we collected all of the biggest stories of the year, and then rated them from one to ten.So click the link below to finish out this year, and check out WoW Insider's Top Ten WoW Stories of 2007. Before the year ends, let's take a look back at what happened in Azeroth and the culture surrounding it.
Blizzard banning players in game for forum stupidity?
You may have missed the ruckus on the General forums this weekend-- and if you did, consider yourself lucky. Some idiot (at least we're pretty sure it was just one guy on his many alts) posted a lot of junk on Saturday about a story right here at WoW Insider. We won't bore you with everything they said, but the gist of it is exactly the kind of harassment that Ezra's father was trying to avoid-- players complaining that they weren't cool enough (even with a house that hadn't burnt down, and, you know, their health) to get the epic mount that Ezra did. Yes, it seems Penny Arcade's theory came into effect yet again.Fortunately, it's gone now-- the fever pitch hit on Saturday morning, and it wasn't till early Saturday afternoon that a CM finally showed up on the boards and deleted that junk. We can only suppose that if they had hired someone to take Tseric's place yet, it might have been taken care of sooner.But here's the best part-- while this weekend's incident was far from the first shameful occurrence on the official forums, it might be the first in which a player got penalized not just with a forums ban, but with the loss of an in game account. Iroc says his brother jumped in to make an Ezra troll post this weekend and found his account in game disconnected.Frankly, if anyone deserves it, these losers on Saturday did. But given the way that Blizzard's rep replies in the thread, it doesn't seem likely that they're banning in game for idiocy on the forums just yet-- more likely that Iroc's brother had an unrelated technical problem. Considering the way the forums are, however, it just might be a possibility worth considering.
The Phoenix Mount is indeed in game -- with Ezra!
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/pc_games/Blizzard_s_Make_a_Wish_kid_gets_one_more_awesome_item'; As Nethaera and Eyonix have both pointed out on the forums before, the Phoenix mount is indeed in game. But as I had the honor to learn recently, it's not in the place that many of us might think it is. At least, the first one isn't. The others -- well, nobody but Blue has the vaguest idea where those are going to drop. (Of course, most people figure on Kael'thas or Al'ar in Tempest Keep as the drop source for the Phoenix Mount, much like the tiger mount drops in ZG from the tiger boss, and the Baron drops his own mount in Stratholme.)You see, the World First phoenix mount belongs to Ezra Chatterton, the young man who recently went to Blizzard's offices with the Make-A-Wish foundation. Ezra was given the first ever Phoenix mount in game for two reasons. First, it was probably the best gift that Blizzard could really give any gamer as far as one of the new Outland mounts. Netherdrakes are awesome, but a phoenix trumps that, if you ask me! And hey, who wouldn't want a mount that could move at 310% speed like the Swift Nether Drake arena award mount. Secondly, as Ezra's father Micah explained to me, the phoenix is an extremely important personal symbol for Ezra.
Blizzard & Make A Wish bring WoW to life
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Blizzard_makes_a_WoW_wish_come_true'; I've spent some time working with charities over the years, and I've been in many companies that donated time and effort towards a charitable cause. That said, this is the first time I've seen anything like this done. (And pardon me if I gush a bit, but this is one of the reasons I'm a devoted Blizzard fangirl.)Recently Blizzard had the honor to have a 10-year old join their Development team - if only for one day. You see the boy, Ezra Chatterton, has a brain tumor. The diagnosis is not too good. But despite the news, and facing a lot of treatment, Ezra's wanted one thing and one thing only since he woke up in the hospital -- to be allowed to play World of Warcraft.
