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Behind the Curtain: More apocalypse please pt. 2

Craig Withers — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Horror, Culture, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, Opinion, Behind the Curtain, Exanimus

This was the point where things got interesting for me. One lasting memory of the event I have is a one-line message I saw in the Trade channel while in Ironforge. It read simply, "Stay out of Stormwind, it's infected." I did the only thing a sane person would do in that situation and hopped on the first Gryphon to Stormwind. It was like a dream come true. Zombies were thronging the streets, attacking anyone they could get their hands on, vomiting on those they couldn't, and blowing themselves up when all else failed. Nowhere was safe. I could barely see the floor of the Auction House for all the skeletons there; the Bank was similarly decorated and my FPS dropped sharply from the shimmery green glow the infection gave off.

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Behind the Curtain: More apocalypse please pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 09 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Behind the Curtain: More apocalypse please

Craig Withers — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Horror, Culture, Events, in-game, Game mechanics, Opinion, Behind the Curtain, Exanimus

So let's be clear here - I loves me some zombies. A childhood brush with Ray Harryhausen means that I still get chills when I think abut armoured skeletons eviscerating hapless Argonauts. Later encounters, first with ridiculously over-wrought Victorian Gothic Horror literature, and later with the genius of one Mr. Romero sealed my fate.

Regardless of the source, my love affair with the Undead has been long-standing. And no, I don't mean that kind of love affair. Freak. After I finished reading The Zombie Survival Guide for the first time, I carried it in my bag for a month afterwards. Not because I thought Zombie might be real, but because the book was awesome. And don't get me started on World War Z - Massively is not the place for a 3000-word Max Brooks love-fest.

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Behind the Curtain: More apocalypse please originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 09 Nov 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anti-Aliased: Killing the auctioneers is a perfect reason to go to Northrend pt. 2

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Events, in-game, Expansions, PvP, Opinion, Roleplaying, Anti-Aliased

But, while some players used the event as a way to grief others, other players began to take a stand against it. Heroes pulled out their swords, turned on their sense undead, and began vigils in the cities to keep them functioning the way they should. By doing something as simple as "playing along" with the event, the cities could be kept in their standard working order, letting business be conducted as usual.

When players didn't work together -- when they were more concerned with complaining about how bad the event was and how they couldn't do anything -- the result was catastrophic. I dropped by Stormwind one night to find all of the NPCs dead, bodies literally covering the streets, and only about 4 Alliance players attempting to make a stand against 30+ zombified players. The bankers were turned, the auctioneers were turned, the guards were even turned. Stormwind had literally fallen to the plague. The Argent Healers had retreated, and now no one was left in the town square but me and my horseman's sword.

So my guild was sick of it, and they didn't want to see it happen anymore. We all got together in Elwynn Forest, made a 35 man raid group (which ended up becoming 55 once more people heard what we were going to do.) Our guild mistress made a bold speech, everyone cheered, and then we mounted up and rode straight into Stormwind. With arrows flying and exorcises filling the air, we took back the city, posted priests and paladins to keep watch for the infected ones, and turned the Cathedral of Light into a refuge shelter for lowbies who needed aid and assistance.

Many in the Alliance kept up what we had started by particpating in a new channel called the ArgentDefense, and Stormwind began to function again. Complaints about how "no one could do anything" began to dwindle, because people had stood up and done something. Griefers got tired of griefing because they would either get killed much too quickly or find themselves being cleansed of the plague before they could turn by groups of priests. Even roleplaying, which was amazingly sparse on my RPPvP server, was more popular as people openly roleplayed the defense of the city streets. Amazingly enough, there was a way out of this "bad game design" by, gasp, embracing it.

"Most importantly though, people have an amazing experience to share with others, even those who may not play the game."

If this event was something you could "opt-out" of, or avoid, I don't think it would have anywhere near the same impact. Stories, like this one above, wouldn't have occured at all. Instead, people would have just looted their loot, sold what they wanted, and gone on with the constant improvement of themselves. This event would have gone mostly unnoticed, perhaps applauded by a few people, but it would have found itself forgotten in the history books of WoW lore freaks.

Now people have a reason to really hate Arthas and the scourge. People have a reason to journey to Northrend and deliver the fight to the doorstep of Icecrown Glacier. Most importantly though, people have an amazing experience to share with others, even those who may not play the game. All because a few people stood up for themselves and did something to fight back when everyone else said "it was impossible to do anything."

Colin Brennan is the weekly writer of Anti-Aliased who likes to fight against impossible odds. When he's not writing here for Massively, he's over running Epic Loot For All! with his insane roommates. If you want to message him, send him an e-mail at colin.brennan AT weblogsinc DOT com.

Anti-Aliased: Killing the auctioneers is a perfect reason to go to Northrend pt. 2 originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anti-Aliased: Killing the auctioneers is a perfect reason to go to Northrend

Seraphina Brennan — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Events, in-game, Expansions, PvP, Opinion, Roleplaying, Anti-Aliased

Going to Northrend has always been something that bugged me. It's a land that's literally a boat trip away, and no one's set foot on it or even mentioned it since Arthas went bonkers and started living up there. Even the groups that should have been concerned about it, like the Argent Dawn or the Knights of the Silver Hand, didn't really go out of their way to even give thought to the icy land to the north. No, no, we were more concerned with running through a giant portal just so we could bonk Kil'jaeden on the head and make Illidan whine more about how life doesn't work out for him.

So my thoughts were as follows: "What could Arthas possibly do to make everyone simultaneously angry and want to journey to Northrend?"

I don't know why I never thought of the answer before. What could be possibly more annoying than giving the power to grief the NPCs to the lowlifes of World of Warcraft? Arthas, you cunning, cunning man.

Continue reading Anti-Aliased: Killing the auctioneers is a perfect reason to go to Northrend

Anti-Aliased: Killing the auctioneers is a perfect reason to go to Northrend originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One Shots: Zombies everywhere!

Krystalle Voecks — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Screenshots, One Shots

As you've no doubt seen, 'tis the season for zombies! City of Heroes has its Zombie Invasion event already running, and now World of Warcraft has followed suit with their own version -- the zombie plague. Unlike the previous scourge invasion, now players can get a plague that turns them into shambling zombies. Of course, several of the team here have been checking it out and having a blast, as has today's One Shots submitter, Nymik from Karazhan (EU). Nymik sent in this screenshot he snagged of the throne room, noting that "unfortunately Thrall cannot receive the plague... but the rest of the room can." We figure that's because Thrall is right up there with Chuck Norris in terms of being a bad ass.

Have you got any awesome screenshots of the destruction of Goldshire, Brill, or just you and your friends running around and having fun as zombies? If so, we want those screenshots! Just send them in to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name/server/guild and a quick description of the action. We'll post them out here for everyone to check out. (And we promise we won't eat your brains.)

Gallery: One Shots

One Shots: Zombies everywhere! originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 23 Oct 2008 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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