WoW on Stargate: Atlantis
by David Nelson 
Sep 24th 2006 at 12:00PM
I don't watch Stargate:Atlantis (Battlestar Galactica is the only Sci-Fi show I watch), but a buddy of mine who does shot me over this YouTube link of a scene in their last episode in which WoW makes a guest appearance...
There are a few things wrong with the chat the lady has with the dorky scientist, all of which could have been cleared up by talking to anyone who actually plays the game. I am no expert, but I think SG: Atlantis takes place in the present day, making level 75 something that is a long way off. And yes, it does have the extreme nerd WoW player stereotype out in full force. Even with the shortcomings, it is kind of cool to see WoW referenced somewhere outside of the Internet.
There are a few things wrong with the chat the lady has with the dorky scientist, all of which could have been cleared up by talking to anyone who actually plays the game. I am no expert, but I think SG: Atlantis takes place in the present day, making level 75 something that is a long way off. And yes, it does have the extreme nerd WoW player stereotype out in full force. Even with the shortcomings, it is kind of cool to see WoW referenced somewhere outside of the Internet.
Filed under: News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Joseph Sep 24th 2006 1:50PM
Thats excellent!
Horatius Sep 24th 2006 3:16PM
Well,he does say he had 'the beta of the expansion pack' so technically he'd be only 5 levels wrong (unless Blizzard's going to suprise up with a tweaked level cap. eh? ehhh?)
Of course he could be trying to talk himself up, bragging about a beta nobody has access to yet, making up a level cap... somehow doing enchanting, engineering, and jewelcraft all at once (hmm, three profession skills, I like the sound of that.)
Dyyne Sep 24th 2006 3:08PM
actually, I'm pretty sure SG:A takes place a year or 2 in the future, so a lvl 75 mage is not that unbelievable. Needless to say, when i saw it 1st on SciFi, i laughed my ass off =D
Dave M. Sep 24th 2006 3:15PM
One thing to remember here is that filming the show takes place way before the shows air. In the case of Stargate and BSG, it can be as much as 8 months prior to the air date.
If that's the case here, then it's fairly reasonable to assume that the info they had on WoW and Burning Crusade was very early info and even rumors. Back at the beginning of the year, there was talk of a level 75 cap. Other than that, the talk was pretty reasonable for someone who, in fact, doesn't play the game but is acting like they did (in the scene). I'm sure they were thinking, as we all did 7 months ago, that BC would be out by now.
What I actually questioned, and my wife did too, was how is she supposed to be playing WoW in Atlantis? Do they have some kind of internet connection that reaches across the void of intergalactic space to the Pegasus galaxy? If so, I'm so wanting to see that monthly bill! :)
R.O.B. Sep 24th 2006 3:17PM
Take note that he says one of his professions is jewlcrafting (or "jewling", according to him). Since that won't be available until BC comes out, the SG:A MUST take place at some point in the near future, possibly after yet another major patch was released, raising the level cap past 70.
warbleflit Sep 24th 2006 3:39PM
An engineer, jewelcrafter, AND and enchanter! Wow, he does three proffesions, awesome! (BTW, if we now get 3 primary in BE, it's something I didn't know about and feel free to admonish me)
Okay enough nitpicking aside, I wonder if Bliz got paid for the verbal ad space.
Malky Sep 24th 2006 4:20PM
I'm pretty sure they put in the mistakes intentionally. Stargate is a pretty smart series, and having his character be a lvl 75 with three professions is probably an in-in-joke.
ray Sep 24th 2006 4:28PM
wow. you guys are only further proving the theory that wow players are a bunch of dweebs.
Argueing over the legitivity of weather 75 is a correct assumption for a fictional tv program? good grief!
Simon Sep 24th 2006 5:19PM
I laughted too when I first saw it. Being a little off is realy nothing compared to how games are depicted by the "traditional" media most of the time.
And, Dave M., she only pretends to play WoW, actually she has no clue, and she plays it quite nicely.
I actualy wanted to send it in myself, but tips@wowinsider.com just bounched ...
mike Sep 25th 2006 8:52AM
A couple things:
1) This particular character, Dr. Lee, actually lives on Earth and not Atlantis. It appears that they were visiting him in his lab, though I haven't seen the episode yet to verify this.
2) He says his mage is an engineer and jewelcrafter which may seem like a strange combo. Later on, he asks about raising his skill in enchanting, but in fairness, he could have been talking about an alt.
Malreth Sep 25th 2006 12:04PM
If anyone could gain 5 levels over the cap and get 3 primary professions in an unreleased version of the game, it'd be someone at the SGC. All they'd have to do is open a gate to a world on the other side of a forming black hole singularity...
I mean, c'mon... It's not like it's rocket science!
Dave M. Sep 25th 2006 12:26PM
Simon, I got the fact that she was Dr. Weir was "acting" as if she played. My point about an internet connection to the Pegasis galaxy was meant to question Dr. Lee's acceptance of Dr. Weir's playing at all.
mike, According to Dr. McKay's comments before the scene, he mentioned Dr. Lee's "Office", but lab would probably work too.
Tyler D. Sep 25th 2006 6:06PM
OMG! Who cares?! It's Sci-Fi...fiction, people! When it's made up, anything is plausible, especially that WoW is not science...so there.
Anywho, I hope my grind to 75 doesn't take too long.
l.m.orchard Sep 26th 2006 8:19PM
Duh. There's a shuttle service running back to earth every couple of weeks on a hyperdrive-capable starship - ever think Weir might be abusing that in between episodes? She could be sneaking in some grinding in between meetings on a laptop at the base.
Sheesh... At Atlantis, she'd have to have the SGC open a gate to her constantly. Because, you know the gate has to be open for wifi to get through, and Atlantis can't dial Earth. And, she'd keep losing connection every 37 minutes. Bet that'd piss off her guildies, if they ever went into an instance. And just imagine the latency, whooo.
She might have even traded in some alien artifacts for cash to pay a power-leveller back home to take over her account while she's away.
Gosh. Idiots.
RBL-4NiK8r Oct 12th 2006 9:12PM
OK first off they were all back on earth, and it was taking place some 6 months after Atlantis got shut down, well everyone was kicked out so if you had watched, you would have seen Dr. Weir shut everyone out of her life, and basicly never left her house, so in 6 months she could have very well, did just that, because we all know WoW players have no life.....
And at the time they were trying to steal a shuttle so they could go back to Atlantis, also that was flimed in June.