Fake Howling Fjord map released [Updated]
by Adam Holisky 
Apr 11th 2008 at 1:40PM
(click on image for larger view)
WoW Insider has come across a 
Howling Fjord will be one of the two starting points for those entering into Northrend. The other starting zone will be the Borean Tundra. Wrath of the Lich King will raise the level cap to 80, introduce the Death Knight class, new PvP warfare, and new group and solo play.WoWWiki has the image listed as a "player made" image. However, the image itself has been found around several other galleries on the internet, and there is no credit to the original author on the image. Additionally, the map itself closely resembles the terrain and layout of the zone that was playable at Blizzcon in 2007. We'll keep an eye on this, and other Wrath of the Lich King media that might be legit, and get you all the latest information when we know it. Stay tuned!
Update: The map is a fake, produced and propagated by user Kanaru on WoWWiki. Welcome to the World of Fakecraft.
Filed under: News items, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Elmo Apr 11th 2008 1:44PM
it looks true enough to me. wouldn't surprise me if it was real.
Theadrick Apr 11th 2008 1:48PM
If it is a fake, it's a well-made one.
Nick S Apr 11th 2008 2:07PM
yep. if it's fake, the faker needs a job with blizz's art department. this map is pretty nice.
Huey2k2 Apr 11th 2008 1:47PM
Normally I am very skeptical of leaked maps and screenshots. But this one looks very very real, either it is real, or it is a damned good fake.
Super Guest Man 9000 Apr 11th 2008 1:50PM
The alliance and horde bases that close together? Eeeshhh... that wont cause any problems...
Matt Apr 11th 2008 2:06PM
i think the alliance base is on the opposite side...the fort, that other place might just be a place to kill iron dwarves or something who knows...
fLUx Apr 11th 2008 1:51PM
Proberly is real, I doub't Blizzard are that keen on keeping even the low detail maps secret...
Hell they have given more away (i.e. playable areas at blizzcon, screenshots) before....
Raaliya Apr 11th 2008 1:54PM
All I can think of when I see "The Laughing Strand" is one word: Murlocs.
Landuran Apr 11th 2008 2:00PM
User talk:Kanaru
From WoWWiki
Discussion has been cleared, it was silly.
Yes, I am the creator of Image:NorthrendInGame.jpg, as well as Image:HowlingFjord.jpg.
So, there ya go... it's a fan made image.
Crianas Apr 11th 2008 2:01PM
Was gonna say. That map of Northrend in-game doesn't have Quel'Danas on it.
Badger Apr 11th 2008 2:19PM
Should this topic of discussion be deleted, then? Seems like an elaborate practical joke, under the circumstances, and I'm not sure it really deserves the attention it's been given.
Adam Holisky Apr 11th 2008 2:43PM
Yes, it is a fake and I've updated the article as such. We won't remove the article, however. Removing articles is another long and complicated discussion; and to my knowledge has never been done here.
I am unhappy that this image, which was quite well done, was propagated around the internet as real. Only after it was picked up by dozens of news sites and generated hundreds of thousands of hits around the world did the author come forward and say it was a fake.
I'll leave my personal opinions on this to myself for now. Needless to say I, and many others, are unhappy. But such is the life on the internet.
I'll go QQ moar in my corner now.
Badger Apr 11th 2008 3:41PM
Awww. /pat
It happens to the best of us, Adam. Hell, most of us thought it was real, too.
Freelier Apr 11th 2008 2:01PM
Who designed the squiggly bridge? Surely not a gnome...
zingyr Apr 11th 2008 2:18PM
It's a fake, just check http://www.wowwiki.com/Image:HowlingFjord.jpg, and compare the two versions of the image submitted (under File History). The author changed Lake Cauldrons to Lake Cauldros ... :)
But Blizzard should hire him, it's an incredibly well done fake. I was fooled at first.
RogueJedi86 Apr 11th 2008 2:24PM
Good thing it's fake. I'd say it looks too green for Northrend. Even the less snowy zones like Howling Fjord should at least be tainted white in several places, like Dun Morogh and Winterspring.
Salty Apr 11th 2008 3:14PM
You can see a lot of noise added to the image all over, and there are 4 particularly obvious mirroring artefacts on the bottom. It's a trick for tiling an area of an image that doesn't naturally span the dimensions so you take a portion of the image and mirror it across an axis. The result looks real but you get a very obvious symmetrical anomaly.
Dotixi Apr 11th 2008 4:24PM
Might I suggest fact-checking before hurried-posting.
Adam Holisky Apr 11th 2008 4:45PM
Myself and two lead writers fact checked this for 30 minutes before posting it - that's a total of an hour and half of research between us all. We found it on multiple sources, etc... The fact that someone decided to make a good fake and propagate it as true is the problem, not the fact checking of WoW Insider staff.
Badger Apr 12th 2008 2:47AM
If this had been a case of Adam and the Insider staff posting an exclusive announcement, I think your criticism would be a bit more relevant. However, they were really just citing a piece of news that had already been propagated elsewhere on the web, for the purpose of keeping their readers informed. This particular news item had every indication attached to it that it was legit.