Around Azeroth: Who is Keyser Soze?
by Elizabeth Wachowski 
Apr 23rd 2008 at 10:00AM
I've come to see this image as kind of a cultural litmus test. Papachango of Doomhammer, who sent in this screenshot, states that he took the pic while returning the Blessing of Incineratus to the Lost Ones in Nagrand. He chose to stay in the hut as it burned, resulting in this nice picture (and about 131 points of fire damage, one presumes.)
Timothy wrote that this pic reminds him of the iconic Sephiroth walking through a burning room in Final Fantasy VII. However, I've always thought that FF7 was overrated, and Sephiroth even more so. (Edited to add: While I understand that a lot of people see FF7 as a major breakthrough in gaming, I prefer the expansive worlds, likeable characters, and humorous tone of FF6 and FF9. Brooding villains are cliched.) For my villains-walking-out-of-a-fire reference, I prefer the more subtle tones of The Usual Suspects' Keyser Söze, which was my immediate mental picture on looking at this screenshot. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one. What does this picture remind you of?
Do you have any unusual World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see it on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!
Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. We prefer full screen shots without the UI showing. And please, remember that the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.
Filed under: Screenshots, Around Azeroth, Galleries
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ravenswing Apr 23rd 2008 10:05AM
"I knew I should have watched that chip pan more closely."
or, for the Americans "I knew I should have watched that deep fat frier more closely."
azvariin-gorefiend Apr 23rd 2008 10:32AM
i love your page but the worst comment ive ever heard was when i read you say FF7 was overrated...you have just broken my gaming heart WOW.com :(
Treima Apr 23rd 2008 1:53PM
@azvariin
It is the most overrated RPG of all time. You cannot look at all the praise heaped at it and honestly say it is deserving.
peaglemancer Apr 23rd 2008 10:10AM
Everyone knows Terminator 2 owns all "walking out of a fire" references.
http://www.goingfaster.com/darkthoughts/t1000.jpg
Calaana Apr 23rd 2008 10:12AM
Troll burgers are nasty!
Buckshot Apr 23rd 2008 10:13AM
The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist. And like that... he is gone.
gnam Apr 23rd 2008 10:45AM
"I've always thought that FF7 was overrated, and Sephiroth even more so."
A-Freaking-MEN.
Markov Apr 23rd 2008 4:31PM
FF7 was the most overrated game of its time, and has become even more so. I remember how excited I was when the demo came out and how disappointed I was with it. I am glad to see someone agreeing with me!
Pingmeister Apr 23rd 2008 11:04AM
Keep up the good work!
It would be easy to have these screenshot posts just be "Nice pic of a tree" but each time more writing than necessary seems to go into them and I, for one, appreciate it.
Papachango Apr 23rd 2008 11:13AM
Player: Papachango
Server: Doomhammer
And no, there wasn't any fire damage.
1) I think the fires in those buildings are cosmetic.
2) I had my Ice Barrier going.
Avoli Apr 23rd 2008 11:20AM
My thought was it reminded me of an Akuma screen. Sweet either way though.
niko Apr 23rd 2008 11:25AM
FF7 Overrated? SRSLY?
The amount of progression that game brought to the RPG genre is anything BUT overrated.
Sure, some of the earlier games had a better plot, others a better battle system, but FF7 had a MUCH HIGHER overall production quality and appealed to more than just the hardcore. FF7 brought regular people into RPG's, just like WoW did for MMO's. As an extension to your implied logic, WoW is overrated as well.
Calling it overrated is like asking for someone to shred your "gamer" card. Certainly you can't dismiss FF7 as one of the most important games to be created. NOT overrated in the least.
gnam Apr 23rd 2008 12:06PM
WoW is overrated but fun. FF7 is not
Zegim Apr 23rd 2008 1:06PM
Your comment kind of works as proof that FF7 is overrated.
Many people hail FF7 as "teh best RPG evah" while truth is, they neves have played any other RPG.
In my opinion, FF7 is just relevant as an introduction to RPG, but nothing else.
niko Apr 23rd 2008 1:23PM
overrated games do not influence the genre of which it belongs... FF7 completely changed the way game developers produced subsequent RPG's, and by and large, the genre's "bar" was raised immensely.
Just because you might not have liked the game doesn't change the fact that it was so overwhelmingly epic. The game's success created a landscape for developers to figure out how to produce the "FF7 killer", and it's because of this that you have to give FF7 a ton of credit. RPG's would not be the way they are today if not for it.
Treima Apr 23rd 2008 2:09PM
FFVII did nothing revolutionary that other RPGs hadn't done already, except maybe pander a bit more to the RPG-playing demographic.
It's honestly one of the worst RPGs I've ever played in terms of the cohesiveness of the battle system, plot, and character progression, both story-wise and in terms of combat parameters. I own it because it is a numbered FF, but I'd sooner play FFX-2 with all its absurdity than brush the dust off of VII.
And in case you think I am just a "n00b", I started playing RPGs at Phantasy Star III in 1992.
RogueJedi86 Apr 23rd 2008 7:05PM
FFXII brought more progression. FFVII did the same old turn-based combat and random encounters. FFXII brought real-time combat without random encounters. In the area of innovation, FFXII does better than FFVII(all other complaints about FFXII aside).
Frank Apr 23rd 2008 11:25AM
"cultural litmus test"? i think "Rorschach test" is the more appropriate term here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorschach_inkblot_test
Retune Apr 23rd 2008 12:24PM
Sephiroth > You
TomarusAnguirel Apr 23rd 2008 1:33PM
See, I have to agree that FF7 was a little overrated, but I'd actually like to take it one step further. . I always loved the FF line, but the more I try to play them, or specifically the more I try to play any FF titles 7 or higher, the more ticked off I get. Is it the characters, the plot, the fights, the boss fights, the game balance? Nope. It's the game-play itself. Or more specifically, the lack thereof. I like to call it game-watch. Because honestly, if I wanted to watch a movie that looked just like an FF title, I'd just watch Advent Children. When I sit down to play a game, I want to actually play it, not watch a movie.