The scourge of the Scourge
by Mike Schramm 
Oct 27th 2008 at 1:30PM
As we said on the show, Blizzard is making sure that this is an event that everyone feels -- in the past, you could avoid most of the world events just by staying out of certain areas or certain zones. But at the same time, that made some players feel it wasn't immersive enough -- why have a world event if it doesn't affect the whole world? And so this one does -- no matter what level you are or where you play, whether you got eaten by a zombie or downed Tenris Mirkblood, you know that the Lich King is coming. And some folks, who play the game casually or at a low level, just don't care.
Update: Well that's timely. In between the time this post was written and planned to go live, Blizzard has decided to cure the plague. Considering that things moved so fast this weekend, that seems premature, but we'll have to see how the event plays out -- Blizzard is of course saying that it's not because of the vocal minority speaking out against the zombie gameplay, but we'll have to see what happens next.
But there is good news: it's only temporary. My first bit of advice, if you're not having a good time, is just to try it -- if you're 70, try getting into a Kara group and checking out the boss: it's a fun fight, and the pet is nice to have. If you haven't been a zombie yet, try being one and mess around with your abilities. Lurching after another player yelling "Braiinnns!" is a good time, and unlike when the plague started, it's really easy to turn players or NPCs to your cause. And if all else fails and you're just bummed out that all of this is happening, no worries: as of November 13th, Arthas and his minions will have retreated to Northrend, and you'll be left to level through Duskwood in relative peace.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Events, Fan stuff, Blizzard, Expansions
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Rihlsul Oct 27th 2008 1:37PM
Lot more temporary than Nov 13th. It ends today. 1/2 hour before your post.
http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/10/27/the-undead-plague-ends-today/
Alizar Oct 27th 2008 1:50PM
I don't know if I would call it temporary. It is still amost 3 weeks until WotLK comes out. The citadels are still floating around and who knows what else will happen. I can't imagine they already used up all the big guns.
qann Oct 27th 2008 1:50PM
I, for one, welcome our new zombie overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground braiiiins caves.
Reddeth Oct 27th 2008 2:27PM
Win!
BooDizz Oct 27th 2008 7:15PM
Kent Brockman wins
Ophelos Oct 27th 2008 1:54PM
I'm glad this zombie attack stuff is done and over with today, kinda sick of using my hard earned gold on stupid repairs because of some ally wannabe kid. ("you'll understand what i ment if you played on the deathwing server").
Hendrata Oct 27th 2008 2:05PM
You may want to unequip all your gears when entering a major city.
havitech Oct 27th 2008 4:08PM
I discovered Area 52 was possible to keep perpetually infected. Guards spawn to fight the small mob, become zombies themselves, and very quickly I had a BIG mob that constantly got new members through spawning guards.
Anyways, Area 52 being a neutral town, a handful of people attacked player zombies of the opposite faction, then got destroyed by the guards. Even after I tried warning people in General, I still saw them effectively offing themselves in front of the guards.
If you didn't take off your armor after the first death, whatever repair bills you incurred are your own fault. Now, get out of my way so I can find someone with braaaiiins to eat.
Kelberon Oct 27th 2008 1:55PM
I think he cited November 13nth in case anything else is planned after the zombie plague runs its course.
As someone who has yet to become a zombie, I'm having fun with it. I am still uninfected on my main, and guess what? It's been tons of fun avoiding it, too. Especially when I pulled into Auberdine and all of the NPCs were zombies. It gave me a real thrill, even though I didn't stick around to fight them off (though I did kill some of the weaker ones that were on the walkway towards the boats.)
It's as much a matter of attitude as anything else that determines whether or not you'll enjoy an event like this. If I didn't like anything interfering with my questing, then yeah, I'd probably be annoyed with it. But I try to keep an open mind when I play WoW, and it's easy to do that when you know this won't be a fundamental, permanent change to the game.
Warcloud Oct 27th 2008 2:04PM
Some people want a game, some people want a treadmill. For those who like a real game, it is a cool change of pace to be constantly watching your back and fighting for your life even while in the major cities.
Manatank Oct 27th 2008 1:55PM
I found a lot of the complaints about zombies in trade channel the last few days kind of amusing. People were upset because they couldn't carry out their normal WoW business as easily because of the zombies... Seeing as WoW is a game, and not a job I never understood what the problem is. Arthas is trying to attack you, it isn't supposed to be comfortable. It is supposed to make you angry enough to attack him. I'm sad that the plague is over so soon, but the story moves on.
I feel like a lot of people have forgotten that this is a game with a storyline, and not a financial simulator where they get to win by making fake money on the AH.
Mitch Oct 27th 2008 2:32PM
Well, the best part about WoW is that there are many games within a game. Playing the financial guru is one of them. However mainly all the games within the game were unplayable and you were being forced to be a zombie. I was a zombie for a while the first couple days. It was fun. But then I wanted to do something else and I couldn't because zombies were everywhere; BG leaders were dead, the AH was toast, the flight masters were harassed, etc.
I would like the zombie invasion to continue but to be a little less intrusive. It basically turned the game into World of Zombiecraft.
Oh well.
Calybos Oct 27th 2008 5:03PM
And the 2/3 of players who are below 70 are supposed to "counter-attack Arthas" how, exactly?
Like the other reply says... it's an amusing diversion at first, but the rest of us non-PVPers were enjoying OTHER aspects of the game, that this stuff made impossible.
Manatank Oct 27th 2008 5:31PM
"2/3 of players who are below 70"
You can't honestly be suggesting that 2/3 of players are below 70 unless you include their alts. Almost everyone who plays the game has at least one level 70.
Munky Oct 28th 2008 12:26AM
Wow, everyone has a lvl 70? I think you underestimate the number of casual players WoW has. Some people can't devote hours a day (or even a week) to play. Though, I am one with a couple 70's.
The zombie thing was really unfair to those who were just starting the game...the same people Blizz was trying to recruit with the Zhevra mount and bonus XP incentive thing. It seemed quite counterproductive for their goals.
Unknown Oct 27th 2008 2:01PM
I think a lot of people who really enjoyed the Scourge Invasion weren't on a PvE server swamped with grief addicts shouting obscenities the whole time (Ravencrest, here). I couldn't see how any mature player could like the event *until* I logged into another server (Duskwood), where you could still definitely feel the impact of the Scourge Invasion and appreciate it as lore, but not get completely angered by all the jerks constantly camping the SW portal who should probably be on a PvP server (no offense to PvP'ers, but it's not my style, which is why I'm on PvE servers). So yeah, it was definitely a different experience on each server.
Guido666 Oct 27th 2008 2:01PM
I, personally, have been having a blast. I wish they had a statistic in my Achievements panel for how many zombies and scourge invaders I've killed. I have a few hundred Necrotic Runes, so my count must be up there.
I can understand why some people might be upset. This is out of the norm for WoW. People are used to all things being voluntary, especially on PvE servers. This is experience is completely involuntary.
I think it's good though, and makes the world more immersive. Since when do invasions happen on your time? I think if Blizzard made events like these more common place, it would make the world feel much more dynamic, and it would be the norm and thus not so upsetting to people.
Bring on the zombies and scourge, us Paladins will be waiting...
Hoggersbud Oct 27th 2008 2:01PM
As they say, be careful what you wish for.
You just might get it.
Brainded Oct 27th 2008 2:10PM
I've loved the whole zombie thing, and the Invasion in general so far. My only complaint is that it overlaps too much with Hallow's End, making it difficult to enjoy the holiday. Also, there is the fact that it has been pretty hard-and-fast the last couple of days. When you have a job and a life, you can either take sick days to play WoW or miss out. My kids don't allow me sick days though. :(
Backbeat Oct 27th 2008 2:10PM
This event was total crap. Forcing people to participate and even be griefed by members of your own faction is trash. I want to be reimbursed for my weekend of play time that was lost. Thanks Blizz.. Perhaps for you kids who can play all the time, it was "fun" because you met all your goals long ago for the game.. but for players with a limited schedule, it was crap plain and simple.