Breakfast Topic: This is getting a little silly...
by Zach Yonzon 
Nov 18th 2009 at 8:00AM
It sometimes gets silly to the point where it just doesn't make any sense. There isn't even any deep lore to it (which is probably what got our resident lore nerd Alex's knickers in a bunch)... there's just this strange-looking Night Elf handing out grenades in starting areas. Coupled with the television commercial where Mr. T brags about hacking into the World of Warcraft, it all seems very meta. I like the way the game doesn't take itself seriously, but this latest gimmick comes so far from left field I don't quite know what to think.
What's your take on World of Warcraft's whimsy? A lot of items, particularly from loot cards, are silly, like the D.I.S.C.O. or Ogre Piñata. Others are pretty badass like the Spectral Tiger. Not everything is necessarily tied in to lore, and that's alright. But where do you think Blizzard should draw the line? When does a joke ruin the game world or immersive experience? Or is everything fair game?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Breakfast Topics, Humor
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
Nathanyel Nov 18th 2009 8:03AM
Basically it's just breaking the fourth wall, which has happened a lot in WoW alone.
Knyle2 Nov 18th 2009 9:17AM
it makes me mad to think that this is the kinda garbage some ppl on blizz staff are working on. and who gives a crap about mr t. last time I heard from mr t was when conan obrien went live in chicago.
I dont get it, what kinda weird cross promo is this and why would anyone care.
IMHO blizz should be working on content, performance, balance, and content. they have been getting kinda lazy,
"lets give tons of items the same models so we have time to work on the MR T NE mohawk grenade"
Thundrcrackr Nov 18th 2009 10:08AM
Don't bother dissing it. You will just get downvoted into oblivion. These comments are more one-sided than a presidential convention.
This comment system needs the option to view blacked out comments so we can actually see the other side of an argument for a change.
Paultab Nov 18th 2009 10:12AM
I could care less about the lore, heck I don't even read through the quests half the time, but c'mon! Mr. T "hacking" the World of Warcraft?
Blizzard has more money than God. You'd think they'd be able to hire some half decent comedy writers. That's the real insult here.
Knyle2 Nov 18th 2009 10:50AM
it makes me mad to think that this is the kinda garbage some ppl on blizz staff are working on. and who gives a crap about mr t. last time I heard from mr t was when conan obrien went live in chicago.
I dont get it, what kinda weird cross promo is this and why would anyone care.
IMHO blizz should be working on content, performance, balance, and content. they have been getting kinda lazy,
"lets give tons of items the same models so we have time to work on the MR T NE mohawk grenade"
Valt Nov 18th 2009 10:50AM
Damn Knyle. You speak like WoW is job and we are living in country called wow like zombies.
"Oh presidents of this country called WoW please fix the unbalance between poor people("up classes") and rich people("op classes") rather than giving people fun from time to time! Im not playing taxes (montly free) to have fun im paying it because I can get free healthcare (raids/major patches) and better roads to travel(less lag) and to see balance between rich and poor wich in the end doesnt even matter to me".
Maybe you should think about your motives of playing the game if you still dont play it for fun? You shouldnt even be worried too much about class balance. You should just play and have fun damn it.
What games are: an amusement or pastime. What they are not: work, job, battle between life and death.
Knyle2 Nov 18th 2009 10:54AM
i dont think , i said anything like that,
I just think that their are much more important things for blizz to be working on
and I know they do a good job of things, and i know that activision is messing with their schedule to, (the only reason we dont have sc2 yet imho)
but if u put it into other context, "yea, microsoft, my OS is still garbage but i love the updated gadgets?"
all im saying is priorities... and also, why mr t. i mean isnt chuck norris (not that im a fan at all) a bigger nerd culture icon atm)
Theldaris Nov 18th 2009 11:00AM
The character model has been in exitance since the original commercial, and mohak grenades couldn't have taken more then 10 minutes to script. its fairly funny for what took a very miniscule amount of time.
TLDR quit yer wining about how they "should" spend the ime on balance
Valt Nov 18th 2009 11:17AM
Theres 4.600 Employees in whole Blizzard. Having like 5 people doing these "grenades" for 3-5 days is not waste of resources out of raids, lag reduction, server stability, support lines, epics you get, buff nerf rollercoasters.
Common sense is allowed.
kabshiel Nov 18th 2009 11:24AM
It doesn't really bother me, but it's still pretty dumb. I'm beginning to really dislike nerd culture.
placebo Nov 18th 2009 11:32AM
Some dude must have charged Knyle2 $12 for a bowl of potato soup.
Nadi Nov 18th 2009 11:34AM
@Paultab
Actually, Blizzard doesn't have more money than God these days... Activision-Blizzard posted a quarterly loss this time around, and laid off a portion of their workforce. The Blizzard side of things may be doing well (I'm not sure), but all is not well in The Conglomerate.
Maldune Nov 18th 2009 12:12PM
Wow Kynle2, You really are tying to get your point across. 3 of the same comments in the same reply line. Now, who's bringing the garbage into warcraft with your multiple posts that ppl down vote as soon as they see them? Thought so.
Bronwyn Nov 18th 2009 12:12PM
Don't feed the troll, he just keeps restating his "point" which makes no sense because you can't convince me that Blizzard spent more than an hour or so on adding the Nelf Mohawk into the game.
Worcester Nov 18th 2009 1:33PM
Trade Chat ruins the game. Barrens Chat breaks the fourth wall all the time. If you want to stop seeing whimsical items and references in World of Warcraft, stop with the Anal [Rupture] jokes in Trade Channel. Stop talking about Chuck Norris in the Barrens.
As for the idea of a Mohawk Grenade? Brilliant! Why? People, this is a COMMERCIAL that actually gets people to take ACTION! When in your lifetime have you ever even thought about the ads you see on TV? This was a great little concept, and I hope the person who came up with the idea gets millions.
So what if it's silly. If you care that much about the integrity of the game, first follow the steps I laid out before, and of course, roll on an RP server. As for people complaining about balance and other issues in the game, there's a grenade for that too. It's called a QQ Grenade. I believe Blizzard will release it soon, I hope.
MazokuRanma Nov 18th 2009 1:42PM
Anyone who thinks Activision is playing a part in the -delay- of games is a fool, pure and simple. If Kotik had his way they'd have released buggy trash versions of those games months ago. The very fact that the games are still getting pushed back as Blizzard doesn't consider them complete is one of the best signs I've ever seen regarding their autonomy from Activision.
Does Activision had influence? Of course, I'm willing to wager their marketing team was a driving force behind the mini-pet micro-transactions. On the other hand, I really don't care about those things. They don't affect the game, and as long as Blizzard remains the dominant force in determining when and how their games are released, I can live with the stupid little pointless stuff.
Byron Nov 18th 2009 2:50PM
It's all a sham. Everyone knows Mr. T would never choose to be a Night Elf. He'd be an Orc. More his style.
Clydtsdk-Rivendare Nov 18th 2009 3:37PM
My guess is Mr. T had some Alliance friends so he basically had to roll Night Elves because, well, what self-respecting tough guy rolls a Gnome? Personally, I pity the foo.
Cymru Nov 18th 2009 8:07AM
i think this is a good and well funny
wow is a game its not ment to be serious
Mitawa Nov 18th 2009 8:16AM
For some people, like roleplayers, it's not fun unless you can take it somewhat seriously. Most things can be explained away to better or worse effect (I saw a guild once that tried to explain guild chat by saying their hearthstones were magical voice boxes- not sure about that one), but it certainly does kill the mood if you're trying to have an in-character conversation and suddenly everyone in the room has a night elf head.
I understand that it's fun, but sometimes you're interested in doing something different and other people can grief on you, which makes it not so fun.
Please be courteous and only use these in areas like the Auction Houses.