Around Azeroth: Too soon?
by Elizabeth Wachowski 
Jul 5th 2010 at 10:00AM
Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We'd love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as emailing 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. Please include the word "Azeroth" in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing -- use Alt Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, Val'kyr on mounts or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran. Older screenshots can be found here.
Filed under: Around Azeroth
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
Raynier Jul 5th 2010 3:28AM
I think it's apt to compare the Goblins to multinational corporations.
Neither seem to give a **** about anything but profit.
traptinacivicsi Jul 5th 2010 4:58AM
Considering this was in alpha long before the crisis happened, and the fact that it fits the Goblin theme well, I'm going to say no.
Them removing these would be as bad as the people in my town going to LOCAL BP refineries and protesting. It helps no one, and doesn't make sense.
(There's another ridiculous protest, where they spent $1000 on vuvuzula(w/e) to blow horns outside of BP for a day.. Really? They don't have windows? And here I thought we needed that money to help clean the gulf, silly me..)
traptinacivicsi Jul 5th 2010 4:59AM
Didn't mean to reply directly, sorry.
Gankedd Jul 5th 2010 11:27AM
Seriously just asking if this is to soon is ****ing retarded. It's a video game who the hell cares they are also goblins and it fits them well.
Seriously ppl need to not cry like babies because of a coincidence.
erknost Jul 5th 2010 11:28AM
Well I'm from Mexico and I'm very pleased with the political view of Blizzard. They themselves are a huge multinational corporation, but from my point of view as a costumer I see they very interested in a huge chunk of matters other then the pure profit.
So BRAVO... Blizzard!
Iirdan Jul 5th 2010 11:33AM
Gankedd, with all due respect (which admittedly isn't much) the only one whining like a baby here is you.
The title was clearly a joke. Grow up.
Anuillae Jul 5th 2010 12:27PM
If Blizz wants to poke fun at silly multinational corporations that made a stupid mistake, then I say good job! They can have a cookie while they're about it as well!
Stevey Jul 5th 2010 1:27PM
My question is "why did they have to do it to STV?" It was one of the purest, awesome-looking zones in the game, where I bet many people have memories there.
Shame to see STV change =/
Anwin Jul 5th 2010 1:56PM
Would be a more obvious reference if Garrosh waited a week before noticing the oil spill, and then proceeded to not actually dooooo anything to stop it.
Almoderate Jul 5th 2010 2:27PM
Well, I'm from Alabama (hence the name... AL Moderate), so I suppose I can speak as one of those affected-- particularly since my father lives just outside of Gulf Shores and currently works for a business on the beach in Orange Beach, AL.
No, I don't mind. It's a game that's always reflected things going on in the real world. I'm actually glad to see that other folks are paying attention to what's going on down here. Some days it feels like we're in this alone.
Arkensis Jul 5th 2010 2:59PM
@Stevey - For a lot of us, this is one of the most miserable zones in the old world. It's massive in size, difficult to navigate, and the level range of quests is ridiculous. Not only that, but those of us playing on PvP realms get to experience the level range in another form: constant ganking and harassment by the other faction.
Personally, I'm kinda hoping Deathwing sinks half of it, and burns the other half down, if the Goblins don't beat him to it.
Eddy Jul 5th 2010 3:02PM
I feel like this is a cautionary item and that negative reinforcement- reminders about how these things can go horribly wrong- is not a bad thing.
However, in the Wrath beta- the incredibly disturbing amounts of torture that were involved in the DK starting experience really were too soon (at least for me.) It was closer to the constant torture debates in the US news cycle, and it just reminded me too much of what was going on. I'm really glad that they scaled back the response to the torture (from "please don't kill me, I have a family, that hurts *sob*" to "I get twelve times this before breakfast" which frankly is less unsettling.)
Artificial Jul 5th 2010 4:36PM
I suspect this is actually a reference to... http://www.wowwiki.com/Oil_refinery
I've been wondering where all this stuff has gone hiding. People seem to forget that the World of Warcraft, although a fantasy game, is not set in some untechnological dark ages. It was already appearing in WC2 that Azeroth was rushing headlong into the Industrial Age. Part of that was no doubt a huge upramping of facilities in order to fight the war, so without a full-blown war going on, one can see why this sort of thing isn't as common in today's WoW. But one of the themes of Cataclysm seems to be us once again ramping up for more intense conflict. Expect more oil platforms, tankers, and refineries (all in WC2). Expect more steam tanks (from WC3) and submarines (from WC2). Expect WoW to stop looking quite so much like LotR and start looking more like it's actually set in the same world as the WarCraft RTS games.
Hollow Leviathan Jul 5th 2010 5:36PM
The massive devastation of the Second and Third Wars are very likely to have set the progression of human and other civilizations years, possibly centuries, making the profitable and meaningful exploitation of oil and the onset of industrialization, once imminent, further away into the future.
Zhiva Jul 5th 2010 7:35AM
I think that sending non-beta screenshots would be in vain till the end of beta...
Also, http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FunnyAneurysmMoment
Shassar Jul 5th 2010 10:47AM
Damn it! There goes the rest of my day!
krusty_burger Jul 5th 2010 1:38PM
there's an episode of the simpsons ("Homer Smokes Weed") where homer calls the president a monkey with a stupid monkey face, at the time referring of course to bush. but now....
/cringe
come to think of it, i haven't seen that episode on tv, only on dvd. hmmm
Nina Jul 8th 2010 4:26PM
Goddamnit, you've unleashed TVTropes! *ties safety line before clicking*
Laughtrey Jul 5th 2010 10:04AM
"I'm quite surprised that this made it to the beta without complaint. Readers, do you think this hits a bit too close to home, or is it just a timely reference to current events? Should these offshore drilling platforms be removed?"
Really? Are we really to the point where we need to remove something that could POTENTIALLY remind us of something in real life because we're such babies that all we want is 100% feel good in our video games?
That was in the game long before the Oil Spill, it should not be removed just because someone thinks it reminds them of something that happened in real life.
souvlaki Jul 5th 2010 10:36AM
I remember someone removing some buildings from a Spiderman movie. Probably is not comparable, but here you have an example of altering something because it reminds of something that happened in real life.