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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe sudden yet inevitable betrayal of gaming immersion
by Michael Gray 
Jan 7th 2011 at 7:00PM
There's this quest in Loch Modan. To make a long story short, the gnolls and murlocs seem to be making a peace treaty. In the very least, they're making some kind of deal to lay down some awfulness on the Alliance. They are the Axis of Awful, after all.
When things get to this point, there's nothing else for an adventurer to do but dress up like a shrub, take a bottle of scent pheromones, and sneak out to sabotage the meeting. But that's not the exciting part. The exciting part is what the Mosshide gnoll screams when you lay the whammy on him.
"AAAAAAGH!" the gnoll yells. "CURSE YOUR SUDDEN YET INEVITABLE BETRAYAL!"
Rumors have it that in beta, the murloc responded, "Mine is an evil mrglglglglglglglglglg. Now DIE!"
Of course, this is a reference to the old Firefly series, which has many devoted followers among all kinds of geeks and gamers. On one hand, I totally love the reference. My wife and I giggled and laughed and loved the shout-out to one of our favorite television series.
On the other side of the coin, I can see the argument that pop culture references like this can take a player "out of the game." It disrupts immersion and adds silliness to an escapist hobby that some people take very, very seriously.
What about you? Where do you fall in that argument?
Filed under: Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 5 of 7)
Hollow Leviathan Jan 10th 2011 4:14PM
The character has a right hand man named Gobbles, AKA Goebbels. It's not a movie Nazi, it's Hitler.
Risq Jan 7th 2011 8:40PM
I find most of the references are ok...
... except when I don't get them. It ends up being 'I know this is a reference to something, I just don't know what!'
So then I alt tab and find out on wowhead =/ very distracting
Saeahuuahu Jan 7th 2011 8:42PM
Like pretty much everyone else, I do love the references. It is a game, after all. And this isn't the first Firefly ref (...still flying). I particularly appreciate the breadth of the references (Six Demon Bag, anyone?). I'm Personally waiting to discover an overthruster.
Drakkenfyre Jan 7th 2011 8:48PM
On the opposite side of the coin, you know what annoys the !@#$ out of me? Seeing comments on quests that have no reference to ANYTHING, and people say there's a reference.
Some of the comments on WoWHead. "This quest references so-and-so". "Um, no, this is a common saying, and the thing you are referring to came out 4 years after this."
Or an idiot seeing a quest with a line that is in a song somewhere. "This is a reference to (modern pop band)!". "No, that line was used 20 years ago in another song. Take your fail band somewhere else."
Carson Jan 8th 2011 3:43AM
My favourite wowhead comment ever: the "Hallowed Be Thy Name" achievement is a reference to the Iron Maiden song!
Drakkenfyre Jan 8th 2011 5:09AM
I love the comment on Wild Turkey.
"Don't know if anyone's realised, but this is very likely a reference to Wild Turkey, the bourbon."
It's a WILD TURKEY. It doesn't have to be a reference. It would be like looking up Ham, and someone saying "This is a reference to Babe the movie". Actually, with the stupidity of the some of the comments, I am not going to check, it probably has that comment on it.
Moofius Jan 7th 2011 8:59PM
All the nazi quests in Uldum hit a bit too close to heart. My grandmother have talked about her having a jewish child for a while in her care (parents lived, moved back after the war) (we live in Sweden).
I just think blizzard should have toned it down, it got a bit too much after the first few quests. Maybe I'm too sensitive, yeah, probably just that.
It would be great if you at wow insider could actually talk with people in Germany and ask them about their thoughts of the questline.
RetPallyJil Jan 7th 2011 8:59PM
If you aren't at peace with the idea that you'll be running face-first into pop culture by oh, level 5 or so ... uninstall and find another game to play.
Hack2112 Jan 7th 2011 9:02PM
Hey, they give you Kungalooshes at Grizzly Hills, and I honestly don't think very many people know where those come from. I haven't moved them from my inventory since I got them.
Goins2754 Jan 7th 2011 9:13PM
I think it's a silly argument against a new quest when the game has hosted such references as Star Trek gnomes and Harrison Jones. I mean, 12 million subscribers later and they're worrying about this now?
Chetti Jan 7th 2011 9:17PM
I like the pop culture references.. Chasing A-me, still one of my favorites.
Cyno01 Jan 7th 2011 9:30PM
Not to mention all the gorillas you kill there, and everywhere else, drop barrels.
One of my favorites and also one of the more subtle ones.
Al Jan 7th 2011 9:50PM
Plus the Congo factor.
Tim Jan 7th 2011 9:23PM
Im a fan most of the time however it has gotten a little too much when actual lore characters start becoming pop culture references its hard not to be a lollore idiot. Also can we get rid of Haris Pilton shes nearly disappeared in RL now get rid of of her in game
Adam Jan 7th 2011 9:25PM
They were conspiring to rule over this land, and call it This Land, because it is a fertile land, and they would thrive.
Rhoan01 Jan 7th 2011 9:29PM
When done correctly and put on the proper context (like this was), references like this add to what would be an otherwise-innocuous moment. Sure, throwing a monkey wrench into the plans of the Axis of Awful is fun and all, but the quote makes it memorable.
Haris Pilton, on the other hand, is an example of a shoehorned-in reference that falls flat. Harrison Jones could have been better if his first appearance in Zul'Aman didn't associate him with Budd Nedreck and had been more than just a one-off gag, and the Linken quests were a nice attempt but the painful process of flying back and forth across the world to do them left a bad taste in my mouth toward the entire thing.
TLDR: Browncoats FTW.
Sulwyn Jan 7th 2011 9:40PM
The pop culture references are exactly why I love WoW as much as I do. I hope they never get rid of them!
Rhamona Q Jan 7th 2011 9:45PM
Silliness is always a bonus.
Andrew Jan 7th 2011 10:35PM
Loved the quest, laughed uncontrollably.
razion Jan 7th 2011 10:40PM
Personally, I much love the references HOWEVER I do say I absolutely dislike them when prominent with major lore characters and important lore events. I wouldn't want Thrall spouting "May the [force] be with you" when our characters, say, go in to fight Deathwing.
I like my jokes outside of the seriousness of the important events--that is, put away from the "action" where things can be taken less seriously: in common little quest hubs with minor NPCs... those sorts of areas I'm more than happy to welcome such references.
Just... also as long as there aren't too many in a row.
One example is Uldum. As our hosts pointed out on the WoW Insider show, the whole zone is basically one big reference, and it just doesn't feel serious for any reasonable length of the adventure, and that ruins the immersion for me.