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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsBreakfast Topic: Does WoW ever creep you out?
by Nico Deyo 
May 19th 2011 at 8:00AM
If you asked the average player to describe the overall tone of Azeroth, I'd wager that a lot of them would say that it is colorful, epic, or even downright cartoonish. But in my mind, the World of Warcraft we know sometimes takes a detour from the entertaining to the downright creepy. Whether it be intentionally scary or macabre things such as giant tarantulas in Terrokkar forest or stuff that just gives you the heebie-jeebies (like the Satanic children that walk the dusty road from Stormwind to Goldshire), WoW has a lot of things that put a shiver up and down your spine.
I've seen a lot of gross, scary or weird things in game, but it wasn't until the Shattering that I had a major creepfest moment. I was flying idly over Hillsbrad surveying the damage of the area, when I noticed bears -- except they didn't look like the bears I knew from the zone prior. They were bears ... with spider egg sacs infesting their flesh. Being a major arachnophobe and having a lot of issues with parasites and the like, I took my drake out of there as fast as I could so I wouldn't feel ill.
What about Warcraft creeps you the heck out?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 9)
Eirik May 19th 2011 1:49PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXMTHae0uVc
you're welcome.
Creya May 19th 2011 8:38AM
Am I the only one with a problem with the Nerubians?
scholargipsy May 19th 2011 9:15AM
No, you're not. The first time I encountered them, way back during BC, they gave me the shudders. I'm a bit more used to them now, but undead spider-centaur things are still pretty oogy.
Nagaina May 19th 2011 10:28AM
No. The first time I encountered the Nerubians -- I think it was in Terrorweb Tunnel in the WPL -- I made a sound that I probably could not repeat now if someone held a gun to my head and nearly knocked over my laptop. There's a reason I use the things in RP as a stand-in for other, less easily accessible Lovecraftian horrors.
StClair May 19th 2011 12:25PM
Definitely not.
Noyou May 19th 2011 2:08PM
I am not too fond of bugs but I don't have any real phobias or aversions to them. But I will say in WoW I hate them. I mean it's the crawl. It's just intended to give you that creepy tickly icky feeling. It's like "yeah I just crawled through all the filthy floor crap and now I am going to walk on you!" and they don't quit unless you pick them up and fling them out the door or squash them. Bilzzard is so nice to bring these little fun suckers into their lovely world. Thanks. Plus when I was questing in Un'goro on my lvl 50something hunter for the first time, those wasps were mean to me. Very mean. I did kick their ass when I made a DK though so who's laughing now wasps? Still. Bugs = not cool. The only one's that don't really "bug me" (giggle) are the scarabs.
Samutz May 19th 2011 8:38AM
I did the new lvl 85 Zul'Gurub intro quest-line in Northern Stranglethorn at night. Having the whole zone over run with lvl 85 snake-things in the dark, with only a few small outposts just barely surviving, struck a chord with me. It gave me a feeling that reminded me of the creepiness of You Awaken in Razor Hill, or a zombie invasion.
Hal May 19th 2011 9:03AM
You know, ever since I read "You Awaken in Razor Hill," I've been creeped out by the Razor Fen instances.
loop_not_defined May 19th 2011 10:06AM
Yeah...."You Awaken in Razor Hill" made those canyons north of Razor Hill creepy for me for a long time. The addition of Tednug and Scratchfever with Cataclysm didn't help much, even if it does elicit a nervous chuckle. I'm thinking having played the original Silent Hill has more to do with it, though.
>Make Harpy mating calls into the darkness
You cup your hands to your lips and scream "HAY BABY WANNA PARTY" into the Abyssal Darkness.
http://www.thelittlestmurloc.com/index.php?Itemid=17&id=4&option=com_content&view=article
dinojake15 May 22nd 2011 4:40PM
What's "You Awaken in Razor Hill?" Some kind of fanfic?
Xantenise May 19th 2011 8:39AM
Only two things in WoW have crept me out: the first being those same bears the OP mentioned, and the second being Kara crypts.
Xantenise May 19th 2011 8:43AM
Oh, and I forgot - the planted humans and the farmer abomination in Hillsbrad.
The farmer abomination... something about having once known and killed the NPCs that made up that abomination made me shudder, made it more personal. That made me feel ill.
CloakedDrifter May 19th 2011 8:42AM
My first time entering Duskwood. The darkness. The cobwebs clinging to everything. The worgen. And the epicness of Stitches making his march toward Darkshire, with town criers warning of his approach, and him chasing me and beating me down when I got too close. I didn't realize it was part of a quest at the time, which made it even creepier and more mysterious at the time.
I also want to agree about those new spore-infested bears in Hillsbrad. My stomach ties in knots whenever I see them.
On a lighter side, but equally as disturbing: The Goldshire inn on the Moon Guard realm. *shudder*
Spider May 19th 2011 2:22PM
Duskwood's really not the same without the vanilla model Worgen, to me at least. I wish they'd kept the original ones for their feral, terrifying appearance. The new player models just don't have the same atmosphere.
deluded spider May 19th 2011 5:11PM
Duskwood really, really freaked me out on my first character (human warrior). I was doing some quests in Westfall, just exploring, saw a cute little bridge and headed that way at too low a level. The music is the worst/best part of Duskwood (I think it also plays in Tirisfal Glades). It's a few piano notes and a lot of ambient music. I seriously get chills just thinking about it, it really puts me on edge.
Anyway, about 15 seconds after finding Duskwood, which looked totally abandoned and beyond creepy, a giant spider jumped on me even though I was in the middle of the road, scared the holy hell out of me, and destroyed me in like two or three hits. I avoided going back there for a long time after that and would only play with the in-game sound off when I was in that area for the longest time.
And when I first switched to Horde, I avoided playing any undead characters for a long time because Tirisfal reminded me way too much of Duskwood, and it was such a HUGE area before I had a mount or had ever uncovered the map, it seriously bothered me to be there. I'd get all turned around and just hated the sense of dread I'd get questing through there. But for the past few years, Tirisfal's been one of my favorite zones in Old World, even pre-Cataclysm. I guess turning Horde made me enjoy evilness. Yay?
Kurtis May 19th 2011 8:46AM
Honestly, there's not a lot in the game that truly freaks me out. Sure, giant spiders can make me a little uncomfortable, but I don't run screaming or anything. There are definitely some heart-tugging quest lines, like Pamela in EPL. But I can pluck spider cocoons (??) off of bears' butts with the best of them.
No, my favorite freakout came in a different Blizzard game. During the Diablo 2 beta, it was about 2:00 in the morning, and I'd been hacking my way through dark dungeons for 4 or 5 hours. Then the dog walked up behind me and stuck her cold, wet nose on the back of my elbow...
Runy May 19th 2011 8:48AM
Any occurence of dark water. I remember running into a hammerhead back in vanilla when I was trying to get my aquatic form quest done; it was exceptionally startling (and it smoked me).
laudickj May 19th 2011 8:47AM
Nothing really creeps me out as long as it is killable, we are the heros of Azeroth afterall. I can just imagine Deathwing laughing as he unleashes (insert creepy mob here) and the 10/25 heros that are brave enough to take on the aspect of death, run away from mobs because they are creepy.
bspauldin May 19th 2011 8:50AM
The villagers on fire and screaming in North Western Dragonblight. I don't even like taking the flight path through there.
Bynde May 19th 2011 9:37AM
Not a whole lot in the game "creeps me out" but I do turn the sound down when I fly over that.