January 19, 2009

Which one is Michelangelo?

(map)

I was quite amused to stumble upon this little easter egg while exploring Dalaran's vile Underbelly (I'd link you to an Underbelly map, but they don't have one up on WoWHead for some reason).

In the Underbelly there's a pile of dirt (at least I'm hoping it's dirt) that's littered with a variety of multicolored vials and bottles, the kinds used by alchemists who were too lazy to dispose of their extra/failed potions and elixirs properly and decided to chunk them down into the sewers instead.

Here at this same dirt pile (please, please, PLEASE just be dirt!), there is a friendly sewer rat who is being very attentive to four equally attentive friendly little sewer turtles.

Yes folks, here we have a little tribute to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Makes one wonder if these guys will ever be able to be battled with in the Circle of Wills down there.

However, these turtles and rat aren't the only things TMNT-related here in WoW. Turns out that the voices of Malygos, Medivh, Nexus-Prince Shaffar, and the Blood Elf Male are played by a voice actor named Cam Clarke, who incidently voiced the character Leonardo from the original TMNT animated series back in the late 1980s.

PS: Incidentally, our version of "Splinter" here might be considered one of the highest leveled critters in the game (even though he's not technically classified as a critter). He's sitting pretty at lvl 80, which means that if someone decided to try and kick his ass, he has a fair shot of beating the stuffing outta them if they think he's squishy like all the other critters in this game.

January 9, 2009

Wonder what the Dark Knight would do without his butler in the Batcave...

(map)

In addition to Final Fantasy being one of my favorite video game series, Batman happens to be one of my favorite comic book series.

It seems, though, that the Dark Knight's trusty butler has decided to take some time off to serve the stuffy mages up in Dalaran, going under the assumed name of Alfred Copperworth.

Wonder if this could be considered a step up or a step down from serving Bruce Wayne/Batman?

January 8, 2009

Kinda miffed there aren't more Squeenix tributes, but this is a step in the right direction

(map)

When you hear the name Square Enix, what is the one epic video game series that (9 times out of 10) ought to come to mind to any console gamer?

Of course. Final Fantasy!

Of that series, which game is probably the most famous/profitable one out of the thirteen+ that have been created?

(btw, if you say FF11 you officially have lost all my respect)

No brainer. That would have to be Final Fantasy VII. The original game is officially over a decade old, but Squeenix is still milking the franchise for all it's worth, with two prequel games, a sequel movie, and a sequel game.

Up until now, there hasn't been an overly blatant tribute to this game series, save for perhaps one of the hairstyles that the blood elf male characters can sport when you create them, complete with silver-white coloring. However, this has changed with the appearance of Miss Aerith Primrose, a flower seller on the streets of Dalaran.

Miss Primrose here is a tribute to the character Aerith(Aeris) Gainsborough. I have to give major props to Blizzard for getting Primrose's look down pat. Pink dress... Red jacket... Brown hair ponytail... They even have the metal bracers on her wrists.

Now if only I could find a Cloud or Sephiroth tribute in game... or better yet.... the TURKS and Rufus!

January 7, 2009

See that crate there.... Yeah, it's filled with bananas

(map)

You ever notice the balconies there in the in the Undercity? Yeah, it's right there above all the profession trainers in each quarter. See it now? Yes? No? Oh! And you can also see the bridges that connect to them when you take a flight in and out of the UC...

Impossible to get to, right?
Nope. Not at all actually.

There IS a way to get there. However it will require the Sewer entrance of the UC, the use of some type of slow fall ability, a riding mount, and some good timing. Maybe a little practice too. Need another hint? Here's one.

Oh yes, and when I took this screenshot, there was a crate there. It was filled with bananas.

Why bananas?

I have no clue.

January 6, 2009

The first rule about Fight Club is yadda, yadda, yadda...

(map)

Any fans of Fight Club out there? Then you really ought to stop by the War Quarter in the Undercity and take a look at the spectacle taking place. At the center of it all are two Forsaken characters mixing it up with a variety of different mobs.

These are references to the movie's narrator and protagonist, played by Edward Norton, who gets involved with a shady soap salesman named Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt.

December 28, 2008

I hear dead people

(map)

Today we'll be looking at various easter eggs hiding right under your noses. You'd be surprised how many easter eggs are littering the various faction capitol cities. Today's focus will be the Undercity, capitol of the Forsaken.

To start things off, we'll look at the throne room of the former king of Lordaeron. Looks pretty empty right? Just a lonely throne and the seal of Lordaeron illuminated by the skylight above.

Actually, there is a little more here than meets the eye, or rather, more to "hear".

While standing in the throne room, go into your audio settings and turn down or turn off the volume settings for the "music" and bump up the settings to max for the "amibient" sounds. Then make sure you are standing around the throne or seal area. If you stand there for a few moments, you can start to hear ghostly voices whispering softly to you.

If you are a lore junkie and fan of Warcraft III, you will recognize this as the scene where Arthas murdered his father in that very throne room.

If you look closely at the floor around the seal, you can even see a conspicuous splatter of old dried blood there from when the deed was done.

Additionally, if you do this same trick while in the hallway leading up to the throne room from the outside, you can hear the sounds of Lordaeron's former living citizens celebrating Arthas's return. Also, standing near the fallen bell will allow you to hear it ringing.

December 23, 2008

On the one hand, there aren't tons of nazis to deal with. On the other hand, there are tons of troggs...

(map)

For all you Indiana Jones fans, this one's for you.

Back in the pre-Burning Crusade dungeon of Uldaman, there is an opportunity to do a reenactment of a famous scene from the first Indiana Jones movie, "Raiders of the Lost Ark."

This reenactment is not a quest. Rather you start off by reading the journal of one of the previously mentioned Lost Vikings. The journal will tell you to collect two objects and put them together to form a staff. That staff serves as the key to open the door in another chamber of the room where there is a small model city laid out on the floor.

So if you haven't visited Uldaman ever, stop on by and take a peek. As you can see in the screenshot above, even a level 70 Discipline/Holy priest can solo this instance if she wants to, so other classes and specs should have no problem at that level.

Barrels are a gorilla's best friend!

(map 1) (map 2)
One more Nintendo tribute to share with you folks.

In Un'Goro Crater, as well as Sholazar Basin now, the gorilla mobs there occasionally drop "barrels" when they are killed. This is a reference to another Nintendo classic character, Donkey Kong, a gorilla who goes around using barrels either as modes of transportation, weapons, etc...

These items are considered "junk" in game, though I really wish we were able to throw these barrels ourselves...

...OR it would've been cool if hunter pet gorillas had "Throw Barrels" as a unique species ability. Yeah "Thunderstomp" is all well and good, but c'mon! You know as well as I do that you'd totally trade that for the ability to lob a big wooden barrel at your opponent.