World of Warcraft Forever beta player dies due to near-perfect grieving tactic that I’m sure Blizzard will implement
The World of Warcraft Forever beta continues, and everything indicates that it will be a huge success before the official release date next month. But it’s worth remembering that this is a beta, and a beta is for players testing the limits of the game and developer Blizzard reacting when those limits are exceeded.
Enter one of the best World of Warcraft grieving tactics I’ve seen so far in Forever.
Player jamesja12 took to the WoW Forever subreddit to post a screenshot of his death. This wouldn’t be worth writing under normal circumstances – you die all the time in World of Warcraft. But it was a screenshot of their character after they died during the intro cutscene, because a cheeky player had placed a campfire exactly where the new players spawn.
For the uninitiated, when you create a character in World of Warcraft – and World of Warcraft Forever – you get a slick intro cinematic that establishes the part of the world you’re starting in, as well as your role within it. The camera hovers over the local area before resting behind your newly spawned character, ready to go on an adventure.
In WoW Forever, you can create and place campfires, which are normally intended to help other players. Sit next to a campfire and you’ll receive a useful buff and perhaps strike up a conversation with another player doing the same. Campfires are really cool social tools, as well as great polishing machines. I love campfires!
But they also cause a little damage because, well, they’re fires. If you walk through a campfire, for example, you will take damage, as most WoW players are well aware. Start a campfire where new characters spawn and they’ll remove those low HP pretty quickly.
“Someone made a campfire where new players spawn. It killed me during the intro cutscene,” Jamesja12 said, matter-of-factly, while posting a screenshot of evidence from the crime scene. Rather boring? Well, most of the reactions are coming from players who are more impressed by this heartbreaking tactic, rather than outraged.
“It’s evil. I love it, even though it’s pretty evil,” said one player. “My orc was growling during the intro and I didn’t know why lol,” Jamesja12 responded, referring to the noise characters make when taking damage.
“This brings new meaning to the term ‘spawn camping,’” another player said. “I can’t even be mad about this,” added another. “This is classic wow, amazing,” commented another.
It’s World of Warcraft, so the war between the Horde and the Alliance is part of the game. Last night I was questing in Westfall as a high-level Horde player raided there that was killing quest-giving NPCs. Some were complaining in chat, others were saying it was part of the game. These are 20-year-old debates, reignited once again in WoW Forever, and it’s a lot of fun to see.
But it’s orc-on-orc grief, so maybe Blizzard will take a dim view of it. I expect the developer to fix it somehow, especially after this post blew up on Reddit (6,000 upvotes and counting!). I totally respect the grieving effort here. Yes, it’s annoying, but it’s a beta after all. Best not to get too worked up about anything. Now, if this becomes a widespread problem when Forever launches next month, that’s another thing. But for now… well done everyone! Jamesja12 noted that they used the in-game tool to report the “bug”, so it’s probably not long for this world. Enjoy it while it lasts.
The WoW Forever beta was flooded with players and Blizzard suggested its popularity surprised even the developers. The beta population cap has already had to be increased several times. Yeah, that’s going to be a big deal.
Wesley Yin Poole
Director, News
Wesley is news director at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
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