Following is from a wow player,I think it%26rsquo;s the same to the other wow fans at the Wotlk Release Day.
Here I sit, about 9 hours after attending the official WotLK launch event. I%26rsquo;m frakkin%26rsquo; exhausted! The warhammer launch simply kicked my arse.
I know I%26rsquo;m a complete wuss, too. Many of the gamers at the launch wotlk had been there, waiting on line, for more than 24 hours. They also plan on playing WotLK through the night, and well into the next day, before they get any sleep.
In fact, it would be no big surprise to load up WotLK and find several dozen Wotlk Death Knights at or near level 80, even at this early point, just hours after the latest WoW expansion launched. Numerous hardcore fans told us, in no uncertain terms, that they planned on marathoning the living crap out of WotLK the moment they got the expansion installed onto their computers. They%26rsquo;ve been simply starving to get their sweaty gamer paws on this expansion, and they didn%26rsquo;t hesitate to let us know how hungry they%26rsquo;ve been. Once they%26rsquo;ve purchased WotLK, the gamers we spoke to have no plans on discretely sampling, or delicately tasting, the various new treats WotLK offers. They plan on feasting nonstop until they are grotesquely engorged with Blizzard%26rsquo;s latest offering. Or until they run out of Red Bulls.
More after the jump and pics!
If you doubt their devotion, consider the bedlam that ensued at major cities around the globe: London, Paris, New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Thousands upon thousands of fans lined up to get their eager, sticky, Twinkie-encrusted hands on the new World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. They waited in line for hours. They brought tents, chairs, blankets, and even card tables, upon which they played parchesi and D%26amp;D.
We were there, among them. We saw everything. We drank in the geeky musk that coiled itself around the Fry%26rsquo;s Electronics in Anaheim, California. This particular store is but a league or more from Blizzard%26rsquo;s impregnable corporate fortress, less than a fortnight%26rsquo;s travel upon trusty steed and...what the....I think I actually started to role play for a second there. Holy smoke, the heady atmosphere of what I%26rsquo;d witnessed last night must be to blame. I%26rsquo;d better start over.
Ok, ok, where was I? Oh, yeah, at Fry%26rsquo;s in Anaheim, a few short miles from Blizzard%26rsquo;s main corporate office. We arrived at about 8:00 PM, four hours before the game officially wotlk launched. There was already a very healthy throng of WoW players surrounding the building. The line stretched around the Fry%26rsquo;s store, and then continued in a long loping coil around the parking lot. Though we thought it would be a madhouse, much like the wlk launch of the original World of Warcraft, we were greatly surprised to see that it was a relatively peaceful night. The people in line formed quick friendships, and soon they found themselves playing board games with each other, and practicing their muloc gurgles, and making snickering jokes about those alternate-lifestyle night elves. A lot of folks brought laptops, and played WoW while they waited to buy Wrath. Others brought other geekish entertainments, projecting the Iron Man movie onto the bare wall outside of the building. People loved it, and repositioned their lawn chairs to watch Tony Stark dole out some justice.
The crowd at the launch event was, to be honest, the most entertaining part of the entire event. The funniest part of the night was knowing that the first dozen people in line had set up a tent city and had been there for about 30 hours. When we spoke to them, we openly praised their devotion. Then we talked to the next group of people, right next to them, and found out they had just started to line up at about 3:00 PM. This means that a hardcore cadre of players had been in line for over a day, and the guys next to them had been in line for about five hours.
Overall the excitement was great, and everyone was extremely good natured. There was one exception. A single gamer %26ndash; we%26rsquo;ll call him Skater Joe %26ndash; confessed to the only anti-Blizzard act in recent memory, and it involves the Frozen Throne.
Blizzard has used a large Frozen Throne prop for some time; it%26rsquo;s a large, reinforced foam and plastic throne, modeled after the one Arthas sits on. A helm and sword accompany the throne, and it serves as a great picture opportunity. Joe told us that Blizzard set the throne up the night prior to the launch event, and then they left. He and his buddies, waiting outside Fry%26rsquo;s, did a bit of drinking, and that led to some horsing around, and....well, Joe thought it would be funny to piss on the throne. There%26rsquo;s even a hole near the the actual seat on the throne, and the sword gets mounted into that hole. Joe tried his best to pee directly into that hole. He told us that, overall, he gave the whole throne a good, thorough wetting down. Some Blizz devs later came by, and they played some mini-golf on the throne. Joe%26rsquo;s puddles of urine apparently were mistaken for rainwater, even when the devs got the ball into the aforementioned hole. Of course, we got an exclusive video with Joe%26rsquo;s confession, and we%26rsquo;ll have that up on the site soon. I guess we should probably call Blizz and let them know they may want to, you know, hose their throne off before they use it again.
On the opposite end of the spectrum was Eugene. Eugene managed to finagle his way out of the hospital a couple of days early just to be at this wrath launch. He%26rsquo;s suffering from kidney failure but is so dedicated to World of Warcraft that he just had to be the first in line. We chatted with Eugene for a while; he just loves the game and everything about it. He got a chance to hang out with some friend from the game while waiting in line, and it made the whole event worthwhile. Eugene, if you%26rsquo;re reading this, you%26rsquo;re one hell of a guy! Now go check yourself back in and make sure everything is ok!
The launch itself went extremely well. It was a smoothly run affair, with gamers being let into the store about 15 minutes before midnight. They grabbed their copies of WotLK, or the collector%26rsquo;s edition, and then made their way to the developers%26rsquo; area. The dev area consisted of a series of long tables, and the numbers of developers present was simply staggering.
More staggering was their attitude. J Allen Brack, the lead designer and overall head honcho for WotLK, grabbed everyone%26rsquo;s attention when the fans were let inside the store. He raised his arms, and yelled that the fans were on their way. Upon hearing that the fans were incoming, the developers positively cheered. Then they repeatedly banged on their tables until, finally, eager fans reached them and started asking for signatures.
It%26rsquo;s not often that you find a computer company that cheers for their fans. I cannot remember another event at which we ever saw anything quite like it. It may be the reason Blizzard is as successful as they are.
Overall, the launch event in Anaheim was a fun, funny, and successful evening. Both the gamers, and the developers that make games for them, showed exhaustive amounts of unbridled enthusiasm, and it made for a very enjoyable event for everyone involved.
Tips:at The same time, if you want to arrive 80 level at a short time, I think you could buy Wow Power Leveling(wotlk power leveling) or Wow Gold at Gmbar.com, why not have a try?