Wrath of the Lich King zombie plague covering Azeroth

by Christopher Grant { Oct 22nd 2008 at 10:48PM }

Though the gaming industry fat cats have yet to seriously address our demands for a zombie-themed MMO (do we need to throw another demand-wrapped brick through the front window?) tonight's event in World of Warcraft has given us something close. You see, Arthas – the titular Lich King – is sort of a jerk and, as such, he's planted a bunch of "Conspicuous Crates" around the land of Azeroth. Open one: You're a zombie! Touch another zombie? Bam! You're a zombie.

If this plague sounds familiar, we'd direct you towards this post from 2005 (lo those many years ago) detailing an unintentional plague that spread through Azeroth (and the servers that power it). Blizzard has, in short, taken that "Blood Plague" and harnessed it as a world event, similar to the Scourge invasion that preceded the release of The Burning Crusade. Unsurprisingly, WoW Insider has all the details, reporting, "The threat is growing -- we're getting word of huge zombie raids forming outside the capital cities ..."

Shhh. You had us at "huge zombie raids."

Gallery: Wrath of the Lich King Zombie Event

Tags: World-of-Warcraft, WotLK, WoW, Wrath-of-the-Lich-King

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

offday @ Oct 22nd 2008 10:59PM

One of the many reasons why I love WoW so much.

NoHitHair @ Oct 23rd 2008 1:43AM

Because they attempt to recreate an interesting idea from thinly veiled pandering that does actually nothing to change the stagnant 4 year stale world that is Azeroth?

Yeah. I sure do love Blizzard too. Now I can go back to playing other games, like Bejeweled, than WoW.

waterwampa @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:04PM

Nice, I've had friends that have eagerly jumped on the zombie bandwagon... great way to make this encounter a little more random.

Does anyone think they should take over the capital cities for a while? I mean, throw some suspense into the game... really do something crazy...

Would anyone really get upset about it?

&rew @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:30PM

Where there is a zombie outbreak there are guns, so when are they adding guns? If never, then I will continue never playing this game.

Justin Nolan @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:49PM

There ARE guns in WoW 0_o

&rew @ Oct 23rd 2008 1:28AM

Well I said add guns, so I'm still continuing to never play that game.

Lukeyo @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:39AM

I believe they're doing that as well.

http://wotlkwiki.info/index.php/Engineering#tab=New_Weapon_Recipes

Frostybolts @ Oct 23rd 2008 1:51PM

I'll see you in Azeroth, buddy!

Mainman @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:32PM

Once I'd figured out what was going on, I headed for the nearest Alliance capital and typed out a simple macro that makes me say:

"By the Light, be cleansed, my friend! Your infection is at an end!"

"Be safe, be well, be on your way. Beware the plagued ones, and good day!"

Once I was there, I started spamming Cleanse (a disease-curing spell) on anyone who carried the plague but had not yet become a zombie (it takes multiple casts to remove), then clicked the speech macro before running away. I've never had so many /spits and angry whispers in my life, and it feels FANTASTIC.

WiiFTW @ Oct 23rd 2008 12:26AM

No wonder everyone hates paladins:P

LM @ Oct 22nd 2008 11:52PM

&drew -WoW has had guns since day one

frzamonkey @ Oct 23rd 2008 12:23AM

we got from booty bay all the way to darkshore as a 2 man zombie makin party... good times...

waterwampa @ Oct 23rd 2008 12:25AM

"I've never had so many /spits and angry whispers in my life, and it feels FANTASTIC."

lol... well, Mainman aside... are players getting tired of attacking the cities yet? I hope this builds up... My server Scarlet... is rather dull at the moment...

I want action people!!

KarlW @ Oct 23rd 2008 12:27AM

I want to see what happens when one of those guys playing 5 characters at once gets infected. Seizure?

Shagittarius @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:49AM

My dual-boxing team got turned. We did the right thing and immediately joined the zombie horde to attack those who had come to aid us.

Unexpected, (I hadn't read about this), and a pleasant distraction for a bit.

Josh @ Oct 23rd 2008 12:35AM

I don't play WoW, but it sounds terribly terribly exciting to spontaneously form a group of zombie raiding vigilantes in a desperate situation like this and rid the land of this threat to life and peace before it's *too late*.

waynski1457 @ Oct 23rd 2008 1:03AM

We had about 20 people compromise Crossroads on our server tonite. Good times...

bm @ Oct 23rd 2008 1:16AM

So uhh... what happens to the undead when infected? They become... double undead?

E-man @ Oct 23rd 2008 9:21AM

I thought the same thing. Undead are ALREADY zombies.

Just Mr ESC. @ Oct 23rd 2008 11:47AM

You become alive!!

Seriously I have no Idea maybe you just pass from undead to a dumbass zombie.

"All we want to do is eat your brains"

"We are not unreasonable,I mean no one is gonna eat your eyes"

Zsavior @ Oct 23rd 2008 2:32AM

The problem with wow is its players. This event is fun but man the players will cry about anything. On my server there was a glitch when you turned to a Zombie. When you were about to die you get all your life back in one blow.

So what did players start crying about? "Wahhhh Why are people killing us We should get to destroy everything, and if you become a zombie you have to help us." Mind you I made the mistake of rolling on an RP server, that hates the idea of RP. So what is the point of the event if all people want to do is have their own way and nothing else. Wow is total fail at things like this because they have catered to long to the worse in wow.

zombiejesus @ Oct 23rd 2008 3:10AM

Oh man we were grouping up in STV and mauling the level 40s running around questing yelling BRAINNNSSSS

LaughingTarget @ Oct 23rd 2008 6:56AM

Either this is going to seriously suck for newbies (capital cities are a stopping point by level 8), them being invincible or the zombie hoards are trivial at best. As fun as it sounds, it'll suck for someone.

Richard A. @ Oct 27th 2008 12:36AM

I'm level 65 and the zombies are still making me miserable. I can't repair, use the AH, or quest. Wake me when they're gone. If they're still in the major cities after WotLK, I can save $15/month.

meist3r @ Oct 23rd 2008 8:13AM

Raids ... Rraaids ... Raaaiidddsss ...

Blazur @ Oct 23rd 2008 9:00AM

That actually sounds really cool. I wonder how long it would take for a zombie plague to propagate through the entire game if they withheld a cure for awhile.

ThornedVenom (Harley Quinn Defense Force) @ Oct 23rd 2008 9:41AM

I'm not much of a WoW fan, but even I have to admit that this is really really cool.

Dillon @ Oct 23rd 2008 10:44AM

Really a great idea - after playing it, it probably could have been executed or tweaked even now to be a little more exciting (shorter timer until you become infected, only able to cleanse with Argent Dawn NPCs, higher zombie health)

But, seriously, a lot of fun, and very cool that Blizzard is letting the players help to drive a world event.