In World of Warcraft there are not only many references to pop culture or the game’s developers, but Blizzard has also immortalized some special players in Azeroth. The secret of a truly beautiful tribute has only now, after 12 years, come to light.
What is this secret? It has been ten years since WoW fan Kyle passed away at the age of 19 from a congenital heart defect and pulmonary hypertension. His best friend, Zathenex, used this sad anniversary to reveal a little secret that has been around for 12 years, but hardly anyone knew about it.
Thanks to the “Make A Wish” foundation, Kyle had the opportunity in 2013 to visit the headquarters of Blizzard Entertainment and meet, among others, Chris Metzen, the creative mind behind WoW.
Along with the developers, Kyle was able to immortalize himself in three different ways in Azeroth (via Reddit):
- The deathwatch Netharian from Orgrimmar was named after Kyle’s main character, his orc death knight named Netharian.
- Nekrolord Sipe, the armorer in Stormwind, is a reference to Kyle’s last name.
- The same goes for Torturer Sipe, who is causing trouble with the spear guard Du’mont in Zul’Drak. According to Zathenex, these two NPCs were the result of Kyle’s first design attempts in the WoW game environment – the young man would have liked to work in the fields of computer science and game design.
In another post on Reddit, Zathenex explains that Kyle only learned on site what cool surprise the Blizzard developers had planned for him. Initially, it was only clear that the two merchants would make it into the game. That it ultimately included his self-designed camp in Zul’Drak in the live version was the proverbial cherry on top.
Another heartwarming story from the WoW community:
“WoW really feels more sublime”
How does the community react to Blizzard’s tribute? With over 1,000 upvotes and kind comments.
- Liamu4 celebrates the tribute on Reddit: “It is so cool to see such additions to the game, really passionate players becoming part of the world. WoW feels really more sublime than just a game when even the NPCs are not just added by a designer, but are a living legacy of other players.”
- amikaboshi thinks that’s great too, via Reddit: “Reminds me of the shrine of the fallen warrior. I’ve been playing since vanilla and this world has become a part of me. I’ve visited the shrine several times over the years after accidentally discovering it while playing.”
- Arie15 writes on Reddit: “It was great that your friend was able to go to Blizzard! Thank you for sharing this with us. I love it when such little things are added to the game.”
- Crematia is happy about the story (via Reddit): “That’s great. I’ve always wondered who the NPC was named after.”
This is a nice memory of Kyle, isn’t it? In a completely different but also heartwarming community story, we hear about a family that manages to bridge the great distances and stay in touch thanks to WoW: WoW has been connecting families for 20 years: “They always have their perfect 5-player group”
