Minkyminky kicks it off on the forums: there's a lot of things that have disappeared from the game that players really loved, and it's pretty nostalgic to think about what we used to have, and have since lost.- Plainsrunning was a Tauren racial ability that was in the game before Blizzard implemented Kodos. After a quest, the cows got an aura (canceled with combat, underwater, or indoors, just like a normal mount) that let them move faster and faster up to a certain speed.
- Swirly ball was what the Rogue's Detect traps ability used to be-- a castable 3 minute buff that showed an annoying swirly ball that could be used to detect lag or just make noise.
- The old Hunter's Mark (as you all should know, this one wasn't long ago) was just an arrow, not the fancy schmancy (garish, if you ask me) deal we've got now.
- Baron Geddon's Living Bomb debuff used to be able to hit pets. Hunters would then dismiss their pets-- and resummon them in the Auction House to create carnage.
- The Hakkar virus was another debuff, this one from Hakkar, that did damage to anyone standing around the player. The debuff hit everyone in an AoE based on the target for a few hundred damage every few seconds for a few minutes, and passed on the plague. So players beat Hakkar, ported back to IF, and spread the disease around the world. This one actually made it to the media, and was used as a study for how disease spreads in a virtual environment.
- Captain Placeholder (my personal favorite) was a placeholder who went up while the ships between the continents were bugged. Don't miss the Lament of Captain Placeholder.
- Trolls used to have a "keel two dwarves in the mornin'" emote that got removed from the game, either for violence or drug references, depending on who you ask.
But the other interesting thing is that almost all of them are clear examples of emergent gameplay-- the devs didn't plan for this stuff to be popular, it just became so. If nothing else, they can learn from what happened with these, and (as with world events) bring them back in other forms. And that's a really interesting thought-- a game designed by the players themselves.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
3-23-2007 @ 10:30AM
Sinkiller said...
yeah, we had fun with the Baron Bomb back in the days of Twisted Fate on Thunderhorn.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZAwo9Xmf0Y
just another example of the "lets bomb the AH" craze that went on back then. I Frapsed the complaining done on the graveyard run back to Org, but the vid was already too long as is. Still.. I go back and watch the unedited version every now and again just to laugh at it.
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3-23-2007 @ 10:56AM
chimera said...
"either for violence or drug references, depending on who you ask."
If you ask me, I say it was removed for copyright reasons :D
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3-23-2007 @ 11:19AM
Kompost said...
I had never heard of Captain Placeholder until a few months ago, when there was a post. Someone remarked that he was working in the Blizzard server rooms now, and helping out and running the elevators when he can. The song Lament of Captain Placeholder is a great tribute to such a helpful individual.
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3-23-2007 @ 11:19AM
psdavies said...
"emergent gameplay"
grats on buzzword
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3-23-2007 @ 11:55AM
Anjerith said...
Personally, I liked the original Ogre skin design, Blizzard changed the way the Ogres look, and added some substantial hot pants on them after people complained of the "nudity" of a bare ogre bottom in your face.
I am not too sure why they changed their faces, they used to resemble Warcraft2 Ogres, now they resemble raisins.
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3-23-2007 @ 12:27PM
RogueJedi86 said...
Looks like Volatile Infection has a similar smaller scale effect as the Hakkar Virus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqQ1n01SDm8
The Hakkar virus is before my time, but it really looks like it was awesome to experience, seeing it spread so fast, and so far.
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3-23-2007 @ 12:46PM
Skew said...
I still personally enjoy summoning people off cliffs with my warlock ;)
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3-23-2007 @ 1:08PM
Todd said...
I really, really, really miss being able to turn a level 1 critter into a sheep, then using my wand to kill that critter which would result in a sheep corpse.
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3-23-2007 @ 1:36PM
Bunkai said...
I keel two dwarves in da mornin, I keel two dwarves at night,
I keel two dwarves in da afternoon and den I feel alright.
I keel two dwarves in time of peace and two in time of war,
I keel two dwarves before I keel two dwarves,
And then I keel two more.
FOR. THE. HORDE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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3-23-2007 @ 1:50PM
Dracula Jones said...
Captain Eo was one of my favorites. He was on the Auberdine docks in lieu of the boat and ported you to Menethil. I forget if this was only in beta or if he showed up along with Captain Placeholder.
The reason he was so memorable? 24/7 Michael Jackson dance.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_EO
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3-23-2007 @ 2:11PM
Todd said...
@Dracula Jones
Heh, guess that explains where Major Domo came from.
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3-23-2007 @ 2:12PM
ridestowe said...
captain placeholder....i was never an alliance but that is awesome and should still be there despite the boats coming back
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3-23-2007 @ 2:21PM
Savok said...
They removed that joke? Bunch of god damn pussies.
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3-23-2007 @ 2:32PM
thedog said...
I miss Innervate being a 41pt talent. I miss the pre-mangle druid. I miss the 'can't tank' crap druid.
Wait, I don't miss that, I love my druid
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3-23-2007 @ 3:06PM
Burning Adrenaline said...
Removing the joke is one thing, but if they failed to replace it with another, then it's even more shameful.
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3-23-2007 @ 5:26PM
Talitha said...
Like I said in the forum post.........
/cast shadowmeld
/cast aimed shot
/dance
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3-26-2007 @ 12:10PM
hisk said...
personally i like the new hunters mark yes seeing a big red arrow above a target was cool but this just looks more edggy. and man i wasnt playing when that bomb stuff was going on but id like to try it.
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3-27-2007 @ 12:19PM
Chupes said...
i miss the pvp between south shore and tarren mill. also when people actually had to go to a BG entrance to queue, sure it was anoying, but then there are some new lvl 60s who've never seen the entrance.
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3-27-2007 @ 9:01PM
scott said...
In beta you could bring a raidful of people into every instance. ZG was never as much fun as the time I did it with 17 people.
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3-29-2007 @ 4:23PM
aaron said...
mallowned!
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