I was inspired by the time travel talk from last Friday's The Queue. If you were able to kill Arthas while doing the Culling of Stratholme; you would prevent him from becoming The Lich King, but would cause a much faster spread of the plague. It reminded me of this great piece of short fiction, where going back in time to kill Hitler prevents time travel from becoming possible and is therefore strictly forbidden.
I'd like to go back in time and help Mankrik's Wife escape her violent and lonely death. Do we really need another reason to slaughter those nasty boar humanoids? Besides, I bet she had some really great quests that we missed out on.
If you could go back in WoW time and change something, what would it be? What do you think the ramifications of your change would be?
Last week, there was a thread on the European forums about what really happened during the weekly downtime. Sure, some people said the boring answers of various things having to do with software and hardware. Others were more of the fanciful variety involving the hamsters that run the servers being fed. However, I like the more RP approach to the situation.
Goblins and gnomes are using refitted shredders to sweep the streets and repaint the buildings. Mankrik's wife has stopped playing dead for a little while and is grabbing a bite to eat with her husband. The stormforged dwarves are hard at work forging more drops for the raids that have reset. The streets of Orgrimmar are empty with tumbleweeds blowing down the streets and an old orc in a rocking chair is playing the theme to The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly on an old harmonica (the music was in the tumbleweed's contract).
What do you think the World of Warcraft does while we're temporarily forced offline?
Some World of Warcraft quests have taken on a life of their own. These quests are emblazoned in our minds like the shining sun. They will never be forgotten. Certainly, Wrathgate is one such quest. However, before even that epic quest, the Horde traveling the Barrens have dealt with Mankrik and his wife. Such is the power of Mankrik meme that it has now become a machinima of its own.
Wowcrendor has taken up the epic tale and created Mankrik's Wife: The Story. This movie has a handful of gags similar to Wowcrendor's previous movies, but this film is a great deal more serious. I mean, it's not straight-face no-laughs serious, but the author is clearly telling a story. It's not quite the same kind of one-liners and sight gags we've seen before from Wowcrendor.
The best part for me was titling Mankrik's spouse "Wifeosaurus." That's a pretty fun shout-out to Wowcrendor's first movie, It's a Hard Gnome Life. I like that kind of continuity. I really feel like Wowcrendor is creating his own legacy, and I hope to see him continue to grow.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.
There are some possible lore spoilers in this one, so we're pushing it after the break. If you're not worried about hearing some crazy future lore and enjoy a good laugh at the son of Grom Hellscream, read on.