Precursors to the Lich King

Oct 23, 2008 11:00 GMT  ·  By

More than one MMO specialized sites are reporting that World of Warcraft is being assaulted by zombies. The event seems to be a part of the pre-launch period, which began with the 3.02 patch and that will continue until Wrath of the Lich King, the second expansion to the Blizzard-made MMO, will finally arrive to the cheers of players worldwide.

The threat was first noticed when crates began appearing in Booty Bay. They were covered in strange runes and anyone who dared open them would become a zombie. This means that regular abilities are inaccessible, regardless of characters’ class or level, and that new zombie abilities are added. Zombies have about ten minutes to be healed back to normality, after which the transformation is pretty much complete, and players will infect everyone else who comes in contact with them. Argent Dawn agents are positioned in all capital cities and in other locations, trying to contain the disease while saying “The plagued tendrils of the Lich King lurk close.”

Attacking zombies are now ready to strike at all major city hubs, and there are even NPCs that have been turned. Players are apparently playing along, with the chat channels inundated with cries of “Brain!” as the disease spreads through the MMO game world. The good news is that no permanent damage is applied to a character that has been turned, and death makes the character appear as himself again.

The event will likely go on for some time, but observing the chatter on the Blizzard forums shows that the developers are saying this is a containable threat, even if most players are more than happy to play the zombie side and devise strategies to take out as many uninfected characters as possible. Blizzard is likely to also have other events ready, leading up to the launch of Wrath of the Lich King.