The online role-playing game “World of Warcraft” is celebrating its 20th anniversary. In two decades, several stars such as Henry Cavill and Mila Kunis, among others, have shown their love for the game.
The online role-playing game “World of Warcraft” (WoW) is celebrating its 20th anniversary. In two decades, many curiosities about the game have accumulated. These range from stars who have put far too much time into the game to their own “South Park” episode.
Famous Players: Superman and a Genie
Henry Cavill (41) almost didn't get the role of Superman in “Man of Steel” (2013) because he “set his priorities clearly.” As he told Conan O'Brien (61)'s talk show, he narrowly missed the call from director Zack Snyder (58) because he was playing “WoW”. When he called Snyder back, he said he had just had to “save someone's life.”
One of the earliest celebrities to publicly admit their love for “World of Warcraft” was Mila Kunis (41). She told the show “Hot Ones” that it got so far that her manager had to log into the game to even be able to talk to her. However, she obviously didn't want to talk to other gamers a lot while playing. She told Jimmy Kimmel (57) on his show years ago that she stopped after another player recognized her by her voice – “and that was the end of it.”
Some celebrities, such as Kunis and Robin Williams (1951-2014), were immortalized in the game by developer Blizzard Entertainment. The character “Mina Kunis” was obviously inspired by the actress. Blizzard immortalized Williams as a Genie in the game – based on the Disney film “Aladdin”, in which the late actor played Genie.
Vin Diesel (57) is also an enthusiastic role-playing fan and likes to share his love with his colleagues. On the set of “Riddick: Chronicles of a Warrior” (2004) he is said to have played “Dungeons & Dragons” with Dame Judi Dench (89) between filming. Among other things, he once played “World of Warcraft” with his friend and colleague Paul Walker, who died in 2013.
With “Warcraft: The Beginning” (2016), the brand received a film, but it largely failed with critics and viewers. However, a “South Park” episode about the game that was first broadcast in 2006 was well received by fans. The episode “Make Love, Not Warcraft” was partly filmed in the game and in it the children are very determined to defeat a particular player who is annoying them.
From “Lost” to the pandemic
Just a year after its release, the game had its own pandemic in 2005. The “Corrupted Blood Incident” caused players' characters to become infected with some sort of virus, infecting anyone who stood near them. The result: player characters died in droves. This was due to a programming error.
The world of the game is called Azeroth and is said to be around 1,200 square kilometers in size. The land area is said to be around 200 square kilometers, making it larger than, for example, that of New York City's Brooklyn borough, which is said to be just over 180 square kilometers.
There's a lot for fans to explore and find in the game world if they take a second look. At the “Bittertidensee”, for example, there is a hatch with the number sequence “5 9 16 17 24 43”. Fans of “Lost” sit up and take notice: these are the infamous numbers from the series, only increased by one.
The band Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain can be found in the video game. The group there consists of characters from developers from Blizzard Entertainment. The band, which was founded by employees, also exists in the real world.
From (ada/spot)
