As most people probably know by now, Robin Williams passed away on the 11th of this month. He wasn’t an actor a particularly tracked in recent years, but I definitely have pleasant memories of him when I was younger. At least from his movies, he sure seemed to be a kind-hearted, happy individual. He was also an avid gamer; the Nintendo commercials with his daughter Zelda are kind of obvious examples. He was also a fan of World of Warcraft.
On the 12th, Shaun Prescott for PC Gamer reported on a fan petition by Jacob Holgate to Blizzard, asking them to include an NPC memorializing Robin Williams. It gave an example, a character in the World’s End Tavern telling his best jokes. That would be amazing in my opinion. The World’s End Tavern is an awesome location in game that already contains Perry Gatner and his stand-up routine , The Artists Formerly Known as Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain, and Haris Pilton.
Prescott noted that an update by Holgate on the change.org petition stated that “In less than twenty four hours [they’ve] earned eleven thousand signatures,” although I only see 10,975 on the petition at this time.
@Celestalon has already noted that Blizzard has seen the petition and are “taking care of it.”
@Dakirokos @mumper @CM_Lore @DaveKosak @davhave Yes. We’re taking care of it.
— Celestalon (@Celestalon) August 12, 2014
Good on Blizzard to respond so quickly. The official World of Warcraft Twitter account also tweeted this:
.@robinwilliams Thank you. You gave us so much joy in our lives, and we hope you enjoyed your time in our world. We’ll see you in-game. — World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) August 13, 2014
Megan Farokhmanesh of Polygon reported that fans have also held memorials in World of Warcraft, including this one by Dylan Hecht.
Shot of the Robin Williams memorial on Area 52. pic.twitter.com/KA2ckSIVpn
— Dylan Hecht (@dylanhecht) August 13, 2014
I hope to see Robin Williams in game soon.
Sources:
- World of Warcraft petition leads to in-game Robin Williams tribute, Shaun Prescott, PC Gamer, 8/12/14.
- Create an NPC within World of Warcraft to memorialize the late Robin Williams, an avid World of Warcraft player, and one of the funniest men alive, Jacob Holgate, Change.org.
- @Celestalon’s 8/11/14 8:30 PM Tweet, Celestalon, Twitter, 8/11/14.
- @Warcraft’s 8/12/14 6:56 Tweet, World of Warcraft, Twitter, 8/12/14.
- World of Warcraft pays tribute to Robin Williams, Megan Farokhmanesh, Polygon, 8/13/14.
- @dylanhecht’s 8/12/14 6:38 PM Tweet, Dylan Hecht, Twitter, 8/12/14.