Blizzard makes WoW wish virtual reality
Blizzard makes WoW wish virtual reality
Make-A-Wish wowgoldand a willing company help a grade guild wars gold schooler become the World of Warcraft Gold first outsider to create a new character in World of Warcraft.
IRVINE – For World guildwars gold of Warcraft players hanging buy wow gold out in Shadowmoon Valley last Friday, cheap guild wars gold bizarre events guildwars gold occurred wowgoldthat can only be explained by cheap wow gold a small group of people inside the guild wars gold headquarters of Blizzard Entertainment.
At the helm guild wars gold of the cheap wow gold strangeness sat 10-year-old buy wow gold Ezra Chatterton, who wowgolddirected Warcraft's lead game designer Jeff Kaplan to blast World of Warcraft Gold ferocious-looking cheap guild wars gold monsters, or "bosses," with a single wowgolddeath ray. Chatterton cleared the cheap guild wars gold Black Temple for cheap wow gold a European clan to guild wars gold fight the guildwars gold volcano-summoning Supremus.
All that power. Heh, heh.
"I'm impressed with cheap wow gold Blizzard," World of Warcraft Gold said Chatterton from his cheap guild wars gold wheelchair. "Bravo!"guild wars gold
The Riverside fifth-grader cheap wow gold has a brain tumor. buy wow gold The diagnosis isn't good; metastatic cancer. Splitting World of Warcraft Gold headaches started in March, guild wars gold which led to an emergency room visit in April. cheap guild wars gold Doctors had to cheap guild wars gold sedate him for wowgoldthe pain and he didn't wake up for a week. Groggy and cheap wow gold weak in the hospital, Chatterton guild wars gold only wanted to play the cheap guild wars gold massively multiplayer online game World of Warcraft.
When the Make-A-Wish wowgoldFoundation of America, an buy wow gold organization that World of Warcraft Gold grants wishes guild wars gold to children with cheap guild wars gold life-threatening cases, came cheap wow gold calling two weeks ago, Chatterton knew exactly what he wanted.
"I wished for a trip to Blizzard because I'd like to buy wow gold see if they could make a cheap wow gold character and do some World of Warcraft Gold things for us."
Chatterton didn't think his wish would come true. He's buy wow gold starting treatment today. guild wars gold And, at most, he thought it could just be a video wowgoldconference call. But when cheap wow gold he found out Blizzard was nearby, and willing, Chatterton became the envy of the 8.5 World of Warcraft Gold million World of Warcraft players worldwide. guild wars gold He not only got buy wow gold the chance to tour the World of Warcraft Gold company, but to create wowgoldsomething new for the game.
Dubbed WoW, Blizzard's game cheap wow gold debuted in 2004 and buy wow gold has inspired hundreds of fan guildwars gold sites, a Warcraft Wiki, cheap wow gold global game guild wars gold tournaments and even a wowgold"South Park" episode.
Chatterton had his cheap wow gold father, Micah, sketch guild wars gold characters buy wow gold and write down questions World of Warcraft Gold so he wouldn't forget.
Blizzard guildwars gold pulled the daylong funfest wowgoldtogether in cheap guild wars gold days. On Friday, cheap wow gold fatherguild wars gold and son arrived at wowgoldBlizzard's Irvine headquarters in a black World of Warcraft Gold limo to tour one of the world's most successful game companies.
Chatterton was whisked guildwars gold immediately to Kaplan's buy wow gold office to create weapons and characters for the game. Later he would head to the wowgoldrecording guild wars gold studio to do cheap wow gold a voice for the new character and meet with an artist to get the World of Warcraft Gold character's look just guild wars gold right. Throughout the day, he got to guildwars gold design a new weapon, add his dog Kyle buy wow gold to the game, create a quest and record his voice cheap wow gold for the new character, World of Warcraft Gold Ahab Wheathoof, the Old Rancher.
"We definitely want a crossbow," Chatterton buy wow gold instructed Kaplan. He offered a cheap wow gold detailed description of guild wars gold what he wanted: World of Warcraft Gold dangerous flames, curved wowgold frame and an ability to wreak havoc.
"I want it to shoot a fiery cheap wow gold arrow at 300 damage over 10 seconds," he said.
With a few clicks of his mouse, Kaplan buy wow gold constructed a prototype.
"Wow. Weird. Progress is cheap wow gold going quicker World of Warcraft Gold than I expected," guild wars gold Chatterton said.
"This crossbow guildwars gold will be the only one in buy wow gold the game and it's very World of Warcraft Gold difficult to get," cheap wow gold Kaplan explained. wowgold"You're going to World of Warcraft Gold get a lot of questions (from other players)."
Chatterton shied away at Kaplan's suggestion to buy wow gold add "Finely crafted to Ezra's specifications." Father Micah explained, "He World of Warcraft Gold doesn't want to appear cheap wow gold boastful." They settled on wowgoldattributing it guild wars gold to ePhoenix, his guildwars gold character in the game.
Chatterton's parents divorced about five years buy wow gold ago and he spends time with guildwars gold both. But only when he's with his dad does he get to World of Warcraft Gold play WoW. Micah Chatterton, a writer, wanted to play from the cheap wow gold game's beginning, but couldn't afford it. In the U.S., WoW guild wars gold costs about $20 plus another $15 a World of Warcraft Gold month in subscription fees. Also, to play online, it's best to have a high-speed Internet connection, which is cheap wow gold another $20 to $50 a month.
Then, last fall, Micah Chatterton's house buy wow gold burned down, taking away all his guildwars gold son's toys. He used some insurance money for a computer and Internet access. The cheap wow gold father-and-son team entered the world of Warcraft. By Friday, they had made it to level 63. Blizzard World of Warcraft Gold bumped ePhoenix up to level 70, the highest level, cheap wow gold and stocked the guild wars gold character with gold, guildwars gold weapons and new armor.
"There were a lot of World of Warcraft Gold things that are unconventional with our cheap wow gold relationship, and the way we choose guild wars gold to bond and spend time together," said Micah Chatterton. World of Warcraft Gold "For instance, WoW was something we had researched guild wars gold and talked about. We would talk about what guildwars gold kind of character do we want to create. This costume as cheap wow gold opposed to that costume. We would make decisions together. Neither buy wow gold of us would feel comfortable about making a big decision without consulting the other."
In the few days the two had cheap wow gold to prepare for the trip buy wow gold to Blizzard, World of Warcraft Gold they did their homework.
"He asked me draw (a character) and we buy wow gold settled on this Phoenix motif because that's cheap wow gold his middle guild wars gold name. It's certainly apt because World of Warcraft Gold we'd like to have some rebirth," Micah Chatterton said.
"I asked him to think about World of Warcraft Gold why he likes to play WoW and one thing cheap wow gold he said was he likes interacting guild wars gold with people he doesn't know. No matter cheap wow gold how crappy things are going on World of Warcraft Gold the outside, in the real buy wow gold world, he can wow gold be strong and wow gold successful and really turn heads in WoW."
Ezra Chatterton's enthusiasm kept him going buy wow gold all day, even getting out of his wow gold wheelchair to World of Warcraft Gold lob some bombs. By the guild wars gold end of the visit, he'd cheap wow gold probably spent nearly wow gold seven hours with World of Warcraft Gold the Blizzard team.
"From my end, it was a lot about really maintaining the momentum cheap wow gold of the day, just guild wars gold the happiness," Micah Chatterton said. "By the end of wow gold the day, when we sat down World of Warcraft Gold with the artist, Ezra was exhausted buy wow gold and said, 'I'm just happy cheap wow gold with what I've got.' "
WoW players should keep an eye out for buy wow gold Chatterton's creations: the rare, World of Warcraft Gold flame-shooting crossbow, a quest from a graying Tauren named Ahab Wheathoof and his frenzied cheap wow gold dog, Kyle. guild wars gold Blizzard will wow gold add Ezra's World of Warcraft Gold changes to the game in the next four weeks.
"If Blizzard is listening, I'd like guild wars gold to say thank you for cheap wow gold everything you've done for my character to make him so good. I want wow gold to thank them for making the quest of the lost dog and the Old wow gold Rancher and guild wars gold all the stuff they gave us," World of Warcraft Gold said a grateful but drained Ezra Chatterton, who by Sunday got cheap wow gold in about five hours of game play.
The visit has given cheap wow gold him more to guild wars gold think about than buy wow gold playing games. He's wow gold starting to think about his future.
"I'd like to be paid wow gold to test and guild wars gold play the game buy wow gold and test weapons, but I don't cheap wow gold think I meet the age wow gold requirements," he said. World of Warcraft Gold "I'm only 10."