Giant Bomb News

Swine Flu Pandemic Spreads To Azeroth

Clearly, no toon is safe.

In yet another instance of life imitating games, some fearless World of Warcraft players have pointed out that the ongoing Swine Flu pandemic has found its way into the fabled lands of Azeroth, as evidenced by this Wowhead page. Here's the photographic evidence.

Residents of Azeroth are urged to proceed to the nearest auction house and procure a Gleaming Surgical Mask of the Bear. Just like in real life, the ill effects of the virus include 120 Nature damage every two seconds, and a 70 percent reduction in movement speed.

To be fair, a Blizzard representative pointed out this spell has been in the game since Wrath of the Lich King went into beta and is certainly not a late attempt to capitalize on dire current events. This stuff has been around for a while, after all.
Bigandtastyon April 30, 2009 at 3:10 p.m.
Too bad it's not another Corrupted Blood. That was the stuff that made WoW fun.

Then again maybe it's not bad since I'm not missing much
CL60on April 30, 2009 at 3:12 p.m.
Oh noes!
Ryuon April 30, 2009 at 3:13 p.m.

I thought that was a real place until I read the article, haha :).

majnukeron April 30, 2009 at 3:14 p.m.
lmao INFECT YOUR FRIENDS!

Interactive gameplay!
OmegaPirateon April 30, 2009 at 3:15 p.m.
majnuker said:
"lmao INFECT YOUR FRIENDS!Interactive gameplay!"
I dont need a computer to do that ;)
RHCPfan24on April 30, 2009 at 3:16 p.m.
Haha, more swine flu. How about "whine flu!"

yep, that's not a great joke.
GalvanizedNailson April 30, 2009 at 3:19 p.m.
yeah, i dont find this funny, with the swine flu approaching my area quickly but whatever. i dont play wow so i dont really care. blizzard can do what they want
MatthewMeadowson April 30, 2009 at 3:23 p.m.
I'm worried that swine flu might be so bad as to cause an a-pork-alypse.
Death_Burnouton April 30, 2009 at 3:24 p.m.
Oh dude "Whine Flu" is excellent! it's not bad!

a-pork-alypse is terrible...

No i like that too.
DeavonWon April 30, 2009 at 3:25 p.m.
My college shut down in Texas, things are Resident Evil over here

Tacky joke btw, people are dying here
CL60on April 30, 2009 at 3:27 p.m.
Bigandtasty said:
"Too bad it's not another Corrupted Blood. That was the stuff that made WoW fun.

Then again maybe it's not bad since I'm not missing much
"
Yeah, that was fun.
Death_Burnouton April 30, 2009 at 3:28 p.m.
people die from any old flu, all the time, so...but hey, it's not my place! they weren't my jokes!

This article is pretty bad though.

EDIT: i meant subject wise! also...why do MMO playes call their characters toons? i refuse to do it in all of my MMORPG game playing. It's like at that point, all they see is scrolling numbers, "character" become irrelevant .
alConnon April 30, 2009 at 3:34 p.m.
13,000 people have died from the normal flu this year in the U.S., so yea, H1N1 mutated strain of influenza = not the end of the world.

"To be fair, a Blizzard representative pointed out this spell has been in the game since Wrath of the Lich King went into beta and is certainly not a late attempt to capitalize on dire current events. This stuff has been around for a while, after all."

Read that part as well, please everyone who is overreacting.
Jimboon April 30, 2009 at 3:34 p.m.
Now that's too soon! :D

Surely you should cure it with some kind of Oinkment? Right guyz??
Meatsimon April 30, 2009 at 3:36 p.m.
Virtual swine flu ahhhhh!
ValkyrieGoddesson April 30, 2009 at 3:36 p.m.
What won't WoW try to monopolize on???? Can anyone answer that...
Plasma is online on April 30, 2009 at 3:46 p.m.
L2READ

He said that its been part of the game BEFORE the latest scare

Jumping to conclusions ....
Scooperon April 30, 2009 at 3:46 p.m.
Blizzard actualy put out this swine flu around the world so more people would stay inside and play WoW.
MattyFTM moderator is online on April 30, 2009 at 3:47 p.m.
So what you're saying is that Blizzard Devs can predict outbreaks of dissease? Awesome. I'll be looking to starcraft 2 and diablo 3to see what medications to stock up on for future disseases will affect us.
ZeroCaston April 30, 2009 at 3:51 p.m.
omg let's find a vaccine quickly!!1 :p

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World of Warcraft is an MMORPG that takes place in Blizzard Entertainment's popular Warcraft universe; at its peak, it boasted a player base of over 12.5 million subscribers, making it the most popular MMO of all time.

US Release Date: Nov. 23, 2004

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