In light of yesterday’s horrible news about Robin Williams’ death, many of his fans and fellow gamers were looking for a fitting way to memorialize Williams. Jacob Holgate of Abbot, Texas started a petition on Change.org, requesting that Blizzard Entertainment make a permanent memorial to Williams within World of Warcraft.
The petition explains, “Robin Williams was not only an excellent comedian but also a game enthusiast. He said that he enjoys Warcraft III very much in an interview a few years ago, and was even apart of the mmorpg World of Warcraft. It was reported that Robin used to play on the Mannoroth server, and was something of a troll in trade on good days or when anonymity allowed. Mr. Williams said in interviews that he took his World of Warcraft characters very serious [sic.] – in fact he was well known for being an extreme PC builder who preferred to build his own overclocked and super-cooled systems. He often joked about his WoW addiction but also about the reactions he’d get from other gamers when he admits he plays the game. Because of his presence within our community, we the players of World of Warcraft are asking Blizzard to kindly create an NPC within the game that memorializes the actor/comedian.”
In less than 24 hours, the petition received nearly 11,000 signatures, and Blizzard Entertainment has acknowledged the request, Tweeting this evening, “Robin Williams 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.”
Blizzard Technical Game Designer Chadd Nervig was asked by a Twitter user whether they’d seen the petition yet, and he replied, “Yes. We’re taking care of it.”
Of course, fans are chiming in with all kinds of suggestions as to how Williams would best be memorialized. Suggestions have included having him work in Gepetto Joybuzz’s shop, and a Jumanji quest line in new Nagrand, No one from Blizzard has said whether the memorial will come in the form of a location, an NPC, or some other form. We’ll keep you posted as more information is available.
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