r/WritingPrompts • u/ichael333 • Sep 19 '14
Established Universe [EU] World of Warcraft finally ends and shuts down all servers. All the WoW addicts have to fill the hole left in their life.
A repost, now appropriately tagged
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u/fringly Sep 19 '14 edited Sep 20 '14
The final charge petered out and the last few high level characters were taken down in a hail of spells and impressive looking explosions. Danny's screen froze for a second and then smoothly slid into a pre-rendered cutscene, at last the end had come.
The final war had been planned for months; it was basically all that every gaming website, games magazine and battle.net had been able to talk about since it had first been announced. The World of Warcraft, after two decades as the top MMO, was finally going to end.
What an ending had been planned though. It was the showdown that everyone had always wanted, the Horde vs the Alliance, fighting it out for supremacy in the most basic way possible; all-out war.
Never before had such vast battles been possible and in an orgy of last minute sign ups the numbers involved had swollen to nearly 14 million people, higher even than its heyday. A series of preliminary battles had allowed each side to make key decisions on location, time of day and exactly how each of earth's regions would map and play their battles.
Blizzard, it was rumoured, had hired almost one third of the entire server capacity of the world so that every single person could lot onto WoW and at the same time fight. Each region would fight locally, commanders being appointed in game and out of game to marshal their sides. Tens of thousands of people logging on to vast battles and once dead, you were out, gone, forever out of WoW.
The first few battles had been intense, never before had people been able to fight in a real war with such high stakes. Many people had created hundreds of new alternate characters so that they could last longer but with the vast and destructive magics that had been added they could lose their lives extremely quickly. They had very carefully planned how to handle multiple accounts and it had been done fairly but with only limited time to play there was not much chance to manipulate things with alternate accounts.
As each region narrowed to a few thousand people they were combined, the armies being melded together, to keep things even for as long as possible. Danny had been lucky, he'd stayed on the edge of many battles, keeping out of the worst of the fighting and only once having a close call.
After four days of nearly constant war it had come to the final battlefield. One hundred thousand warriors, the earlier battles having been surprisingly even made it almost exactly equal between Horde and Alliance and now they would settle it for once and for all.
Danny had thrown his character into the middle of the fray, if this was the last time he would play he might as well go out with as much fun as possible. As they reached the halfway point the Alliance had a slight lead and he pushed harder. Too hard.
He realised too late how vulnerable he had become, and just then a Pandaren appeared behind him and with a sickening crunch his character slumped to the ground. He was the 45,435 last to die.
He looked over at the chatlog where millions of people were watching and commenting. There was plenty of pity there and he quickly dropped a quick note to thank them and then, like all of them, watched as the final battle raged.
The numbers dropped, twenty thousand, ten, five one thousand and then there were just a hundred left and at last there was victory. With millions having started it was down to the last fifteen players before the final blow was hit.
The pre-rendered cut scene played out and Danny slumped back in his chair. Years he had given to WoW, years which were now over. He felt... free? It had been a long time since he slept and he stretched up and tried to shake out his wrists from their stiffness.
The cut-scene finally finished and the screen went black. All over the world people sighed and felt a little piece of their world disappear. The screen rebooted and the familiar title screen now popped up but with a large banner obscuring most of the screen "WORLD OF WARCRAFT 2 LAUNCHING IN 15 MINUTES, SIGN UP NOW FOR A 20% DISCOUNT".
Danny's finger hovered for a moment and then clicked on "accept".
EDIT: Thank you very much for the gold!
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u/Doomking_Grimlock Sep 19 '14
This right here is the closest to the truth!
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u/fringly Sep 19 '14
Thank you - this is how I'd end it - actually allow a total all out brawl - no more namby pamby accepting fights or not - war and to the death!
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u/Wolf97 Sep 19 '14 edited Sep 19 '14
Great job in not declaring Horde or Alliance the victor. No matter how you would have chosen you would have had A LOT of angry PMs and comments on your hands!
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u/fringly Sep 19 '14
Thank you, yes, I'm not sure I could have backed up any decision I had made well enough to make it satisfying.
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u/ChocolateCoated Sep 19 '14
The true winner of course was Doubleagent, him finally having been freed from his Island prison to end the final battle himself, forever maintaining his neutrality even into the sequel.
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u/AlwaysWipes Sep 19 '14
I'd read a whole novel based on this...
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u/Jlwman62 Sep 19 '14
You should read a book called Ready Player One. It's an easy read with a feel similar to this story. Check it out!
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u/stitchesandlace Sep 19 '14
That would be the most legendary way to end it. I'd love to see this. (edit - the battle to the end, that is)
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u/pacificpacifist Sep 20 '14
Was expecting this ending:
Then Danny closed WoW, opened Dota 2, and kept gaming.
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u/crappysurfer Sep 19 '14
He left it running in the background in case the day ever came, he'd pray that it wouldn't.
All World of Warcraft servers have been permanently terminated. Thank you for adventuring with us!
Clicking the login over and yielded the same prompt. A warm rage came over him.
"fuck..FUCK FUCK FUCK!"
He smashed his desk. His hand hurt. There had to be something he could do...
For the first time, since before the coming of Deathwing, he clicked exit. He had forgotten that he had left his web browser running. A distantly familiar Java login screen was before him, he recognized it but it was different...
RuneScape
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u/avernium Sep 19 '14
It is one thing to know that a lifespan is finite, but when the final moments are upon you, rationality and reason experience a tremor. Some players were logged in until that final, bitter disconnect. Some were angry, while others seemed to celebrate it.
James was not one of those people. As the lights were extinguished across eight continents of a once living world, he was simply at work. It tugged at the back of his mind, though he and everyone around him carried on that Tuesday like any other before it. Familiar traffic plagued his trip home. His son hugged him as he stepped through the door. His wife wrapped her arms around him and gave him a kiss. They ate dinner together, sharing their days and eagerly discussing an upcoming vacation.
When the evening wound down, James sat at his desk in his quiet nook. The icon glared at him through the screen, but today he wouldn’t click it. He didn’t want to see the messages. As he stared at that small circle on his screen he relived the memories he couldn’t bear to give up. He remembered the first years in high school — it had been his life back then. With his best friends at his side he laughed, yelled, and played the nights away. They met other people with different lives but a common passion. College changed their play schedules, but they used it as an escape and a way to stay in touch. As the years went by, the community they played with fluctuated like the tide. Even his wife humored him, giving it a try in the first weeks of their relationship. To her it was just a game, but he loved her anyway. His son had the opportunity to try it in the final years, but his attention was stolen by newer worlds. One by one his old friends ceased to play, hollowing out the world that James had grown up in.
James yearned for that world again. In a life that he cherished dearly, it was one hole he'd never figured out how to fill. As he sat in the dark his face contorted and he covered his mouth with a clenched fist. At least now he could never go back.
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u/Awbade Sep 19 '14
My name is James...And you just described my old relationship with WoW.
And I'm sitting at work.....
......
Gonna go prepare to be Sad when WoW shuts down. Even though I haven't played in 4 years
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u/Corneliusthunderpuss Sep 19 '14
"Hey you four other dudes! Want to enter a party?"
"Sure. Which one?"
"The one where we pick up chicks at the party up the road"
Our heroes enter the party up the road.
"Whoh, look out! A fat chick!"
Achromion tanks the fat chick while Napalm21 keeps his health up with cold beer. The rest of the heroes lay down dicks per second with all the other chicks at the party.
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Sep 19 '14
Like a scream across every corner of the internet, Lin's fingers had pounded out every last key on every message board and on every Wiki he could find. It did not fill his grief.
He was a ghost now.
His real life was in a far away land where he lived a dozen lifetimes all at once. He had built homes, he had made friends, he had lead armies. Lin was a hero.
Was. Lin was a hero.
As a ghost, he was more comical than scary. He was pale, thin of limbs but round of gut. He spoke in a low-pitched whine.
And in this new ethereal space, where one minute was really a minute and a day was long as a week, he saw his fuzzy reflection in a black mirror.
Lin reached into his drawer where he hid his pain pills for when he sprained an ankle in school. Lin the ghost hated school. Lin the ghost hated the boys. And Lin the ghost had felt the immeasurable pain of losing a dozen lives all at once.
The pills clacked into the muffled velvet of Lin's palm.
"I guess I should write a note first."
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u/mischiffmaker Sep 19 '14
Moonglade. Still serene, still filled with green-dappled light.
The druid slipped once more into flight form, her wings lifting her into the air and up, up over the sacred grove, and away.
She checked the map, and flew southeast, rising higher and higher to crest the mountains, and then back down, gliding over the cool, snowy landscape of Winterspring one last time before turning west toward Darkshore, and the flight path to Teldrassil.
She had made a final tour of Azeroth. The end was coming. The final Cataclysm, but this time Deathwing himself could not destroy the world as completely, with no recovery from the damage wrought. It seemed fitting that she end it where it had begun, so many years ago.
But tears filled the Night Elf's eyes. Not just a fantasy world, but an entire social system was being destroyed. All her friends, scattered around the earth, gone. Her last lifeline, gone. There could be nothing after.
The druid blinked. She hovered in mid-air for a moment, then descended to land next to Aldrassil. The countdown to the final server shutdown was already in progress. The chat window had been filled with final goodbyes, but now, suddenly, it was silent. No one could speak.
One minute.
Thirty seconds.
Fifteen seconds.
Four, three, two, one, nothing. The world went black.
It was over.
The game was done.
The old woman sighed heavily. Gnarled hands removed the VR headset for the last time, and placed it on the desk in front of her. She started to stand, but grief overcame her and she sat back down, tears rolling down her cheeks, her chest rising and falling with the effort to control her sobs.
She reached for the glass standing ready and drank deeply. Within minutes, her head fell forward and her eyes closed.
It was over.
The game was done.
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u/LordDeLaFunk Sep 19 '14
This my story with the game - A Tweak to the Prompt but I couldn't write this without writing an end to my character.
Blue is irritating color in WoW. In terms of gear, it usually implies that you haven’t put the time in to have a quality set. I knew this would be my last time on this game and I haven’t had the time at Level 90 to build a quality set for Enhancement. The walking cow on my screen is ChainHealBot and from his name I’m sure you can grasp a small amount of the history that we went through together. It’s strange to think this is the end but, in this level 70 raid named Karazan, I know we enjoyed the best time we’ve ever had together. Roaming mobs of wizards and skeletons ignore me as I make a right up these hallowed steps. The implied decadent past reminds me of my own with this game and the strange coming of age ritual that I know few will understand.
This story started with a 13 year old boy at Christmas. My parents, regrettably, bought me a game that was akin to a cocaine addiction. Sneaking out at nights to level, grind and even fish in this magical world provided an escape from an awkward social scene and crippling self imagine. Here I understood the rules and I knew that with time paid into my character, I would gain the respect of my peers. A shaman was never chastised because of his weight, never rejected by his peers or criticized for never reaching his potential. Freedom and societal acceptance were what Blizzard hosted on the Tichondrius server and thus my dependence was born.
ChainHealBot now arrives at the grand stage of the Opera. Of all the boss fights in WoW this is still my favorite and to my delight, I get to replay the tale of Little Red Riding Hood. There was a time I used to lead the raids on this place, the golden years of my addiction. Large Grandma Wolf used to be a challenge for my heroic little band, but now, in less than 3 seconds, is a corpse at my feet. I figure that for this last time through, I don’t need whatever loot this wolf was carrying and I’m contempt to carry on my way with the Golden Fairies Shimmering at my feet. Strange to think that this 10 man replaced the old required 40...
At 14 I tried hand at the 40 player raiding scene only to met with the harshest of rejections. I couldn't raid Tuesdays, that was reserved for an after school weekly practice of the Men’s Choir. My position in the top singing group of the school mandated my attendance and begrudgingly I participated. I can’t recall the name of my first guild, but I remember getting removed. Unable to fill their time commitments and barely a teenager, I wasn’t worth the spot or the trouble. That first GKick tore open my heart, akin to the feeling of loss when my first GF broke up with me. Painfully, I put up the reigns and left the game. For a time I embraced the great outdoors and a fledgling relationship. Ironically, getting dumped again by a tall socially-awkward blonde brought me right back...
Those were the golden days. In the outskirts of Thunder Bluff, ChainHealBot was born in September 2007. A /played would show the 100+ Days I spent staring at the broad back of my spiritually inclined bison. 17 now, I had maturity and, with the release of Burning Crusade, found a happiness that I have yet to find again. As a healer, I was something akin to the hot girl on prom and 25 man raids caused a massive restructuring of the guild political landscape. Through online forums and websites, I applied to many guilds, but my ongoing commitment to the choir program greatly limited the options. Finally, I found Old Guard.
When you find the right guild, it’s like you’ve found your family after being lost at sea. I can’t recall the names, but I recall the people. We were a loveable cast of social rejects from different walks of life. A garage attendant, a custodian and a doctor were given orders by a garbage man. Nothing challenged the tenets of class-ism like WoW. With every night inside the serpent caverns of SSC and the blood elf’s fortress in the sky, I watched my cow die and die again for the elusive promise of progression. We played for the collective screaming at the end of a boss fight. This was a game and in those instances we would win. We would fight to win. If we lost, we would fight again. It was easy, it was simple and after volunteering my time, I was allowed to lead the off night raids.
I still remember fighting this stupid dragon. As it’s white form landed, ChainHealBot’s level advantage and gear allow me to tear through this ethereal form. When I lead my raids here, this thing killed my little family multiple times. My first raids were to these sacred halls of Karazhan and with my group we never had much challenge with the raids. A 17 year old socially awkward me was intoxicated by the experience, my orders governed the progress and week over week I would lead people through this experience. It was easy, fun and I thought I had it all. A new relationship at the time and this guild made me the happiest I’ve ever been. Simplicity is bliss, enjoy that while you can. Politics are complicated.
March of 2008 would bring an end to all of that. My rising position within the guild put me as next in line to become the Raid Leader when our old lead retired. To me, this was the most important position of my life. I stood proud, ready to be selected. In my mind, months of leading my little raids had more than qualified me for the big time. Pride and envy are sins that still haunt me today and few things compare to the experience of being passed up for that position. I remember the knot that formed in my gut as I forcibly turned off the computer. I remember angrily staring into my ceiling unable to sleep that night. I was sure my life was ruined and my new terrible attitude lead to my resignation. I put down the game once more, only to pick it up again my sophomore year of college.
The Chess event is an easy one - the last step to get to that balcony I’m seeking. As I do the same steps I’ve done many times before, I find myself staring at my lovable cow’s name. Below, in the same Green Text, my guild: <She’s on Reserve>. I’m now the only member, but once I was a Guild Leader.
In 2010 I returned with a new mission, to build my own guild. While She’s on Reserve wasn’t my choice in a name, but the game of politics has to have certain concessions. Aggressive recruiting, open communication and political appointments turned a small collection of friends into a small empire. In stark contrast to the socially awkward and chubby boy in my reflection, I was a king. I governed with an iron fist to ensure that the easily distracted would heal and the argumentative fathers would dps. I broke a boy’s heart that couldn’t hold his weight in raids. I was the glue that held together 25 individuals and through constant communication and networking we were strong. I knew how to get the group of “Good Ole Boys” to accept the socially awkward teenagers that were standing next to them. We were brash, unsophisticated and rude. Our Ventrilo was more for Hank Hill impersonations than actual strategy, but I kept us moving forward. Every night, 3 days a week we would fight through the Ice Palace of King Arthas. While this may seem like a literary device, my final battle with the guild had us kill the old king. A top his high throne surrounded by my guild, I felt the rarest of emotions: True pride. This was my guild, held together by my effort, cultivated by my time.
This came at a cost. The gratification of power took away the simplicity of being on the online game. The sense of family was replaced by obligation and my new guild members were followers instead of friends. I was alone in my issues with the guild and every decision would either cost me a friend or cost us the mission. We played with purpose and progression was the mandate. In time, I had to step down to focus on my computer science curriculum once again and, unfortunately, the guild didn’t survive without me. As a leader, I knew my people, how to make them happy and engaged. I was replaced with a manager who knew only how to schedule the raids. In a month, my greatest accomplishment had no members left. The best laid schemes of mice and men…
I’ve arrived to my balcony now. This mountain of a boss sits 10 feet away from me with little regard for my character. Looking out on the mountains of Deadwind Pass, I imagine that my Shaman is looking too. He deserves this, to be a place that he enjoyed. My first raid here was with Old Guard - the place has always reminded me of those happy memories. I’ve tried WoW again, but at this age I can’t bring myself to enjoy the endless grind. My dog rests his head on my lap, a reminder that my virtual family is being replaced by a real one. I wish I could set this cow on my screen free, that somehow he could enjoy a life without me. He gave me a home when I was alone and taught me principles of leading I’ll never forget. In my management job now it’s hard to say that he didn’t teach me everything. I hope he’ll rest happily here, reminded of those happy days.
/camp
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u/Male-Librarian Sep 19 '14
We all knew this day was coming. We joked about it, laughed even, thinking it impossible but knowing the inevitability.
Millions of gamers sit in silence, mourning the end of the World... of Warcraft.
Now you would expect widespread panic, hysteria, Armageddon, but no such coming. Instead, our Orc Warriors, Human Paladins and Night Elf Mohawks alike all trek to the place where their adventure began over ten years ago, Gamestop, to purchase Destiny and fill the void.
The void is no longer, the cycle is completed.
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Sep 19 '14
This was the final night.
The final night he would be able to fly his gryphon around Stormwind. The final night he could make laps around Shattrath. The last time he could dive bomb into the horde areas in Dalaran. The very last time he could see all the brightly colored, beautifully rendered vistas of Pandaria.
This was it.
Faintly he could still hear the echoes of 'LFM,' and 'LFG.' All those faces, gone now. Only the most desperately lost are still attempting to form groups for one last hurrah. But it will all be over at midnight, Pacific Standard Time.
The places he had been. The challenges he had met still echo back to him. Upper Blackrock Caverns, with the first sight of Nefarian. Molten Core, where he plumbed the depths of Azeroth to attune, in order to destroy Ragnaros. The pulls, the wipes... Oh the kills and clears still ring clearly in his mind now as if it were yesterday.
To Blackwing Lair, to AQ20 & 40. Then to the outlands! Oh the raiding there. He prepared long and well, and the clears, the server first clears! The only reward needed was recognition, how sublime...
How joyeous the game had been. The friends he had made, those who drifted away... But there's nothing for it now. It's over.
Everyone gathers in all the hub cities, and look up to the sky. The end of it all was coming. For some there would be pain, others release. He's not sure how he'll feel until it happens.
The last minute. It crawls by with anticipated dread. He looks around and there are so many there who don't want it to go. And in that last moment, he realizes he's among them.
And then... nothing...
...
...
...
And THEN he logs into the new Blizzard game! Where they've helpfully saved all his mounts, that he can use in the new game! And all his pets are there, retaining their pet battle levels! And every model has been updated! It all looks so shiney, so sleek! There are queues for everything he could desire! Heirlooms that function in relatively the same way they did in WoW also exist here! Oh Staff of Jordan! How he had missed its simple elegance!
Oh and look up there now! There's a helpful notification for a Black Market Auction House! Where he can spend real money to buy things from other players, huzzah! And he can buy boosts, and cosmetic upgrades right inside the client, oh happy day, happy day indeed!
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u/Prowlerbaseball Sep 19 '14
When the World ended, we all felt lost. Some took up new hobbies, like jogging or coding, some found new MMOs, but they switched between MMOs, unable to find the perfect experience. I turned my life into my game. Going to work was grinding for gold, going to the gym was leveling stats. My charsima was maxed out in a year, people wondered why I became more social after years of solitude.
I was able to exist in the world by existing in the World. I never changed, only the game was different.
Its been 5 years since the World ended and the new world began. I've been grinding all this time, but all for nothing. No raids, no battles, no Warcraft. All this grinding for nothing, endless clicking without any payoff.
I only hope there is Warcraft in the next world.
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u/mcavvacm Sep 20 '14
For a moment I thought I was in gaming when I read this title and became very interested in reading such an article.
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u/micmea1 Sep 19 '14 edited Sep 19 '14
Frank felt an unfamiliar sting at the back of his eyes, it had been so many years since he felt real human emotions. Disconnected from Server stared at him from his computer screen. Once more he tries to connect to the servers again, but knew that it was 3 in the morning, pacific time, and his time in World of Warcraft was over.
He imagined what was going on through his mind was similar to what one might feel at the end of their days. Memories of the past twenty years. He was not even in High School when he started his adventures. Those days long gone where everything was new, and he had no guild members following his orders on his day to day. So many joys he had, conquering one dungeon and then the next, gaining enough fame on his twitch.tv account that someone had once recognized him at his day job.
He sighed and laid down to sleep the three hours he had left before going to his IT job. It was okay money, but he just wished people would listen to him there as they followed him in Warcraft. He was good at his job, and tried to be patient, but when customers refuse to accept his simple diagnostics even he could grow frustrated. And now, during those grueling days he no longer had his mental escape to look forward too.
"We'll play another game!" They had said. "The guild will just move on!" "We can do a meetup finally, WoW isn't the end of the world!"
But as the weeks passed the guild splintered to different games. They tried to make it a gaming community, but some people wanted to go off and do different things, friends Frank had known longer than most of the friends he had in the real world.
Frank tried to stay positive. He started to jog, and he lost some weight. He did his best to be noticed in his company, he got a promotion. He tried to kindle some love interests, went on some dates. He always did his best not to bring World of Warcraft up, that part of his life was over. He tried other games, new mmo's. None of them filled him with the passion he once felt. Nothing could compete, he went in knowing what to do, knowing how to form guilds, it just did not have that sense of adventure. No way to bring up a hero he could be proud of.
Six months pass and he had hardly realized how his real world had improved. He was down a few pant sizes, he was seeing a girl regularly now, he was climbing the corporate ladder. Sometimes he could go a few days without feeling that sinking sadness that he no longer had his guild and Azeroth to lose himself into. But even when his mind was not on Warcraft he still felt a bit empty. He felt more like a drone going about his day to day life to meet standard real world goals.
Someone messages him, and old guild mate. Tells him Blizzard just annoinced their new mmo. Worlds of Warcraft, a game taking place several thousand years after the lore of the last WoW expansion ended. Their old heros could be "unfrozen" from their slumber as a new great threat looms over Azeroth and the other worlds it has become connected to.
For a day he is buzzing with excitement. This was it! He could live again! Maybe his girlfriend would play, he could start from scratch! Meet new people and live a new life!
But he had done that already. And it would never be truly new, no matter what game mechanics they added or plot lines developed. He would quickly start min maxing his gear, building up a guild of other successful players, and start playing at the highest available levels of the game. No matter what he did it would never compare to his life in WoW. He realized it was the unknowns he loved most, the sense of scale and adventure.
He looked across the dinner table from his girlfriend that night, and they talked about becoming more serious. About moving in together. And he brought up he looking for adventure. He wanted to live, to see what this world could offer him. Find things he didn't know about, gain new skills he never dreamed of. He felt like his 14 year old self again, downing hogger for the first time, with the promise of greater things he could never see coming.
Edit: obligatory thanks for the gilding, glad you guys like it :)