Awww, cute! Somewhat tempted to reactivate my account so's I can find one... ok, buying would be much easier.

April | June 04, 14:29 CET

There clearly are Firefly fans at Blizzard, at one point I was thinking about writing up another story - but I wasn't sure if people would consider it silly and delete it again.

To people who don't play the game (though I'm sure Joss has a Troll somewhere out there), player character can choose professions which they then need to level up, for instance Engineering. You go to trainers of increasing levels of proficiency to learn about the secrets and finer points of engineering.

Now, in the alliance outpost of Telredor (located in Zangarmarsh) you will find a Grand Master Engineer named "K. Lee Smallfry", and when you mosey up to her she will enthusiastically ask if you don't think the swamp gas is shiny, inform you that she will teach you how to build a gas extractor, but that you will need to find her some spare parts so she can fix this compression coil she's been working on. And once you do bring her the spare parts, she'll muse that perhaps she can sell some of the extra parts and buy herself some strawberry ice cream, since she just loves strawberries!


Of course World of Warcraft is made by nerds and geeks (and they wear it proudly *g*) since there are many references to other things as well (another engineer called Smiles O'Byron, a goblin Zeppelin master called Hin Denburg, Toshley's station where you should deliver some power converters, guy called Hai'shulud sends you into the bone wastes to summon a big worm from the ground (banging on your fumper), guy called Shauly Pore in one of the ecodomes in Netherstorm etc etc etc)

But hey, Firefly!

Still flying! (In the empty lost spaces of my soul )

Pumps | June 04, 18:46 CET

Man, I guess I need to roll an alliance character now!

There's also this, an antique gun. The name "Lasiter" is etched into the barrel. Hmmmmm......

Mal'sGal | June 04, 20:13 CET

That's so funny, I recently started playing (and have become addicted to) WoW! (Jysanrav on the Shattered Halls realm if anyone wants to friend me and quest at all. I'm a level 27 undead warlock.)

I love all the geeky references. I was pleasantly surprised when I found an undead campsite near the starting area with zombies named for 4 of the members of my favorite band Oingo Boingo, like Daniel Ulfman [Danny Elfman]. (Dead Man's Party, anyone? Speaking of which - awesome Buffy episode title reference too!) They even had a quest that required you to kill one of them. :-O

So, any Whedonesquers on WoW?

AnotherFireflyfan | June 04, 20:26 CET

Haha, never knew about the "Antique Gun". That's pretty cool.

I played for a little over a year. Was about a month or two into Burning Crusade when I decided I had had enough and quit.

My problem was that usually I would only have time to play for an hour or two at a time, which didn't leave much opportunity to run instances or level very fast. I still think it's a fun game, but I wasn't able to progress fast enough to continue playing with my friends, or even just to keep up with all the new content. In the end it just wasn't enough to justify the monthly fee.

Okkay | June 04, 21:45 CET

So, any Whedonesquers on WoW?

I play a character called Mia Goners.

There goes the last bit of self respect I had, by the way.

gossi | June 04, 21:52 CET

Gossi, you had some left? Wow.

TamaraC | June 04, 22:55 CET

Here's the exact quest text for anyone that cares:

Description
Have you seen the swamp gas? Isn't it just shiny?

It takes a Zapthrottle Mote Extractor to suck 'em dry though. I could give you the plans to make one, but I really need some spare parts to fix stuff 'round here.

Last time I checked, there were plenty of parts laying around near the steam pump at the Dead Mire to the northeast. I think the withered giants broke the pump out there.

Shall we help each other out?


Progress
You got those parts yet? I've got a compression coil to fix before Anchorite Ahuurn starts breathing down my neck!


Completion
Shiny! And really, what engineer ever has enough spare parts just hanging around? Ooh, maybe I could sell off the extra and buy me some of that Tigule and Foror's Strawberry Ice Cream?! I just love strawberries! Do you think they have any around here?

Ok, ok, I guess you've earned this, . Have fun!


As well as a clear Firefly reference, Tigole and Furor are the game's lead developers.

IcedTea | June 04, 23:00 CET

References upon references... sometimes I wonder how many WoW references pass me right be. ;-)

I had been avoiding WoW for so long - never having the time or money to invest in it. The summer came and... the time was just right. I had a week and a half before starting my summer job and I decided to play the trial. Sure enough, I was hooked. I can't play so much during the week, but I find lots of time on the weekends. It's an amazing game.

AnotherFireflyfan | June 05, 00:46 CET

I freaked out when i found Shauley Pore in the Biodome. Unfortunately, no one i was freaking out to had a clue what i was on about.

But in totally fantastic news, i logged on tonight to find... A Captured Firefly in my Mail! My boyfriend caught the tail end of my hype about it this morning and spent the time to find me one :D

We've spent the rest of the evening grinding for one for him but... no luck. Seems like its a crazy low drop and he just got extremely lucky.

I'm one of those scary people who plays (well, played, on a forced hiatus at the moment due to the fact my computer died and i have to borrow one) 5 hours a night after work raiding high end dungeons. Some of us just REALLY buy into that whole geek sterotype. Thank god i'm still a reasonably attractive female or i'd have to start wearing spock ears and go with the whole life choice. ;)

cicatrixtwigs | June 05, 01:06 CET

I played like a crack addict from November to January, and loved every moment of it. I was a huge Blizzard/Diablo fan (all my Assassins were based on the name Faith) in the past. My two favorite WoW characters are Jossa (female human rogue) and Linara (night elf rogue). :) I had to put my account on hold in January because my workload increased significantly and a couple other things changed in my personal life. I'm hoping to reactivate my account for awhile this summer and fall, depending on my schedule and such.

April | June 05, 01:09 CET

It's not exactly a reference, but Felicia Day (Potential Slayer Vi in Buffy) is famously a Warcraft addict.

Gag Halfrunt | June 05, 02:30 CET

P.S. Thanks to Google, I've just discovered that Felicia has a blog. And she's gone cold turkey on Warcraft but has got into old fashioned "pen and paper" Dungeons and Dragons.

Gag Halfrunt | June 05, 03:09 CET

I know there's a Serenity guild on Quel'Dorei.

Mal'sGal | June 05, 04:24 CET

That sounds like true love cicatrixtwigs *g*

Pumps | June 05, 04:45 CET

Too bad they spelled Joss's name wrong in the little tag...

UnderTheDark | June 05, 08:53 CET

Thanks for the scoop on this and the other NPCs, just what I need, another thing to farm for.

But now I have to whine about why Alliance gets all the good nerdy references (K.Lee, Toshley Station, etc). Horde needs some good old fashioned geek love too. /Cry

(Kaywinnit, Dragonmaw Horde, feel free to friend :D)

[ edited by spitefairy on 2007-06-05 16:05 ]

spitefairy | June 05, 18:59 CET

Well the Horde has an engineer trainer called Mack Diver, sounds rather like MacGuyver, no? :)

And in Alterac Valley you'll find the Frostwolf clans Wing Commanders Slidore, Vipore and Ichman - ever seen the movie "Top Orc" ? (Slider, Viper, Iceman) - There are also Wing Commanders Guse, Jeztor, Mulverick (Goose,Jester,Maverick)

That was when they were still a bit discreet, in Shatrath City's "World's end tavern" you'll find a young chick looking female called Haris Pilton (with a wolf cub called Tinkerbell)

Pumps | June 07, 02:07 CET