Rocks in the Head - by Julie Whitefeather
Jul 25, 2007 17:29:10
Submitted by Brent on Jul 25, 2007 17:29:10 CST (comments: 2)
Jul 25, 2007 17:29:10
| There have been times in each game that I have played, console or not, that I have stopped the game and said to myself "I must have rocks in my head for playing this thing." That moment has occurred at various points in each game - during Gran Turismo it was the point at which I made my way through each race and finally came upon one that had an estimated time of 6 hours. During even on line it was when I had my 50 million ISK ship blown up for the third time in a row during a corporate war. Most recently, during Lord of the Rings Online, it was when I had finished yet another series of solo quests only to be left with a string of "fellowship" (group) quests that I could not complete. Yet, like many people I continue to play and for various reasons. In World of Warcraft so many hours were spent getting a character up to level 70 I keep the account open hoping the Blizzard Gorilla will start listening again. But beyond the more mundane reasons, some of the games I have played have been moments when the sense of humor of the developers has come shining through. Sometimes it is just a small thing - like an encounter with an npc in one of WoW's most dismal places, Eastern Plaguelands. There is an NPC there that regularly complains to me when I do business with him, saying "I should have taken the red pill" (the npc is obviously a Matrix fan). Recently in Lord of the Rings Online, it was when I was given a quest called "knocking heads". At first I thought it was one of the more mundane quests; something in the "go kill 10 rats" category. My mission of great importance? Go steal a lucky stone from the giants. "Ok" I thought. All I have to do is go kill a giant, take his stone, and be done with it. That is, until I came upon the giants. The lowest level one was well above my level and an elite mob at that. At that point I assumed my quest would join the growing list of unfinished group quests. Then I saw it. There at my feet was a flashing pile of stones labeled "stone cairn". I clicked on it. Nothing. I clicked on it again. Nothing. Then I started clicking on it like a mad woman. Still nothing. Had I but looked up at that point I would have seen two giants on a hill battling it out with each other, and it was all my fault. I gave up clicking the pile of stones and road up the hill to figure out how else I could get a lucky stone from one of these behemoths. Then another player walked up to the same pile of stones and repeated what I had done. I watched as the following took place: [a rock is thrown at the first hill giant] Hill Giant 1: "Hey quit it" Hill Giant 2: "Hey what? I didn't do nothin' [a rock is thrown at the first hill giant again] Hill Giant 1: "Hey I told you to quit throwing things afore I wipe dat stupid grin off your mug!" Hill Giant 2: "Youz been hittin' the mug all right - one time too many to hear ya bellowing about nothin'. Now shut yer yap!" [yet another rock is thrown at the first hill giant] Hill Giant 1: "Right that's what does it! Now I'll do for you, ya niggling fool. Raaargh!" Hill Giant 2: "You've lost your senses. I'll just have to beat 'em back in to you!" [the two hill giants fight] Hill Giant 1: "Bah. Dis is getting' tiring..." Hill Giant 2: "Hah! Tired o' gettin' yer teeth kicked in you mean!" It was like having a magic button. Before I completed the quest I kept clicking on the pile of rocks just to watch the giants fight. I woke up the top floor of the convent with my laughing. It was one of those magic moments in gaming that keeps me playing. See you online, - Julie Whitefeather  |
Submitted by Brent on Jul 25, 2007 17:29:10 CST (comments: 2)
Comments:
'humor's always fun' by hallower
Submitted on 2007-07-25 23:56:43 CST
The most memorable quests from the many MMOs I've played were funny ones from EQ2.
One was a quest at the Commonlands Crossroads. A soldier there wanted me to put a stop to the ravings of some madwoman who claimed she heard ghosts. The woman talked me into following her to some ruins, where I heard the ghosts speak for myself. I reported my experience to the soldier, and now I was called a crackpot, too. He gave me the choice of either buggering off or puting an end to the madwoman I now knew was not really crazy.
The other (the funnier one) was an NPC in Freeport who mistook me for someone else. Whenever I tried to explain that I didn't know what he was talking about, he'd cut me short or give me a nod and wink and act like I was speaking to him in code. There were multiple encounters with that NPC during the quest, and each one went the same way. At the end of the quest, he was still mistaking me for someone else and I still didn't know what the heck I was involved in.
'I remember this one!' by brackishwater
Submitted on 2007-08-03 15:59:31 CST
Hey Julie,
I actually just finished this quest the other day. A couple of us tried to complete this quest but we weren't quick enough to make it back after grabbing the lucky stone. Those giants do hit hard and can knock you back several feet.
I'm starting to get into my 40's now in LotRO and I am afraid this humor is going to dry up soon. I haven't seen a quest like that in a while but I hope they do keep adding more content like this.
-brackish
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