Zombies Attack The World…Of Warcraft

What started as something interesting and fun has quickly become an epidemic, making it almost impossible to search the auction house long enough to find anything before you’re bitten by a zombie.

The same sight is visible in every major city: lots of zombies, and then groups of priests, paladins, shamans fighting them off. Then, rarely, there will be other classes who aren’t zombies, which must mean they have recently been a zombie and died, or they are a close enough friend of a priest, paladin, or shaman (because those are the classes that can cure disease).

When this event first came out—Phase 1 began on Oct. 23rd—getting infected meant you had ten minutes to find someone to cure you or locate an Argent Dawn NPC stationed around a city who will get rid of your disease in one attempt. Even though it sometimes took players over ten cleanses to get the disease off, there was really no threat of becoming a zombie when the event first arose because of that ten minute window. But the infection now only lasts two minutes before turning you into a zombie, and soon it will probably be almost instantaneous after you are bitten.

As a zombie, you have a different set of skills. You can either enhance yourself and other zombies around you, attack and bite non-zombies, or explode yourself, causing everyone around you to get infected. You move slowly, so the ranged classes like hunter have an easier time avoiding you. After you die, you become a ghost and can run back to your body and resurrect normally.

This event is to prepare World of Warcraft for the soon-to-be-released Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Arthas, the Lich King himself, is allegedly responsible for this zombie outbreak, giving players incentive to go explore new content and stop him. Despite mixed reactions, the event is intended to be creative and fun, giving players the choice to become a zombie and try and infect others; or stop the plague by curing every diseased player or NPC, or by killing every zombie in sight. Once a zombie, you can talk and trade with other zombies just as if they were a third faction of the game. This also disables communication with non-zombies, turning your friends into your enemies.