Leeroy Jenkins Video
Leeroy Jenkins Video, mention that phrase in the last year and many gamers would know exactly what you’re talking about - a YouTube video of a bunch of World of Warcraft players in the process of trying to complete a quest. If you haven’t played World of Warcraft yet, then I suggest you pick up this cheap bargain of a game and give it go, it’s lots of fun and I’m sure you won’t regret it!
I personally first saw this Leeroy Jenkins Video a couple of months - most probably because it coincided with me starting to play World of Warcraft, when I get chance that is, which isn’t as often as I’d like. A friend of mine mentioned it again the other day and I just had to watch it again, so I hope you also appreciate seeing it again if you already seen it before.
If you’re familiar with MMORPGs, then this kind of questing has been the bedrock of achieving the higher level items and accomplishments, this Leeroy Jenkins Video reminds me a lot of doing the high-end questing in both Asheron’s Call and Everquest 2. It only takes one person to make a slight mistake and you’re all goners, however in this World of Warcraft video you can see what happens when someone just charges in just for the hell of it!
There is even a Leeroy Jenkins website dedicated to this World of Warcraft “legend”, which includes other videos and information. The fame of Leeroy Jenkins has even recently made it onto the TV show ‘Jeopardy’, take a look at this:
I’m guessing Leeroy Jenkins wasn’t very popular after this quest with his fellow players there, but he sure has become popular with lots of people round the world since!
Have you ever encountered things like this happening when you’ve played online games? I know I have!
The beauty of Leeroy Jenkins is that it brings out the human side of MMORPGs so effectively (even if he is ultimately destructive). All too often these games are portrayed as being in some totally alien place away from th “real world”, when all they really are, are real people coming together & interacting, just like everyone else does, albeit in a new way. The themes are the same, it’s just the technology & the means are different. This, and the “Make Love Not Warcraft” South Park episode are two very good examples of how technology makes us more human, not less, and do a lot to break up stereotypes about gamers or tech afficionados.
I was a power gamer and played EQ for years. Trust me when I say I can really relate to this. The first time I found this video I couldn’t stop laughing. After watching it again I have to say I think it might have been staged. Especially with that 32.33 repeating business.
I’ve stayed away from WoW but I have a feeling that one of these days I might have to give it a go.
I have started playing World of Warcraft 2 weeks now and seeing this video for the first time.
I think for me what the big thing that has changed things has been the widespread usage of broadband which has meant more fluid, uninterrupted gameplay and perhaps more importantly voice-chat has become a realistic option.
Who wants to be tapping away at a keyboard in the middle of a quest or fight on these kind of online games when you can just speak with your friends!
With games such as World of Warcraft now featuring on TV shows like South Park and in parody form in the Simpsons, then it just goes to show how mainstream they are becoming - there was even a World of Warcraft reference in a recent episode of How I Met Your Mother!