Even if you don’t follow World of Warcraft news closely, you’ve probably heard of Red Shirt Guy by now. Not only did I unwittingly malign the kid (along with any number of other slackjaws and neckbeards) during my liveblog of this year’s Quests and Lore Panel, he’s been featured on mainstream television programs such as Attack of the Show and The Soup. And since Youtube videos of his appearance at the convention have surpassed two million views, you could say he’s become “kind of a big deal.”
During a video response of his own — in which he definitively sounds more “normal” — he admits that he had been extremely nervous while asking his question (understandable when you’re doing so in front of thousands of people and, most likely, two of your personal heroes) and suffers from mild-to-moderate Asperger’s. Likewise, we have to confess (somewhat embarassingly) that he clearly knows his lore better than we do!
While it would be easy enough to make fun of Red Shirt Guy, and many people certainly have, it’s nice to see the community turn around and give him his due. Blizzard is no exception. In the process of admitting a fault of their own, and replacing Kurdran with Falstad in Ironforge’s throne room, they have immortalized him in-game as the NPC “Wildhammer Fact Checker.” As you can see in the picture above, he comes complete with a stylish flat-top and his (now iconic) red shirt.
We /salute you, BlizzCon Hero!
Ya gotta love it when you Sock it to the blizz developer’s at there own game. >:)
Next, you and I couldn’t agree more. This guy basically pallysmacked (I presume) Metzen and Asafrabi and you gotta hand it to Redshirt, he knows his stuff. /kudos to Blizz for admitting their foul up and giving RS his due.
Redshirt guy: just earned the achievement [Loremaster Extraordinaire]
It’s great too see this kind of thing. It shows that Blizz are fallible.
All I can say is his naysayers and haters out there can all go to hell. This guy OWNS!!
And when you stop to think about it, this is the ULTIMATE level of Beta testing. Obviously, RSG loves the WoW universe as much as the rest of us, but here, he was not only testing the content, but went so far as to test lore as well. Can any other beta testers out there say they do the same? This guy NEEDS to be hired by Blizz imo.
@ Highwayman
I totally agree, on all counts.
@ Stormkiller
I second that.
This guy is amazing, I envy his knowledge of my favourite game. We need more beta testers like him. And well done Blizzard, once again showing why you guys are the best developers on the planet.
@Sitris
Yeah good on Blizzard – great to see them paying tribute to a top fan. Red Shirt Guy now justly takes his place beside Leeroy Jenkins in the annals of WoWfan lore.
What a champ, I love this guy, lol. WoW has the best fanz of any game!!! Hell ye….