Questing is a column dedicated to highlighting the best quests in MMOGs. We’ll slog through all the horrible “Kill 10 rats,” FedEx and slow escort quests to bring you a collection of the funniest, best-designed, story-rich, important or original quests that companies have to offer.
Blizzard is well know for loving, and simultaneously poking fun at, our popular culture. Every game it has created in recent memory has contained dozens of nods to movies, televisions, music and even books. World of Warcraft, being the monstrous game that it is, has hundreds of nods to meatspace. Yet one area was consistently missed or overlooked. That area would be the sea-loving references. Our adventures took us to the depths of oceans or roaring waterfalls so rarely that there wasn’t an opportunity to get creative. Until now.
With Cataclysm introducing raids and zones that are entirely underwater, we’re given our first taste of aquatic humor. What better way to start out by knocking the greatest shark movie of all time, Jaws (sorry Sharktales). Blizzard double-dipped by having Budd, everyone’s favorite mock-troll treasure hunter, kick off the quest line. Budd enters Davy Jones’ Locker and we get to play Nemo all in the name of getting rich quick.
I still haven’t had to play with fish poop yet. Thank god.
The quest line discussed is found in Budd’s Dig in Kelp’thar Forest, part of Vashj’ir.
Well, I had just started Vashj’ir, and I sure enjoyed killin’ Gnaws!
But seriously, the pop-culture references in Cataclysm are insane in the membrane.