World of Warcraft Community Magazine Issue 1 | Page 70
ARTICLE
70 // World of Warcraft Community Magazine
learn that Sheldon has called the
don’t go having any bad dreams.
It was literally used to describe
someone who actually was new
police to report somebody hacking
Possibly one of the biggest
his World of Warcraft account and
ways that World of Warcraft has
to the game and not meant as an
clearing it out of all items and
influenced the wider culture is in the
insult, as opposed to ‘noob’. Both
gold. While this makes light of the
form of language. There are words
stem from the term newbie.
situation, it is a problem a lot of
and phrases that have stemmed
In World of Warcraft, players
people can relate to in MMORPG
from, or at least been spread by
collect items for their characters
gaming, and World of Warcraft in
the game. In the gaming world, the
and these items have differing
particular. Just about everyone has
term ‘noob’ is used all over as a put
quality levels. These range from
been the victim, or knows someone
down, insinuating that someone is
the abundant ‘common’ items
who has been the victim of one
so bad at the game, they are acting
all the way up to the rare ‘epic’
of these incidents. While Sheldon
like they are new to it. While I am
and ‘legendary’ gear that is most
Cooper’s character is prone to over
not suggesting the term came from
sought after. The word ‘epic’
dramatising trivial problems, anyone
WoW, it certainly became more main
gained popularity in the game
who this happens to will usually feel
stream as a result of being used in
as a general term for anything
much the same as Sheldon does.
the game. The less common ‘newb’
particularly impressive, even if it
Luckily Blizzard have an excellent
was also used fairly frequently in
wasn’t an actual ‘epic’ item. It also
system of recovery for when this
the earlier days of WoW although it
seemed to have caught on outside
particular nightmare strikes, so
doesn’t turn up that often any more.
the game and outside gaming in
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