The pop culture references are also getting out of control and eroding the sense of immersion that is crucial for a MMO to succeed. I don’t mind the occasional reference but please don’t insult my intelligence with lame ones like Harris Pilton — c’mon Blizz even a child would get that one. At least make them challenging and somewhat cryptic. Hemut Nesingwary — now that’s one that I did enjoy!

Pop culture references should be kept to a minimum if at all. We get it Blizzard — you guys are hip and cool and obviously spent a lot of your youth glued to the boob tube. In retrospect maybe you could have spent time more time reading timeless classics and myths that are the true foundation for modern fantasy. This is an attempt to be funny and clever on the part of the Blizzard designers. If I want that, I’ll turn on Comedy Central not WoW.

My gut reaction to the Hog screenshots was pretty negative, on the other hand. It just doesn’t look “fantasy” enough to me somehow. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the idea, it just seems like the art direction is a little off. Or maybe I’m just crazy.

I realize Warcraft isn’t the ideal IP for me. I guess it’s frustrating because sometimes it gets >< this close to what I wish it was, then something like this comes along to yank me out of it.

However, I don’t think it’s out of place. We have airplanes, siege engines, robots, robotic vehicles/skeletons, an instance named Mechanar, etc… I just wish it were more over the top.