The Zul'Farrak Rescue Goes Wrong

One of our favorite Wow moments was the "Divinomatic Rod" quest that sent you on an ill-fated rescue mission into Zul'Farrak .

The mission features a rescue, a betrayal, a mountain of corpses, and some genuinely hilarious dialogue. It’s the kind of quest that reminds you this classic game is still capable of surprises.

Awkwardness at Ahn’qiraj

Even Blizzard gets ahead of themselves at times, which is what happened when they kicked off the big Ahn’qiraj event.

To even gain access to the new content, the entire server had to work together toward certain goals and gather to fight raid monsters outside of Ahn’qiraj. It was a cool idea on paper, but it actually led to hilarious bouts of lag and server problems.

Maybe making the entire server gather in the same time and place to do the same things wasn’t such a bright idea?

Zombie Invasion

Blizzard decided to try their hand at viral advertising for the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. To do so, they launched a special quest that turned players into zombies.

The effect lasted a long time and dramatically changed how players interacted with the game. But in hindsight, it’s hilarious that Blizzard thought unexpectedly annoying players by zombifying them was the best way to build hype for their new expansion.

South Park Satire

While The Guild made fun of WoW players in a gentle way, South Park didn't pull any punches.

In the episode “Make Love, Not Warcraft,” players and non-players alike laughed at how dumb the game could be.

Blizzard worked with the show to create something that looks and feels much like the game. And the central dilemma of the episode—about the impossibility of killing an internet troll who already has no life—is still very funny (and relevant).

Horse: To Teeth or Not to Teeth?

We don’t like to dunk on WoW for its graphics too much. Honestly, for a game that old, it looks amazing. But there are some horse-related glitches that always crack us up.

Sometimes, horses have more or less teeth depending on how fast they are. And sometimes, the horse model has no teeth at all.

If you can’t enjoy looking goofy as you ride away from that pile of Murloc bodies, this might not be the game for you.

Bejeweled Comes to WoW

If you play enough WoW, you have a lot of downtime. And that means you end up making your own entertainment during those long flights or waiting for your buddies.

That was why it was so funny when Blizzard officially brought Bejeweled into WoW. I'm sure someone with an MBA brought this up along with terms like “corporate synergy.”

The end result is Blizzard basically admitting you might be bored for large chunks of playtime.

The Advent of The Guild

WoW inspired many pop culture homages over the years. But few of these homages had the impact or the staying power of The Guild.

This online series helped make Felicia Day a household name while lampooning WoW and its players.

Fortunately, the show always let players in on the joke rather than dunking on the crazier fans of the franchise.

For some players, PvP is the best part of WoW. But no PvP will ever be as crazy (or as funny) as old school Alterac Valley combat.

Back in the day, Alterac Valley PvP had multiple PvE goals as well as PvP goals. It wasn’t uncommon to spend three hours in Alterac Valley at a time, and it was entirely possible to spend more than ten hours playing.

For better or for worse, those marathon days of PvP are behind us.

Raiding Cities

Sometimes the best (and funniest) WoW moments were nice and simple. For example, coordinating with your guild or even most of a server to successfully raid an enemy city.

Because of this, some players hate PvP and stick to PvE servers. But for PVP people, the constant threat of either getting invaded or launching an invasion really kept the game fresh.

Kiting Stitches

Some of the opportunities to kite dangerous monsters were hidden in quests. And a great example of this is “The Hermit.”

At the end of this quest chain, the monstrous Stitches starts heading toward Darkshire. Instead of completing the quest as normal, mischievous players would direct the nearly unstoppable monster into nearby populated areas and watch him go to town.

Corrupted Blood

When WoW introduced the Zul'Gurub raid, complete with the new boss, Hakkar, he rocked a magic attack called Corrupted Blood that injured players while also ensuring they’d infect other people.

The spell was meant to stay in the raid. But pets could be infected and carry it elsewhere. Unsuspecting players and trolls would then infect major cities, and every single victim carried the plague further.

It actually took Blizzard weeks to fix this problem, and the CDC ended up studying the game to learn more about how a viral outbreak might spread.

Southshore/Tarren Mill Showdown

Players don’t always need a reason to fight. And the main evidence of this comes in the form of the Southshore/Tarren mill showdowns over the years.

These were the closest Alliance and Horde towns to one another, making it easy for players to clash. And things often came down to hundreds of warriors on each side fighting for supremacy.

If the absurdity of the constant battle isn’t amusing enough, consider this: there was no real reward for winning these squabbles!

Onyxia Goes Wrong

Not all “raids gone wrong” are faked, of course. The funniest example of a real one involved an Onyxia raid gone wrong.

In it, raid leader Dives watches things going to hell and tries to keep his squad together, all while making things even funnier.

Between his accent and the hilarious animation someone made, this bit of WoW comedy is truly unforgettable.

Lord Kazzak's Murder Sprees

A time-honored tradition in WoW is “kiting.” This allows determined players to lure major monsters into major metropolitan centers and watch the mayhem unfold.

One of the best examples of this was Lord Kazzak. Some kiting could land him in a city like Stormwind, and his special power (to heal himself every time he killed a player) meant that his city rampages lasted a good, long time.

Leeroy Jenkins!

Leeroy Jenkins is the rare WoW meme that ended up going mainstream. And it’s all about a satirical clip where a player ignores complex raid instructions and gets his entire crew killed, all while screaming the name of his character.

While the original incident was fake, the fact that so many raiding players could relate to it was pretty damn funny.