User:Timmccloud/The noob (complete history)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The noob
Image:CoverBook1.jpg
Book 1 cover from "the noob"
Author(s) Gianna Masetti
Website http://www.thenoobcomic.com/
Current status / schedule Irregular
Launch date June 2004 [1]
Genre(s) Video game, Comedy, Webcomics

The noob is a webcomic started by Gianna Masetti in June of 2004. The plot revolves around a new gamer named Ohforf'sake (generally referred to as "Ohforf") who represents the quintessential noob in a MMORPG. The comic serves as a parody and as something of a social commentary on the MMORPG genre in general.[citation needed] Notably, it criticizes MMORPG staff for incompetence and also shows the perceived image of MMORPG players as inclined to act antagonistically with regard to seemingly minor infractions and situations in the virtual worlds in which they interact[1][2]. The noob is currently a full color comic, although in the beginning that wasn't the case[3]. The noob has been mentioned on Blizzard's official European website for World of Warcraft. [4].

The comic (as "The n00b") was given an honorable mention in the Gaming category of the Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards[5] in 2005 after almost making that year's list of nominees. Since 2006, the comic has been featured on MMORPG.COM in their comic section[6].

Contents

[edit] Characters

right|thumb|Ohforf

[edit] Ohforf'sake

A neophyte player, Ohforf is the protagonist of the comic. He is neither a role-player nor a player-killer, instead simply trying to have fun and experience the game.

[edit] Hypatia

A slightly more experienced player of Clichequest and a close in-game friend of Ohforf'sake. A female character, Hypatia is well used as commentary on the situation of females (and those who play female avatars) in MMORPGs. right|thumb|Hypatia

[edit] Darkie

Known in full as "Sir Darkblade Wolfeyes Orcbane Raislin De Urden Von Strudel", he is a role-player. He is a friend of Hypatia and despises player-killers. He is generally regarded as fairly incompetent and eternally seeks female companionship.

[edit] The RPers

In full, "The Righteous Protectors of the Crimson Star", this is a guild of role-players. At one point the guild tries to create an army by merging with other anti-PK guilds and forming the Zealot Elite Righteous Guardians (the acronym of which is "ZERG", a humorous reference to the race of the same name in Blizzard's Starcraft). The word "Zerg" is associated with using large amounts of units to overwhelm the enemy, even though each has little skill in battle (such as a large mass of the cheap and quick to produce Zergling from Starcraft) and in the same way, the RPers are poor in battle but plan to overwhelm the PKs.

right|thumb|D34dly-D34dly

[edit] The PKers

The primary antagonists - though sometimes also the anti-heroes - of the comic, the PKs kill other player characters for the loot and enjoyment. The six major PKers featured in the comic are "Cyrus", a level 200 with rogue admin powers, "Your Name Here", "Dakilla", "D34dly D34dly", "Drakoola", and "Fred the Dread", the latter five being members of a clan called "The Outcasts".

[edit] Sir Bob

A flamboyant, very experienced, and skilled high-level player who quit Clichequest early on in the strip, but has since returned by popular vote among the comic's readers.

[edit] Game Masters

Game Masters, or GMs, in Clichequest eerily resemble members of the Ku Klux Klan because of a similar resemblance in Ultima Online. There are many GM's[7], and notable are GM Malevolence plus the four "GM's of the Nerfageddon"; GM Plague, GM Famine, GM War and GM Death (the true horsemen are interpreted to be Conquest, Famine, War, and Death). Each rides a colored "steed", making a clear reference to the Four Horsemen. Lord Saxon is the creator of Clichequest, a clear reference to Lord British from the Ultima Online series and brings about the Nerfageddon[8] after being knocked into a pool of water, but before he can truly get into his rampage he is picked up by GM Famine while shocking a character with purple lightning and thrown into a small pond (referencing the end of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi when Darth Vader throws the Emperor into a giant shaft leading to the center of the Death Star, killing him).

[edit] Running gags

The jokes found in The noob are often drawn from MMORPG "culture".

[edit] Movie References

The noob often makes references to popular movies. Movies that have been referenced include Lord of the Rings[9][10][11], Blade Runner[12], and Apocalypse Now[13].

[edit] Character names

Some character names are references to the habit of MMORPG players of naming their characters after icons of popular (usually fantasy) culture. This theme first appears in the third episode[14], where the player has to choose the name for his character. His first few tries all reference The Lord of the Rings, including obscure variants like xXxAragornxXx. All of these attempts fail as all variants are taken. His naming attempts consequently move on to Forgotten Realms (a D&D setting), namely the dark-elf character Drizzt Do'Urden. These two works of fiction, along with the Dragonlance novels (another D&D setting), are a common source of player character names in MMORPGs with a fantasy setting, as players are often inspired by these works and seek to emulate the protagonist(s).

Later, on arrival in Elfboro[11], Ohforf finds that almost all the elven citizens are named Legolas with minor spelling variations - for example, Legolaus, Legolazz and Leg'olas, all presumably named in dubious honour of the fictional elven archer Legolas from The Lord of the Rings.

Several World of Warcraft players have characters with the same name as a character from the comic. [15]

[edit] Roleplayers

One of the distinct playing styles in MMORPGs is the "Roleplayer," defined as one who plays in character. In one of the more popular MMORPGs, World of Warcraft, roleplayers are given separate servers on which to play - these servers have a different ruleset that encourages appropriate naming and behaviour. In Clichéquest, the roleplayers exist in a separate town instead[16], and the comic often makes fun of this convention and the roleplayers themselves[17][18][19][20].

[edit] Print versions

Masetti has self-published The noob books through Lulu.com since 2005, and is now on her fourth volume. The books contain 50 episodes each.

[edit] Reviews

[edit] References by the media

[edit] References

  1. ^ Epsiode 255:Splash
  2. ^ Epsiode 257:Judgement Day
  3. ^ Episode 3: The random name generator
  4. ^ http://www.wow-europe.com/en/news/wow-oldnews2004.html#nov World of Warcraft Europe
  5. ^ The 2005 Web Cartoonist's Choice Awards
  6. ^ MMORPG.COM
  7. ^ Episode 212: The GM raid (aka "Fireworks Rally")
  8. ^ Episode 257: Judgement Day
  9. ^ Aragorn, from the Lord of the rings:Fellowship of the ring "I see in your eyes..."
  10. ^ Episode 160: Z.E.R.G. Charge: Lord Ironman "I see in your eyes..."
  11. ^ a b Episode 141: A Legolas by any other name
  12. ^ Episode 6: All those 75 levels will be lost
  13. ^ Episode 233: Dum dum dum
  14. ^ Episode 3: The random name generator
  15. ^ http://www.wowarmory.com/search.xml?searchQuery=ohforf&searchType=characters World Of Warcraft Armory - Search for "Ohforf"
  16. ^ Episode 40: A role playing Paradise
  17. ^ Episode 11: He's a roleplayer
  18. ^ Episode 35: Alwyas in character
  19. ^ Episode 194: The Healing Macro
  20. ^ Episode 245: The Town Faire

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Look up webcomic in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Languages