Heartwarming WoW Story of the Day
Maybe the title should be “of the year” considering that there really aren’t that many heartwarming WoW stories out there. But I digress.
If you’re involved in World of Warcraft, you may have heard about Ezra Chatterton. Likely many fathers and sons outthere, Ezra and his dad bonded over the MMO and spent lots of time together playing the game, which was especially important to them since Ezra’s parents are divorced and he didn’t get to see his dad was much as they’d both like. What really sets Ezra apart, though, is that he was dealing with a debilitating brain tumor. His dream was to become a game developer and through the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the 10-year-old teamed up with Blizzard to experience some of what it is like to design games.
Blizzard set up an amazing trip for Ezra to their main office. He spent the day helping Jeff Kaplan design a legendary bow, a new character/quest (Ahab Wheathood). He added his dog to the game as part of the quest and even got to do the voice-over for his new character. As part of this Blizzard-y goodness, his personal character was bumped to a Level 70 with the best gear and enough gold to last him a long while. He also became the first player to ride the phoenix mount in the game.
This is a truly heartwarming story about a developer really showing their dedication to the fans. Sadly, this is where the heartwarming part ends. A few months ago, Ezra suffered a stroke, and on Monday, he passed away, never getting to realize his dream of becoming a tester and developer for Blizzard. Video games can’t solve all problems, of course, but it is really nice to hear about a community coming together to care about a little boy who loved this industry so much.
R.I.P. Our thoughts are with Ezra’s friends and family, and if you want to read more or make a contribution, check out his website.
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Truly, a heart-warming story. Thanks for this amazing article.
Did he drop any good loot?
/facepalm…. its been done… copypasta is not cool
Jonathan, you reek of unoriginality.
Yes Seth. Yes I do.
Seth, somebody was going to have say that sooner or later. You’re just wishing you were first.
Who got his char??
[...] *R.I.P. Ezra Chatterton [...]
Infinite respect for blizard for doing that! (and i’m an EVEer so thats saying something!) if the parents read this I am VERY sorry for you loss even though i never met your son he looked like a cool dude!
Wait, so did he start the Pre-Xpac plague too?
I use to think Blizzard was a bunch of idiots. Although this may be true, I also hand over my ultimate respect, as now, they are 99.9% made of win due to this. But seriously, you is rock!
Btw Thx fer article, pretty much highlight of the week. (Yeah, I have a boring life D:)
screen shot or it didnt happen
Anon there is a reason why this wasent posted on 4 chan….now go back to 4 chan, calling people new fags and asking for tits
That is by far the coolest thing Blizzard has ever done
what a waste of a lvl 70 with top gear… D:
Very, very nice of the people over at Blizzard to do all that. Sad story.
That is a WoW story and very heartwarming. With much negative news about gaming this story shows many things, the bonding between parent and child, a wish come true and the Gaming developers enjoy children’s interests and input. It’s sad Ezra passed away so young. This story brought tears to my eyes.
R.I.P. Ezra Chatterton.
My son was a very dedicated WoW player but we are travelling around in our business so he could no longer play it due to our satellite use but plays Runescape now. I wrote a WoW article on my website. My son will be interested in this News about Ezra. I will pass it on.
I bet that made his year! I’m glad blizzard could do that for a child, and makes me feel better about my $15 a month.
Touching as it is, why couldnt Blizzard fork over some of that profit to help his condition rather than taking advantage of a sick and profitable viral marketing scheme? They obviously have the power to do what they did effortlessly, it didnt cost them much at all. Yea make him happy before he dies, too bad they probly have the cash to cure whatever was wrong with him or at least help. Sadly Blizzard made themselves look good with this boy’s help at little to no cost to them. He spent a day with some guy who probly makes more than the average WoW player does in 6 months and got all the best stuff you can cheat into one account.
If you ask me, the boy would have been better off spending the day in a church learning about where he’s about to go because of our human limits. God rest his soul, I hope the most legendary Priest ever, Jesus was there to walk with him to UBER-1337ness!!!
I agree completely! I pray that thats who was there for Him as no other in this world could be! It was truly the work of God that bound the father and son together through the game. Blizzard had the chance to help-I hope that maybe they tried and did not say anything, as I do not know all the circumstances…But the matter of the fact is that God gave them an opportunity to help one of His children-I hope they took it..
[...] day, Blizzard is helping kids with brain tumors, the next day, they are apparently torturing prisoners into [...]
And now let’s turn the comments into a Jesus circlejerk and start discussing how amazing god is. You start.