Today I had the chance to participate in a truly epic WoW event -- a "running of the bulls" in memory of Ezra Chatterton, a child who recently died of cancer. Blizzard and the Make A Wish foundation made it possible for him to participate in WoW as a game designer--he created the quest in Mulgore where Ahab needs help finding his lost dog, Kyle; he designed an epic crossbow; he was given the first Phoenix mount in the game.
In memory of Ezra, BRK organized a massive event where players from all across WoW created level 1 Tauren on Argent Dawn to sack Stormwind. Participants were encouraged to make a donation to the Make a Wish foundation.
I made a Tauren Hunter named Ezerah, and Thulgasta made a Tauren Hunter named Makeapwn. We got them to level 10 and tamed coyotees, which we both named Kyle. We joined the newly formed "Run for Ezra" guild, and donned our generously donated starry tabards. Then we joined the great stampede... but alas, the when the herd arrived in Ratchet, the servers began to crash beneath the weight of thousands of baby Tauren. Hard. Before long, the Blizzard GMs told us to cease and desist our attempt to reach Stormwind because the server was so unstable. It's possible that we crashed more than just Argent Dawn, because Authentication servers went down WoW-wide.
The stream of Tauren stretching all the way from Mulgore to Ratchet, and into Strangletorn Vale, was a sight to behold. In Ezra's memory, and for all children living with severe illness and their families, I'm making a donation to Make a Wish. My thanks go out to BRK and everyone who helped to organize this event, and to all who came to show their support!
Related Links:
Blizard Makes WoW Wish Virtual Reality (article about Ezra)
BigRedKitty: For Ezra and Make a Wish (event announcement)
BigRedKitty: An open apology to everybody (for crashing the servers)
BigRedKitty: Smackdown (event screenshots)
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