WoW Tour – One Picture – Each Zone

I have often thought about all the people who has the “the Explorer” title, wondering if they really did explore all these areas, or rather explored in order to get all the exploration points down to get the title at last. I wonder if explorers in WoW more often run their journey result-oriented to a greater extend than process-oriented. The latter meaning you pay attention to the ride itself, and don’t neccesarily view it as a means to an end.

I set out to explore WoW myself, not to get the title but to produce a beautiful picture from each zone (pre-Cataclysm), depicting all the areas through one symbolic image that would make people recognize the zone instantly. I was inspired by the destiny of Azeroth come Cataclysm, and wanted to make sure I’ve seen it al, before it changes forever and it is too late.

After searching for good scenery, trying out angles and spending hours upon hours (getting the right light was a challenge in itself) getting the pool of potential pictures down, I did not get the title. Perhaps I didn’t explore everything, but I sure did manage to pay attention to detail along the way. Perhaps in a way that I could imagine many to forget, when rushing towards the pseudo-ding of a completed achievement.

If you yourself intend to get the Explorer achievement before Cataclysm, I recommend that you do the same. Take pictures along the way, depict your characters journey, or just scout out exquisite scenery. I’m sure, you like me, will recognize quickly how much work went into shaping the world and that World of Warcraft indeed is a product of “intelligent design“.

Let me give you an example of..sort of a mystery I came across myself when exploring:

Meet Winky! Shes a pirate gnome located in Tanaris on a small island, with hammock and supplies, almost looking as though she is gonna have a beach party soon.

She has one patch covering her eye and that’s probably what gave her the nick name “Winky”. So why is Winky sitting out there? No one knows for sure, she doesn’t hand you any quests.

There’s nothing in the game deliberately leading you to her, such as quests. You have to run into her on your own accord. The map to the right shows her location.

One key to her whereabouts could be the looney dwarf Oralius, who’s in the Burning Steppes. If you check his comments section in the Wowhead link, it seems he has reached cult status for rewarding quests with the honor of rubbing his belly and other crazy statements.

Well, Oralius also occasionally refers to “Captain Winky”, whom he wants to shut up, although he isn’t standing near anyone with that name. Perhaps he is talking about Winky the pirate gnome, but how come he has lost his mind and seems to be able to hear Winky’s voice? Gnome Mind-control gadgets? Or maybe there’s another mad story behind this… no one knows.

Winky’s inexplicable existance and connection to Oralius’ insanity, is just a small example – there are tons out there, not to mention the many hermits around Azeroth and secret hidden locations.