Red Shirt Guy interview

There is a popular new video making its way across the internet (and various TV shows), you can find it easily if you search for “Red Shirt Guy”.  Basically, if you haven’t seen it, it’s a video of a guy, in a red shirt, asking the some of the developers of World of Warcraft a question about the lore of Warcraft and pointing out a mistake.  If you haven’t seen it, you can check it out HERE.  Well, I scoured Azeroth and tracked down Red Shirt Guy and did a Q&A interview with him.  Enjoy!

World-Gaming Network:  First off, what's your name?  And where are you from?  How old are you?

Red Shirt Guy: I'm not comfortable with my name coming out, but it has, thanks to people at my school so I guess I can share it. My name is Ian Bates and I am 17 years old. I'm from a state that's shaped like an upside down boot.

World-Gaming Network:  How long have you been playing World of Warcraft?

Red Shirt Guy: Since around November 2006, when one of my friends showed me and I was enamored with their being a whole world with its own ecology which to my delight included dinosaurs! (I really, really, really like dinosaurs).

World-Gaming Network:  I know you probably don't want to give out your character names due to how many people will spam you with tells, but do you want to share your guild name and server?

Red Shirt Guy: As I said in my "Red Shirt Guy Speaks Out!" response video my guild is Carpe Imperium on the Malfurion server.

World-Gaming Network: Have you ever played any of the Warcraft real time strategy games?  Warcraft, Warcraft 2, etc...

Red Shirt Guy: I have played Warcraft III but not the first two as they are rather old and hard to get.

World-Gaming Network: What are your thoughts on Warcraft III?

Red Shirt Guy: I'm a fan of RTS games so I naturally enjoyed Warcraft III, my favorite aspect of it outside of the story is making the bases into little towns and having them conquer the other ones while making up a story behind it. As you might guess I'm a big fan of storytelling in games.

World-Gaming Network:  Was this your first BlizzCon?

Red Shirt Guy: It was actually my fourth. I've gone every year since 2007.

World-Gaming Network:   Was your sole purpose of attending BlizzCon this year to ask your question to the dev?

Red Shirt Guy: Not at all, I didn't even have this question until I noticed the discrepancy while on the plane ride to Anaheim.  I come mainly as its neat to see the upcoming games and how they're made, it’s one of the few places that I'm relatively comfortable with a large number of people ( I don't need to interact with them too much unless I want to) and its just plain fun to be there amongst my fellow gamers.

World-Gaming Network:  I've heard that Blizzard has added an NPC called "WildHammer Fact Checker" to the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion beta test in honor of you.  How do you feel about this?

Red Shirt Guy: Red Shirt Guy: It’s actually spelled "Wildhammer" but I am honored. Blizzard has added npcs of famous WoW fans in the past, such as Breanni of warcraftpets.com, but I never in a million epochs thought I would be one.

World-Gaming Network:  Yep, there you have it; I’ve just been corrected by Red Shirt Guy….wonderful.  I guess I can die a happy man now.  Did you know the video from BlizzCon was going to be posted on the internet?  Are you surprised by how popular it is?

Red Shirt Guy: I hadn't really thought about that at the time I asked the question. I am extremely surprised that it became popular at all. I just asked a question.

World-Gaming Network:  The original posting on YouTube has over 10,000 comments ranging from hateful comments to people calling you a "nerd hero."  Do you read the comments?

Red Shirt Guy: I used to read the comments back when I first noticed the video, but at that time they were almost 100% hateful so now a days I don't pay much attention to them.

World-Gaming Network:  I think I first saw the video in a Yahoo article.  Then that night I saw it on E! TV's The Soup.  Have you been keeping track of where else the video has been played?

Red Shirt Guy:  I search "Red Shirt Guy" every once in a while to see if I've ended up somewhere new. I think the most impressive place I ended up on was the Jimmy Kimmel show.

World-Gaming Network:  What is your favorite color?

Red Shirt Guy: I know this will sound cheesy, but red. Most of my shirts are red in fact.

World-Gaming Network: I've seen the original video and your response video.  In both you are wearing the same red shirt.  Is that your favorite shirt?  Or do you just wear it twice since you are now known as "Red Shirt Guy" to most people on the internet?

Red Shirt Guy: It has become my favorite shirt, but I wore it just for the sake of recognition, as you said I am known as the "Red Shirt Guy" to most people on the internet.

World-Gaming Network:  Have you already pre-ordered the Cataclysm expansion?

Red Shirt Guy: Collector's Edition to be precise. =)

World-Gaming Network:  What are your thoughts on the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm expansion?

Red Shirt Guy: I think its Blizzard's "see we listen to you guys, expansion" as it has tons of stuff players have been asking for. Revamped 1-60 content, goblins and worgen, flying in Azeroth, ect. I being one of those players am very excited.

Thanks to Ian for taking time out of his busy day to do this interview.