Ian Bates

The Wildhammer Fact Checker.

"The Red Shirt Guy" refers to a fan who asked about a question about the dwarven leadership during the Lore panel at BlizzCon 2010. A video of his question subsequently went viral.

He confirmed in a response video that he has Asperger syndrome. Although he did not wish to make his character's name known, he stated that his guild is Carpe Imperium on Malfurion US.

He posts as "Insane Guy of Doom" on Scrolls of Lore, where the administrator created a special rank for him - 'Time-Lost Proto Nerd'. The rank is in reference to a joke link on Cracked.com.

Background

There are some lore issues regarding Kurdran Wildhammer and Falstad Wildhammer. Chris Metzen implied that in Day of the Dragon, Falstad was supposed to be killed, but the book has it so that he survived. This survival was reflected in his inclusion in WoW as an NPC at Aerie Peak.

Falstad was originally in the Cataclysm beta as a member of the Council of Three Hammers according to reports, but was replaced by Kurdran in a later build.

In The Shattering: Prelude to Cataclysm, Varian Wrynn suggests (or decrees) that Falstad be the Wildhammer representative on the Council of Three Hammers.

Transcript

The Red Shirt Guy: Hello. I have- I just finished reading The Shattering yesterday... and I noticed something. It said that Falstad Wildhammer was going to be on the Council of Three Hammers, but in the beta it's Kurdran Wildhammer, and Falstad is not in the game at all. What happened to him?

Chris Metzen: Isn't Falstad dead? ...from, uh, Day of the Dragon? ...No?

The Red Shirt Guy: No, he survived, and, in fact, he is- was the leader of Aerie Peak in vanilla WoW and through Wrath of the Lich King.

Chris Metzen: Right, of course. Uh. Yeah, Alex, what's up with that?

Alex Afrasiabi: *Dismissive noise* Thanks, thanks for pointing that out. We're gonna get that fixed.

The Red Shirt Guy: Thank you!

Alex Afrasiabi: You bet.

*Resounding cheers*

Blizzard response

Re: BlizzCon Red Shirt Guy | 2010-10-29 15:19 |  Nethaera

Q u o t e:

Probably because he talks like a robot.
"FALSTAD NOT IN GAME. DOES NOT... COMPUTE."

I don't think that's his fault really. Keep in mind a few things (and those that have asked questions before will understand this):

Every person asking a question is standing there perhaps for the first time, with a microphone in front them, a very large TV camera in front of them and very bright lights shining on them. Then, add to it that as you talk, you can hear yourself echoing through the hall. If you wait for that echo to fade, you end up talking much slower than you normally would. It's a bit disconcerting to say the least for anyone who isn't used to that. Getting up in front of thousands of people to ask a question is unnerving for many people given those circumstances. It's not easy and I applaud anyone who gets up and asks an informed question of the panelists under such conditions.

View original post

On 30 October, 2010, a screenshot was brought to light featuring Falstad in place of Kurdran on the High Seat, and standing next to him was a dwarf NPC with a red tabard named "Wildhammer Fact Checker". At that time, neither NPC could be be found in the High Seat in the beta, leading to speculation that the screenshot was fake. Valnoth has stated that it is "real" but some still felt it was an elaborate hoax. The Cataclysm beta build released on November 3rd contained the two NPCs, confirming the screenshot as legitimate; in Patch 4.0.3a they both appeared on live servers, removing any doubt.

Trivia

• Chris Metzen's question Isn't Falstad dead? became a popular catch phrase.

External links

• YouTube Blizzcon 2010 - The Red Shirt Guy
• YouTube The Red Shirt Guy Speaks Out!
• YouTube Blizzcon 2010 - Red Shirt Guy Auto-tune Tribute!!!!!