Warcraft Identity of Obama's FCC Transition Team Co-Chair Revealed, Analyzed

Earlier on Boing Boing, Cory blogged that President-elect Barack Obama has appointed Net Neutrality advocates and "virtual worlds nuts" Kevin Werbach and Susan Crawford to co-chair his FCC transition team. Okay, so we might know the guy as Kevin Werbach out here in meatspace, but to his Terror Nova Guild buddies, he's better known as Supernovan Jenkins (the first name presumably a reference to Werbach's Supernova tech conference series), and he's a Level 70 Tauren Shaman. Livejournaler Waltermonkey opines on the deeper meaning of Werbach's WoW identity:

What does this tell us about him, as a person, as a gamer, as a government official? I will attempt to translate all the dorkese.

1. - CULTURAL RELATIVISM

Every player in WoW belongs to one of two warring factions, Alliance or Horde. Werbach is Horde. Children often choose to be Alliance because they perceive them as "the good guys", but students of history (both ours and Azeroth's) recognize that Alliance culture is based on medieval European culture and Horde culture is based on the indigenous cultures that were supplanted by the West.

Werbach is a Tauren (a minotaur), which basically makes him a Native Kalimdorian. The Tauren revere nature, living in wigwams near giant totem poles. As a Shaman (see below), he could also have chosen a troll (blue-skinned Jamaican-like monster) or an orc (green-skinned Klingon-like monster), so there must be something about the cow-man that appeals to his liberal guilt.

Read the whole thing: victory or death! yes we can! (Waltermonkey; thanks Drew Coombs of Project Lore! Recompense of phat lewt, reagents, and pizza await thee.)

• [BlindKarma]

  Resto Shaman? I hope he has to take a Psych profile because the man must be a total sadist. Atleast go Ele under the guise of helping out your casters.

• [monitorhead]

  always the healers that have the advantage.

• [Axx]

  F*ck! He’s horde.

  This isn’t looking good, guys.

• [boingaddict]

  the author forgot to add that angsty teenagers often choose horde.

  Good horde is a dead horde

• [netfortius]

  This article reminded me of http://www.networkperformancedaily.com/2008/08/a_special_comment.html :)

• [Not a Doktor]

  so there must be something about the cow-man that appeals to his liberal guilt.

  Or maybe he’s just a furry.

• [Spherical Time]

  Okay, that’s definitely awesome.

• [Vanderath]

  He might just like the dance…

• [alreadytaken17]

  I guess he’s been busy, still level 70..

• [demidan]

  Anyone know what server he is on? I want to join his guild,,,ThoB in Silverhand is a good guild but,,,

• [Locobot]

  Yeah MDH, I do have a nice troll, he’s a lvl 77 warrior and he’ll take all comers. Let me go ahead and formally throw down the gauntlet and challenge you to an arena match. We can even go 2v2 so one of your guild mates can carry you when you turn fey.

• [Takuan]

  umm, “lighting bolt! lightning bolt!?”

• [Anonymous]

  Resto shaman is a great healing spec for raids (probably the best spec)

  At least he is not a pally

• [padster123]

  I need William Gibson to come along and explain to me what this actually MEANS. There are just a few too many layers of virtual irony for me to penetrate.

• [franko]

  i have to say, locobot’s point is very well founded. the point is, boing boing needs some gamers to write the gaming posts here. or else tidier research before posting gaming-related posts.

  for the record, my 68 human mage would get creamed by his 77 troll warrior. but i am reaching across faction to defend him. who says alliance and horde can’t get along? : D

• [BoingingSince2008]

  @#15

  Note, the blogger wrote “Jamaican like” monster, not Jamaican looking monster. Quite simply, you fail.

  Lulz

• [acx99]

  Liberal guilt?

  It’s a long time since i played WoW, but..FTH!

• [finisterre]

  Wait, what exactly is a “Jamaican-like monster”?

• [Oskar]

  @Finisterre: Trust me, they look totally jamaican.

• [mdh]

  make Boing Boing look extremely ignorant when it comes to

  locobot – You’re casting more heat than light. What’s your point? Have something to share other than indignant attitude??

• [NefariousWheel]

  That’s all very well, but I backed Thrall for President. Barack Obama was considered as a good distant second, but he wasn’t sufficiently the murderous bastard we need to finally bring peace to The Crossroads, which seems to always be under attack. And where is the public outcry, I hear you ask? (I don’t? oh…)

  Bandsaw
  GM “The Voodoo”
  Quel’Thalas

• [Guysmiley]

  For the Horde!

• [JivesTheButler]

  Having walked the same path as Mr. Werbach in my WoW days I feel he is perfectly suited to represent my interests. He knows what it means to be rejected from a party for being a hybird. He knows what it means to fight over loot with almost every other class in the game. He knows what it means to walk the challenging path of the PvP resto shaman (although he is PvE specced at the moment). Most of all though, he knows the deep sadness of a class with no crowd control.

  Hopefully this man will take the same action that I would in his position. Namely: nerf warlocks.

• [aphexddb]

  #8 It’s promising to see he plays a Horde character. Primarily children and simpletons play Alliance.

  For the Horde!

• [Locobot]

  MDH – My point, which should be obvious but apparently needs to be spelled out for you, is that Boing Boing purports to be a hi-tech blog which reaches out to the gaming community. When posts are made with incorrect and insulting terminology it makes Boing Boing look bad and alienates the very people they are trying to reach out to. It’s kind of like how you might feel if your grandma asked to use your “google box.” A minotaur is a figure from Greek mythology, a tauren is a similar yet different creature imagined by Blizzard games at some point in the 1990s. A “Dwarf” is an insensitive slur against little people, in a fantasy context they’re called “Dwarves.” Neither of these are the correct label for a video containing a Gnome.

• [demidan]

  ,,,Also, if he lets me join his guild he can ride on my Mammoth…

• [urshrew]

  Finally, someone in charge of some aspect of the Internet who may actually use the internet.

• [franko]

  #18, i’m neither a child nor a simpleton. FOR THE ALLIANCE!

  anyway, i hope that this info leaking out doesn’t ruin the game for him. he deserves somewhere where he can just play in peace, and now that’s probably been forever altered.

• [Cool Products]

  “Gentlemen, we are dealing with someone here who has absolutely no life.”

• [phquaryn]

  demidan, I suspect you’re kidding, but he is on Eitrigg.

• [mdh]

  Wait, what exactly is a “Jamaican-like monster”?

  Jar Jar Binks springs to mind, so THANKS for asking.
  

• [Anonymous]

  As a fellow tauren resto shaman, I say… fuck yeah!

  The resto shaman has long been the underdog amongst wow healing classes. It takes someone who really loves the class and loves healing to stick with that spec. I’m so proud!

• [BlindKarma]

  Ok, but want class does Obama play? Druid =)
  Change ( Healing Tree) Nationalized Health Care
  Change (Bear) Look at the market lately?
  Change (Boomkin) Pakistan hiding Osama -Moonfire spam-
  Change (Kitty!) Malia is allergic to doggies

• [Ray Radlein]

  I assume that the “Jenkins” is a tribute to Leroy?

• [lakelady]

  hope he doesn’t have the same strategic skills as Leeroy.

• [mdh]

  please, I said without the indignant attitude. Nice troll though.

• [Thrishmal]

  The Jenkins in his name is simply a title earned through an achievement system in the game. It really just shows that he has an appreciation for internet culture.

• [nosehat]

  One of his two guilds is “composed primarily of academics and other thinkers who study and write about virtual worlds.”

  That’s pretty cool!

• [Antinous]

  Locobot,

  You’re making a spectacle of yourself. A rather entertaining one, too.

• [mdh]

  epic LAN parties are found in the West Wing of Warcraft.

• [Anonymous]

  If I see him in Wintergrasp I’ll lolstomp / wtfpwn him with my 80 Dranei DK. One-shot, ftw.

• [Locobot]

  Okay a Tauren is NOT the same thing as a minotaur. Minotaurs have human bodies with bull heads. Tauren are humanoid bovine creatures with tails, hoofs, and furry bodies. This and the above post calling a gnome a dwarf (OMFG) make Boing Boing look extremely ignorant when it comes to gaming.

• [Anonymous]

  This should be interesting.

  With a avid gamer as an advisor for FCC matters, there should be another battle brewing with notorious FCC critic, anti-gamer, and kook, Jack Thompson.

  Paranoia Strikes Deep