[List] In-Jokes, Third-Party References, etc.

The description of the steel plating encrust* is a reference to the movie "Conan the Barbarian" which repeatedly references the "Riddle of Steel", and to the gameshow "Who wants to be a Millionaire", which uses the catchphrase "Is that your final answer?"


*("Is that your final answer to the riddle of steel?")

 

The tooltip for New Bolt is a reference to the failed 'update' to Coca-Cola (conveniently named New Coke).

One of the Workbench tooltips (spotted in the Wizardlands) states that sufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology. This is a reversal of a quote attributed to legendary sci-fi writer Arthur C. Clarke (NOT Isaac Asimov as I had incorrectly said originally).

There is a room in the Wizardlands which contains numerous broken portals. They have a variety of tooltips, referring current file structures and types (e.g. config.sys), obsolete errors and even the lack of an electronics skill.

 

...Arthur C Clarke, I thought...

 

And the same about Bolt Classic. And, going further, one can see that their stats don't differ much which is GLG's way of having fun at Coca-Cola's expense (not that it's a bad thing).

 

That's right, my apologies. Must have seen it wrongly attributed somewhere.

 

Probably some overlap here:

Respect Mah Authoritah, the achievement for getting killed by a Dread Collector, is - I believe - a reference to Cartman from South Park.

It Tastes Like Pennies, the achievement for mastering Blood Magic, is less a joke and more a reference to people describing the taste of blood as coppery - copper being the main metal (I believe) in the penny coins of various countries. There may also be a joke here that I'm missing. This is further referenced by the tooltip for Malachite, in which it's said the player could use this to create their own microzorkmids, though simple mathematics would suggest a microzorkmid is an utterly worthless bit of currency - just like the perception of the penny.

My Humps, gained by getting 'killed' by a Thrusty, is... um... a reference to a song by the Black Eyed Peas? My humps, my humps, my lovely lady lumps? Something like that. Eh, I didn't write it.

The Sea is a Cruel Mistress, gained by drowning, is a saying amongst sailors, I believe. Could be more to it than that.

It's Alive, gained by mastering Golemancy, is a reference to old horror movies - likely some version of Frankenstein. The icon also seems to be a reference to popular Japanese cartoon Pokémon.

He Who Smelt It, gained by smelting 50 ingots, is the obligatory fart joke.

For killing 100 Diggles, you gain HMS Deagle - a reference, of course, to the ship that at one point famously carried Charles Darwin, HMS Beagle.

Do I have to go into the achievements for killing Dredmor? Some are bad puns (Dread More and Dread Less), one is a reference - I think - to Valve's Left 4 Dead (Left 4 Dread, unsurprisingly). The other two, well... I don't think I quite get Dead Dread and Dread and Buried is just another bad pun.

The Tom Marvolo Riddle Award for Scholastic Merit, gained for mastering Magic Training, is an obvious Harry Potter reference.

I Tink, Therefore I Am, for mastering Tinkering, is a really bad pun based on the philosophical phrase "I think, therefore I am", or in its original Latin "cogito ergo sum".

Turtle Power? Gained for mastering Shields. References Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

It Has A Knob On The End (gained by mastering the Staff skill set) is, I think, a reference to a song in Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld series.

Taste the Rainbow, for damaging an enemy with seven or more damage types, is a reference to the marketing campaign for... uh... Skittles, I believe.

Team Edward and Team... Jacob?, which you unlock for Vampirism and Werediggle respectively, are Twilight references. Why?

Plumber's Agaric, whilst appearing as a Mario reference in both its image (kind of) and one interpretation of the text, has a second interpretation. Its tooltip references 'herbal supplements' that form the basis of spam mail, typically to make a certain part of the anatomy larger. Whilst typically referring the penis, the cult hit Napoleon Dynamite had leaflets advertising herbal supplements that supposedly helped the consumer get bigger breasts. Just an interesting aside.

Aqua Vitae is said to be 100% pure alcohol. This is a nod to the real-world Aqua Vitae (literally Water of Life), a solution of 100% ethanol that was typically used to make alcoholic beverages, though I don't doubt that alchemists used it. In another Latin-based item, we have Aqua Fortis which is said to be a strong sort of water, with 'fortis' being the Latin word, or at least very similar, for 'strong. So, the literal translation would be something like Strong Water.

Turquoise's flavour text is a reference to people getting colours of similar blue/green mixes confused - Aqua and Cyan are referenced, but Teal is another similar colour.

Finally, for now, there's a named(?) Bumblebeeperson called The Green Hornet. Aside from hornets and bees having similar colourations, it's a reference to a vintage comic character of the same name, which was recently rebooted into a not-too-successful film with Seth Rogen and various others.

 

Dead Dread is there for the alliteration. You left out Dread or Alive, but that one's obvious.

Acidium Salis is the medieval name for hydrochloric acid.

Double Rainbow is a reference to this.

 

"Dwarven Atom Smasher" is a slang term used on the Dwarf Fortress/Bay12 Games message board to refer to closing a drawbridge on objects in fortress mode of Dwarf Fortress to remove them from the game.

http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/v0.31:Dwarven_atom_smasher

 

Althea, I would like to take the time to stare at you judgamentally. Pokemon wasn't originally a Japanese cartoon, it started as a game. Not an important detail, but one that pisses me off gargantually anyway.
I hate the Pokemon anime.

 

I forgot, okay? I only really ever saw the show, never had a GameBoy to play the original games.

 

Additionally, the effect that happens when you put a Horadric Lutefisk Cube inside of another Horadric Lutefisk Cube seems to be a reference to what happens in Dungeons and Dragons when you put a Bag of Holding inside of another Bag or Holding

 

The levers that lead to "PULL!", which brings monsters your way appears to be a nod to the common practice of pulling groups of mobs in MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft.

Tobin's spirit guide is a reference to the book of the same name in various places within the Ghostbusters franchise.
The flavor text, of course, within this vein, is a reference to the scene in the original movie that led to the marshmallow man.

 

I'm pretty sure the poses in the Conquest of the Wizardlands title screen are modeled after some famous movie poster but I can't remember which one (I'm thinking one of the Star Wars films, maybe?)

 

What are you smoking? No. Just no.

Two words for you:
Skeet Shooting.

 

Perhaps, but skeet shooting does not result in a bunch of monsters, whereas my reference does. In truth, it could be either or both, depending on the programmers, based in Canada, where guns, gun ranges and skeet shooting are relatively uncommon, but MMOs (and for that matter, pot) are not.
As for what I'm smoking, not a bloody thing, but I suspect you live too far from me to puff, puff, pass. Offer's appreciated, though.

 

Sigh. Skeet Shooting is common enough. And it actually happens. WoW is *NOT* the beginning of every reference in the known universe. No one hollers "Pull" before pulling a monster in any MMO. They do yell it loud for skeet shooting.

Likewise someone yelling "FORE!" is not telling you a number. They could say that with a quiet voice. They say that before they launch a golf ball at high velocity.

And finally, the whole what are you smoking part is hyperbole. Nothing more. Try not to be offended.

 

I was not offended by the smoking comment, and my response was an attempt to respond to a rhetorical aspersion with humor to avoid exactly the tensions that seem to have arisen.

Your presented logic appears to be a term I have heard used regularly (whilst quite clear of the influence of intoxicants/narcotics) simply does not exist ("No one does it") on the grounds of you have not heard it (or heard of it) used in that context, and you have heard it used elsewhere. THAT, I find slightly offensive, but this is the internet, so not a biggie.

I believe we have both made our positions relatively clear.

As such, I would like to suggest we call a truce, both let the matter drop, and leave it to those reading the thread to decide for themselves, rather than further cluttering the thread.

 

Fair enough. I know I can be quite abrasive. I hope I did not ruin your day with this.

Whichever way the term is meant, it does not really matter. Forgive my hatred of everything WoW. It bleeds through from time to time despite my best efforts to contain it...

 

Star Wars it is.

 

Why amazonian bumblepersons?