Blizzard, Make-A-Wish Help Ezra Chatterton Create Characters for World of Warcraft

Ezra Chatterton from Riverside, Calif., was given the chance of a lifetime on Tuesday, March 22.

Make-A-Wish foundation of America has been helping terminally ill children make their wishes come true for many years now. No such wish has reached into the video game world as that of 10-year-old Ezra Chatterton.

Ezra was diagnosed with a brain tumor, metastatic cancer, back in April. With unyielding headaches day and night, Ezra had to be sedated just to keep the pain suppressed. After being administered drug treatment Ezra slept for over a week. Completely drained of all energy, Ezra kept fighting to stay strong.

That's when Make-A-Wish foundation came knocking. They asked Ezra what it was he'd like to have, which he quickly replied, "I wished for a trip to Blizzard because I'd like to see if they could make a character and do some things for us," according to The Orange County Register.

Ezra's parents divorced five years ago and he spent time with both parents. While staying with his father, Micah Chatterton, Ezra was allowed to play World of Warcraft. The father and son combo made a set of characters that they leveled together. They would pick out what cloths to wear, what weapons to equip, and what quests to do together. Last fall Micah's house burned down, along with all of Ezra's things. Micah took the insurance money to buy a new computer and internet connection. Father and son leveled to 63 before Ezra fell ill.

Ezra wasn't really sure if his wish would come true. At most he thought they would set up a video conference with Blizzard Entertainment and he'd get to talk to some of the key developers of WoW. After hearing of Ezra's situation Blizzard was ready to do more then just a video conference. Since Ezra was located near the headquarters of Blizzard Entertainment they invited his father and him to visit the company. Quickly pulling together a full schedule for the two, Blizzard planed a full day of events. On that Friday Ezra was off to tour Blizzard.

Not wanting to forget anything, Ezra asked his father to write down ideas, and sketches before they left. Along with being able to tour the company, Ezra would become the first outsider to make a character in the World of Warcraft. Developer Kaplan hurried Ezra to his office the minute they arrived. Once in the office, Kaplan sat Ezra down and discussed the plan to make a new weapon for WoW. According to OCRegister's Tamar Chuang, Ezra told Kaplan, "We definitely want a crossbow." Chatterton went on to explain how he wanted large flames to come off the crossbow, and that it would do 300 fire damage over time. Kaplan suggested they add the words: Finely crafted to Ezra's specifications. Ezra didn't want to come off prideful, so they decided to credit it to his in game character ePhoenix.

Not only did he get to make a new weapon, but Ezra got to discuss sketches with artists, as well as add his own voice to the game. One of the new None-Player Characters (NPC) that will be added, Ahab Wheathoof, will feature the voice of Ezra himself. Along with Ahab Wheathoof will be his dog Kyle, who is Ezra's real life dog. Also, since they didn't get to reach level 70 (and may not have the time) Blizzard increased the level of Ezra's character to the max. Giving him free items and gold, Ezra can play at the maximum level. Chatterton also got to take a tour of the new instance Black Temple with the developers launching death-rays at the bosses. After over seven hours with the Blizzard staff, Ezra and his father set off home with one boys wish come true.

Tamara Chuang, "Blizzard makes WoW wish virtual reality." OCRegister. URL: (http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/money/article_1702706.php)