How do you feel about Easter Eggs in Blizzard games? What are your most and least favorite ones?

Easter Eggs (that is, things that are references or call backs to other media) are a hot-button topic for me. I’m not always a big fan, because done poorly, they can really pull me out of a game’s immersion. But some of them, like Blizzard World in Overwatch, I find absolutely delightful. One that really stands out for me as an excellent example is the Lost Vikings reference in Uldaman in World of Warcraft — you don’t immediately realize it’s an Easter Egg unless you’re really informed about old Blizzard properties. It doesn’t stick out as an obvious wink and a nod, so if you don’t get it, you’re not immediately torn out of the game by it.

Some of them are pretty subtle — there’s a reference to the ’80s Conan the Barbarian movie in the Badlands in an out-of-the-way crypt you’ll have a hard time even finding unless you really look for it, for example. Those are fun because they bring about a sense of involvement and inclusion, making you part of the experience in a way just having an NPC be an obvious rip from some other media just can’t have. So I like those kinds of Easter Eggs a lot better — I’m still very fond of the Statue of Liberty you can find in the Ironband’s Excavation site, as another example.

So that now allows me to turn to you all and ask — what are your favorite references, in-jokes, or other media pull ins that Blizzard sprinkles in their games? Finkle Einhorn? Winnie the Pooh and his friends? The various Heroes of the Storm skins that make Leoric a Vrykul? What are your favorite Easter Eggs, or do you just not enjoy the concept and find it completely off-putting? Share with us, friends — tell me how you really feel about Easter Eggs in video games!