The Daily Blink was a World of Warcraft webcomic launched in January 2010. The first strips (as the name suggests) presented the comic as a fake news source for the WoW universe a la The Onion, complete with advertizing parodies, but over its short life it quickly grew into something more thematically bizarre, technically complex, and universally silly.
The strip incorporated Machinomic tactics, typographic gags, and a hefty helping of Photoshop to create anything from story-driven multipanel cartoons to parody magazine covers. Individual entries satirized the game universe as well as the real world culture of WoW fans, with a special emphasis on forum debates, recent news, and controversies within the player base.
As such, it was decidedly In-Joke-heavy. If you stumbled upon the page with no knowledge of World of Warcraft and its fan community, then this was not a comic for you. Indeed, you probably just left before getting this far in the description.
The comic went on hiatus in June 2013 and the website went offline some time in 2016 or 2017.
This comic provided examples of:
- Accidental Truth: Nine days after the comic joked about what mage utility warlocks would steal next, the Dev team announced the warlock changes for Cataclysm, which included a co-operative caster buff called Dark Intent (to match the mage ability Focus Magic). The authors announced that they would cease production of the comic and take their talents to the racetrack.
- Cross Player: Referenced in the Cosmopolitan parody cover. "How do I tell my guild I'm a GUY?!? pg. 78"
- Life Embellished: Fake blue posts supposedly by Greg "Ghostcrawler" Street, lead systems designer, feature prominently. Ghostcrawler's penchant for light snark in his design notes became the sarcastic, cruel taunting of a bored, alcoholic designer trolling the fans. And voiced by BRIAN BLESSED!!!!!. The authors seem to like him better this way.
- Lighter and Softer: The lifestyle magazine for DK players, "Death Knight Living", includes a guide to finding "the cutest widdle vanity pets in all of WoW", and "The Best Easy Listening Music for Raiding (Celine Dion's #4!)".
- Public Service Announcement: A propaganda poster warned against selfish behavior, and an informational flyer urged players not to break crowd control.
