Captain Placeholder was an NPC in Blizzard Entertainment's MMORPG World of Warcraft. He first appeared in the beta version of the game as a temporary measure, allowing players to instantly teleport from Menethil Harbor to the town of Auberdine (instead of first waiting fot the boat to arrive to the docks, then waiting til it would arrive to its destination), when some of the boat paths had yet to be implemented. After the retail launch a glitch in the normal operation of the Menethil Harbor-Auberdine boat path prompted Blizzard to reinstate Captain Placeholder until a fix could be included in an upcoming patch, and the Captain quickly became quite popular among the retail subscribers.

Blizzard fixed the glitch in an April 2005 patch, which also removed the Captain. Fans of the character quickly began petitioning Blizzard for his return in one fashion or another, even to the point of recording a song entitled "The Lament of Captain Placeholder, by Eledain of Dragonmaw", the lyrics of which are as follows:

<blockquote><i>–Verse 1–
<br/><br/>
On the stormy shores of Azeroth,<br/>
A silhouette did stand.<br/>
A brave and stalwart sailor,<br/>
Who gave a helpin' hand.<br/>
Without fail, on every whim,<br/>
which we did demand,<br/>
He simply smiled and waved his hand<br/>
and sent us 'cross the land.
<br/><br/>
–Chorus–<br/>
Farewell to thee Placeholder<br/>
Your ship has sailed to sea<br/>
We'll tip our hats and pray one day<br/>
to be as great as thee.<br/>
Captain P you'll never know the emptiness inside<br/>
as we sit ashore of Menethil, waitin' for a ride.
<br/><br/>
–Verse 2–<br/>
Time did pass, until one day,<br/>
that silhouette did fade.<br/>
Where once we found Placeholder,<br/>
only scattered winds remained.<br/>
The stormy sea went silent,<br/>
on that dark and dreary day.<br/>
But come along my friends<br/>
let's raise a glass up for his name!
<br/><br/>
–Chorus–
<br/><br/>
–Musical Interlude–
<br/><br/>
–Verse 3–<br/>
So when you find yourself lamenting<br/>
On that lonely pier.<br/>
Watching as the ships come in<br/>
and dryin' off your tears.<br/>
Believe in what he stood for,<br/>
and I know that he’ll survive.<br/>
Inside our hearts dear Placeholder<br/>
will always be alive!
<br/><br/>
–Chorus–<br/>

</blockquote>

External links

Initial Announcement of Captain Placeholder's creation

Site to download "The Lament of Captain Placeholder"

The "Fans of Cpt. Placeholder" guild on the german PvP server "Zuluhed"

World of Warcraft official website

Fan made music video to Captain Placeholder

Another fan made Placeholder video

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