L80ETC are a band composed of employees of
Blizzard Entertainment who do
Heavy Mithril songs related to the company's games, usually
Warcraft and
World of Warcraft.
They were called Tenth Level Tauren Chieftain in the days of
Warcraft 3, changed to Level 60 Elite when WoW came out, then went up to 70 with the release of the
Burning Crusade expansion and 80 with
Wrath of the Lich King, to keep up with the maximum level. At BlizzCon 2009, in the wake of another announced level cap increase for the
Cataclysm expansion, they broke their pattern and instead changed their name to
this symbol
◊, referring to themselves as
"The Artists Formerly Known as Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain" (or
TAFKAL 80 ETC for short), parodying
Prince. They became Level 90 Elite Tauren Chieftan when
Mists of Pandaria raised the level cap once more, returning to their usual pattern.
They 'appear' in
World of Warcraft itself as The Tauren Chieftains, doing hourly performances of "Power of the Horde" in the Darkmoon Faire, as well as standing in Silvermoon City on a balcony and waving back to anyone who waves at them.
- Members:
- Vocalist: Samwise "Samuro" Didier, also Blizzard's art director.
- Rhythm Guitarist: Chris "Sig Nicious" Sigaty, also the lead producer of Starcraft II.
- Lead Guitarist: Dave "Bergrisst" Berggren, also a concept artist and game designer.
- Bassist: Mike "Mai'Kyl" Morhaime, also Blizzard's president and co-founder.
- Drummer: Alan "Chief Thunder-Skins" Dabiri, also a senior programmer (though credited with the ambiguous term "dunsel").
- Songs:
- Power of the Horde (2003): Played during the credits of Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne, and is accessible in the game's single-player mode with the cheat "tenthleveltaurenchieftain". The band's World of Warcraft incarnation also plays this song during its appearances.
- I Am Murloc (2007)
- Rogues Do It from Behind (2007)
- Terran Up the Night (2007): Their first non-Warcraft song, composed to celebrate the announcement of Starcraft II earlier that year. This song was later included in Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (which focused on the terrans, appropriately enough), and could be heard in the game's jukebox, during the credits and during gameplay when the player entered the cheat "overengineeredcodpiece". Credited as Level 800 Elite Tauren Chieftain.
- Raise Some Hell (2008): Composed to celebrate the announcement of Diablo III.
- Nightfall (2008)
This band has examples of:
◊, referring to themselves as "The Artists Formerly Known as Level 80 Elite Tauren Chieftain" (or TAFKAL 80 ETC for short), parodying Prince. They became Level 90 Elite Tauren Chieftan when Mists of Pandaria raised the level cap once more, returning to their usual pattern.They 'appear' in World of Warcraft itself as The Tauren Chieftains, doing hourly performances of "Power of the Horde" in the Darkmoon Faire, as well as standing in Silvermoon City on a balcony and waving back to anyone who waves at them.
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