City Life by Medizinmann

When I visited Medizinmann's plot, I suddenly found myself in a car tunnel with him.

Medizinmann decided not to build an ordinary house with a bedroom, kitchen, and a bathroom. He aimed to build something more impressive and interesting. And from what I could see, he had already achieved that!

I was already very intrigued by what I was going to see at the end of the tunnel. I just hoped no car would suddenly run me over...

What's at the end of the tunnel?

The tunnel was long and had some bends. After walking for a while, we arrived at an area with breakdown lanes on each side of the road.

These designated safe zones had emergency exits and a phone for emergency calls. A thick phone book was available... How long has it been since I last saw one of these?!

Medizinmann: So I do actually base my work on reality and try to portray it as realistically as possible within the framework of a fantasy MMO.

Yeap! I could already see that!

Since we were both still functional, we decided to continue our journey, and after a short walk, we reached an intersection.

At this point, we couldn't go straight ahead as it was under construction...

Medizinmann: I built the right-hand neighborhood first, back when house levels only went up to 9.

So we chose to go to the right.

City Life

I was gobsmacked by what I saw next.

Medizinmann: So here you can see what city life looks like to me.

A whole city spread out in front of us. So many things were happening! I didn't know where to start.

While debating where to go, I noticed that this area was very busy. Just in front of us, a … and a … went in opposite directions, and another car was coming towards us. Maybe I should be careful and not walk in the middle of the road.

OR... Maybe I could put my reflexes to the test and, in case of emergency, use Fel Rush to avoid being hit. Hmm... How can I rush without incinerating everything in my path? I was sure I'd figure it out sooner or later... My more immediate problem would likely be that Fel Rush is on cooldown from accidentally pressing it instead of typing.

Another thing that I noticed was the …s of this place. They were different from all the races that I had ever seen in Azeroth.

Medizinmann: Before I started building myself, I saw someone make Pokemon out of baskets and pillows. And I took that idea and ran with it.

They seemed friendly and welcoming, and their facial expressions were very noticeable.

I was really looking forward to exploring this city.

Heading to the City Festival

Medizinman told me where the City Festival was, so we went straight ahead.

The car that I thought was coming towards us was actually parked by the side of the road. Sadly, it had run over a wolf that crossed the road. These moments are very sad indeed, but unfortunately, very common on busy roads.

Whilst I was still processing what we had just seen, we heard some commotion nearby. When I looked up, I saw a house on fire!

Thank Elune, the fire department was already here. In an effort to escape the fire, a person was trying to jump off the balcony and needed immediate help.

The rescue took a while and was hard, to say the least, but in the end, the person was safe, and firefighters had everything under control. */cheer*

After this, I really needed a Ginger beer, so we continued towards the festival.

At the city festival

The Festival was happening in a Daylight Circle Room.

On the ground, people were having fun, eating, and spending time together. The atmosphere was vibrant and full of life.

Above us, a hot air balloon was flying in the sky. The person in it waved at us, and they seemed to be having a good time. I wish we could join them... A policeman close to us blew his whistle enthusiastically and quickly brought me back to reality. He wanted us to keep walking and go left. From what I understood, an accident had occurred, and they didn't want people in the area.

As any reporter would do, we waited until he was distracted and sneaked to the right as soon as we could.

Shhh! Don't tell anybody we did this.

Medizinmann: Accidents are terrible, but they can happen.

So true, and this one wasn't looking great.

A wagon had turned over, and a lot of its supplies had fallen onto the road. At this point, the police had already surrounded the area with a barricade.

We saw some policemen questioning people and arresting others, while others were trying to keep people calm. Close to the front of the vehicle, paramedics were trying to help the driver. Hopefully the amount of blood on the floor wasn't a bad sign. *All fingers crossed*

Near the scene, I saw a person who was enjoying their food and having a glass of wine while observing everything that was going on. Uhhh... Did they think this was a live movie?!

A lot of people in the area were aware of the situation, but we also found some that hadn't noticed a thing.

Yes. One of them was on the toilet and had their own situation going on. Fair enough.

Another one was found behind the food stall. He must have had too much to drink, and when asked if he was okay, he told us he didn't want to be bothered. We respected his wish and left.

Across the plaza, we saw a clown entertaining an audience by the street food vendors. He seemed very funny, so we stayed for the show.

Shopping Street

After we left the Festival, we went to a small shopping street.

As soon as we arrived, lo and behold, we saw firefighters setting up a safety net below someone who was walking on the streetlights like they were a tightrope.

The good news is: this person was a professional tightrope walker. It's what they do for fun when they get bored.

The street had two small shops and parking spaces with electric chargers for visitors. So cool that electric cars were available in this city.

I spent some time in the bookstore and, when I left, I saw a rickshaw passing by. They seemed to be in a hurry to reach the bus stop. At least, that is what I thought when I saw them heading in that direction. */laugh*

At the road with a bus stop

Medizinmann: It was important to me to show that the characters also interact with one another

At the bus stop, we saw a couple sitting together. The man wanted to put his arm around the woman sitting next to him, but she was very embarrassed by such a display of affection and didn't seem very happy.

Whilst I was thinking that they looked very cute together, my nose caught a delicious smell. Adjacent to the bus stop, a small food vendor was preparing food. It smelled divine. The satisfaction on the customer's face was enough to convince me to come back later.

Medizinmann and I explored the whole road and, near the construction site, we heard some people talking and laughing. When we looked up, we saw two neighbours catching up on the latest gossip. Why walk to a neighbour's house when you can just go to your own balcony? */laugh* This was indeed an efficient and cheap way to communicate with people.

Heading to the hospital

We were going to have a look at the hospital when we heard a crash.

One driver had hit the back of the car in front of them and, when we arrived, both drivers were having a huge discussion about whose fault it was.

Medizinmann: People are quick to blame each other

Yeap! And this meant that they were going to be here for a while...

We decided to continue and soon we found another accident!

What the heck was happening today?! Did everybody come together and decide that this was the perfect day to bring chaos into the city?! *Face palm*

Medizinmann: You often hear on the news about older people who really shouldn't be driving anymore

Here was one of those cases.

This person had crashed into a house. Neither the residents nor I understood how they had smashed into the building's first-floor wall... It just didn't make sense! Even the driver looked like they couldn't believe what they had just done.

The crane operator was doing their best to remove the car from the wall, but it was going to take some time. And maybe this was for the best. On the ground, residents were outraged by what had just happened to their house, and they were all waiting for the driver to come down... Hopefully, by the time the car had been removed, their emotions had waned.

At the hospital

Medizinmann! Look out!!!

Near the hospital entrance, an … came so fast that it almost hit Medizinmann and a random person passing by.

To avoid being smashed, Medizinmann casually cast Fade while the random person had to jump for their life!

But honestly! Murlocs shouldn't be behind a steering wheel!! From what Medizinmann told me, they weren't known to be the best drivers... Come to think of it, I never saw a Murloc getting a driver's license...

The hospital was located in another Daylight Circle Room. Like any hospital, it was white and sterile; it had parking spaces and a helicopter landing pad.

At the side entrance, we saw emergency responders taking someone to the emergency room... Were they still alive?

At the main entrance, we found a nurse pushing a wheelchair. She had just come out when she saw a man crawling towards the main door.

Medizinmann: To me, a nurse pushing a wheelchair is part of the classic image of a hospital

Thanks to her training, she reacted quickly and immediately called for help. Soon, many people were there to help and bring the person inside. I hope they were okay.

Chat with Medizinmann

Being in the city made me tired!!! Too many things happened in a day and, in the end, I just wanted to go to a calm place and have a chat with Medizinmann.

Since a nightclub is the total opposite of quiet and calm, we went to the garden in the festival area and spoke for a little bit.

Inspiration

Medizinmann got his inspiration from real life, and when he started laying … as asphalt, one thing just led to another.

Medizinmann: That was a ton of fun because it just kind of happened on its own.

To build the hospital, he searched online for the hospital he was born in. For cars, he looked at what other players had built in WoW Housing, but they were all massive and too expensive for him to build...

Medizinmann: After all, I needed more than 1

He looked through the catalog for beds that he could use for this purpose, and that's how he turned beds into cars.

This idea still blows my mind! The cars look very cool and so comfortable that you could almost sleep inside them. Beds really were a great choice!

What came first?

Medizinmann: So first I created the setting: the streets and stores

Medizinmann: So once the city was built, I started by building vehicles. This fire truck was the first one I made because it was the hardest.

Kiiramat: So in the beginning it was more about the structure of the place!

Medizinmann: Exactly

Medizinmann: I wanted to build the city first, and only then fill it with life

Medizinmann: Starting with the fire truck, I then built the first figures: the firefighters.

Character Creation

Medizinmann: What I enjoyed most was creating the characters. Not just the fine details of their facial expressions, but also depicting them in their respective situations.

As examples, he mentioned the situation where the clown is entertaining people and where the police officer is arresting people.

His enjoyment while creating these characters is very noticeable indeed.

Motorcycle creation

A lot of trial and error happened before Medizinmann reached the final result that we can see here:

Medizinmann: The motorcycle was really tricky, and it took a long time to get it to look the way it does now.

Medizinmann: Just depicting it standing there was too boring for me-or rather, it would have been too easy to do xD

Medizinmann: So I set it up leaning against the side. It looks more authentic to me that way.

Medizinmann told me that he doesn't know if he is trying to make things harder for himself, but most of the time, when he is building something, he always chooses the harder option.

How well do I understand him! And I bet a lot of you do too.

Future plans

Medizinmann: The great thing about all of this is that it can go on forever. There are always new districts with new situations that can be added later.

Kiiramat: 100%

Medizinmann: I already have two ideas in mind that I want to put into action next

Medizinmann: One idea is a trip to the countryside. After passing through another tunnel, you'll come to a rural area with a farm and animals.

Kiiramat: Ooooh! Love the idea!

Medizinmann: The second idea is a bit more extravagant. I'd like to build a kind of opera house with a large dance floor where I can have a large group of people dance in pairs.

Medizinmann: This is going to be fun.

(...)

Medizinmann: There are no limits to the imagination

I totally agree!! And I am really looking forward to seeing his future builds.

Any advice for others?

Medizinmann: I know a lot of people who don't get the appeal of housing. They think they don't know what to do with it, or that they lack imagination...

Medizinmann: That's what I used to think too; after all, I'm just a regular guy who doesn't usually have anything to do with creative work...

Medizinmann: I just started somewhere, and the rest fell into place on its own. So give it a try. No one's going to say it looks silly.

Medizinmann: And as you can see, you can make some great stuff using standard parts from the vendors

This really is great advice!

To conclude

To create these articles, I normally spend many days in a player's house, and Medizinmann's city was no different. And as days passed by, I just couldn't stop being impressed! In WoW housing, I would expect to see a house, and here was Medizinmann building a city full of characters made out of baskets and cushions, put in different positions and with different facial expressions.

Honestly, this would have never crossed my mind! Player creativity is just amazing!

I really enjoyed exploring Medizinmann's City! I got a feeling of what a busy and (sometimes) chaotic city could look like, but I also learnt that what players can do in WoW housing is limitless.

I really hope you enjoyed exploring Medizinmann's creation with me.

Please check out the virtual tour to get the full experience. I wasn't able to put everything in the article, and it would be a shame if you missed everything he built.

See you on the next one.