A simple question from a well read fan wearing a red shirt led to instantaneous notoriety as he stumped a panel of Blizzard's World of Warcraft designers. Known to the public as The Red Shirt Guy, and more recently as a WoW character named Wildhammer Fact Checker, he single-handedly pinpointed a discrepancy in the new WoW novel The Shattering.

In the now famous encounter, The Red Shirt Guy alluded to the fact that Falstad Wildhammer was going to be on the Council of Three Hammers in The Shattering; however, in the World of Warcraft: Cataclysm beta, Kurdrin Wildhammer is on the council, and Falstad has been left completely out of the game.

Chris Metzen, Blizzard designer and voice actor, replied that Falstad was dead, but The Red Shirt Guy corrected him. World of Warcraft Lead World Designer Alex Afrasiabi responded by saying they would correct the issue, and they did so by creating the Wildhammer Fact Checker, an in-game character who sports a red shirt.

The video has racked up more than 3.3 million views so far, and has left many gamers curious as to just who the Red Shirt Guy is. In order to preserve his privacy, The Red Shirt Guy (Wildhammer Fact Checker) was kind enough to provide us with some insight into his world under his newly acquired nickname.

Game Rant: Did you think that your question would have the impact it did?

Red Shirt Guy: "Not at all. When I went up to ask that question I just thought Metzen would say something like 'Falstad died in the Cataclysm and Kurdran replaced him' similar to his answer for the 'What clan is Saurfang from?' I had no idea it would blossom into this!"

GR: What are your thoughts on becoming an in game NPC?

RSG: "I'm amazed. Getting an NPC in the game is the highest honor that Blizzard bestows upon players. I never imagined I'd be one of them."

GR: Has Blizzard reached out to you in any way?

RSG: "At the moment they have not."

GR: Do you think Blizzard should  give you any credit aside from the red shirt?

RSG: "They fixed the error and made an NPC based off me, I don't see what more credit they could give."

GR: How long have you been playing WoW?

RSG: "Since around November of 2006. What first drew me in was the whole big world with its own ecology and areas and stuff. Yeah, I cared more about how there were all these virtual animals in there than anything else, especially dinosaurs! I really like dinosaurs."

GR: Favorite Class?

RSG: "Rogue, I enjoy being able to skip through packs of enemies thanks to stealth."

GR: Do you play many other games?

RSG: "Outside of WoW my favorite games are all single player ones. RPGs like Mass Effect, sim games like the The Sims and Zoo Tycoon, and few RTS games like StarCraft and Para World."

GR: What was the first game you played?

RSG: "I believe it was a Rugrats: The Movie video game when I was around four or five years old."

GR: Do you have any specific careers goals or ambitions?

RSG: "To become some sort of combination of writer and paleontologist. Maybe I'd be like Michael Crichton and write dinosaur novels."

GR: Are you a writer yourself?

RSG: "I plan on becoming one, but at the moment it extends to little more than short stories and, occasionally, fanfiction."

GR: What kinds of stories do you write?

RSG: "Humor, and some times scary stories. I've tried writing serious works, but they always come out sounding cheesy. If what I've written makes me laugh, then I think I've done a good job."

GR: Anything you would like to tell your fans?

RSG: "Not really, I still find it kind of odd that I have fans for just asking a question."

GR: Lastly, would you like to continue being called The Red Shirt Guy, or do you have another name you would prefer?

RSG: "Well I was wearing a red shirt, and my favorite color is red (hence why I own said shirt) so I think The Red Shirt Guy is a pretty good name."

GR: Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us, and best of luck in your future endeavors. We look forward to seeing you in the game.

For the benefit of those few readers who have yet to see The Red Shirt Guy video, we are including a copy below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwyMB19q7ms

World of Warcraft Cataclysm will be released for PC and Mac on December 7, 2010.