Captain Placeholder



Captain Placeholder was originally created purely as a temporary measure in the Beta version of the game, allowing players to instantly teleport from Menethil Harbor to Auberdine, when some of the boat paths had yet to be implemented. His counterpart, Captain Noteo, would take travelers from Auberdine to Menethil Harbor. 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. Blizzard fixed the glitch in an April 2005 patch.

Captain Placeholder quickly became quite popular among players due to his ability to instantly transport players to the other continent at their own leisure, instead of waiting for the boat to arrive. He was a popular source of jokes for players, so when Blizzard removed him, some "fans" of the NPC petitioned Blizzard to bring him back in some form, and others created a song called the Lament of Captain Placeholder.

Cataclysm
Captain Placeholder (now Cap'n Placeholder) returned in the Cataclysm beta as a level 95 elite, Horde-aligned character. He could be seen dancing on the Goblin Rocketway, and appeared to serve no purpose. He was not present when Cataclysm went live.

Placeholder is also referred to in a dialog in Menethil Harbor. Captain Bart Tidewater, staring at wreck of the Maiden's Virtue, has the following conversation with Red Jack Flint:

Bart Tidewater: 'Tis a tragedy, boys. The curse of Menethil be on us all.

Red Jack Flint: Cap'n, the Virtue hasn't set sail in years. It was just sittin' there.

Bart Tidewater: Aye, and a damn fine job she did of it! But not as good as the Admiral.

Bart Tidewater: We held our place here as long as we could, but it still wasn't enough.

Bart Tidewater: Nobody could hold a place like him, lads. Nobody.

Red Jack Flint: We know, cap'n. We know.

This dialog suggests that Placeholder was promoted to admiral, perhaps prior to his appearance on the Goblin Rocketway.