The Queue: Effortposting

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today.

Hnnngh! Exertion! Anne did such a good job on yesterday's Queue that now I really need to push the envelope, so I answered a pretty good number of questions today. If I didn't, Anne would probably take my jerb.

TimTheEnchanter asked:

How far in advance are WoW Insider articles written? In what ways do these articles get deviated or pushed back (since all articles seem to be released at the top of every hour)?

Just curious :)

Well, obviously, breaking news is written as soon as we hear about it. Weekly columns like WoW Rookie, Shifting Perspectives or Know Your Lore are all completed ("... or supposed to be completed," he said, glaring at his writing staff) at least one day prior to their publication. We allow our writers to edit their posts past that date, obviously, especially if new information comes up that completely changes an article. This happens to poor Allison Robert all the time.

The Queue is completed ... well, pretty much whenever it's completed. I tend to do them late at night, when it's my turn. Adam is weird and sometimes completes his fairly early in the day, depending on comment volume. Alex is a sentient spore cloud, so I'm not exactly sure what his process is.

Amanda asked:

Is there any lore information on the Gilnean Old Ways beyond what's in the start zone? It seems like, once the Gilnean druids meet up with the Night Elves, the concept is forgotten.

It's implied through game text and the Curse of the Worgen comic that either the night elves who settled in Gilneas however long ago taught the Gilneans light druidic magic, or the land itself was saturated with the kind of magical energy that made druidism possible, thanks to Tal'doren, the tree the night elves grew there. Regardless of how it happened, by the time Cataclysm rolled around, the magic was still preschool-level stuff compared to what the night elves could do. There's not much lore besides that. That didn't stop Matt Rossi from making some up, though.

Charlie asked:

Speaking of Deathwing, I saw way back when that his human model was in the game files. Have
we seen him in human form since Cata? Maybe I missed it?

You can see his human form by taking part in the The Day Deathwing Came quest in the Badlands. He'll undoubtedly use it again later on in the expansion.

Bufalosoldia asked:

Okay, this might be a little more of a philosophical question, but I was just wondering yesterday... all the systems of worship in WoW can be seen actively manifested in the game, so would that mean that all of the in-game religions are "right"? For instance, we see the troll loa physically entering azeroth, as well as the many gods/demigods/whatever we see popping up in hyjal, which, to my understanding, are completely separate. Then there are the titans, who seem to have a more deistic, "create everything then leave" thing going on, and the light which seems like more of an enveloping force... Is there any one presence that's dominant and all powerful, or do the people and creatures of azeroth just pick one and go with it?

Well, the Light is a fairly dominant force in Azerothian "religion," though admittedly even the Light is more of a philosophy than it is a religion. And yes, many races have deities that they can see and interact with. That's why Azerothian religion seems more tied to race than anything. If you're a dwarf, you probably have the Light as a dominant "religion" where applicable, but you consider the Titans to be your creators. If you're a troll, you're all about loa. If you're a draenei, the physical embodiment of your entire religion hangs around with you in your home city. Since most belief systems on Azeroth and beyond seem to produce similar physical results, there's no real competition among them. You can believe in what you want. All of them are real.

It's been basically proven that no being -- especially no helpful being -- is all-powerful in the WoW universe, though, which may explain why there's no purely dominant force. We've yet to meet Elune in game, but I'm willing to bet we could kill her for purples if need be.

MisterRik asked:

Joanna Blueheart, the Marshtide Watch Commander in Swamp of Sorrows, mentions that when the orcs first came through the Dark Portal they started the First War by attacking a "small Alliance town to the west", and in that attack her parents were killed while protecting her. Since I only played WC 2 & 3, I'm curious about what town she means. The nearest town to the west, currently, is Darkshire. Is she referring to Darkshire, or to another now-vanished town? I can't recall ever seeing any evidence of a ruined human town in Swamp of Sorrows (though granted, a swampy environment has a tendency to swallow up abandoned structures). Perhaps she means the small town surrounding Kharazan?

If I understand correctly, the current zones of Redridge, Burning Steppes, and Searing Gorge were all simply "The Redridge Mountains" before Blackrock Peak erupted, and Swamp of Sorrows and Blasted Lands were, at the time of WC 1, a single "zone" called "The Black Morass". Was Duskwood originally simply part of Elwynn Forest? And before the zone was called "Duskwood", was Darkshire also called something else? Because the name "Darkshire" would seem kind of out-of-place in a cheerful, sunny zone like Elwynn.

Duskwood wasn't always called Duskwood, and so too was Darkshire not always called Darkshire. You're right -- the area we now know as Duskwood was once the bottom part of Elwynn Forest, and Darkshire used to be called Grand Hamlet. In the first Warcraft game, Grand Hamlet was the first town attacked by the orcs after they came through the Dark Portal. In the years since, it's obviously been rebuilt, but the perpetual darkness caused by the worgen in the area spurred a name change. It's not a case of nominative determinism, for once. Go figure!

Angelo asked:

Ok, there was this WoW webcomic, not a comedy. It featured a male blood elf paladin and his tauren warrior friend, and early on in the series they fought a female draenei DK. Can anyone help me out with a link or title or anything?

That would be The Battlemasters, by our good friend and former WI writer Zach Yonzon.

Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW Insider crew is here with The Queue, our daily Q&A column. Leave your questions in the comments, and we'll do our best to answer 'em!