The Queue: Handling creeps

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Anne Stickney's (@Shadesogrey) brain is overloading, it has a chocolate coating.

Freakazoid is the best super hero ever because he knows how to effectively get rid of creeps. Shout vigorously at them until they go away to go have some coffee with cream or something. This is a happy place.

the_DECk asked:

QftQ, Capital Cities, I know Blizzard wants us to be out in the world & not huddling around in them, but you can't just get rid of them. So what my question is, do you, Lords of Queue, think that any of the cities could fall & others retaken?

You know, that would make for some really intriguing world PvP situations. On the one hand, having the ability to take over a capital city could be kind of fun. On the other hand, I can't really see that happening unless everyone were totally excited about the prospect, and that's not going to happen. Some people just don't care for PvP, and don't want to be involved with it at all -- so making a capital city suddenly switch factions would be a gigantic annoyance.

We have seen this in action before, however. Remember Halaa, out in Nagrand? It was a city with vendors, armor and mounts that could be obtained -- but only one faction could hold the city at a time. Players had to flag for PvP and attack the city in order to flip it to their faction. It was a lot of fun during Burning Crusade, although these days it's a bit deserted. But the reason that Halaa worked is that it was optional content. Players didn't have to flag up and take Halaa if they didn't care to.

When you're talking something major like a capital city, that's incredibly disruptive to every day gameplay. Halaa worked, but turning Orgrimmar into the new Stormwind or vice versa would irritate far more people than it would please.

Aubrey asked:

If a Tauren was to use their non-existant racial Plainsrunning, would they get down on all fours like a Worgen or just move even faster on two legs?

Tauren are a bipedal race -- they are large, they have longer legs than most, so they'd simply run faster. Not to mention their weight. The sheer force of mass being propelled forward would keep them going at a quick pace, too. Worgen are a different animal altogether (no pun intended). They were originally druids that learned to use pack form, assuming the form of a wolf much like druids today assume the form of cats and stags.

Think of them as a hybrid between a wolf and a night elf, back in the day. When stationary, they stood on two legs like night elves do. When running, they let the spirit of the wolf take them over and started running wild on all fours. The tauren aren't part cow, they're simply a bipedal race that looks bovine to us.

merkavar asked:

Q4tq why does it seem that girls seem to prefer healing and ranged dps over tanking or melee. Of course there are exceptions. Is it like a maternal instinct thing?

I started out in this game as a healer. I did not want to be a healer. I was asked to be a healer because it was apparently what my guild needed at the time. What I really wanted to do was play a rogue. And it took an expansion before I finally got to roll one and play it as my main, but I will never go back. I've tried ranged classes, but there is nothing quite like physically smacking a boss around rather than flinging spells or shooting at it.

I have no idea how the rest of the female population feels about the matter, but I suggest that perhaps you're simply looking at a stereotype. It's always existed, and for every woman out there who plays a tank or a melee class, there are just as many that play casters and healers. Guess what? There are just as many men that play casters and healers as there are tanks and melee.

What you choose to play in the game has nothing to do with your gender. I am not a female gamer, I am a gamer. I game. I am a person that plays games. I also happen to be a female, but that has nothing to do with what I play, how I play, or what I choose to do when I play. Sorry, not terribly helpful as far as that goes, but perhaps the women that read the Queue would care to chime in with what they play and why?

CoreyRaynor asked:

Are you gonna keep making the cards from Timewalkers the header image for the queue? Because they are really freaking awesome. Maybe you could do like a lore article about these cards or something?

This is me answering your question before you asked it! Because I'm just that clever.

@potatoboy asked via Twitter:

Do you think Hunters equipping staves and Rogues bows was left for flavor only, or might there be some purpose later?

Once upon a time, hunters could earn a completely fabulous staff called Lok'delar, Stave of the Ancient Keepers through a hunter-only class quest in Molten Core. Similarly, rogues could obtain and equip an amazing bow called Thoridal, the Stars' Fury. Both weapons were unique, amazing, and took a lot of effort to get, back in the day. Because of this, removing the ability to equip these weapons would have been ill-received, even if hunters and rogues can no longer use them. So hunters can still equip staves, and rogues can still equip bows, so that both may look at their treasures from long ago and remember what used to be.

@Snoobjack asked via Twitter:

Q4tQ: do you personally believe we will someday see cross-faction raids/dungeons over realid/battletag?

No. The Horde vs. Alliance struggle is what makes Warcraft ... Warcraft. Removing that faction divide would change the game in a fundamental way, and I don't think Blizzard really wants to do it.

@Pwnstaar1 asked via Twitter:

just finished the last guardian, and wondered: why is medivh not the final boss in Kara, or even in Kara for that matter?

There's the little matter of him losing his head. Literally. Beyond that, he came back in Warcraft III and redeemed himself, after which he left to take his place among the legends of the past.

Personally, I suspect he's just hanging out in a bar somewhere with Alleria and Turalyon, having some coffee with cream or something.

@crikit310 asked via Twitter:

Where do baby elekk's ears go? Do they turn into the second set of tusks?

... I have never thought about that before. I didn't even notice it before. But now that I have, it will remain firmly etched in my memory forever as a nagging question until my dying day. Thank you very much, crickit310.

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!