The Queue: Here we go again

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 (@Shadesogrey) welcomes you to the land of retread questions that ought to be answered again.

I like answering questions. You guys asked some really good ones yesterday!

So let's get to them, shall we?

Revynn asked:

3Q's4tQ: First, I've been wanting to RP a blood elf who desperately wants to be a feral Druid for some time. Which class would make a better fit to actually roll? Monk (healing OS, feels more magical) or Rogue (stealth, but poisons and shadow magic stuff)? - Secondly, if her initial fascination with Druids was sparked by a Druid she met during Arthas' march on Silvermoon, would that be more likely to be a Night Elf or Tauren? - Third (and now for something completely different), do battle pets gain XP during a capture or only from kills?

The header video is just for you, Revynn.

I actually addressed the blood elf druid question in a roleplaying column earlier this year, but it's worth addressing again and taking your specific questions into account. If you're really dead set on roleplaying some sort of blood elf druid, you'd probably want to go with a monk. They are a hybrid class that can tank, heal and dps, and they deal with more natural magic than most other classes. Rogues really wouldn't fit as druids at all -- they're all about the physical damage, not about magic at all. So if you really want to do it, roll a monk.

As for your second question, the answer is neither. When Arthas razed the forests of Quel'thalas and marched on Silvermoon, he was accompanied by a scourge army that consisted of the dead soldiers and peasants of Lordaeron. Tauren and night elves weren't even known to the human race until the end of the Third War, which was after Arthas made his march. Prior to the Third War, the night elves were secluded in the forests of Kalimdor, and the tauren were nomadic wanderers on the Kalimdor plains. The sin'dorei did not really encounter druids until they joined the Horde, well after Arthas marched on Silvermoon.

For the third question, your battle pets will gain XP for each fight they participate in and win. Let's say you have a squirrel, a black tabby and a panda cub. As long as you rotate through each pet and they successfully attack the pet you're fighting, they'll all get experience. I believe this applies for capturing a pet, too -- if your pet helped out in beating down another pet, that pet will get experience. The more rounds they participate in, the more experience they get. Hope that helps!

SparkysShocker asked:

Q4TQ: I know the stat scaling on Heirlooms doesn't scale pass the level indicated on the item, my question is does the item still provide XP past the level on the item?

Nope! If the item stops scaling at level 80, it also stops giving you the XP bonus at level 80. There's no reason to continue using the item at that point if you happen to find a better upgrade.

Tucsonduke asked:

I know that Garona and Medivh were both in Warcraft: Orcs and Humans, was their romance in the story of the game or was it introduced in the comic?

It was featured in the second half of the Warcraft comics series. If you'd like to read those issues, they've been put together as graphic novels. Garona's story is in Volume 3 and Volume 4 of the series. And don't get me wrong -- taken as purely a comic book, the series wasn't bad. It just didn't feel like part of the overall universe that exists between games and novels, you know?

JeffLaBowski asked:

Q4tQ- Do you they will ever add a feature for us to breed pets? We could make some interesting combos. Perhaps have a chance to get a rare or discover a new pet?

Man I hope so, because I really want that Knights of the Round Summon Materia.

hayley.whitehead asked:

I've been playing WoW a long time and only passingly ever paid attention to Lore. I've been reading the articles here, and it sounds like it can be interesting at times. I have one question, though, that I'd like to be summed up who knows a lot about it: What is the Emerald Dream? Why do people want a Raid to do about it?

Way back when the Old Gods were imprisoned, the Titans put in the re-origination device down in Uldum. Basically, if the Old Gods got out of control, the re-origination device would essentially destroy the planet, and rebuild it again. From what we've been led to understand, the Emerald Dream is essentially a copy of Azeroth before the Old Gods arrived. It's a copy of Azeroth in its natural state. Think of it as a set of blueprints -- in the event that Azeroth is destroyed, those blueprints will be used to rebuild the place.

The Green Dragonflight was entrusted with watching over the Emerald Dream, but the Old Gods managed to get in and wreck the place. They were beaten back during the Nightmare War, which is recorded in the novel Stormrage. However, at the end of the book it's made clear that the Old Gods still aren't entirely out of the Emerald Dream -- which is why people think going there would be a good idea.

Personally, I think it'd be a great idea for an expansion if handled correctly. The Emerald Dream would be a huge new zone, because it would be the continent of Kalimdor before the Sundering split it apart. Think of a land mass the size of Kalimdor, the Eastern Kingdoms, Northrend and Pandaria combined. That's big. Now think of it full of quests to do and things to explore in a world that is essentially primordial Azeroth. Wouldn't that be interesting? Some people think so.

drake.lazarus asked:

Q4TQ: How many other games do you play? Not just occasional bits of Bejewelled, but significant time spent in other PC and/or console games?

As someone that writes about WoW ... not a lot. When I'm not writing or playing WoW, I'm generally not at the computer at all -- I'd rather be working on projects around the house. However, I have been known to play other games when there's a lull. Skyrim, Bastion, Mass Effect, and even old throwbacks like Monkey Island. I tend to go with single-player games.

@hoang519 asked via Twitter:

as a raiding rogue are u inline with the community's distaste with passive damage? Or do you find urself still hitting buttons?

The rotation for an Assassination rogue seems incredibly slow at the moment. I know a lot of that has to do with haste scaling -- I don't have a ton of haste yet. I have to pile up other stats first. I figure I'll be stabbing with alarming frequency later in the expansion. I do still seem to be doing all right on the damage charts however, and that aspect of rogue gameplay seems to be fine.

But man, I feel like I am being punished with the current item distribution. I can only wield daggers, and there is only one dagger in Mogu'shan Vaults. The other one is in Terrace of Endless Spring, which won't be out for weeks. It just feels like there are a lot of options out there for armor, but there is no option, no choice for weapon. That doesn't feel very fun to me.

@TLP_Barthilis asked via Twitter:

why do the factions not have propaganda? Imagine goblin strike team on a hill near sw bombing the city with leaflets.

Imagine if you will a quiet human farmstead in Elwynn Forest. The farmer there has lived through the war in Northrend, and returned home to retire, till the fields, and harvest crops. One day, he hears a knock at the door. Standing behind the door is a tauren who towers over the farmer by a good three feet. In his hands he holds a pamphlet. His voice is a gravelly dirge.

"Pardon me sir. Have you considered accepting Garrosh Hellscream as your Warchief and personal savior?"

Yeah, I don't think that's gonna go over so well.

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!