The Queue: I am the one who rings

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

Raise your hand if you've spent the last few years being woken up in the middle of the night by phantom doorbell noises.

Anybody? No? Just me? Crap.

HerrKlokbok asked:

I'm seeing a lot of Emerald Dream hopes now, with the breaking news of "the Dark Below". I'm curious - just why do so many want a Emerald Dream expansion? I can't find anyhing remotely interesting with such a surreal thing, but I guess that's me- But is it a veteran- or vanilla-players dream expansion, or what? I started WoW late BC, maybe that's why I can't find the kick in it.

I think the vanilla factor plays a large role in its popularity. Back when the game first launched, the developers hyped up the Emerald Dream quite a bit. We were often given indication that the Emerald Dream would be coming soon -- all the way back in 2004/2005. Not only were we told it was coming, but that it was super awesome. It never materialized, in favor of other things. Ever since then, players have wanted to see it, tantalized by those original teaser and the little bits of the plot that trickled out before the launch of The Burning Crusade, such as the green world dragons. Blizzard's attempt to resolve that storyline in the Malfurion novel backfired, making players want to see it for themselves even more.

Personally, I've lost interest in the concept. If they canned it back then, there was probably a good reason for it. Maybe they'll figure out something better and we'll see it one day, but maybe we won't. Either way is fine by me.

oxxo1066 asked:

Blizzard is missing a huge opportunity if they do not bring player housing(aka Rift dimensions). This is a large community willing to play and pay (with ingame and real money) to support this aspect of the game .Professions could support it easily, primary and secondary, loot drops could be added and the new ingame store I keep hearing about could bring in real money. Win-win. I am afraid inheriting the farm just fell flat, I am the bad neighbor at Halfhill, the yard is ill kept, weeds abound and my dog runs lose

I'm beginning to agree with you more and more. I've always agreed with you, I love player housing in games, but that feeling is growing stronger. Player housing wasn't always a given in MMOs, some had it and some didn't, but player/guild housing or other player-run game aspects are becoming standard for more recent (or newly announced) MMOs. People seem to be reacting to those things very well, too. EverQuest Next's crazy construction system blew peoples' minds and Neverwinter's Foundry made waves. Those are both very different approaches to player-generated content, but they accomplish the same goal in the end: allowing the player to create something on their own.

WoW has always lacked on that front and it's becoming increasingly obvious. Will the lack of such a thing damage the game? Probably not, but I'm reasonably confident that it would help if they didn't lack it.

@Drdotts asked:

why does blizz keep making mages more and more over powered?

Because they hate you personally, I think.

@prissy_sindorei asked:

why am I always stuck in fail raids at this hour of the morning?

Because the only people raiding at 5 am (the time of writing) are people that should be asleep.

@machineman87 asked:

Why is having an Heirloom weapon that scales from 90-100 appealing? Isn't half the fun hunting and getting new items?

I think the idea is just to give you some longevity out of your raid gear from the final tier. You complete one raid tier to get the gear to experience the next one -- but if it's the last raid tier of an expansion, there's no reason to possess that gear at all. This time around, they're trying to give you something that lends itself to the leveling process. Having that heirloom is probably more exciting than getting a green drop.

@Dobablo asked:

Crusader Olakin, chopped into 4 pieces, stitched togather on a slab in a sanctum of reanimation with a cleaver. Alive or undead?

Depends on the method of preservation and the magic used. If his heart never stopped beating, brain never stopped firing, and flesh didn't rot, he's still alive. People who have their fingers reattached aren't undead. This is just a more complex version of that.

However, if he had to be pulled back from the beyond and lives now only through a source of magic, he's undead.

@Sivation asked:

What use is valor in 5.4? Doesn't appear to be any new valor gear in 5.4

Item upgrades and Timeless Coins.

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!