The Queue: Ghostcrawler returns to natural habitat

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) would quite happily trade in all the white cold stuff outside for white sand.

Greg Street decided to share with Twitter exactly what he's been up to since his departure from Blizzard. Apparently it's a difficult life, fraught with the perils of trying to get sand out from between your toes. Don't mind me. I'll just be over here in sub-freezing temperatures, staring forlornly at the nice beach. And answering some Warcraft questions, because that is what we do here.

johnmeyer578 asked:

Will our professions be auto leveled for our free 90 so that that is relevant?

That hasn't been officially answered anywhere to my recollection, but I highly doubt it. Even with levels granted from Recruit-A-Friend, you still have to level your professions, they aren't automatically boosted for you.

BadAndyMk3 asked:

Q for the Q- If you could only play one race/class/spec, and that was your only character, what would you choose and why? Would it be the same as your current main? Is it your favorite, or something you would pick for more practical reasons?

If I weren't able to play anything else, I think I'd stick with my rogue. I like the rogue class, it's sneaky and fun, and the action is pretty fast paced. Assassination is my current spec, and I'd probably stick with it just because I'm used to playing it -- although Combat does look kind of fun right now.

Whiteout asked:

I know WoWInsider is all about WoW, and generally provides nods to other MMOs in general, but I was wondering, what are your favorite non-mmo games? Games that have little to no online connectivity or interaction; just good old-fashioned single-player mayhem.

I can't really speak for the rest of the staff, just myself -- but I like RPGs when I'm looking for solo stuff to play. I spent a lot of time playing Skyrim when it came out, and still pick it up to play it every now and again. I like the freeform quest system where I can just wander around until I stumble over something to do. I also have a 3DS and like playing that because it takes me away from my computer entirely. The new Zelda is fantastic. I've lined up Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages to play when I'm done with Link Between Worlds. You can usually check out what the rest of the staff is playing in the WRUP column that airs over the weekend.

david.esmale asked:

Q4tQ: Do we have any hint as to where Garrosh is/what he is up to at the start of WoD? I mean, we know he succeeds in his plan to create this alternate timeline, with a generally united Horde free of demonic corruption. But where is he now? Are we going to have to face off against him again at some point?

No idea what so ever! He could be hanging out with his dad, he could have hightailed it back to Azeroth, he could have blinked out of existence, the warlords could have decided to just murder him and steal the technology he brought for their own purposes, for all we know. From what we have heard, his involvement in Warlords will be fairly minimal. This won't be Garrosh 2.0 or anything like that.

Wirhl asked:

If I'll be away for the holidays will I not get the Christmas achievements? Will I not get my Greatfather presents? I'll be gone on a cruise ship from 12/18 through 12/28. No electronics allowed on vacation other than cell phones to keep in touch with family to coordinate dinner etc.

Winter Veil officially ends at 8am on January 2nd. So as long as you're back and able to access a computer by then, you should be able to pick up all your gifts -- they're available from the 25th until Winter Veil is over.

jpec07 asked:

Wait, so let's say for the sake of argument that the drinking of the bloof of Mannoroth happened some 30 years ago. Garrosh goes back 30 years and stops that in AU Draenor. So from a timeline perspective, when we go through the red gate, are we stepping back 30 years, as well? Or are we going to be going in 30 years AFTER Garrosh has done all of that?

No. Garrosh is going back in time and changing some things. That creates an alternate bubble or splinter dimension in which Draenor was never destroyed. He then connects that past with our Dark Portal -- think of it like a tunnel. The Dark Portal as it stands right now is a tunnel that goes to Outland. Garrosh is ripping out that tunnel and putting one in that diverts all the traffic to the alternate Draenor he created. And then jamming it full of angry orcs.

@wombat1974 asked via Twitter:

I have a question. What is the story with the little human girl in the Blade's Edge Cenarion camp?

Natasha? According to Wowpedia, at least part of Natasha's story is a reference to the famous Jeffrey routine from Bill Cosby, Himself. She's likely a real-life reference to a kid, but it's never been mentioned by anyone who she's really supposed to be.

@andrefmt asked via Twitter:

can any person of the "alternate draenor" go to the "normal warcraft universe" or not?

We don't actually know the answer to that question yet. We do know that Garrosh is trying to bring the Iron Horde into present-day Azeroth, but we don't know whether or not he's successful. It is, however, what he's trying to accomplish.

@Winterwolf69 asked via Twitter:

Q4tQ: Crazy for Cats achievement = impossible without spending lots of money on TCG loot. Correct? Unusual? Unfair?

Actually, you only have to get 20 of the cats listed. You don't have to spend a dime to do it, and the TCG pets aren't necessary. Will it take you a long time? It might. Some might even say you're crazy for doing it. Crazy ... for cats.

@DoctorMii asked via Twitter:

In the goblin starting zone, does Garrosh try to kill Thrall and make the attack seem like Alliance? Why isn't this a big deal?

No. The people trying to capture Thrall are SI:7 agents. They were attempting to take Thrall to Stormwind, although whether or not this was under Varian's orders was never actually revealed. Some people theorized that Garrosh engineered the whole thing in a bid to get rid of Thrall, but that would be silly -- first, Garrosh had just been put in charge of the Horde, and was doing his best to fulfill Thrall's orders. Second and more importantly -- do you really think in any possible version of Garrosh's story that he would ever willingly work with any kind of human? Ever? Not likely.

@RobCarome asked via Twitter:

What will the server terrain look like, when all the realm connections are done?

... full of people, I'm assuming!

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!