The Queue: It's almost on

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) is a fan of the Pikachu.

Yes I'm still stuck on Game of Thrones. Look, I've been waiting for a long time here. Cut me some slack. On to the questions!

CRtheMighty asked:

Speaking of GoT (woo!), let me ask this of yon Queue: Who from WoW do you think would actually make it in Westeros? In a machination/political way, I mean, as setting a high level mage or a sapient dragon on people who don't even believe in magic is cheating. Much as it pains me to say it, I think Gul'dan would do well. He was all about sucking up while backstabbing and working purely for his own gain. He'd make Littlefinger go "whoa man, too much". Alternatively, Wrathion, because you have no idea what he's after.

Both of your choices are excellent ones. I think Deathwing would have gone really, really far -- in his days as Prestor, he was incredibly devious and cunning. Garrosh is strong, but honestly, some clever thinking (of which there is plenty in Westeros) would see his armies quickly overrun. And of course the Lich King is a pretty obvious choice. Hello, white walkers? Meet the Scourge. And then join them.

Now there's a terrifying thought.

iDogtag asked:

Q4TQ: Do you think Blizzard will ever allow us to select which log-in screen we want? Also, since we're going back through the Dark Portal, what are the odds we get a homage to the vanilla log-in screen, especially since it'll be WoW's 10 year anniversary?

You'd be amazed how often I hear that request. I don't know if it's something they can make happen -- I sort of wish they would. I'd love to use the vanilla login again, or even Burning Crusade's. Wrath's ... let's just say I was really happy when Cataclysm hit.

Benjamin Seeberger asked:

What do you think about a legendary only available through a specific building in your garrison (your armory)? One of the items in wowhead's WoD database has a legendary coloring and is specifically related to your garrison.

On the one hand, that might be cool, because it makes a legendary even more of a personal accomplishment. On the other, I really, really liked how the legendary chains in Mists were woven together with the overall story of the expansion. I'd like to see something like that again. One thing is for certain -- I don't want to see any more arbitrary legendaries slapped on bosses with low drop rates. There's little to nothing engaging about that, and a legendary should be special, something that engages the player in completing it, not just something you randomly loot.

@ChaosInHyrule asked via Twitter:

Why is Ravenholdt so loyal to Wrathion?

That's actually one of the interesting things to come out of the Fangs of the Father storyline from Cataclysm. Fahrad, one of the Grand Masters at Ravenholdt, was in fact a black dragon all along. It's likely he was playing his own game of Onyxia-in-Stormwind-Keep with the fine folks of Ravenholdt Manor for far longer than we were aware of, and quietly influenced the band of assassins into thinking that helping out a baby black dragon in distress was a pretty good idea.

You also have to keep in mind you're talking about a bunch of assassins. They work for hire. Wrathion's very, very good at offering the kind of rich rewards any assassin would appreciate. If the pay is better than anyone else can offer, why not continue working for the Black Prince?

@doggiedruid asked via Twitter:

As someone who hasn't played in the last year, what are the best reasons to return? What little things might've been missed?

DOGGIE!

You missed a lot! You might have been around for the release of patch 5.1, which had a really amazing set of daily quests and a storyline that was one of the best in the expansion. But patch 5.2 released in March of last year -- that was The Thunder King patch that introduced the Throne of Thunder raid, and the Isle of Thunder with a ton of new quests, solo scenarios, and storyline.

It also continued Wrathion's story with the legendary chain. By now, the legendary chain has been completed, and honestly it's well worth the effort to finish out. In addition, patch 5.4 brought about the Siege of Orgrimmar, which pits both Alliance and Horde against Garrosh Hellscream. He ... he kind of had some issues. Big issues. Daddy issues. Among other things.

In between all of that were heroic scenarios, new world bosses, the ability to actually keep your Tiller's farm for your very own (and who doesn't want a chunk of land in Halfhill to call their own?), the introduction of Proving Grounds -- a solo test challenge whether you're DPS, tank, or healer -- the introduction of Flexible Raids, the Timeless Isle, and ... I'm probably forgetting a lot of other stuff.

Also, noodle carts. Because noodle carts.

In short, a lot. It's worth it to come back, particularly now, because you've got plenty of time to catch up on what you've missed at your own pace, before Warlords comes out. And Warlords is looking pretty fantastic.

@IrwellUtd asked via Twitter:

Who is your fav npc peon?

I have a few favorites. I love Fish Fellreed. Wrathion has also been a favorite ever since we first saw him pop up in Cataclysm. And Myra Tyrengaarde has been a favorite of mine since vanilla. No, I don't really know why. She's just always there. I guess Myra's the only one that really counts as a "peon," because she doesn't really have any story surrounding her at all.

@ScottLeyes asked via Twitter:

Disappointed in Yrel?

It is way, way, way too early to be disappointed in anyone or anything we've seen datamined so far. All we're getting is little bits and pieces -- we haven't got a clue what the big picture is just yet, and we won't until we get to play it ourselves. While I do look at spoilers out of necessity for reporting, I don't really tend to get overly worked up about them, because nothing -- and I'm talking story, characters, spells, abilities, all of it -- nothing is set in stone until it hits live. So there's just no point in getting super worked up over it right now.

@liagalanodel asked via Twitter:

Maybe you already answered this somewhere, but I've been staying away from spoilers: will the exp events affect main timeline?

We don't actually know that just yet. We know it'll have some consequences -- they said as much at BlizzCon, that the events of this expansion would carry on into the next -- but we don't really know how much. It's way too early to know that.

@Memenaar asked via Twitter:

Any hopes/worries for where certain characters seem headed? eg: I'm concerned Ner'zhul will get short shrift as a 5-man boss.

I think at the moment the biggest thing I'm hoping is that Gul'dan ends up being just as much of a cunning, scheming, evil little jerk as he's always been. That character is one of the pinnacles of WoW lore. I don't really want to see him suddenly redeemed or whatever. He's a villain with the potential of being a major, major threat, and I'd love to see him live up to that potential.

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!