The Queue: You asked for it, Bashiok

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky (@adamholisky) will be your host today.

I have no idea what this is, or why it exists.

But I'll have what she's having, and apparently so will Bashiok.

JackRobb asked:

Am I the only one who keeps reading news about WoD and taking away from it "this is what we're removing" with nothing comparable replacing it?

Here's the problem: you're not seeing the forest through the trees.

Blizzard is making some pretty significant changes to the base game, but they're doing that in order to increase the gameplay effectiveness in other areas of the game. That means that things that we normally expect, like being able to fly right away or at 100, are not going to be happening. Yes, a consequence, but at the same time there will be a "reward" elsewhere.

We all have complained for literally years that WoW has lost its roots; that the game isn't what it used to be. Now they're going back, on a holistic level to those roots and we're seeing these changes taking shape. The only problem is that as a community we're collectively ignoring the bigger picture. I wish we wouldn't do that.

WoD's gameplay is going to be better, the story immersion and sense of environmental interaction is going to increase dramatically. All of these things are key, yet "they're taking away flying" is the mantra that's being repeated. WoW existed for a long time without flying, and it even existed longer with flying being very limited. It can exist again in such a dimension.

Now with all that said, Blizzard's communication of these changes hasn't been very good. There's been bits and pieces of it being rolled out, and every time there's "news" (and I use that term loosely), it's been another round of "such and such is getting removed." They need to do a better job at communicating the big picture.

Chrth asked:

Do you think we'll actually get to explore the Ogre continent on Draenor during WoD, or do you think it'll be left dangling as a potential future plot thread if we ever return?

I doubt that we'll get it as a larger area than Timeless Isles or such major patch additions. It's possible we could see something more, but that'll probably be it. Now will it come in WoD? I don't know, but as others in the comments suggested, it sure does sound like good patch content.

Bhuta asked:

So what do you think the chances of another "50% off services sale" are? If they do one, do you think it will include 90 boosts? When do you think it'll be?

I think the chances are great, and I suspect they'll include the character boost service. I can't really see a reason why they wouldn't, given we know people will take advantage of them.

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!