The Queue: Completely free of asking when the beta is starting

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.

You know what I love? I love this day in particular. It's the day just after alpha/beta access has gone public, and the community switches concerns. It's no longer "when is the alpha/beta starting" -- it's all about when individuals are getting in, when the next wave is getting in. I've seen it for five years, and boy, am I excited today. I can finally say it:

Everyone asked:

Q for the Q: When did the alpha* start?

Yesterday.

Also Mozzarella cheese is the best cheese.

*I'm currently wondering what the difference between an alpha and beta is now that the public is getting access to the alpha... It seems to me that the line is completely gone. Which, as a software developer, makes me a little sad.

Snichy asked:

Do you think people will ever learn the meaning of the phrase "alternative universe" and quit asking about paradox's and "it-wouldn't-happen" scenarios?

I don't, but at the same time I don't think that the story telling Blizzard did at the outset of this expansion announcement was very good. Granted, we all got told where and when we were going, but the overall affects and greater implications were not (and many may argue are not) clear. Frankly that's a communication issue. I get what Blizzard is trying to do, and I hope that we all at WoW Insider are helping explain it, but at the same time... there needs to be a "Time Travel 101" post that Blizzard authors which describes exactly what is, and what is not, happening.

Come to think of it... maybe that's a post someone here should write. Oh Matt and Anne...

Brad asked:

Is it possible for two people to be collecting signatures for a guild of the same name at the same time? At what point does the name of a guild become 'locked' or unavailable: when the charter is issued for signatures, or when the charter is turned in and the guild becomes official?

Signatures need to be collected by one person (and only one person). The guild's name gets locked in and becomes unavailable for others on the server to be used at the time the full list of founder's signatures are registered and the guild becomes official.

Rpandagirl asked:

How indicative are proving grounds for raiding? I was told by my raid leader that they didn't really tell how one fares in group, more on the individual level. She said that lfr runs are a better indicator, but I thought that was the point of proving grounds?

They're not a very good meter of how people will do in raiding, in my opinion. What they are good at is teaching you about your class mechanics in a very specific, progressive way. That's great when you're learning about things, but doesn't do much beyond that. And really, who cares if you get to the sixth or seventh waver? Does the sixth wave make you a bad raider and the seventh wave make you a good raider? No. Does being able to complete a couple waves at all mean that you have the basic knowledge to play the game? Yup -- and that's what Blizzard is going for in Warlords with their requirements on Proving Grounds.

To me, a good raider is a good team player. Good DPS is key, but so are people that know how to get the flying kazoo out of fire, and tap the stone at the right time, and press shield block when needed, etc etc... A good raid demands a mix of both, and people with both skills, but just because you can faceplant your way through the Proving Grounds doesn't make you a good raider candidate.

I hope I don't sound too ranty... but there's been far too much of this again lately. (And Rpandagirl, Im not saying you are contributing to this attitude at all, you're not.) These thoughts always seem to pop up at the end of an expansion, when suddenly purple pixels of greater purpleness "mean something." Warlords can't some soon enough.

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!