The Queue: Getting ready for heroics edition

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

Hey, I'm back! Blame Alex. Yesterday, heroics opened up for testing in the Cataclysm beta. Tonight, the epic quest to get absolutely destroyed by these dungeons begins! Wednesday, Wednesday, Wednesday! Come one, come all. Witness the horrors, trials and tribulations of stalwart souls! The slaughter in the Stonecore! The battle in the Blackrock Caverns! Throne of the DIES ... The quite literal Deadmines! Hellish Halls of Origination. A truly Grim Batol! Uh... Vortex Pinna...culling? What do you want from me? It's early.

Enough of that. Let's get on with some questions.

There are some Cataclysm spoilers in a couple of The Queue questions this week, so be wary if you're avoiding that sort of thing.

snowleopard233 asked:

Will we ever see an automatic group finder for raids like we have for heroics? I know raiding with guilds is ideal, but sometimes I just really need to find a tank for the 10-man weekly without having to spam the general chat for an hour.

Personally, I don't think that I would want to see this. Dungeons and heroics make sense -- the maximum amount of time you're spending with a pickup group is an hour, tops. Raids have so many varying levels of difficulty, along with a much stricter lockout period, that one random gone wrong could lock you out for a week, as opposed to just getting locked out of a dungeon for a day. Raids are meant for something different than the dungeons and are therefore treated differently.

Aracross asked:

Why is Garrus in the background of the web?

Garrus has been doing the calibrations for the URL changeover. Give him some time. He's got a lot on his plate.

woshiernog asked:

People are too concerned with the wrong dates. The real question is when the Cataclysm trailer is coming out. So when is it coming out?

Amen, brother. I cannot wait to see what trailer they pull out for Cataclysm. We've had the contemplative villain trailer, so I'm guessing we won't get something as melodramatic as Wrath's cinematic. Expect some action. My guess is that we'll see it at BlizzCon or at the end of September.

Also, this question forced me to go back and watch all of the cinematic openings for World of Warcraft and the expansions, and I am impressed every time. The Cataclysm trailer cannot come soon enough.

JR asked:

The draenei starting area takes place right after the Exodar crashed, and the Forsaken starting area takes place as Sylvanas is freeing undead from the Lich King's control. Have these two areas been revamped in Cata? Are they still set in the past?

I just popped onto beta for a few minutes and made a draenei, and I did not see anything different, except the new voice-over introduction. The undead, however, are a different story entirely. Spoilers ahead.

Previously, you would awake as a newly broken free undead, finally slipping free of the Lich King's hold. Now, things have changed. As a fresh undead, you awaken in a shallow grave, newly risen in undeath by Sylvanas' val'kyr. You are told that you are not a slave to Sylvanas, but if you choose to follow her, things will be pretty great. Then, you are instructed to help newly risen undead out of its shock and stupor from being risen. Suffice it to say, this is a very, very interesting new beginning for Forsaken players.

daae asked:

Will death knights always start at level 55? It would be cool if they changed it to level 1 so you can see all the new Cataclysm content as a DK. I guess there is some lore reason they start at 55.

I am pretty sure death knights will always begin at level 55, because that is how their entire unique opening has been developed. They are still technically a "hero" class, and I wouldn't be surprised if that's the type of class additions we get from here on out.

Starting at level 55 is pretty much the reward for playing a hero class. You've already seen the early levels, presumably, on another character in order to unlock your death knight slot -- so congratulations, you don't have to do it again. Cataclysm fixes this to a large extent, with different leveling paths for characters.

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!