The Queue: Image is relevant

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), senior editor at WoW Insider, will be your host today.

I'd be willing to bet all the gold on my toons that in the next two years, we're going to have an in-game pet that looks suspiciously like our little yellow friend here ...

ZodiacDragons asked:

Everyone is always talking about how Pet Battles is like Pokemon, but how much of Pokemon is going to actually be in it? Will pets have typing? Will certain attacks be "super-effective?" Will different pets have different Abilities that they can bring to strengthen the rest of the party? Will there be defensive type moves?

I keep seeing that it's going to be like Rock Paper Scissors but that sounds boring cause there is no real strategy behind that. Just pick a move and hope luck smiles upon you. I understand that Blizzard doesn't want rare pets to be all-powerful, but it would be nice build teams around a strategy.

We don't know very much about how the Pet Battles will work, but I'm sure that there'll be different classes of pets (I believe Blizzard said this, although I'm not 100% certain) and that there will be different attacks each pet can learn.

As far as the mechanics of the fighting go, well, I'm expecting that it'll be a lot like the current generation of Pokemon games. And that's not a bad thing, either; those mechanics are easy to learn and difficult to master (just like WoW). And before people take me to task for saying Pokemon can be difficult, have you ever tried to play a few level 100 matches against random opponents from around the world? If you have, then you'll know there's a level to that gameplay that is quite high. If not, then go and try it -- or just take my word for it.

Back to your question, though, I am sure there'll be some serious strategy involved. Blizzard will create a very in-depth game here.

Wawoodworth asked:

What will pandarians ride?

I know a lot of people are thinking turtle, and there were some jokes thrown around at BlizzCon about it. But really, there's no official word yet.

KrazyKorean asked:

With the simplification of Talents in Mists of Pandaria, are dual spec's going away?

Nope, the dual talent system is staying. Remember that talents are just the options you select, whereas your spec grants you specific abilities and master bonuses. Cutaia has it right in the comments, at least as far as the system was explained at BlizzCon.

TwoWolves asked:

Any chance Blizzard will actually do away with realm character limits? At this point, 10 characters per realm is just too low.

They really want to, especially with the introduction of an 11th class. One solution Blizzard's looking at is removing the realm limit entirely and just keeping the account limit of 50 characters. There's been no official announcement yet on exactly what the final solution, if any, will be.

Jakoby asked:

Anyone know why Retadins got nerfed?

Because somebody made a forum post like this one.

Pro tip: Don't make forum posts like that one.

JayVick asked:

How much do you think the previewed MoP talents will change before Beta?

Honestly, I'd be surprised if Blizzard changed a ton by the time the beta comes around. I don't think Blizzard has ever had such a talent system flushed out, even at draft stage, so early in the game before. We essentially saw an entirely working talent system on paper; all that's left at that point is implementing it in the game and tweaking things. That is pretty far along.

Now compared to release ... I expect those talents to change quite a bit. Blizzard isn't shy about removing good ideas in the beta because they're unbalanced.

Synthetic asked:

What's the staff's age distribution? Maybe an internet/interest thing but I feel like I can relate to you as peers...

Mid-20s to 40s. Everyone is pretty chill and relaxed, and we all get along nicely, which I think reflects in the overall tone and atmosphere on the site.

The BreantJackson asked:

Why is NBC so stupid?

NBC wants to do everything it possibly can for you to hate it.

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!