The Queue: Did someone say Fatty Goatsteak?

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 cooing over the wee little baby goats.

Here is a nice snapshot of my sister's goats, although that is not all of them -- there is one more hiding just out of frame. The two little babies are going to be goat milk suppliers when they are older, and the larger one is going to provide more Fatty Goatsteaks than every single goat currently roaming the Skyrange. On every server combined. I hate that quest.

rjjagoda asked:

Most of the talent trees (or specializations now) have names that pretty accurately describe what they do. Locks have Affliction, Demonology, and Destruction. Warriors have Arms, Fury, and Protection. So where does a shaman's Enhance tree come from? More than anything else, it sounds like a buff class, not a bad-ass dual wielding totem-dropping madman (or woman).

Restoration shaman use the elements to restore the lives of those around them. Elemental shaman use the elements themselves as their weapons. Enhancement shaman use the elements to enhance their weapons for superior combat capability. ... or at least that's how it makes sense in my head.

Pyro asked:

Why does it seem that some people actually like daily quests? They are repetitive grindy time sinks. Why do commentators feel the need to defend the daily quest system? What is it exactly that made them turn back from the system of truly optional daily quests (ala Wrath), and institute the burdensome system they have now?

That is your opinion, and you are welcome to it. You may as well ask why people like broccoli -- I can't stand the stuff myself, but my father and my brother happily devour it all the time. I do not, however, sit there and gripe and moan about the fact that they are taking those disgusting green vegetables and stuffing them down their maws. I simply don't eat it. Why? Because I don't have to.

As for daily quests, I enjoy them more often than not, although there are some daily quests I will happily never ever do again. I like quests. I like questing. I like taking my character out and beating the snot out of something besides a raid boss. I like sneaking around and stealthing my way through the things, using every tool in my rogue arsenal to do so. I like to see how creative I can get when completing them. It keeps me playing my character, and it keeps me sharp. And I also like the stories, particularly since Mists has worked to integrate more stories into the daily system.

Generally speaking, people feel the need to defend themselves if they feel they are under attack. To wit, the broccoli example -- if I sat there and griped the whole time my father and brother were happily devouring their broccoli, they'd likely start to argue with me about it. Not to mention I'd be distracting them from all the delicious broccoli they are enjoying. Personally, I don't feel it worth my time or energy to gripe about something that someone else enjoys. I'd rather spend my time doing more productive things, like finding things I enjoy, and enjoying them. I don't care for broccoli, but making my family feel miserable because they like it is not only annoying, it's incredibly rude.

Basically, daily quests are something to do. They are an alternative piece of endgame that people can choose to participate in, and they offer a lot more to do than just running dungeons all day. Do you have to do them? No. Will it hurt you in the long run? Not especially. I was 99% geared and ready to go for raiding without spending a drop of valor on gear. I probably could have avoided the valor gear altogether had I done a few more heroics, but I'm not a huge fan of heroics. I like questing. And so, I quest.

LuotianX asked:

So, here's an odd question for the que. Has anyone ever seen Captain Komcrush of Dire Maul defeated WITHOUT the Ogre costume?

Oh yes! I used to go in there with guildmates way back in vanilla, and we'd try smushing him without the Ogre Suit just to see if we could do it. I guess you could call it old school challenge mode, to a degree!

adamjgp1 asked:

Do you think Blizzard is going to start selling transmog gear on their store? Would you buy it if they did, assuming that it looks good? I'm thinking the quality would be similar to their mounts or the challenge mode gear. What do you think the right price would be?

I hope they never do. I would much rather do game content to get cosmetic rewards for my character than just drop money on it. Pets and mounts are one thing, but something that changes what my character looks like? I'd rather work for it in game than just buy it.

@Moogyver asked via Twitter:

When patch 5.1 is released, what will happen to those not caught up on the story yet? Phasing?

Pretty much! The Alliance and Horde areas in 5.1 don't actually open to you until you go to meet the scout on the shores of Krasarang. They're phased out. And besides that, the areas for those quests are actually in the far reaches of the zones, places where there aren't really any quests or mobs to be had at all. So it's not like the entire face of Krasarang as we know it is going to irrevocably change ... as far as we know, anyway.

@txjoseph1977 asked via Twitter:

what do you think the 150 achievement mount will be?

At the moment, the reward for the achievement is the Jade Pandaren Kite String. It's the pandaren kite model, but in a neat green color. This is on the PTR of course, so we don't know for certain that's the reward, but it's been generally assumed that the kite is it.

@NRD80Y asked via Twitter:

Q4tQ: Is there any chance Tyrus Blackhorn will be back during Mists? He must have received that awesome voice for a reason.

I doubt we will see Mr. Blackhorn during Mists of Pandaria. However, I suspect if the Burning Legion starts snooping around Azeroth again, we may see a return of his dastardly visage.

Man, people need to start using the word dastardly again. Can we make that a thing?

@aerix88 asked via Twitter:

Any guesses when we might hear about BlizzCon '13? I'm going to try to go and this would be my first year!

Well, we usually hear about BlizzCon in the springtime, so ... cross your fingers!

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!