The Queue: Medivh's ... big birthday bash?

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 pretty sure either Kosak or Metzen is reading this and laughing.

So according to Wowhead, the latest build of the PTR has changed that mysterious Karazhan Restoration mention to Medivh's Big Birthday Bash. Either Karazhan really is living backwards in time as we postulated on last night's podcast, or Blizzard has just decided to mess with me because I've been happily rolling around in all kinds of Karazhan speculation.

Rather than acknowledging this right away in any sort of depth, I'm going to let my brain wander over the possibilities and instead leave you with this particularly lovely rendition of the Karazhan theme performed on harpsichord by June Lee, who has recently updated his Youtube channel with some really, really amazing piano covers of World of Warcraft's music, including a jaw-dropping rendition of the Mists of Pandaria login theme.

BankerMan asked:

Now that we've come full circle and defeated all the Sha, do you think there is any chance that we will see the other Old Gods which we "killed" in previous expansions come back as some sort of Sha or taint? Are those other Old Gods truly dead?

We don't really know for certain. It honestly looked like we killed both C'thun and Yogg Saron, but I don't think we've ever had a direct confirmation of their demise from any official lore source. I don't think we'd see a sha corruption, as that seemed to pertain to Y'shaarj alone -- the sha were his last, terrible breath before he perished. And we don't really know exactly how he died, either. The mogu seemed to have record of fighting the Old God, and we assume that it was a Titan who killed him, but we don't really have any set in stone facts surrounding that, either.

jmsecc asked:

Q4tQ: If have an alt of every profession, what benefit will Garrisons give me? Will there be some sort of boost to using the profession access?

You are a rare creature. Most people don't have time to level up a million alts, certainly not within the first month or two of a new expansion's release, which is when having a garrison with access to plenty of professions will be really useful. If nothing else, you won't feel compelled to level every alt you have quite as quickly -- something that can burn people out before they've even begun.

zengarzombolt11 asked:

Questions about the status of some NPCs during WoD. Was Velen the Draenei leader back then? When Deathwing escaped through the Dark Portal did he he escape to Outland or Draenor? What about Magtheridon, the Naaru , Auchindoun and Tempest Keep?

Velen has always been the draenei leader. He led them from Argus in the first place. As far as Deathwing goes, he escaped to Draenor, not Outland -- but he did so after the Dark Portal had opened and the orcs had invaded Azeroth. In Warlords, that scenario never happened, so we are not likely to see the former Earthwarder running around. The naaru may or may not be present, although the only two accounted for before Outland was created are K'ure, who is located in Oshu'gun in Nagrand, and D'ore, the darkened naaru located in Auchindoun. A'dal and his companions didn't arrive until after Draenor's destruction.

We know that Auchindoun is going to be a place of interest, because it's going to be a dungeon in Warlords -- but rather than crumbled ruins, it's going to be the holy site that it was before its fall and subsequent fate we see in Outland. As for Magtheridon, he didn't arrive on Draenor until after it had already shattered into Outland.

Something tells me I probably ought to make a post detailing who we are and are not likely to see as far as familiar faces from old expansions and games. Is there enough interest in that? Let me know in the comments.

arixian697 asked:

Q4tQ: how will gathering professions be handled in WoD, I mean I would normally assume that Draenor would have the same herbs, ore, and leather that Outland had since Outland is Draenor so how will that work?

Well, the stuff we saw in Outland was stuff that had been corrupted or otherwise altered by fel energies or the whole Twisting Nether irradiation thing that caused the Netherwing to pop into existence. We'll probably see the original versions of these things -- so Fel Iron will be ... I don't know, Draenic Iron? Something like that, I'm assuming.

Aubrey asked:

I read that before they settled on the Iron Horde, Blizz was toying with the idea of a Mongrel Horde. Obviously they went another route, but how would that even have worked? A major part of Garrosh's Horde was racial purity and strength, prizing Orcs and somewhat Tauren above all others. I can't imagine him ever wanting to lead a bunch of Gnolls and Centaur, especially given most of the "mongrel" races' penchants for stench, low intelligence, and general depravity. Most of them proably aren't considered very strong at this point either, not compared to the Orc wariors he once commanded.

"Honor ... I despise your honor. Family ... family is what you use to justify the bond between the feeble races you cling to like a flimsy shield. You stripped me of the only family I've known, tore me from my home and delivered me into this ... this shamble of soft, mewling infants, then expected me to lead them into glory? Fools who cannot even lead themselves? They know nothing of glory, of power. They know nothing of strength. I spit on your honor. You know nothing of the Horde.

You are pathetic -- hiding behind the ideals of the pink-skinned weaklings that raised you, claiming them as your own. You wish to embrace the lesser races? So be it. I will take these lesser races, shape them, build them into warriors worthy of battle, of honor. You brought me to this pathetic world to show me the Horde, and gave me an infant's daydream. I will show you the old ways. I will show you what it means to be an orc, a leader, a Warchief. I will show you the strength of the Horde. And it will end you."

I imagine something like that.

@TheWalrusDruid asked via Twitter:

Is there a proper lore-y reason why raid bosses (orcs for example) are so much bigger than normal orcs?

No, it's just so that you can see the thing you're trying to kill in the middle of a boatload of DPS, pets, spell effects, and constantly cawing crows. Alternatively, it's so you know to hit the really big orc in the rear end, rather than trying to smack your DPS raid lead.

@ChiefVoljin asked via Twitter:

Would chocolate harm a tauren or even a worgen like et would a dog?

I'm not really sure why you're asking this, Vol'jin, but I'm beginning to question your promotion.

@ScottLeyes asked via Twitter:

Is it true that the Karazhan restoration is related to Medivh simply wanting to sell the place?

Well, property values in Deadwind Pass have gone down over the years, and the comps just weren't looking good for the asking price he wanted -- and don't even ask what Mike Holmes had to say when he came in and took a look at the place. Oh man, that's going to be the best episode of Holmes on Homes when it airs, let me tell you. Anyway, the realtors told him he should just invest in some paint and try a neutral color palette for broader appeal but he was having none of that, something about the Deadwind Historical Society and preserving the original integrity of the structure -- so he decided to just clean it up a little, reduce the asking price, list it as a fixer-upper and hope he gets a few of those auction house types with more gold than they know what to do with.

@mickmontgomery asked via Twitter:

any word out of Blizz on the approach to reputation grinds in WoD? MOP rep quickly wore out some players.

None yet! But given that they heard the message about daily quests loud and clear, I suspect they're also aware of player feelings regarding reputation grinds. I doubt they'll make it awful.

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!