The Queue: Not cute

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 answering all kinds of questions today.

You might think the above screenshot is incredibly cute. Aw, look at the little podlings! They've found an elekk to ride around the town. Yes, it's very adorable until you target the podlings, realize they are in fact Hungry Podlings, and then have to deal with the disquieting possibility that they are eating that elekk alive.

Podlings are gross.

Benjamin Seeberger asked:

So once I hit level 100, how much time will it reasonably take me to actually get to ilvl 615?

Not too long, all things considered! Questing in Nagrand will help considerably -- the rares out there drop some pretty high-end rewards, and quest rewards are also pretty good. You'll end up doing some dungeons as well, but with the changes to Personal Loot now guaranteeing you a piece at the end of an LFG dungeon run, you'll find yourself there in no time. You've got until January to run Molten Core, so there's really no need to worry about whether you'll be there in time. It took me a few days, but that was less because it was difficult and more because I didn't have a ton of time to run dungeons for gear right off the bat.

Revnah asked:

Anyone know why there are level 100 missions that grant follower exp? *scratches head*

Once your follower has hit level 100, they don't stop leveling -- they simply begin the grind from uncommon to rare, then rare to epic. Once your follower is an epic level 100, that's when they won't gain anything in particular from those missions. It takes a long time to get there, though, so those missions will be useful for quite some time.

DaEvilGenius asked:

Q4TQ - Well actually Q4Rossi Im not on a RP server but somewhere in the vast nothingness of my head there are stories for my main. I gave him a backstory and make him react to certain in game events a certain way (Similar to you and Robertjamesftw in the last question of the queue). Should I be on a RP server?

I'm not Rossi, but I'm going to throw my two cents in here because hey, I know your situation! I started out the game way back when on a PvE server with a lot of friends. Even though it wasn't an RP server, I used to think about where my character came from, and I'd write stories about her in my free time, just for fun. And that was pretty much enough for me, until I decided to check out an RP server on a whim after my first raid guild kind of fell apart.

The difference between what you're doing, what I was doing, and actual RP is basically the participation aspect of it. Are you happy writing stories for yourself, or do you want to share those stories with other people, and have them share their stories with you in return? RP servers are a little storytelling, a lot of improvisational acting, and they're ridiculously fun if that's something you find entertaining. But if you don't think you really want to be interacting with other people in that manner, then stick to writing stories and doing what you're doing.

EWOKinLA asked:

I am not sure what Rossi means when he says do all Events in a zone. Is he talking about Rares?

He's talking about vignettes -- bonus objectives. All zones have these bonus areas, marked on your map with an icon that looks like two crossed swords. The vignettes are completely optional, and the objectives pop up if you happen to be in an area -- you're free to complete them, or to ignore them and continue on your way. They aren't held in your quest log. If you work on a vignette, and then decide to leave the area, you can pick right back up where you left off by returning to the area later. They give you a lot of XP, and a sizeable chunk of gold.

Clayton asked:

Question: how hard would it be for the Devs to change 5p dungeons to 6p (1T/1H/4D)? Just that one change would release a lot of pressure on the DPS queue times. All mobs get health increased to compensate. It's only one additional player so spacing in the instance isn't really changing.

That would require re-balancing every trash pull and every encounter to account for the additional player. You have to keep in mind that when these fights are designed, it's not just the health and the damage that are balanced for five people -- it's the mechanics of the fights themselves. On some fights, that might make things easier -- on others, it might make the encounter significantly more difficult. Add to that that you'd have another player in the mix for the healer to take care of, and it's a far more difficult task than you'd really think.

Biggiy05 asked:

Why are the updated models for the mounts gated behind rated PvP? I understand the unique designs and that's fine but why not roll out the models for a price or behind a reputation?

Because they're a PvP reward, not a reputation reward. I know that answer won't really feel very helpful, but that's really the only answer I can give you: They are gated behind rated PvP because Blizzard decided to make them a reward for participating in rated PvP.

Exogenesis3 asked:

Just a quick question: How come we can't champion a Warlord's faction in our first random instance of the day like we could for Mists? I found that quite helpful. :c

On the one hand, I like that idea a lot, because I miss it too. On the other, the amount of reputations we have in Warlords is much, much smaller than we had in Mists of Pandaria -- so yes, the grind may be just as lengthy as any other reputation grind in the game, but there are less of them to do. We're also still very, very early in the expansion, so there's plenty of time to finish those rep grinds out. As it stands, we're barely a week into the expansion, my main hasn't even been 100 a week and she's part of the way through revered with the Frostwolves without my having really done anything other than quest. I'd say reputations feel pretty balanced, right now.

Pragmatic asked:

What abilities/traits can you search for in the Lunarfall Inn/Frostwall Tavern? I'm pretty sure you CAN'T search for "Bodyguard." But everything else seems to be up for grabs?

Any abilities or traits that will counter things you see on garrison missions. I believe you can search via profession, but I could be wrong -- I seem to remember being able to do so in the beta. And I'd go double-check that for you, but I've already recruited my follower for the week! I do know, however, that Bodyguards in particular are limited to a select few followers, and those followers can only be obtained via questing or by finding them out in the wild.

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!