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The Queue: BlizzCon hype train

alex ziebart
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Updated ·4 min read
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Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.

BlizzCon, eh?

Revnah asked:

Soooo, how does the Blizzcon date figure in the release schedule for WoD? Speculations, please!



I don't think it figures in at all. They'll release when they release. It might be that BlizzCon 2014 won't have a major World of Warcraft announcement. BlizzCon 2010 didn't. We might have some content patch stuff, maybe some Warcraft movie details, plenty of Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm, but no WoW expansion. If Warlords of Draenor hasn't released by that point, I think we should all be concerned -- the expansion has until what, December at the latest to launch? Can you imagine being the devs in the last couple months of the year, trying to throw BlizzCon while launching an expansion at the same time? That would be hell for all involved. August/September would be best for their sanity, I'd think.

I guess you could say that's "figuring in" to a release schedule because I think they'd want it out before BlizzCon. I interpret the question, though, as you asking if they'll hold onto the expansion to release during/after BlizzCon. Maybe that wasn't what you're asking at all. If it is, I don't think they'd do that. We'll see the expansion first, BlizzCon second.

I hope.

MaroeskavanVeen asked:

Considering we are talking about Thrall's parents here, and not 10000 years back into the past... why does everything look like the Stone Age? I love the looks, but when I look at the mounts and pets it is as if we are going back thousands of years, instead of one generation.

The talbuks, for example, apparently have been through alot of evolution. That, or they evolved while leveling *wink wink*.

There are a few things in play here, I feel. One, World of Warcraft's graphical upgrades/higher-fidelity artwork. A talbuk from 2006 is going to look worse than a talbuk from 2014. They can pack far more detail in there and still keep it looking clean.

Second, Draenor is kind of stone age. A few steps behind most of Azeroth technologically, anyway. The orcs build most of their settlements out of bones, horns, and hides. Even stone tends to be optional. Their metallurgy, then, is questionable. The draenei went down a completely different technological path based around crystals and crazy interdimensional magic. Most of the technology you saw in The Burning Crusade came from outside forces: the Alliance expedition, the Burning Legion's fel-fueled weapons, the Consortium, and so forth. We're going to a time before any of those outside forces arrived.

A lot changed in one generation. Draenor's entire ecosystem changed. The planet broke. Things mutated. Things were made extinct. Entire new civilizations settled on the planet from other locations. It was like an episode of Ancient Aliens.

AzerProf asked:

How is Blizzard going to maintain continuity in the 1-90(100) experience? I can see phasing the Warchief (1-90 see Garrosh, 90-100 see Vol'jin), but wouldn't that cause problems with quests like the Love is in the Air charm bracelets? What if you accept it at 89 and want to turn it in at 91?

Blizzard has never been concerned with continuity in the leveling process. Ever. The Vol'jin situation is small potatoes compared to what else is going on. Leveling from 1 to 90 involves multiple instances of jumping to different points in the timeline. From 1-60, you get Cataclysm-era quests referencing the death of the Lich King and all of your faction's armies returning home. Then you actually go to Northrend and none of that has happened yet. You witness the rise of Garrosh Hellscream in the ranks of the Horde, become a hero, and eventually Warchief, while you've probably already talked to Vol'jin about him deposing Garrosh.

The timeline in the leveling process will never make sense. They'll remove Garrosh from Orgrimmar, replace him with Vol'jin, and leave it at that.

Jeff13 asked:

Not really a question for the Queue. I just started playing Hearthstone now that it's available on the iPad. Is the Priest deck overpowered? It kind of feels that way but I am really new to the game.

Going to answer this anyway! The priest deck is actually considered the weakest deck right now, or at least one of the weakest. However, it tends to be one of the strongest base decks for newbie players and simultaneously the most difficult foe for them to overcome. Once you have more cards available to you and learn the basic tricks of an opposing priest deck, they won't be quite as much trouble.

Granted, "weakest" might be somewhat misleading. Last I heard, the priest deck is just above a 40% win rate while most others are just below 50%.

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!