The Queue: Hearthstone mount, the podcast, timelines, and druids

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) will be your host today.

TKC asked:

How hard is it to pick up Hearthstone? I'd only want to do it to get the mount.

I don't think you're going to have too hard of a time picking up the game. Expect to spend a few hours playing through the tutorials and going against the AI, and then a couple more hours working for the three wins. Of course, you might get lucky and everything could be done in an hour (I've seen it take both amounts of time).

One thing to keep in mind though is not to get discouraged, the three wins will eventually come. And if you try right now, at the beginning of a new month, you're more likely to hit better plays working their way back up the ladder (everyone's rank resets, somewhat, at the beginning of each month). Waiting a week might lead to easier opponents.

John22 asked:

Any hope for Addon Spotlight or Reader UI of the week (month) to return? I know manpower is low, but with WoD there will be changes.

They're not going to make a permanent return, no, but I won't rule out them making brief returns to focus on new WoD content as needed.

Korkoros asked:

With Sacco having left, is the WoW Insider Show podcast cancelled, or merely delayed?

The podcast is being broadcast live tonight and will be up on iTunes tomorrow. Yesterday Anne had a Fox (van Allen) as a guest, so she couldn't record. Sacco's departure sucks, for sure. However Alex Ziebart and I will be taking the third spot on a rotating basis.

Onwards and upwards! I was amazing working with Mike all these years on the podcast, and I'm looking forward to continuing the great show with our current hosting lineup.

Grayknights asked:

How many years after Vanillia is are the events of Mists?

I think it's 7 or 8 years -- someone below in the comments will no doubt have more to say. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that Blizzard rarely, if ever, gives any official timeline to their stories that are at the levels of years. We know things generally progress forward, but how fast is always up for debate.

Seadog asked:

How come, when a Druid switches to swim form, a Walrus/Seal type thing, or Orca if glyphed, you no longer need to come up for air? Both of the creature types you can change into breathe air and need to surface regularly to breathe. Sometimes this game just doesn't seem real, you know?

I think it's mainly just a thing where in the process of switching forms they get a bit of magic infused within themselves. After all when they're doing their walrus thing it's not like they actually have the mind of a walrus, so there's clearly a bit of extra something happening.

I wouldn't think too much into it... at some point there has to be a suspension of disbelief. We are all playing with elves and dragons, after all.

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!