The Queue: Many questions, handle them

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.

We had a lot of questions today, so let's just get right to them!

gazaa07 asked:

Q4tQ: Which model do you predict we will see after the male human one?

I'd kind of like to see either the female troll, or the male night elf. Preferably female troll, because I'd like to see them finally, at long last, blink. We'll have to wait and see what they decide to show us after the human male, though.

jabrone77 asked:

QfortheQ: Why on earth would Thrall leave the trade prince in control of the goblins? He enslaved his own people TWICE. I understand the gameplay aspect of it, you can't have a player in charge, but the lore "why" escapes me. Wouldn't Thrall out of everyone on Azeroth be against that?

Let's look at this from a lore point of view. More importantly, let's get in Thrall's head and look at it. Thrall was on an important mission that was rudely interrupted by his near-kidnapping. He was rescued by goblins from a Cartel he didn't know. They had a leader who had apparently turned on them, and once that leader was defeated, he quickly turned around and repented what he had done. So here we have Thrall, facing the leader of a race that frankly, he simply doesn't know. He has no idea who you, the character, happen to be. He knows nothing of goblin hierarchy or social structure or organization or history. All he knows is that there are a group of pretty cool little green dudes that rescued him, and he wants to help them out in return, and also hopefully get the heck off that crazy island before it blows up.

Keeping that in mind, he's got several different things he could have done.

• Pull a Varian Wrynn and appoint a new leader. But see, if he does this, who does he choose? How does he know who is the best fit for the job? How does he know whether or not the goblins would approve of his choice, much less the fact that he, a total stranger, up and made that choice for them to begin with? He's got no ties with the Bilgewater Cartel -- nobody on Azeroth does, really. Arbitrarily appointing a random goblin as leader would be diplomatic suicide.

• Kill Gallywix on the spot and let the goblins sort it out. Well, he doesn't really know anything about Gallywix's history. He knows the goblins don't like him right now, and he knows that Gallywix was trying to enslave the goblins on the island, but he has no idea if that is the be all and end all of Gallywix's character, or if it's some sort of stress induced reaction to Kezan blowing sky-high. Heck, for all he knows, Gallywix took a giant knock to the head when his ship blew up and that's what's making him do this. More importantly, if Thrall kills Gallywix and leaves the goblins to sort it out amongst themselves, how long is something like that going to take? How long would he be stuck on that island and kept away from the really important Maelstrom stuff he should be getting to as quickly as possible?

• Leave Gallywix in place as leader -- for now. Make sure he adds that "for now" caveat. Gallywix threw up his hands and gave up, so at least giving him a chance to make up for his wrongdoings would be the merciful choice. But here's the catch: Bring Gallywix and all the other goblins on the island into the Horde. That way, Gallywix will have an eye on him at all times, and the moment he steps out of line again, he can simply be deposed, no questions asked. In the meantime, the Horde can get a good idea of how the goblins of the Bilgewater Cartel work, what their social structure is like, how they choose leaders, and who would be a good potential candidate in the event that a replacement leader is needed. As a bonus, you've got a bunch of goblins firmly on your side and working for you instead of being neutral like the Steamwheedle Cartel.

Of those options, the third one is clearly the best. We haven't see that "for now" moment come up just yet, because Gallywix has yet to step out of line. In fact, he's been quiet and largely absent from all goblin affairs, keeping himself to himself and by and large being a very good boy. If he does step out of line, you can bet the Horde will be happy to replace him. But not until then.

JeffLaBowski asked:

Q4tQ: Which patch will the troll dungeon come out in? You know there is going to be one. You just know it! I'm setting the over/under at 2nd patch.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and state that for the record, I don't think we're going to get a troll dungeon or raid with this expansion. I may end up wrong, but somehow, it doesn't feel like we're going to be in a place or time where one would be thematically appropriate with Warlords.

hempracer asked:

Will Dog and Luna becoming with us to our Garrison? Dog is a rescue animal and shouldn't be abandon again.

I've asked about this before, and we still don't know whether Dog will be making an appearance or not, not to mention Luna. I'd hate to leave them behind.

RikOsbourne asked:

So what's up with Regent Lord Theron Lor'themar? Unless I've missed something in my blood elf lore, the Sunstrider line died out with Kael'thas. Do the elves of Quel'thalas have a succession policy for when the royal ruler dies without an heir? Did Kael'thas have an heir of whom I'm unaware? Just who is Lor'themar acting as "regent" for?

In other words, do you think that the blood elves will eventually acclaim Lor'themar as king? (Or "prince"? Why was Kael'thas still called "Prince" after his father died? Shouldn't he have become "King"?) IMO, Lor'themar acquitted himself well in Pandaria, and proved himself an able leader. Judging by my understanding of medieval history, that should be enough for his people to elect him king/prince/whatever, in the absence of a legitimate heir to Kael'thas.

Kael'thas decreed that his father Anasterian would always be the last king of Quel'thalas, and Lor'themar intends to honor that request. Not out of any particular respect for Kael'thas, but because he has absolutely no desire to be king. He doesn't wish to get married, he doesn't wish to have children and carry out some kind of royal line. He will bear the title of Regent Lord because he must, but he has little love for the position, or the heavy weight that position bears.

Frankly, if it were up to Lor'themar, he never would have taken the position of Regent Lord in the first place -- but Kael'thas appointed him to that position, and he is bound by duty to uphold it. Not out of loyalty to Kael'thas, but out of loyalty to his people -- a people that have suffered so tremendously in just a few short years that they are looking to anyone for guidance and some scant notion of hope. You can read more about Lor'themar in the short story In the Shadow of the Sun, and I've also written a couple of pretty extensive Know Your Lore columns about the guy.

rjjagoda asked:

Q4tQ: Have you ever bought any Bliz-related merchandise? If so, what do you do with it, and how do people react? I am specifically thinking of the Doomhammer replica that was featured the other day, but literally anything is welcome for a reply (steins, T-shirts, whatever).

I have a few different things -- a decent-sized collection of various action figures that were gifts, one of the blankets they sold at BlizzCon (it's got the Horde logo on it and is the softest blanket ever), and a copy of pretty much every print title to come out of Blizzard Entertainment. My stuff pretty much stays in my room on display, although the novels are dragged out time and again for reference. I do have a World of Warcraft license plate frame that few people notice, and I also have a Horde decal in the back window of my car. Most of the time people really don't notice it, but I have had a "For the Horde!" screeched earnestly in my direction on more than one occasion.

@ScottLeyes asked via Twitter:

Where will we (players) be congregating in WoD? Our garrisons, or are there hubs for Horde/Alliance? Bank/Auction/etc.

Theoretically, the Horde has their hub city in Frostfire Ridge, and the Alliance hub city is Karabor, over in Shadowmoon Valley. You can certainly spend time in your garrison, but I believe things like banks, auction houses and the like will be in those two cities.

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!