Michael Sacco
Articles by Michael Sacco
The Queue: A sequel to Gator
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Gator was a sequel. connelallison asked: Who else thinks Warlords of Draenor sounds much more like a Hearthstone expansion than a WoW one? I remember reading that this trademark didn't mention mousepads either, which is in contrast with all the previous expansions which had them in the collector's editions. Hearthstone isn't even out of beta yet. If Warlords of Draenor is a legitimate trademark, as it appears to be, it's for WoW, not Hearthstone.
The Queue: Reflektor
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. The new Arcade Fire album is different than I was expecting, but I'm digging it. loco asked: If Sylvanas uses one of her available plagues, would Death Knights become undead too or not (since they already died)? Death knights are, as far as we know, immune to the plague, since they were raised by a much more powerful magic source.
The Queue: Thanks whoever
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. It's like 2 AM so I don't remember who put this White Stripes song in the Queue comments, but thanks for reminding me about this song. HobMeadows asked: Assuming the next expansion has no new race(s) or class, do you think it's likely that Blizzard would (again) loosen the current class/race restrictions? And assuming it's at least reasonable, what combos do you think could happen? Good question. I've learned never to say never about Blizzard and lore stuff, because they can just make up whatever they want. That said, the last we heard about this was "we'll do it again if it makes sense," which likely means "we don't have any plans."
The Queue: Plague Quarter
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. See that picture above? It's my house. My partner and I have been sick for a week now. Please kill us. arkaingel001 asked: Any word on which band will be rocking Blizzcon this year? Nope, not a peep yet. The closing ceremony is two and a half hours long, though, so there'll almost certainly be something happening.
The Queue: A completely uneventful Queue
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Glad there was nothing in yesterday's Queue worth commenting about! *wipes brow* rjjagoda asked: I got a Hearthstone beta key today. I haven't played a card game since Magic 16 years ago (and that was Magic in the loosest sense, pretty much just me and my buddy dropping cards like we were playing War). Question is, is it easy for a non TCG guy like me to pick up? Do you need to have any card game background? Yes, I know I could just log in and try it out, but I have to go to work for a bit tomorrow, and the rest of the day will be devoted to football. Hearthstone is one of the simplest TCGs out there. It actually functions as a fantastic tutorial for TCGs in general! Don't worry about not being able to pick it up. You are exactly who Blizzard is trying to grab with this game.
The Queue: The Dog Below
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. This is the last Queue in which I'll be answering questions about The Dark Below. GabrielSchenk asked: Why are the Goblin auctioneers dancing in the Siege of Orgrimmar Wing 2? (I've only played the wing once, but they were all dancing last night and I thought it was weird!) If you can get over there (stealth/invis/etc) and chill for a bit, you can see the whole scenario play out. The Kor'kron are forcing them to dance.
The Queue: Outland
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. I miss Outland. Maybe I'll get my warlock over that final 55-58 bump. I will, of course, immediately regret it. That place needs its own Cataclysm-style quest revamp bad. dougie2471 asked: Ive been playing Hearthstone quite a bit recently.. I know if i spend money on card packs i will get that back when its released.. My question is if i spend money entering arena will that also be given back? Nope, Blizzard already did the refund-reset thing they were planning. What you do in beta now will carry over into live, barring another reset (which Blizzard "doesn't anticipate").
The Queue: Furious refutations
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Today we'll talk about planets, dimensions, and expansions. tomfromhr asked: Okay, so bit of a timeline/lore question. As I understand it, we shut the original Dark Portal in WCII, right? And in doing so we trapped a sizeable force of Alliance (and Horde?) guys on the other side? Was this when Alleria and Turalyon ran through a portal? And did a Horde force run through that portal too? Is there a good book to read up on this particular moment in Warcraft history? And what were the Alliance/Horde forces doing while the DP was closed? Alleria and Turalyon were part of a larger group known as the Alliance Expedition, which was sent out on a mission to get the Book of Medivh back from Ner'zhul and stop him from opening portals to worlds besides Azeroth. The group also included Khadgar, Danath Trollbane, Kurdran Wildhammer, and others. By the time they actually tracked down Ner'zhul he had already learned all he needed to know to lay siege to other worlds, so they made the tough decision to destroy the Draenor-side Dark Portal, sealing Draenor (now Outland) off from the rest of the universe. The remaining Horde forces either splintered into their old clans or joined up with Kargath Bladefist at Hellfire Citadel. The Alliance forces attempted to make some semblance of a life for themselves while enduring skirmishes with natives, with varying degrees of success. You can read the complete story in the Beyond the Dark Portal novel.
The Queue: I'm the fire starter
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. So what if I'm rolling with a Fennekin, the free superpowered Torchic you get over the WFC, and the Charmander that Professor Sycamore gives you? I need that Mega Charizard X, man. And like I'm gonna pick a water-type starter. Please. Frost1874 asked: Considering that we have 13 races, new character models will keep things visually fresh, and we just got a new class last expansion, do you think it's possible that we'll see no new race(s) or class in the upcoming expansion? If so, what are some interesting alternatives Blizzard could put in instead of those traditional features? I'll put it this way: I would be very, very surprised if there's a new race in the next expansion. I think the majority of manpower that would've gone to new races is going to the character model revamp, and rightfully so. As for new classes, I just hope there isn't one. I think we're at the higher end of possible class variety right now. If we do get one, though, I hope it uses mail. I'm hoping with the new models we'll see a higher degree of customization available, whether that means a lot more options for existing slots (hair, etc) or new slots too.
The Queue: I like shorts
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. They're comfy and easy to wear. mattprendo asked: About the Heirloom drops from SoO, I have read they are usable up to level 100. Is this an indicator that the next expansion will be an epic major story like Cataclysm and WOTLK rolled into one big hot mess but instead of 5 levels we are getting 10 to push through. Normally when Blizzard applies level caps to things hasn't it always been secluded to an expansion. Blizzard folks said that the level 100 cap on the heirlooms isn't set in stone, so we'll just have to wait and see how many levels we're getting in the next expansion and how long the heirlooms will last relative to them.
The Queue: Pokemon Eve
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Pokemon X&Y come out at midnight! Which are you picking up, if applicable, and which starter are you picking? If you say anything but "Fennekin" I'm tossing you into a peat bog where you belong. lackinganame asked: I was wondering about the heirloom gear hell scream drops i noticed that it uses level 60 class horde weapon model and most of the same textures (some of them even have the horde symbol on them) my question is was the weapon design something they ran out of time for so now alliance players are going to run around with horde weapons? or was the idea always to give horde looking weapons? They're in line with all the other heirlooms -- sometimes reskinned, sometimes not versions of legacy gear. After all, take down the leader of the Horde and loot his war chest and you think you'll find Alliance logos all over everything?
The Queue: Life in space is impossible
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. I saw Gravity last night and it was really good. I feel like the concept of space as deadly, lonely, and horrible has been ground to a nub by scifi movies, but Gravity actually made space scary again, simply by presenting space as the enemy and not something that lives there. Also, it really can't be beat for pure visual spectacle. I have no idea how this movie was filmed. arixian697 asked: This may be a really dumb noob question but I've been wondering. If I have two pieces of SoO tier gear drop in LFR and two different pieces of SoO tier gear drop in Flex will I unlock the 4-piece set bonus or just the 2-piece? Bonuses can be unlocked across difficulty levels. As long as there are four different pieces, you'll unlock the 4-piece bonus. So if you have the gloves and helm from LFR but the head and shoulders from Flex, congrats on your 4-piece.
The Queue: Anybody know what this is?
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. It looks like some kind of ... baby ... dog? No idea. Krastanof asked: Could the Timeless Isle quest line be hinting at the next expansion being about time-travel and preventing the creation of the Infinite Dragonflight? Then "Heroes of the Storm" may make a lot of sense (if it's, of course, not a hoax again). I'm not sure how "Heroes of the Storm" sounds like it has anything to do with time travel, but anything's possible. Consider that whatever name we get for the next expansion is going to be pretty clear-cut and descriptive.
The Queue: They're on the menu!
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Murder is on the menu. gamer4279 asked: So i have a theory about the Warcraft Movie. I think its going to be what was trademarked as Heroes of the Storm, and focus on Alleria and Turalyon, and what they have been doing in outland. Specifically in Netherstorm, (Heroes of the STORM? :P) It makes sense considering the only 2 who have been rumored to have been cast are a male and a female as "leads". Nah, the HotS trademark was for games and software, not a movie. The movie will very likely just be titled "Warcraft". My pet theory is that Heroes of the Storm is the new name for Blizzard All-Stars, which is admittedly a pretty boring name. My complaint with it is, of course, that it shares an acronym with Heart of the Swarm.
The Queue: And in the end...
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. ...the meth you make is equal to the bad you break. john14 asked: I'm wondering about the state of a feature that was talked about in the recent past, adding a new calculation to the rng loot. As I remember, it would slightly increase your chance to have a specific item drop the more times the item did not drop for you. I'm wondering if it was ever put in, and secondly if it only applies to the newer Mists content or old content and if its just armor/weapons or pets/mounts too. The "specific item" calculation doesn't exist so far as I'm aware, but there is an increasing chance every time you don't get an item from a bonus roll that you'll receive an item next time. As far as I know this only applies to bonus rolls in current content. Blizzard did say they want to institute personal loot for all 5-mans in the next expansion, though.
The Queue: I can't explain
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. Hall & Oates all the live-long weekend! That's what I'm talkin' about! Brannwyn asked: Can I ask a lore question? The Kirin Tor used to be a neutral faction, but that all went to pot over Theramore and with Jaina taking over. Are they actually part of the Alliance now (and hence subordinate to Varian), or are they instead a group who is seeking the same sort of things as the Alliance and are happy to work closely with them for the moment? Lorewise, the Kirin Tor are an Alliance group. In-game it doesn't quite work that way yet. It's still a fairly recent change. Er, re-change. They were Alliance to begin with, then they...weren't, kind of...then...yeah.
The Queue: Heart
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. This is one of my all-time favorite songs. Enjoy it on this sunny Sunday. cafetal asked: i have see people with this mount Heavenly Golden Cloud Serpent in my realm, but they not even neutral with Emperor Shaohao, so what's the deal?, is a know exploit? Most likely they got it on another character. Cloud Serpent Riding is account-wide now, so they could ride it even if they never got Order rep to exalted.
The Queue: A little on the nose, don't you think
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. I'm just gonna coast through the weekend Queues using Scott Leyes' images as headers. This is the life. NicoSinatraGrindley asked: Question, i was wandering around timeless isle doing dallies when i came back to Kairoz who to my alt character is Yellow yet Anduin is Green, be it i am a Horde orc. does this pretty much mean anything or am i looking more into this then i should. could it be Anduin is a emissary of alliance to the horde or what ? Anduin is a child, and children can never be attacked in the game; though, from a lore perspective, Anduin has also assisted the Horde several times. Makes sense he'd be "friendly".
The Queue: When Orgrimmar is in ashes...
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. ...you have my permission to die! (Thanks, Scott.) arixian697 asked: Do you think Blizzard will ever allow you to reforge 2 stats on the same item? Now that I'm fully geared from Timeless Isle I'm so far over both Hit and Expertise caps that it's not even funny. I reforged all the extra hit I could (and I'm still way over cap) but that leaves me with twice the Expertise I need still. I'm not really sure what the future holds for reforging. The devs have said that it didn't quite work out how they wanted it. The goal was to give players a way to "make up" for a gear having stats that didn't quite fit their gearing goal, but instead it became a mandatory gold sink, and one that required a third-party site to do the calculations. I don't think anyone likes reforging. They just have to do it. So we'll see where the next expansion takes us.
The Queue: Puppy party
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mike Sacco will be your host today. We got a puppy from the local shelter. We think she's a chihuahua/dachshund mix. My day job lets you bring in your dog whenever you want, provided they're house-trained and sociable enough not to bite people or other dogs. This is what happened when she met Lily, another puppy. GordonSullivan asked: I just set foot on the timeless isle for the first time and the first thing i noticed was that most mobs are elites. Is this hub designed for raiders? Nope, but the elites are definitely tougher than normal mobs. Many of them are soloable, though, and the rares you really want are always attacked by groups, reducing the danger to you (most of the time).