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The Queue: Wake up
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. Am I talking about Alan Wake or falling asleep with The Queue open in my editing software? In your heart, you know the truth. Borayar asked: Just finished the Sun Oblisk quest in Uldum. Why is the meteor beam shooting toward Azeroth's core? Titan engine? Ragnaros' goblin BBQ? Twilight Hammer's community spa tub? Uldum conceals machinery that can be used to re-originate Azeroth -- that is, scrap the whole darn thing and start over. It's likely that this is these are the devices that would've responded to Algalon's request should we have failed to change his mind.
The Queue: The Hangover
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 hope you have one, because that means you probably had a pretty good time last night. Though if you suddenly have a baby today and you didn't last night, you're on your own. What happens in wherever you partied last night stays in wherever you partied last night. Phienn asked: Do we know if there is another WoW book in progress? If so, what is it about? There is, and (thank goodness) Christie Golden is writing it. It's called Thrall: Twilight of the Aspects. So it's probably about Thrall. Aaaaand the Aspects. That's all we know.
The Queue: For the troubled tooth, for the troubled tooth
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. Isn't that what they were saying in that Jet Set Radio song? That's what it sounded like. My tooth hurts! Glasscannon asked: Why does Blizzard seem so desperate to discourage us from 2v2 arena these days? Am I right in saying the highest arena gear can only be got from 3v3 and 5v5? You're right: Blizzard is discouraging you from 2v2 arena. The developers directly stated that they wish they hadn't introduced that bracket due to the incredible difficulty in balancing encounters between teams of two. You also have the 2v2 arena bracket to thank for some of the most ridiculous nerfs to PvE gameplay in WoW's history.
Best of the Rest: Mike's picks of 2010
Enslaved: Odyssey to the West Ninja Theory put a heck of a game together here, with some incredible art direction and animation, level design, and the best adventurous duo since Nathan Drake and Elena Fisher. The world traversed by Monkey and Trip is colorfully portrayed and brilliantly built, the gameplay is perfectly formulated to support the characters and the story, and while I admit the game's early levels outdo the somewhat abrupt ending, this was the best original IP I played in 2010.
Best of the Rest: Justin's Picks for 2010
Metro 2033 I'm just going to tell myself that my esteemed Joystiq colleagues didn't play this moody, flawed FPS, because I hate the idea that I'm the only one with whom it resonated. With a single trek through a post-apocalyptic Russian underground, Ukrainian developer 4A became one of the developers I'd follow anywhere. It's got problems, specifically with a pretty lackluster combat system, but there's also nothing else like it.
Alex Afrasiabi discusses new zones and upcoming content on G4
Getting a little tired of the same old grind, even though it's been barely a month? Cataclysm is far from over, and developments will continue to roll out in future patches and updates. Blizzard's Lead World Designer Alex Afrasiabi leads players through a guided tour of the new Cataclysm zones and sheds some light on upcoming content through a series of videos posted on G4tv.com. Among some of the tidbits discussed are the following fascinating bits of information: a new boss is on the horizon in Vash'jir -- animal Gods? roleplaying aspects of the redesigned Stormwind (we wrote about a few already) lore behind Uldum and how it ties into Ulduar a future content patch will see Hyjal fully healed, and new daily quests a future patch will introduce boat races for players in Thousand Needles Sound like fun? Check out all the zone videos and commentary over on G4. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Best of the Rest: Griffin's picks of 2010
Cave Story I am mad at everyone I've ever known for not telling me to play Cave Story before I grabbed it late last year. Within two months, I had beaten it four times across two different platforms. It's arguably the most charming game I've ever played, with deep layers of Metroidvania-esque exploration and a level of difficulty which expertly straddles the line between challenging and frustrating. It's one of the most polished games I played during the year, and if you find yourself with an overabundance of virtual Nintendo currency, you absolutely need to own it. Twice, if you have the means.
Rated battlegrounds now award honor at conquest point cap
Rated battlegrounds have been criticized as being unnecessary after a player reaches his conquest point cap for the week, which is fairly easily obtainable. This resulted in many people shying away from rated games after the cap, and queues for rated battlegrounds being lengthy and annoying. Blizzard has just announced that rated battlegrounds will now award honor points when a player has reached the conquest point cap. Bashiok -- Rated BGs Now Award Honor at Conquest Cap We've recently made a change in an effort to promote continued play in Rated Battlegrounds. Now when a player is at their weekly Conquest cap they will receive the full amount of Honor from kills, objective completions, victories and losses while in a Rated Battleground match. Those not at their cap will continue to earn Conquest normally, and will only earn Honor once they reach their weekly cap. Whether you're capped and others on your team aren't, or you're all capped and just want to keep playing, we hope this change will allow more flexibility for those participating in Rated Battlegrounds. source World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
Cataclysm hotfixes for Dec. 27
Community Manager Zarhym's list of Cataclysm hotfixes has received yet another update Dec. 27. I have to admit, my heart skipped a beat when I first saw today's list. Is that a Tol Barad fix? Be still, my beating heart! Has Blizzard finally -- Wait. Never mind. The fix won't really fix anything. Still, maybe it's a sign Blizzard's noticed how broken the zone is. Here's the fix, along with a few other interesting changes: Winning as an attacker in Tol Barad now rewards players with 1,800 honor points, up from 180. Winning as a defender still rewards players with 180 honor points. Vashj'ir archaeology dig sites no longer unlock for players. They felt too punishing without additional benefits compared to low-level sites and were much more difficult to obtain artifacts in due to the way Vashj'ir navigation works. Gyreworms, Enormous Gyreworms, and Gorged Gyreworms no longer drop money or elite-level loot. For a complete list of the latest hotfixes, check after the break.
The Queue: Repeat Christmas header
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 don't care that we used this header last year. An orc in a Santa hat -- it's the best. Sanctis asked: I got an Amazon Kindle for Christmas (I will now read a "book" for the first time in 3 years). What Warcraft books do you recommend for me to start with? I haven't read any of them. Start with The Shattering! It serves as an introduction to Cataclysm, and we gave it a pretty darn favorable review. If you've been playing Cataclysm and thinking, "Hey, why exactly is Magni Bronzebeard dead and Garrosh Hellscream the new Warchief?" then The Shattering can help fill in those blanks.
The Queue: Merry Christmas
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. Or, you know, whatever. Leo asked: I'm curious about the epic-quality weapons and armor that can be gained via rare discoveries in archaeology. They say they are bound to account, but do they stay that way (like heirlooms), or do they become soulbound once they're equipped? Like any other account-bound item, they will never become soulbound. They don't scale with your level either, though.
The Queue: Dead Space Tueue
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 demo is downloading way too slowly. I gotta get my necromorph stompin' fix. Xodin asked: Is it possible to get the Fossilized Raptor after skill level 300 in Archeology? I was under the impression from the initial blue posts that we wouldn't see repeat projects until everything was learned at least once, yet at skill level 450 I'm seeing duplicate Fossil artifacts pop up without having yet gotten the Raptor. When I check WoWWiki, it looks like the Raptor might only be available during the 225 to 300 range, but that seems somewhat silly. The raptor becomes available in the 225-300 range, yes, but there's no cap on when you can actually make it. And to answer your tangential question, you can create duplicate projects of common items, but you'll never make two of the same rare item.
The Queue: I don't want to look back yet
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. Be honest. How many of you winced, cringed, or shrieked in terror upon seeing that screenshot of Oculus up above? Kal asked: How do you feel Cataclysm compared to the other expansion releases in terms of bugs and hotfixes? I didn't play much during The Burning Crusade and Wrath's releases, so I'm not sure how this one compares.
Cataclysm hotfixes for Dec. 21
Continuing the steady stream of Cataclysm tinkering we've seen this week, Blizzard has posted yet another set of hotfixes. And this is a pretty good set! Some notable changes: The duration of the Superheated Quicksilver Armor debuff on Karsh Steelbender is now 17 seconds, up from 12 seconds. The encounter was too hard to tank and went against our intended fight mechanics. The display for this buff may not properly update until a client-side patch is applied. Rare archaeology finds should now grant triple skill gains. Mekgineer Thermaplugg is no longer using outdated abilities and has a shiny new list of abilities to use. He is also no longer immune to taunts. Elemental Goos now drop 100% of the time off of Cataclysm elementals for the jewelcrafting daily quest. Chaos Orbs can now only been seen and rolled on by characters with a minimum skill level of 425 in tailoring, blacksmithing, leatherworking, or engineering. For the full list of hotfixes, follow us behind the break below.
Cataclysm hotfixes for Dec. 20
Community Manager Zarhym has documented and posted another list of hotfixes this evening. The list grows ever shorter compared to what they were immediately after launch, but the changes are still numerous. Here are some interesting examples: The search radius to find an archaeology node from the archaeology ability Survey has been increased. This will result in fewer searches needed while in the "green" range of surveying. Several cooking recipes were not counting toward the achievement Set the Oven to "Cataclysmic" and have been updated. Note that Darkbrew Lager, Highland Spirits, and Chocolate Cookie are not intended to count for this achievement. Several shirts have been corrected so they no longer cause a player's item level to increase. They are item level 1. For the full list of hotfixes, follow us behind the break below.
The Queue: Quorra
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. Regardless of what you thought of Tron: Legacy (I liked it, personally), I don't think you can argue against Quorra being mesmerizing every time she was on the screen. Exogenesis asked: On the archaeology profession pane, where it shows the racial crests, there is one consisting of a hat and two tools. I have not unnearthed any artifact that goes under this crest, nor can I actually find any information as to what it is. Anyone able to let me know? If I remember correctly, that icon was used for every archaeology race before they all got their own little crests, so it's likely just a placeholder icon for whatever race or project type is added to the profession next. Ghostcrawler said that archaeology is intended to be easily expanded.
Arcane Brilliance: Gearing a mage for Cataclysm heroics
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Arcane Brilliance for arcane, fire and frost mages. Come for the mage talk; stay for the warlock-bashing. So you have a mage. After literally days of grinding out experience points, your mage has dinged 85. Re-energized after the climb from 80, you allocate that final talent point, rush off to the mage trainer to learn Time Warp, and then open the dungeon finder tool, ready to leap feet-first into your first Cataclysm heroic. Visions of vast piles of justice points dance in your head as you click the button to queue yourself ... but what's this? Your average gear level needs to be ilvl329 to queue for a heroic? And your gear level is well below that? Bewildered, you pore over your character sheet, noticing with some dismay that you're still using that wand you found off a crab in Vashj'ir on the first day of the expansion, and you somehow never replaced that off-hand from PvP Season 8 in the last five levels. What to do? Those of us who are used to having the gearing process spoon-fed to us by the past year or so of the Wrath endgame progression are likely in for a bit of a shock. Plentiful and easy-to-obtain purples like those offered in normal 5-man instances like Trial of the Champion and the Icecrown instances are nowhere to be found here. There's no short-cut. This is the beginning of the endgame, and baby steps are still required. Past the break, we'll dive headlong into the various options available to us at this very early stage in the expansion. Gearing up in Cataclysm is gradual, challenging, and rewarding. We'd better get started.
The Queue: There was a title here. It's gone now.
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. Answering reader questions, flailing wildly with a plank. Just another day at the office. Kyle asked: I'm considering leveling my shaman from 80 to 85 first. Which of the two new starting zones (Hyjal or Vashj'ir) provide the best lore experience for a shaman, or at least the most rep with the Earthen Ring? There's no real shaman content in Hyjal; it's all druids all the time there. Vashj'ir, on the other hand, has you interacting and working with the Earthen Ring for pretty much any non-"Bring us food, it's cold and wet down here" quests.
Cataclysm 10-day trial edition announced
If somehow you managed to avoid buying Cataclysm (perhaps you were shielded behind thick lead plates in a secret bunker), then know that nowhere is safe, for Blizzard has announced a 10-day trial edition of the fastest-selling World of Warcraft expansion to date. You somehow believed that you were impervious from your Cone of Ultimate Seclusion, but know you now that nowhere, no matter how remote, can save you from the Cataclysm. Seriously, though, how have you managed to not buy this expansion yet? This trial edition requires Wrath of the Lich King be installed to play, and you have a current subscription or ever have had one to Wrath of the Lich King. This 10-day trial has access to all the content but can't level past 80 (the FAQ specifically states "any characters you play during the trial can only advance up to one experience point below level 81," so if you want to go to Deepholm, Uldum or Twilight Highlands, you'll either need to buy the retail release or, in the case of zones that can be flown to, accept dying a lot. Seems like an interesting way for the six people in the whole known universe who are on the fence to make up their minds, right? Go read the FAQ and decide if it's for you. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.
The Queue: What do you mean there's an octopus on my face?
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. Yesterday was mostly comments on Adam's treatise, so there wasn't a lot of Queue-worthy material in there. Sorry. The quest giver told me he had put something on my head to show to L'ghorek, but I didn't notice anything different. And speaking of Vashj'ir ... Shulkman asked: I read in a blue post about six months ago that there was supposed to be a special "underwater food" for questing in Vashj'ir. (Also, something special for the mages, food wise.) Whatever happened to that? Blizzard took the far, far superior route of letting you eat or drink whatever you want in Vashj'ir, as long you're not swimming. You can consume nutriment at your leisure while sitting on the ocean floor or any horizontal surface.
