wow-q-and-a
Latest
The Queue: This is a Placeholder
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. I've had this song stuck in my head for a while now, so you guys get to follow me on a trip down memory lane. I think one of the more entertaining memories I have from vanilla is that invariably, when something messed up with the servers, it was always the boats and graveyards that seemed to be affected. One minute you were sailing away, the next you were falling to your death at a graveyard in Stonetalon Peak. Why Stonetalon? Mysteries, my friends. Mysteries that will never be explained. midnightlurker asked: Do you think there could ever be a T4 garrison? It looks like there's space to expand past the south gate. Absolutely! If they felt like doing so, they could expand out a bit. Or just put in level four buildings without changing the map, that would probably work too -- they'd just have to be careful to design the buildings within the same footprint that the level three buildings already take up. It really just comes down to whether or not they feel it's necessary.
The Queue: All about that base
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. I love my garrison and I probably spend way too much time in it. But I really like the whole home away from home base that I built all by myself. It's cool. I can invite my friends to it. I keep discovering new and weird things about it, every day. Did you know the NPCs really hate it if you sit in chairs that they're allowed to sit in? They will either stand directly behind you and breathe down your neck to try and get you to leave, or stand directly in front of you with their butts in your face, trying to accomplish the same thing. It's like living with a fleet of cats. They'll leave you alone unless you want to be left alone. slipperee asked: Q4tQ: Who is your favorite follower and why? Mine is Blook because who doesn't like having a big ogre/gronn stomping around? At the moment, I think my favorite follower is still Lantresor. I loved his story in Burning Crusade, and I was really happy to see him again on Draenor this time around. But I tell you what, if Cro Threadstrong ever somehow magically made his way into the follower database I would never, ever, ever deactivate him. Ever.
The Queue: What's up with Gorehowl?
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Matthew Rossi will be your host today. Those of you who had a holiday yesterday, I hope it was festive. Those that didn't, I still hope it was festive. I hope you had random festivities just happen because you're cool and you should get to be festive all the time. Now let's talk about World of Warcraft. Our first question is one I've mused about before. ChaosInHyrule asks: do both Garrosh and Grom wield Gorehowl? if so, did Grom ever notice? Yes, and yes, sort of. When Garrosh was transported to Draenor, he didn't have Gorehowl - he left that behind in the chamber the Heart of Y'shaarj was discovered in and where the forces of the Alliance and Horde faced the Sha of Pride. When Garrosh informed Grommash of what Gul'dan's offer would mean, the elder Hellscream wielded Gorehowl in the fight against Mannoroth. But when Garrosh took Grommash's place as Warlord of the Warsong Clan from Garroshar in Nagrand, he was using Gorehowl, and when we see Grommash in flashback scenes like the one in Shadowmoon Valley, he isn't using Gorehowl, which implies that he entrusted it to Garrosh along with the responsibility of leading the Warsong. So, since it seems that Grommash let Garrosh use Gorehowl, he probably did notice that Garrosh was using it.
The Queue: Draenic marshmallows
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. Look, I'm not going to argue the mechanical wonders of goblin engineering. I mean I'm a goblin engineer and everything. But I'm wondering where the heck this particular goblin managed to find marshmallows on Draenor -- I'm not objecting, mind you. I'd just like some for myself, thanks. BlazeNor asked: Do anyone know if the rarity of followers effect the benefits to the profession shops they are assign to? Nope! All rarity affects is how many traits your follower has, which in turn plays into how good they are at completing missions. An uncommon follower with the ability to work at the Engineering shop will offer exactly the same things as an epic follower that has the same ability.
The Queue: Not cute
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. You might think the above screenshot is incredibly cute. Aw, look at the little podlings! They've found an elekk to ride around the town. Yes, it's very adorable until you target the podlings, realize they are in fact Hungry Podlings, and then have to deal with the disquieting possibility that they are eating that elekk alive. Podlings are gross. Benjamin Seeberger asked: So once I hit level 100, how much time will it reasonably take me to actually get to ilvl 615? Not too long, all things considered! Questing in Nagrand will help considerably -- the rares out there drop some pretty high-end rewards, and quest rewards are also pretty good. You'll end up doing some dungeons as well, but with the changes to Personal Loot now guaranteeing you a piece at the end of an LFG dungeon run, you'll find yourself there in no time. You've got until January to run Molten Core, so there's really no need to worry about whether you'll be there in time. It took me a few days, but that was less because it was difficult and more because I didn't have a ton of time to run dungeons for gear right off the bat.
The Queue: Looking back on 10 years of WoW
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Matthew Rossi will be your host today. Consider this one a slightly more personal Queue than most, because today's the start of WoW's 10th anniversary celebration, and that means telling a little story. That screenshot above is from just before I got my Sulfuras, which I still have - I've had it for eight years now. But I wouldn't have gotten it, or done any of the raiding I did then, or even played this game at all if not for the fact that WoW let me talk to Julian, my wife (she wasn't my wife yet then) when we were separated. World of Warcraft was our means to stay in touch after we were parted for a while, and it became something we did together - we ran through Southshore and up to Scarlet Monastery together, back before you could just queue for dungeons, when the only way to get summoned was via a warlock. Before Blackwing Lair was even out, we ran Molten Core together. We were both guilded together, raided together, and before that we leveled together. World of Warcraft has been special for me entirely because of how it made a bad patch for the two of us better, let us share sunsets on the docks, let us camp that annoying Horde druid who kept ganking lowbies outside Southshore and just kill him until it wasn't any fun for him anymore. I proposed to Julian during a Molten Core run. The game has been a part of our lives. It is just a game, admittedly so, but it's a game we shared, a game that we met friends in, a game we played together. A game where I was once forced to level a character entirely so I could stand in a swamp and cast Heroism so that my wife could tame a special rare pet. It's been a heck of a decade, World of Warcraft. I might not be married if not for you. I certainly wouldn't have a job writing about you if you didn't exist. So thank you. And now, for your questions. Zheo asks: QFTQ: Next expansion - Legion or something else? I can guess if you want. I have absolutely no evidence to support this, I'm making up an answer based entirely on my personal beliefs, no one's told me anything - but I think it's pretty likely that at the end of this expansion we well and truly tick the Legion off. I would not be surprised if the next expansion was the Legion come around again. That being said, I'd be okay with a completely different expansion. I still think a gnome themed expansion could work.
The Queue: Dungeon difficulty, Dungeon Queues, Boost a warrior.
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Matthew Rossi will be your host today. I'm one of those people who liked Mists of Pandaria. I thought and still think that it was a solid, well designed, well developed expac with a lot of solid new lore, well designed content, and that its major flaws were a lack of dungeons as the expansion continued, some PvP issues, and that deadly year plus with no new content at the end. So while I'm heartened to see Warlords having a positive effect and people excited for it, I'm not down on the 'stupid pandas' trip a lot of people seem to be on. If you didn't like Pandaria, that's your call, but it doesn't make those of us who did less intelligent than you. It's just a matter of taste. That said, I'm in a paraoxysm of joy over the draenei lore in this expansion. I haven't leveled Horde yet - my tauren's getting impatient, but I have so much to do on my main it doesn't feel like the right time yet. Draenor is an incredibly well designed and executed expansion so far. It's a joy to play through. Bugboy asks: Q4tQ: I haven't gotten into the new dungeons yet, but recall that, difficulty-wise, they're supposed to be somewhere between Cata and MoP. Is that about where they are? I'm of the opinion (based both on my own experiences and those of my friends) that some dungeons are harder than others. Slag Mines has issues if you're melee, as an example. I'd definitely argue that they veer towards the Cataclysm side of things. Skyreach and Auchindoun didn't seem too bad.
The Queue: DDoS, WoW's population spike, and flying
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. I've only answered two questions in the Queue today. Enjoy. Keleli asked: Are the DDoS attacks still ongoing or are these queues the norm now?
The Queue: Ode to the Frostwall Woodcutter
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. Oh Frostwall Woodcutter, I know not who put you in this game, nor do I understand why you and your brothers are content to do endless rounds of squats rather than toting your lumber to the appropriate building. But I am certain, dear Frostwall Woodcutter, that perhaps you would be more comfortable with a shirt. I mean come on. There's snow on the ground here. Although I do kind of like that whole burly lumberjack thing you've got going on. Zug zug. DavidBaldock asked: Not that I'm concerned about getting to 100, but in a non rushed approach, if I start on Monday and put in say 3 hours a night every night, when should I expect to hit max level? Friday? The following Monday? Just curious. If it's three solid hours of questing and dungeons, I'd say maybe a week to ten days or so, two weeks at most -- and that's mostly if you spend a lot of time fiddling around. Leveling really doesn't feel like an arduous chore this time around. It's fun, and seems to be pretty well-paced. Make sure you park it in your garrison or an inn to get rested XP when you aren't playing, and the process should be pretty smooth and painless. No rushing necessary.
The Queue: Let's do the time warp again
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. I spent way too much time yesterday looking at the screen pictured above -- let's hope that won't be the case today, shall we? More importantly, let's answer some Warcraft questions. msphoenyxx asked: Follow up question on the portal thing. Khadgar (and all the mages in Stormshield) can open it from alternate Draenor to our Azeroth in present day. As alternate Draenor is not present day time, how does this work? I'm not familiar with mages having the powers to access time ways. That sounds like a bronze dragon thing. Mages can handle time magic a bit -- Time Warp, after all. It's definitely not just a bronze dragon thing -- although from a speculative standpoint, I think it has less to do with time manipulation and more to do with the fact that they are basically creating a portal home -- making a portal to a place they've never been would likely be pretty difficult. Making one to home? Little easier. But only a little. Khadgar has a tough time with it, at first -- he says as much in the quests.
The Queue: Hipster Grom had Gorehowl when it was cool
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Matthew Rossi will be your host today. Seriously. That's what, a level 12 green? What happened there? Did Grom see all the people transmogging to Gorehowl and decide it wasn't cool anymore? "Oh, a Gorehowl. Yeah, I had a Gorehowl once. But then it sold out." TheGreatJacob asks: Q4tQ: Followers question: My husband and I were merrily garrisoning today congratulating each other on our various rare/epic followers when a question came to mind. Are we stuck with what we roll for a follower forever? Say my main gets crap rolls for followers, and my alt gets all epic followers. Are those followers set for the rest of the expansion? I included this question because while I know that your followers level up as you go, getting better at various missions, I honestly don't know if there's a system in place for getting a green follower to go to rare or epic. So I figured this being the Queue, someone will come along and point to a post somewhere that I missed saying exactly that. Then I read the person who responded to you, and they posted a link that in fact answers this question. So thanks, jmlafave85. I was worried my current collection of homicidal axe-wielding lady followers would end up somewhat weak at level 100, but no, they're all going to be epic eventually.
The Queue: Everything I do is a distraction right 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. Matthew Rossi will be your host today. Writing this Queue? A distraction. Showering, eating, experiencing the joys of nature? All distractions. My soul longs to be drowned in Draenor. Yet here I am writing this Queue. For love of you, dear WoW Insider readers who are likely currently playing in Draenor instead of reading it. Fie! A pox upon the frailties of my human body, my human brain, that cannot simply be submerged forever into the deep, deep digital waters of Warlords. Anyway, the Queue. I believe in the before times we answered questions here. It shall be so again. Merkavar asks: How many hours from 90-100 you think. I'm not an energy drinking nutter with a 20 step plan for most efficient leveling. My plan is to go fast to 100 the first time then go back for the story etc on my many alts Matt "Matticus" Low is already level 98. So it's reasonable to estimate 10 to 12 hours.
The Queue: Professions, BlizzCon, and Asking Questions
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. I'm back from BlizzCon and fully rested. Let's do this, Warlords! Magruun asked: I don't quite understand the small plots in your garrison. I have Alchemy and Inscription on my character. should I build the buildings for those 2 professions or is it better to pick 2 buildings for professions I don't have? What are the advantages/disadvantages for picking one way or another exactly?
The Queue: In which Scott Leyes is our hero
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. I'm pretty sure my least favorite moment of every road trip ever was when we checked out of our hotel today and went to the parking garage only to find my car completely lifeless. After some brief panicking on my part and a call to my insurance company followed by an excruciating wait for a repair man who never came, reader Scott Leyes decided to be a big damn hero and swoop in to rescue us. And by rescue I mean jump start my car back to life, at which point we took the thing to an Auto Zone and got a new battery ... just in case. Look, the desert is nice and all, but I don't want to be deserted there. Needless to say it's Been A Day, I'm really tired, and it's time to curl up and answer some Warcraft questions. We still do that around here, after all! Devin asked: I'm curious how many people actually want yearly expansion... I personally don't mind the downtime at the end of an expansion but understand why others do. I think 18-20 months per expansion would be perfect. Any faster than that and you're just paying more for roughly the same amount of content. I think that it depends on what one's definition of an expansion happens to be. Blizzard has kind of defined the word as "a giant block of new content, new levels, new maps, new quests, new races, and anything else we'd like to throw in." That definition is very hard, if not next to impossible, to fill in just one year. And as long as that's the case, we're not going to see it. Personally, I'd be perfectly content if they reduced the definition of the word expansion and what that encompasses, and instead released smaller expansions on a more timely schedule. It's not that I don't like the idea of large chunks of content delivered all at once -- I just don't like the big delays in between those large chunks of content, and I'd be perfectly happy with smaller chunks delivered on a regular basis.
The Queue: Reinhardt 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. Matthew Rossi will be your host today. Okay, when I finally get to play Overwatch, I'm absolutely going to play as this man/woman/robot/whatever it is. Just look at it. It's perfect. It's huge, armored, carries a gigantic hammer. Boom. Sign me up. jpec07 asks: So Rossi is on queue duty while the rest of the gang is on vacation to SoCal? That sucks, man, I'm sorry. Q4tQ: I'm going to be picking up my pre-order of Warlords: CE next Thursday/Friday, and it made me realize I have an entirely new opportunity to do a level 90 boost. So queuers, my question to you: What is your favorite race/gender/class/spec combo? If you can, give me three reasons why. Yes, yet again I miss all the previews and games and just all the cool stuff. It has always been this way. As for your question, my actual answer would be draenei male fury warrior. This is why. (I know that's the old model, but if anything he looks better now.) But since I know you want something else, I'll say female undead fury warrior. Roll one, get it a couple of two hand weapons, watch her go. It's mermerizing. The animations are the best. And you get cannibalize, which is gross, but it's helpful while leveling. Also, you'll get to ride around on a bone pony. (My actual #2 is tauren prot warrior, but I figured I'd give you something unusual.)
The Queue: He screamed BlizzCon and then keeled over
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Matthew Rossi will be your host today. This column goes live at 11 am on the East Coast of the United States. BlizzCon opens at 11 am on the West Coast of the United States. That means another three hours until BlizzCon. The suspense is killing me. I feel as though I were being crushed in the jaws of a mighty Giganotosaurus. Yeah, okay, I was reaching for that one. It's a Friday Queue, gotta have some dinosaurs in it. Enjoy you screencap from Primeval. If you haven't watch it yet, do. Saph asks: Q4TQ - Having gone back to ICC multiple times these past few weeks, do you ever think we will go back to Icecrown and have more story with Bolvar? With the many 'nearly a setback' baddies out there, returning enemies is clearly a story theme in WoW. It's certainly a possibility. I wouldn't expect it next expansion or anything, but I think the idea of losing the Scourge entirely was too much from a story perspective - the recurring threat of the walking dead is one Blizzard wants to have in the quiver, so to speak. Then again, Sylvanas and the Forsaken could well end up filling that role for the living of Azeroth at this rate.
The Queue: Holding Down The Fort
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Matthew Rossi will be your host today. Just sing the title of this Queue to the tune of the song, it'll all make sense. Loremaster asks: I come to you with a decent sized WoW Lore Question. "What major storylines/events happen between Warcraft 3 and Vanilla?" I am having a hard time tracking events. . . any help would be helpful! I have played since BC and for the Light I cannot recall any events of interest between the RTS and MMO. Obviously rebuilt Stormwind (Rise of Difias), Sylvannas enters the Horde. . . but what else? Assuming we don't count the WCIII expansion as between WCIII and Vanilla WoW... For starters, the entirety of Cycle of Hatred takes place in that time period. It's set roughly one year before World of Warcraft. In addition, the scenes in the War of the Ancients trilogy that are set in the 'present day' (the stuff with Rhonin and Korialstraz and Broxigar before they travel back in time) are also set after the conclusion of the Third War, but prior to the MMO. Besides those, we know that at some point the night elves decided they liked the cut of the human's gib and joined the Alliance, probably because the orcs just wouldn't stop cutting down their trees without asking (because the answer would be no), the gnomes ended up in Ironforge during this time period (no gnomes to speak of in WCIII, after all) and joined up with the Alliance. Stormwind was actually rebuilt significantly before Warcraft III. It was mostly intact by the time Warcraft II's expansion Beyond the Dark Portal came out. It just didn't have much of a role in WCIII, because the plague and the Burning Legion never made their way south from Lordaeron. The plague was contained to the north of the Eastern Kingdoms, and the Burning Legion was more focused on getting to Kalimdor and blowing up Nordrassil. From the perspective of Stormwind, what happened was their biggest and most powerful sister kingdom went belly up before they could even react. In a way, it must have seemed like Warcraft I and II all over again, but in reverse - instead of refugees from Stormwind pouring into Lordaeron, refugees from Lordaeron came pouring into Stormwind. That migration and resettlement of Lordaeron refugees into Stormwind (the ones who didn't go with Jaina to Kalimdor and settle in Theramore, which is to say, the majority of them) took some of that four years between the end of the Third War and the start of classic WoW. There's more, of course - the silithid started getting out of AQ during this time period, Onyxia arranged for Varian Wrynn's kidnapping, Nefarian started his awful experiments in Blackwing Lair, Ragnaros was pushing the Dark Irons to get out there and do evil stuff, and Arthas was taking a heck of a nap - more than we could really cover right now. If you go to our lore guide and search for Interbellum you'll find a series of six or seven posts I did covering the period just after the Third War. I linked to the first one to get you started.
The Queue: A wild trademark appears! It's super effective!
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. Let's just cover this here, because I think this constant monitoring of the trademark databases is kinda silly. Luminous asked: New Blizzard Trademark registered : "Eye Of Azshara". A new Hearthstone expansion? The next WoW expansion? Blizzard releasing a shooter -- "Call of Duty : Eye Of Azshara"?
The Queue: Vengeful, Tricksy Ghosts
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Matthew Rossi will be your host today. I know people who don't like Massive Attack. I've never understood those people. I'm writing the Queue today because Alex Ziebart apparently angered a ghost or something. I'm in Texas and the only person with a Texan accent is the guy who they let into my room. What the hell. - Alex Ziebart (@AlexZiebart) November 2, 2014 Seriously, any tweet Alex made yesterday could be in Alighieri's Inferno. I'm seriously afraid that Alex is being hunted by vengeful, tricksy ghosts. diamondustviil asks: Hm, here's a question for you. My Shaman has a reagent bag for her enchanting stuff. Is there really any reason to keep it around anymore, or should I just get her a good-sized normal bag and throw stuff in the reagent tab as much as possible? Nope, no reason at all to keep that bag. Reagent tab all the way.
The Queue: I solemnly swear that I am up to no good
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. By the time you guys are reading this, I will have already picked up Alex Ziebart from the airport and we are likely already somewhere in the wilds of Utah on our way to BlizzCon. Thus is the magic of internet scheduling! We'll be up to shenanigans and keeping you all informed during the week. I promise I won't lose him in the desert. His girlfriend would kill me. gazaa07 asked: Q4tQ: Now that pre-Mists raids are soloable to a larger group of people, How far are you into getting the xmog you want to march into Dreaenor with? Oh man. Have I mentioned I filled the entire second tab of void storage as my first act upon logging in in 6.0? I'm set for wardrobe, really.
