wow-q-and-a
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The Queue: Pandaren, Tanaan, Gundrak's mystery tail
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. In today's Queue, I am probably going to outright anger some of you. Try and keep it civil in the comments, as I will when I give the answer that will anger you. Angerfork asks: What is your take on Tanaan coming out in a future content patch & how it was communicated? In case you're wondering, this is how it was communicated - by a tweet from Community Manager Lore. @ChromWolf Those level ranges are correct. Rest of Tanaan will be in a content patch (it's the Iron Horde's primary seat of power). - Lore (@CM_Lore) July 24, 2014 If you're curious, my take on it is it's his job to do exactly this - answer player questions. He did so in a clear, concise and not at all disrespectful or antagonistic way. If you then look at the responses to his tweet, they're rude, condescending, and boorishly aggressive for the most part. Quite frankly, they're not worth responding to. Lore did his job, and there's no reason to be upset with him for how he did it. The argument that we should have known this sooner and it shows a lack of transparency from Blizzard doesn't work for me either - it's not like with Karabor or Bladespire, where we were told 'these will be capitals' and then later 'they won't be, sorry'. As for the idea of Tanaan coming out in a later content patch, frankly, I don't see the problem. We already knew Farahlon would be similarly released after the expansion - we'll get to see Tanaan when we come through the Dark Portal, then start our leveling process in one of the two starting zones, and then have Gorgrond, Talador, Spires of Arak, and Nagrand to level through, so a total of six zones available at launch, five per faction. Considering how huge the zones are, it's not like we're going to be starving for content - each zone so far has had subzones within it with special level 100 content. Basically, I find the idea that everything Blizzard says is greeted with extreme cynicism and doomsaying to be getting crazy old. Does Blizzard make mistakes? Sure they do. All the damn time. Having Mists of Pandaria last this long was a huge mistake, for instance. Do they do things each and every one of us might find questionable? Of course. But when a CM can't even make a simple post clarifying when a zone will be available without enduring sneering contempt, we need to dial it back. Especially when considering that CM's don't design the game. Getting angry with a CM over what he or she tells you is as pointless as flipping out at the guy behind the counter at Starbucks for the company's policy on how it treats small coffee farmers. (This is just an example, for all I know Starbucks has a great policy towards the independent coffer grower.)
The Queue: Beggars, mounters, and dungeon runners
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. Nice questions in the Queue today. And I must say, it's a nice day out over all. I just love it when it's 90 and humid. Hint: I'm being sarcastic... very sarcastic. Jeff "The Dude" LaBowski asked: Why isn't begging for gold in WoW a ban worthy offense? Other than duel spam or guild invite spam, it's gotta be the most annoying thing.
The Queue: Sunday songs
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. It's Sunday! And there are plenty of questions to answer, so let's just hop into them. Ethan815 asked: Q4tQ (but mostly for the readers): What is your favorite track from each of the WoW soundtracks? I'm not going to list every track I love from every expansion, but the track above is one I've had stuck in my head recently.
The Queue: Well I look a little different
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 logged onto the beta to find new models in place for both my shaman and my priest. I really like how the model revamps are coming along -- they look absolutely amazing, and my shaman is everything I could've hoped for. But let's get to the Warcraft questions, shall we? jpec07 asked: Do you think we should get recustomizations with the new models? Do you think we will? Do I think we should get them? Yes. To keep it reasonable, limit it to one per WoW license, like the level 90 boosts that are coming with the expansion. Don't get me wrong, the new models look great, but I think it would go a long way if we were allowed to freely tweak our chosen main and make a few changes if we see fit to do so. I don't think it needs to be in place for every character on our account, but you'd think that one wouldn't be too far of a stretch. Do I think we'll actually get one? I honestly couldn't tell you -- we've been told no, that will not be a thing, but we're still in beta and Blizzard has been known to occasionally change their minds about things. We'll have to wait and see.
The Queue: Draenei society, Ice cream, Zone uncertainty
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. Answering questions. It is our mission. It is... the Queue. xashbringerx asks: Why is it that the Draenei society that we meet in WoD so supposedly different than the Draenei that players can be? Lore-wise, Draenei have been a race in exile/constantly on the run from the Burning Legion since the corruption of Archimonde and Kiljaeden. Isn't the escape from Draenor to Azeroth in our timeline just a status quo for them? Technically, they already suffered a greater loss of their society when Sargeras came and corrupted two of their leaders and 95% of their original population - turning them into the Eredar (who then turned against the now-Draenei, and nearly annihilated them, saved only by Velen and the Naaru. The suffering caused by the Old Horde appears almost insignificant when compared to their original loss at the hand of Sargeras. The flight from Argus was 25,000 years ago, and it greatly changed draenei society (technically, draenei society didn't even exist 25,000 years ago, they were all just eredar then). They were the ones who exiled themselves - the majority of their old society pledged themselves to Sargeras. Remember, the original name of the race was 'eredar', not draenei -- draenei means exiles. As for why their society is so much different on Draenor than it is on Azeroth, it's very simple - they almost all died. Not 'we ran away and left our relatives behind' but 'everyone but a small group of battle hardened survivors died'. The original flight was a self-chosen exile. This was "9/10th of everyone we've known and loved for 25,000 years is dead." That's why it's such a big deal. If you think the Old Horde killing just about every single draenei with a handful of survivors is insignificant... well, it probably isn't to the people who had to undergo it.
The Queue: Surfing to Karabor
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. Questions! Woo! Imagine me jumping out of a plane now without a chute, like Keanu in Point Break. mightbechris says: I thing to Sylvanas no, she doesn't do wrong. She an undead being. She has a long history of both combat and watching her people suffer. I can't fault any action she's taken. She isn't a good person by any stretch, but she protects her subjects and kingdom. Given her history I think she's justified in her actions. She's also a Horde faction leader. Am I the only one that wishes the Horde was ok with being the bad guys? I know when I role play any or my Horde toons I don't feel right if they have a grounded moral compass. I don't really understand the first part of your question/statement. Sylvanas isn't wrong to invade neighboring countries and murder people with disease because she's undead? That's pretty flexible morality. By that standard, nothing Arthas did was wrong, including murdering Sylvanas and the people of Lordaeron in the first place. I mean, he was a servant of the Lich King, and then because the Lich King himself, so it's okay that he freed his people from suffering by rendering them all walking corpses, right? Being undead, being a Horde faction leader, even being someone who's seen a lot of suffering and combat, none of this excuses anyone from their actions. Garrosh was a Horde faction leader, and he grew up on the shattered remnants of a world we call Outland, believing himself damned due to the actions of his bloodthirsty father. We still have little difficulty calling what he did wrong. As for the Horde being the bad guys - I think the Horde has been established as more 'morally grey' than out and out bad guys in its World of Warcraft version. The Old Horde? Total bad guys. The Horde as bad guys is such a useful trope that we keep getting other Hordes to fight, like Garrosh's True Horde and Iron Horde.
The Queue: Favorite quest, battlegrounds, and the Undead
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. Queuers, I'm having a crabby. There's another polar vortex hanging over Minneapolis, and the city's traffic is a mess due to the All Star game. Post your happy to make me happy. Zilla asked: What's your favorite quest or quest chain, and why?
The Queue: Favorites and other inquiries
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. The above video is not only a good song, but totally relevant. I promise. Let's get to the questions! Sophdog asked: Q4TQ: What is your most memorable quest/questline? My vote has to go to "The day I punched Deathwing in the face". I make a point of levelling all alts through that zone, just to see it again. The Darrowshire chain from vanilla, hands-down. I remember my first character randomly getting a quest in Winterspring that sent her all the way to Eastern Plaguelands to find Pamela. And I remember how creepy the Eastern Plaguelands were back then, and that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach when I realized Darrowshire was empty followed abruptly by a case of the willies when I realized Pamela was a dead little girl. The whole chain was amazing. It's still in game, but I feel like Cataclysm stripped a lot of the meaning and the feeling from it, for some reason -- it's just not the same.
The Queue: No spoilers here, just an elekk
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. In an effort to avoid spoilers, I went to capture a generic and adorable image of a wee little baby elekk for you guys. This is when I discovered that approaching any of the baby elekks in the elekk pens immediately drew the attention of mama elekk, who would not leave my side until I walked out of the pen and away from her children. It's little touches that I love about this game. JacobS.Kuntzman asked: So when and why did maintenance change to Thursdays? I know we still get rolling restarts on Tuesdays, but what's the deal? And by extension, would we be expecting the Warlords pre-patch to drop on a Tuesday or a Thursday? Tuesdays are still maintenance days for US servers, and always have been. Thursdays, on the other hand, seem to be the assigned days to do Realm Connections. While we don't know for certain one way or another, I think it's safe to assume at this point that yes, the 6.0 patch will still be arriving on a Tuesday, just like any other patch.
The Queue: What I like about 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. Matthew Rossi will be your host today. Queue really know how to ask questions about World of Warcraft. Let's answer some now. RetiredBear asks: If someone starts an account the day after WoD launch and opts out of the boost in favour of leveling to 90 the slow way, then what? They won't have boost gear or a stack of TI tokens from alts They also won't need it. If they level to 90, they'll still have the option of doing the Tanaan Jungle starter experience, which is easily completed in even green Mists of Pandaria gear and which rewards several blue quality items at ilevel 500+ -- they'll easily get to go to Frostfire Ridge or SMV in gear more than capable of dealing with the creatures they encounter.
The Queue: Every day I'm shoveling
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. The above image is absolutely relevant, I swear. Let's just get on with the questions, shall we? CatrionaShadowleaf asked: Qt4Q: Where is our poop quest in beta? Someone had to have found one. I have yet to find one to play through, but I have yet to finish Frostfire Ridge. The only thing I've seen along those lines is one of Thrall's relatives on a very special poop quest of his very own. ... he's about as happy about it as can be expected.
The Queue: Fireworks
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. Some guy flew a drone with a camera attached into a fireworks display. The results are really, really cool and very pretty and sparkly. Thankfully, neither drone nor camera were damaged. I hope everyone enjoyed fireworks and food or just the fact that it was Friday yesterday. Let's get on with the questions! convoyb asked: So why is there such an obsession with Corgis anyway? I never really understood it. I believe it started with a windup corgi showing up under the Greench's tree one Winter Veil. We only have one proper "dog" model Battle Pet, and that's the Perky Pug. Corgis are cute, and it's another dog model! I think that's pretty much the extent of it.
The Queue: What is even happening I don't even know
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. I have no idea. I don't... I can't... what is happening? It's a corgi made of lava. They're actually calling it a Molten Corgi I can't even. Look at that. Am I to believe that this is Ragnaros' pet corgi? That after I killed him, his sweet little pet corgi was left an orphan? What is going on? Let's just do some questions because I just don't know. This throws my entire concept of reality into question. Is the volcano dog somehow related to July 4th? electresserin asks: I haven't gotten into the beta yet, but it looks like the opening quests function as a "MEET THE CAST!" type experience. Do they bring in all of the major Draenor players? All of them, no. You meet Vindicator Maraad (he steps through from our universe and is there from the start), Yrel and Exarch Maladaar. Once you get to Shadowmoon Valley you start meeting the rest of them, introduced by the three you met in Tanaan. Similarly, the Horde sees some significant classic orc figures (Drek'Thar, for example) and a lot of the Iron Horde make an appearance.
The Queue: Fun with textures
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. So Ner'zhul's looking kinda pasty there, huh? The trials and tribulations of a beta test, folks. Anyone else excited/interested in Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition? I'm thinking I'll pick it up soon. From what I saw of the playtest, it preserves some elements of 4th edition I liked while bringing back elements of 3rd edition I liked, but it's been a while since I looked at it. I'm thinking either fighter or barbarian (if they retained that class). ErinKinsella asks: Q4tQ so ive always wanted to try tanking on my druid but its seems the current state of the game and its player base has little time for new or learning players which seems odd seeing as tanks are in high demand so how do i overcome the negative attitude of the players to LEARN to play that role The absolutely easiest way is to get four friends to come with you and do the dungeons as a group. That way, you'll have people you know to help you. There's a lot to learn about tanking - survival mechanics and even threat mechanics, yes, but also how to pull properly (a skill which has many applications), how to lead a group, how to gauge your healer and watch their mana, how to deal with DPS pulling threat through jumping the gun - a group of friends can make this much less of an ordeal. Failing that, you may have to endure a lot of bad groups. The LFD feature of the dungeon finder is a positive boon for letting players get groups, but it does nothing to ensure that the composition of said groups isn't toxic. However, you can (and I often have) gotten some good people through dungeon finder. And if nothing else, running LFD can really help you develop a thicker skin. Ultimately, the players who act up or act out are flotsam. In my experience telling groups up front "I'm new to this role" can get some good results - usually at least one player will step in with advice. Also, we're about to head into a new expansion, where everyone will be relearning their classes to some extent. It's an excellent time to work on tanking, because there will be dungeons people will want to run.
The Queue: All your auction houses are belong to us
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. This Queue is not just about the auction house changes. But I couldn't resist using that title. Now, turn to your neighbor and let us Queue. Ralos asked: Any predictions on release date?
The Queue: Ghost wolves
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 completely forgot about the new ghost wolf form until I used it on the beta last night. It's a major improvement from the old form -- there's more weight to it. It looks fluffy and cuddly until you get to the bits with the giant fangs. Fizzl asked: Qs4TQ: 1.) How far after the Draenei come to Draenor is Warlords? Playing through SMV, it seems fairly recent, but it's hard to judge if it's like.. A few years kind of recent, or lots and lots of years, but still "recent" in Draenei terms. 2.) Who all comes with each side from Azeroth? I'm not too savvy on Draenei lore, so it's sometimes hard to tell who knows stuff from our timeline and who's clueless to the actual, alternate-future of the Draenei. (It doesn't really help that Draenei old and new both seem to think of Draenor as a strange land...)
The Queue: Shadowmoon Valley is really, really pretty
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 don't think I can really express, nor can I get over, just how gorgeous this zone is. I got the same feeling running around Shadowmoon as I did running around Nagrand, Grizzly Hills and the Jade Forest for the first time. They really knocked this one out of the park. PurityKnights asked: For those that got into beta, did it just show up on your Bnet launcher or did you have to check your account page? If you have the new Battle.net launcher, it should theoretically just show up. But honestly if you're curious about whether or not you have access, the quickest, easiest way to find out is still just to log into your account on the official website and see if you've been flagged for it.
The Queue: Shadowmoon Valley, Talking to Demons, Paired Content
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. Shadowmoon Valley on the Alpha is ridiculously awesome, guys. Even with the usual 'it's Alpha' connectivity problems that you can't really be surprised by, I've enjoyed the quest flow, the scenery is gorgeous, and the lore bombs are dropping fast and furious. The one that's been spoilered all over the internet? That one's nothing compared to some of the things that happen in SMV. Frankly, as good as Frostfire Ridge is (and it's good) I think the Alliance definitely got the richer, more interesting, just plain better zone this time around. It's still the Alpha - Frostfire is by no means a bad zone, and frankly, it might just be my love for all things draenei showing here (but check it out you can see both moons in the Shadowmoon Valley sky) but I have to doff my cap to SMV so far. Totally awesome. gazaa07 asks: At the Start of the Green Fire questline, we have to talk to our Demons to identify what the tome is and what it's used for Q4tQ: can we have a system where we can talk to our demon about whatever's going on in that patch? the Demons are Sentient beings so why can't we talk to them? DKs could do it with their Ghoul as well (provided they are unholy) From a pure game design perspective that's a lot of coding for your demon. I mean, you want to be able to talk to it about anything that's happening - that could mean, well, anything. From a lore perspective, your demons aren't your friends -- they are at best your slaves, and at worst here to corrupt you and damn your soul to be consumed in the Twisted Nether. So either way, not all that interested in chatting with you about that new quest in patch 6.3. Having just recently watched Hellboy again, I figure a DK talking to his ghouls wouldn't get anything terribly helpful. Mostly they'd just berate him for disturbing their eternal rest.
The Queue: Tree on a bike
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Sarah Pine (@ilaniel) will be your host today. The above is one of my all-time favorite WoW screenshots. Yet another reason why Ulduar was such a great raid. Mazuren asks: Q4tQ: After we're done with WoD, what would you most like to see? More Azeroth(Zandalar, Kul Tiras, Undermine, Azshara)? Or would you rather we head to the various legion infested worlds? Or maybe something else entirely? I'd love to find out what happened to Neptulon, and that also feels like the natural place for an expansion whose end boss is Azshara, which would be great. I'd also like to finally check out the Emerald Dream in a meaningful way, though that hope might be permanently dashed considering the fate of the Dragonflights at the end of Cataclysm. World hopping usually isn't my bag, but I'd be down for that if a major component of the story happened to be the search for Alleria. And Turalyon, I guess. But mostly Alleria.
The Queue: The Three Draeneimigos, I'm a mutant, Leyara was right
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 very very much want to see the new draenei male in action. Human male, I get that's next, but as soon as possible please. Still, Vindicator Maraad's rocking that hammer. If transmog is working properly the next time the Alpha's up, I may match up with him. gazaa07 asks: Rossi posted on twitter this little gem, which implies (to me at least) he's been playing a Warrior for so long that he's started picking up warrior talents IRL. My Q4tQ: if you could pick from WoW (as of 5.4.8) any spell, ability, talent, glyph or shapeshift and have it as your singular Super-Power, what would you have and why? Titan's Grip. Or do I not get one because we've decided I have Second Wind already? Well, if I could pick, I'd pick Titan's Grip. Carrying around two gigantic buster swords would be awesome.
