The Queue: From Hell's heart I stab at thee...

To the last, I will grapple with thee...
From Hell's heart, I stab at thee!
For hate's sake, I spit my last breath at thee!
Iceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee Stooooooone!
Dyluck asked...
"I was wondering, do the EULA and TOS really change each patch?"
It doesn't. The last change to the End User License Agreement (EULA) and the Terms of Use Agreement (TOS/TOU) happened back on July 29, 2008. Grelk mentioned in reply to your question that Blizzard has released a new product, essentially, and that they need you to accept all that stuff for the new version – which makes sense.
We'll have to take a look the next time a change in the agreements comes around, probably after a major (3.1, 3.2, etc...) patch or closer to the next expansion.
Chris asked...
"Is there any way to reorder your list of characters on any given realm?"
Nope. And I wish there was too. I just picked up an iPod touch today and I'm having fun playing with various apps. Lots of dragging and dropping, something that Apple has been all about for 15+ years now. Too bad WoW doesn't emulate this.
Delshay asked...
"What are the best money making dailies for level 80s to do? They don't seem to pay out as well as the Isle of Quel'Danans dailies and the others we had at level 70."
There are two ways to look at doing daily quests. Which are the quickiest, and which reward the most money? I've found that the proper balance occurs in the daily quests out in Sholazar Basin with the Oracles.
I can knock off 3 of those in about 30 minutes, which is quite fast and get around 50 gold in the process. Some people are having a lot of luck out with the Sons of Hodir daily quests, and they get so quick at them it only takes about an hour to do them all – netting around 100g or so.
The important thing to remember is that each server is going to be different. Some will be more populated at certain times of the day than others. Test around a bit and try to figure out what works where you play. Don't be afraid to experiment! Once you find a quiet time to daily work, you'll be making money very very quickly.
Sae asked...
"Any word regarding when/if/how our gold ol' Riding Crops will be making a return?"
None, and I wouldn't expect any either. Plans for the riding crop seem to have fallen by the wayside. I wouldn't be surprised to see some sort of inscription that ups riding speed, or some sort of potion/flask, but that's really all I see in the future. By all accounts Blizzard really wants to get away from "must have" craftable items and the like, and this is just part of that.
Finally...
Let's go off-WoW for a minute and talk about an offhand comment I made yesterday about EVE Online's crafting system.
EVE Online is a space based MMORPG. It's a huge game, all on one server with about 250,000 to 300,000 subscribers. There are anywhere from 25,000 to 50,000 connected at any one time. The game takes place in a gigantic universe, where you explore, mine for goods, wage epic battles, and fight against the evils of the galaxy. The learning curve is horrendous. While I think to really understand and be successful at WoW theory crafting you need a grasp of basic calculus, in EVE it is doubly so. It's not a game for kids or people who's interests change every day. It is a serious, hard core, real consequences game. Make one mistake and you'll find yourself set back months or years of gameplay. And I'm not kidding either.
Nearly everything in the EVE universe is crafted by players. You learn things to make by gaining patterns, or blueprints, and then farm the materials needed to make the item. Rinse and repeat a few million times and you've got yourself a shiny new starship. The difference between WoW's and EVE's profession system lies in how the crafting systems actually work. It might take a few days to farm up mats a new shield you want made, and then it's just a matter of clicking one button. In EVE (and to be honest, in EQ2 as well), crafting anything beyond the most basic item requires tons of planning and farming. We're talking weeks and months here, not days.
Many players who become familiar with different MMOs point to EVE and EQ2 as prime examples of what a fun and challenging crafting system can be like. It would be amazing to see some sort of advanced crafting system come to WoW, but chances are slim since the mindset of EVE (hard core is great, buh-bye noobs) and the mindset of WoW (we have room for everyone) is pretty different.
Oh, and by the way, I was not part of Band of Brothers, I was just being silly and referencing their destruction. Massively had some excellent coverage of it if you're interested in learning more.
Tomorrow I'll be doing a special edition of The Queue, tackling a single question left by a U.S. Marine in Iraq, asking how the game has changed in the year he's been deployed. Should be a good one.
Filed under: The Queue
Patch 5.2 interview with Dave Kosak
Inside an old alt's vault
The latest patch 5.2 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria news





Reader Comments (Page 3 of 5)
Chris Anthony Feb 12th 2009 11:19PM
My recollection is that the idea didn't even make it into the beta, because druids complained that the glyph wasn't versatile enough. If the argument was simply that it was unfair to have druids spend a glyph slot for a purely cosmetic change, Blizzard wouldn't have included Glyph of the Penguin in the release:
http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43361
other_calvin Feb 12th 2009 9:05PM
As far as I know, you don't need any calculus at all to do WoW theorycrafting. All you need is algebra and patience.
Tekkub Feb 13th 2009 2:14AM
Agreed, MMO's are all designed around random number generators and statistics, not calculus. Well, okey, you need calculus to understand the physics engine, but not for things like DPS and stats.
token Feb 12th 2009 9:45PM
You can also easily farm 80 Badges of Heroism and get the epic T7 chest plate from the badge vendor. Just run a bunch of heroics and you win.
Mohrlock Feb 13th 2009 12:05AM
THANK YOU TOKEN! *hugs*
This is exactly what I was looking for...
I'm a little rusty on my tank... been a while since I played him :P
token Feb 13th 2009 12:37AM
Happy to help. :)
Andae Feb 12th 2009 9:48PM
Right, so here is a nice Holiday related question. Does anyone know if, or has anyone tried, turning in a gift package to the opposing faction?
Thanks
shayskir Feb 12th 2009 9:58PM
Wrath dailies are garbages, in the article you say you can do three sholazaar dailies in 30 minutes? I used to do ten dailies on Quel thalis in 30 minutes. thats 400g in 2 hours on all four of my 70s. Now im lucky to break 50g in an hour with wrath? What gives?
Andrew Feb 12th 2009 10:00PM
An hour to do 6 sons of hodir quests? It takes me 20 mins or less. And I do 13 quests in icecrown in less than 30 mins.
What are you guys smoking that is making you play so slowly?
shayskir Feb 12th 2009 10:05PM
Id love to see you youtube doing 13 icecrown dailies in 30 minutes. I seriously doubt it youll be at around 20 minutes just doing the 6 from shadowvault.
Mordraug Feb 12th 2009 10:35PM
Watch as they make you pay to reorder your character lists. $5 per move I'd say -.-
doit Feb 12th 2009 10:44PM
I'm surprised no one really said anything about the EVE spiel. I feel like a lot of it came from a pretty fan boy perspective. After all, Eq2 and EVE's art direction and difficulty level leave a lot to be desired. The reason why wow had so many subscribers in the first place was because they nailed the difficulty level, art direction, pretty much everything. Even with my abundant free time back in the day, i still felt like i was wasting time in Eq ya know?
zweitblom Feb 13th 2009 12:49AM
Erm, because no one here really cares about Eve Online? If Adam likes it, good for him. Nothing much to discuss.
PopeJamal Feb 12th 2009 10:51PM
"Let's go off-WoW for a minute and talk about an offhand comment I made yesterday about EVE Online's crafting system.
EVE Online is a "
ZZZZZZzzzzzz......
Brett Thomas Feb 12th 2009 11:56PM
I don't think the riding crop issue has to do at all with "must have crafting". If that's so, why'd they remove the Carrot on a Stick?
The crafting issue they had was that they didn't want to have "must have" bind-on-pickup items. So, a lot of raiders who couldn't use leather items were leatherworkers because the BoP drums were "must have".
The issue with the riding crop wasn't that it was crafted, nor that it was "must have" (a "must have" 50g BoE item is pretty minor at L80) but that they didn't like the "constantly swap trinkets in and out as you mount and dismount" interface. It wouldn't surprise me if whatever solution they come up with (as you suggest, maybe potions or inscriptions) is, in fact, crafted. And, yes, it'll be "must have", for those of you not lucky enough to be Paladins. It'll just not be a trinket, that was the real problem (from Blizzard's perspective).
Merc Feb 13th 2009 12:25AM
I'm surprised no one has mentioned the Troll Patrol daily in Zul'Drak. Sure, it takes up 5 or 6 of your dailies, but 50+ g in 10 minutes isn't bad if you can't stand to do 25 dailies anyway.
Warren Feb 13th 2009 12:32AM
What is the instance portal in SW that has the gates in front of in the canal area?
KT Feb 13th 2009 2:51PM
That's the Stockades.
Warren Feb 14th 2009 9:16AM
is this a exit i don't know about?
Roscoe Feb 13th 2009 1:45AM
I can finish the 6 Knights of the Ebon Blade dailies in about 30 minutes, so in my experience that's probably the fastest for farming gold. Hodir would be my next choice after that, and probably Oracles third.