Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: Soul man
by Adam Holisky 
Jun 5th 2009 at 2:30PM
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Adam Holisky will be your host today.
Yesterday Alex featured Cab Calloway blasting out Minnie the Moocher, a song that while was around for a long time was truly made epic by his performance with the Blues Brothers. And this lets me tie in perfectly to wish my brother Logan a happy graduation from high school next week. Logan and many of his friends were in their jazz band, and he often dressed up as the Blues Brothers when appropriate. And in lieu of that, today's reading music is the Blues Brothers' "Soul Man" performance from the 1978 SNL season. The good old days. 5 years before I was born.Hokiebuddy asked...
"With the revamp of the bear and cat forms for Druids will there be any more Druid revamps in design such as the travel, swimming, or flying forms? Also will this spill over into other races and classes i.e. Warlock and Paladin mounts, Warlock minions, Shadow Priest shadow form, etc..."
There will be revamps to tree and oomkin forms. We already know that. Will travel and swimming be included in the form artwork updates? They haven't said anything specific about those, but part of me says no, since as Eros pointed out , they're just utility forms. Nothing terribly special.
Kyo asked...
"Is there a more PvP-focused version of wow.com?"
Check out http://wow.joystiq.com/category/pvp. You can find all our PvP news categorized there.
Joozu asked...
"In 25 man OS last night my Recount (most recent version on curse) was telling me I was doing overall about 4000 dps, give or take 50-100 at most. However, some of the other raid members using other damage counters had me at about 3200 dps overall. Which would be considered a good accurate damage counter, so I can know if I have to improve more or not?"
Be sure your copy of Recount and your friend's copy of Recount are configured the same. I've used Recount for a long time now, and while it has some glitches occasionally, it's by far the best out there. I would check the following things specifically:
- Which boss fight you're viewing
- Combined pets
- Version of the Add-On
Osirus asked...
"How many people use Linux for playing WoW? What software do they use? Wine, Codeweavers or Cedega?"
I'm not sure how many people play WoW on Linux. I know that I have it installed on there. While I don't play for long hours on my WoW Linux, I do log in and mess around for short periods of time while I'm working in my Linux environment for whatever reason.
Wine is your friend. Although I know that other solutions work too. Still, Wine is just your friend.
Kabshiel asked...
"When a raid leader asks for your unbuffed stats, should you give them your stats completely unbuffed or are self-only buffs (Moonkin Form, Fel Armor, Flametongue Weapon, etc) fair game to include in the total?"
I've never minded when someone included both. However, I do mind when they automatically and only give me the self buffed numbers. That's not what I'm after. Giving me both also lets me know they're thinking about such things. And if you're a Draenei, say something smart like "I'm hit capped with my racial." You don't want to count on me to remember you're a Draenei, and I might just get cranky and spend the day thinking of ways tell you to "l2hitcapnoob."
A few people commented...
"The Cautious person you wrote about last night and said never died on her way to 80 actually died once! It says so in the armory!"
From the article:
"It should also be noted that the armory reflects one death, that occurred sometime within the last 24 hours since we got this tip. That death happened after reaching level 80. Cautious posted in the forums that this happened via use of Nitro Boost."
Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW Insider crew is here with The Queue, our daily Q&A column! Leave your questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer 'em!Filed under: The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 5)
Popesicle Jun 5th 2009 4:34PM
With all this DPS talk, I suggest the song by Neil Young, "The Needle and The Damage Done". Kinda depressing, maybe, and has nothing to do with spell or melee damage...but its such a great song. :-)
Zhaoan Jun 5th 2009 5:20PM
This is retarded. There's 1 stat and ONLY 1 stat that a dps should ever have to give. That's his average dps. The reason is that there are so many factors that go into dps that raw stats alone are stupid. For example, a survival hunter who stacks AP gems will have a significantly higher AP than one that stacks agility gems, but the agility stacking survival hunter will have much higher dps. Also some classes have naturally higher spell power/attack power than other classes but do not perform better.
Even for healers, a healer who stacks spell power at all costs is not gonna be as good as one with more balanced stats.
Franlkin Jun 5th 2009 6:51PM
"Average DPS" is also a ridiculous measure. What does that even mean, anways? DPS measures differ so much on various fights. The DPS I usually do on Malygos is tons higher than the damage I do two flights downstairs on Keristrasza. It's obviously not because I am a better player on Malygos, it's because the buffs are different (almost nobody has a good measure of their "naked" dps, even in 5 mans you have some extra buffs) and because Maly is a longer fight with longer periods of time to sit still and nuke.
A raid leader ought to know the basic way that stats contribute to "damage potential" for each class and spec. You give them those numbers and they should have a rough idea. As far as whether or not you should include self buffs, I think it's not a science and it's a matter of judgment for your class and spec. For example, I would never give my stats out of Moonkin form, I never cast any damaging spells out of it and caster form stats are gimped by design. OTOH, I don't factor in MOTW. I guess the line I'm drawing in my head is persistent buffs vs. timer stat enhancements (druid forms, DK presences, etc. vs. MOTW, kings, etc) but I don't know that's a clear line.
Etcee Jun 5th 2009 5:29PM
Resubmitted:
Fire festival is coming up: Should we expect Lord Ahune (and by extension the other holiday bosses) to be retuned for level 80, and drop 80-entry level raid gear?
Etcee Jun 5th 2009 5:30PM
also:
I read that on the PTR Champion's Seals were coming out of the money bag rewards for the argent tourney champion quests - did this go live?
Taladan Jun 5th 2009 5:42PM
Yes, seals are in the bags already. In a much lower rate than people say, but they are there.
Etcee Jun 5th 2009 5:33PM
aaaaaand also:
should i be holding onto my champions seals? I just hit 100, and decided im not really interested in the hippogryph. So i could blow it on non-com pets, unless the tournament update in 3.2 is expected to add new rewards for these same tokens.
Thanks! here's hoping for an answer to at least one of these questions :D
Sean Jun 5th 2009 5:51PM
Yes, another question about Druid forms. My Tauren has one broken horn. It has always bothered me (but not in a "OMG Blizz Hates Me!" kind of way) that my Cat/Bear forms have two full intact horns. Has anyone heard if our horns will stay the same when we shift?
Ace Jun 5th 2009 6:09PM
Question: Will I loose the stat bonuses I gained from my gathering profession if I switch to another? I started with skinning and tailoring for my warrior, and am almost maxed on skinning. I wanted to switch to mining for the Toughness bonus to stamina, but not if I loose the Master of Anatomy perk I've already got from skinning.
KTX&Kisses
Kryxx Jun 6th 2009 2:28AM
Of course you will lose it when you drop the profession. If you didn't, then everyone would level up every profession and get every buff.
Fidgitt Jun 5th 2009 6:22PM
This question is in regards to in-game patrolling mobs (Messenger in Westfall, the Courier group between Tarren Mill and Hammerfall). The two I mentioned are quest-based I know, but what purpose does the Courier patrol in Eastern Plaguelands serve, which as far as my knowledge goes they are not involved in any sort of questline or event?
Aracross Jun 5th 2009 8:09PM
Actually, is a quest.
http://www.wowhead.com/?quest=6145
Kalliana Jun 5th 2009 6:47PM
I'm sure this has probably been gone over multiple times somewhere, but I can't find it in my searchings. I'm farming Ravenholdt reputation, and got sick of looting low level items and tiny amounts of copper. Even with auto-loot on, it takes too much extra time. Anyway, my question is, do mobs respawn faster if they're looted, or does it truly matter? I haven't noticed a difference, but that could stem from the fact that I'm not alone in my farming. Thanks!
Tiarnach Jun 5th 2009 6:20PM
I have a question. I want to write for WoW.com. It's one of the best known and well respected WoW news and opinion sites in operation today, and I think my insights on the Warlock class, and my experience as both a "casually serious" raider and a guild leader could be of value to WoW.com and the community. Is there an application process? Somewhere I could submit? Write the next great Warlock compendium and stalk you at BlizzCon until you read it? A guide to obtaining the achievement "[Name In Lights] - Become a WoW.com contributor" would be much appreciated.
norm Jun 5th 2009 6:51PM
Hey you still haven't answered my question. Can a druid shape shift while silenced?
Allison Robert Jun 6th 2009 12:47PM
Yup. Shapeshifting, while dependent on the Druid's mana (you can't shapeshift if you don't have enough mana for it), is unaffected by Silence effects. The game engine actually considers it to be the equivalent of Warrior stances.
Nizari Jun 5th 2009 8:00PM
Question about wow.com: the Two Bosses Enter column, how are the boss match-ups selected? Are two bosses' names just pulled out of a hat, or are they purposefully matched up?
Draevin Jun 5th 2009 8:45PM
whats cool is i know Logan and am in his graduating class :D. i also got to see the famous Adam Holisky at our final band concert this Wednesday :D lol
thebitterfig Jun 5th 2009 10:50PM
i'd say that class mounts aren't really in need of improving since they are already pretty awesome. druids needed an improvement due to the fact that they have been the same tired models since forever and they are, at very least, getting more detail. as to warlock minions, the models are mostly fine, but i wish they'd be changed by glyphs. if the VW glyph made you summon voidwalkers with armor shoulders, or maybe the felguard glyph changed his weapon, and so on. a few little tweaks that add some spice, but nothing major
Cadychan Jun 6th 2009 1:28AM
Okay, I've got more of a lore question - who would be the more powerful shaman - Warchief Thrall, or Magatha, Elder Chrone of the Grimtotem? Of course, Thrall is powerful, and very gifted, but Magatha is also VERY powerful, and has been training her whole life.