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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: All your fault
by Alex Ziebart 
Jun 16th 2009 at 1:00PM
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.
You know, I was getting bored of that whole musical intro thing, but having it around certainly made these preambles easier to write. What do you write here every day about a daily Q&A column? Guess what, guys! We're A'ing more Qs! Shock! Awe!
So you've broken me. Congratulations. I am now a hollow husk of a man that can do nothing but uphold the status quo. I hope you're proud of yourselves. Here it goes again.
You know, I was getting bored of that whole musical intro thing, but having it around certainly made these preambles easier to write. What do you write here every day about a daily Q&A column? Guess what, guys! We're A'ing more Qs! Shock! Awe!
So you've broken me. Congratulations. I am now a hollow husk of a man that can do nothing but uphold the status quo. I hope you're proud of yourselves. Here it goes again.
WootZoot asked...
"Any word on if Blizzard is working on a new novel or RPG book?"
No word on any RPG books. I kind of have my doubts that we'll see one during WoW's lifetime, but I have nothing to back that up. It's just a feeling.
Novels? The next big one is going to be a book focused on Malfurion (probably titled Stormrage), likely timed for the next expansion like Arthas was for Wrath of the Lich King. It's being written by Richard Knaak, and if you've been reading this blog for a long time, you probably already know my thoughts on that.
If you're into comics and manga, they're also working on the Thassarian manga. Beyond those, I don't think we've heard of anything else that's on the horizon.
Robert M asked...
"What is the easiest way to contact a WoW.com blogger? Sometimes the post has some interesting information and sometimes it needs to be expounded upon, but when you try and use the contact interface, you only get the general WoW.com and not the option of choosing a writer. Is there a way to pose a Shaman question to Rossi or a Druid question to Robert outside of comments? The Queue has been one of my favorite sections of WoW.com, and it would be awesome if at the end of a class piece, the bloggers could try and answer or direct a player on where to find the answer for a question that is more reader directed."
Some of our writers are more willing to throw their email addresses out there than others, so the best way to contact who you're looking for is to use that contact form. Every single one of us reads those letters, so if you're aiming something at Rossi or Robert, just state clearly that you're directing your message at them.
Of course, we probably won't respond to someone being a troll or a person asking something like, "how u mine 4 titan grip." If you have a good question, though? You'll probably get a response.
Radioted asked...
"The reason we're told we have to go stop Algalon the Observer is because he's going to send a signal off to the Titans that Azeroth needs to be re-formatted- essentially disintegrated and rebuilt on the atomic level. If this was a power the Titans possessed, why didn't they do that after they first defeated the Old Gods? The only reason I can think of is that such a maneuver wouldn't actually destroy the Old Gods, but then again, if it didn't, what would be the point?"
The Titans don't consider Azeroth a lost cause quite yet. Yeah, it has some baddies under the surface, but they've locked them up and if those things stay locked up, Azeroth will be fine and dandy like wine and candy. That's assuming those things actually do stay locked up, though. Algalon is there to send word home if something to the contrary happens. The Titans' security measures have been compromised, one of the Keepers has been killed. Now it's Algalon's job to say, "Hey, things aren't going as well as we hoped. It's time for a purge."
Eri asked...
"About the flying mounts speed increase from 60%, are they planning on doing the same with flying carpets?"
The carpets are flying mounts, so... yes.
Shadowdasher asked...
"I was doing Argent Tournament dailies the other day and whilst jousting I got an emote that said "Eranikus emerges from the nightmare, tranquility sets over Moonglade". I've seen this emote happen multiple times and all of them have been at random moments. Whats up? Is this Blizz teasing us about the Emerald Dream? A special Druid only random emote? Has the ice stone melted again?!"
This is a realm-wide emote that's a part of a very old quest chain. Many people still run it just for the sake of seeing it, because it's a pretty incredible chain. Back at level 60, it took not only guild effort to complete, but server effort. Blizzard just doesn't make 'em like that anymore. Go check out the Scepter of the Shifting Sands quest chain and be awed.
Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW.com 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: Analysis / Opinion, Death Knight, The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 5)
Endario Jun 16th 2009 1:51PM
Key word in the question: "new". ;)
NekoDaimyo Jun 16th 2009 2:47PM
PeeWee: You're thinking of Wizards of the Coast. White Wolf responded to WotC's decision and said, "Hey. Here. Have a free PDF, on us."
Trickster Jun 16th 2009 3:04PM
Looks like the are doing a new one due June 27th. It say it's using the d20 OGL, I think (hope) they are referring to the 4th edition one.
Sarah Jun 16th 2009 1:14PM
Awww... Does Richard have to write the next book? His writing is so boring to read. Everything drags on. I find with Christie that she somehow is able make potentially boring part interesting. I wanted to finish Arthas to see new lore I could learn. In War of the Ancients I wanted to finish it so that A) get more interesting (which it thankfully did) and B) to just finish the damn thing.
I wants more Chirstie Golden QQ
Drahliana Jun 16th 2009 1:38PM
Considering that the Knaak books sell well, there's enough folks who disagree to keep Blizzard hiring him for more.
Tridus Jun 16th 2009 1:56PM
My response to reading that was something similar. Out of recent book releases, Arthas is so much better then Night of the Dragon that it's simply mind boggling how Blizzard lets Knaack near their stuff.
Then again I had to read Night of the Dragon to learn that, so I guess I'm part of the problem. Ugh, that one is just awful.
Kylenne Jun 16th 2009 9:42PM
Knaak's garbage reads like the fanfic I wrote when I was 14. "Orbs", really?
As for the comment about his books selling well enough, see also: pretty much every Forgotten Realms book ever written. All you have to do is slap the right logo on it and the fanboys will eat it up, regardless of quality.
It's a damn shame because Golden writes circles around him. I spent the entirety of Arthas pissed off that Haack was the one that got to write the War of the Ancients. Golden did what WC3 and WotLK both failed to do, which was make me actually give a crap about Arthas. I want her to write an Illidan or Kael book so bad I can taste it but it'll never happen.
danglewood Jun 16th 2009 1:15PM
There are already several WoW RPG books released by White Wolf (under the Sword and Sorcery imprint). I believe they use the D20 system.
www.originalnewb.com
dfgreat1 Jun 16th 2009 1:33PM
You guys should start writing a completely made-up outrageous story for the intro. PCGamer used to do that at times and it was awesome. Nothing beats railgun fights in the review section or tiny stories on the last page that are completely deniable !
Also a question:
Is there anywhere in the game where they ever actually tell you what a tank/dps/healer are and what they are supposed to do in a group? It was a while before i really figured it out, but it was from other players.
PeeWee Jun 16th 2009 1:41PM
To my knowledge, there isn't. But I used common sense to figure it out, even without the aid of other payers.
Common sense isn't.
PeeWee Jun 16th 2009 1:53PM
Doh, half my comment was eaten by the editor, or something,,, anyways, the question is still valid. Unless you learn it from other players, or learn it the hard way your first time in the Wailing Caverns or Deadmines, you're pretty much on your own.
Scunosi Jun 16th 2009 3:00PM
In the olden days before BC I had a warrior, and when my group asked if I could tank Maradoun I made a funny look and said 'yeah, sure, I think'.
Yup, 15 points or so in each tree does not a tank make.
These days though you can kind of learn who does what throught the new LFG interface, as when you first select what roles you wish to be invited for the mouseover gives you a sort of 'RP' explanation as to what those roles do.
Scunosi Jun 22nd 2009 10:40PM
In the olden days before BC I had a warrior, and when my group asked if I could tank Maradoun I made a funny look and said 'yeah, sure, I think'.
Yup, 15 points or so in each tree does not a tank make.
These days though you can kind of learn who does what throught the new LFG interface, as when you first select what roles you wish to be invited for the mouseover gives you a sort of 'RP' explanation as to what those roles do.
TiM Jun 16th 2009 1:25PM
As far as books in the works goes the Arthas novel dust jacket/bio info on christie golden mentions a warcraft trilogy she has in the works. /shrug
nottajoke Jun 16th 2009 1:26PM
Is Blizzard planning that when you hit 80 that you can roll an alt at 58 or basically anything that would be above lvl 1. This would help with the shortages of heals/tank or just put a string attached to get to lvl 80. this would make people spend more time and making blizzard more money.
Eric Jun 16th 2009 1:39PM
They keep saying no for now, likely because going from 58-80 is much shorter than 1-80 and removing the first 57 levels cuts back on the time spent play each character even if it means more people might play more alts it could backfire and I doubt they are willing to risk it yet.
PeeWee Jun 16th 2009 1:39PM
They've already answered this.
And think about it... would they bother with still making levelling 1-60 faster if they planned to change it so you can begin at 58?
The answer is "No".
tatsumasa Jun 16th 2009 5:10PM
if only there were some system in place to let you make use of your existing 80s to fulfill more roles. it would be like having another level 80 character, only much easier to gear up. if only...
o wait!
Taladan Jun 16th 2009 7:19PM
I'd prefer that completing old-world quests with your level 80 would return part of it to your alts.
So, say, 10% of what would you receive as experience for completing a quest would return to your alt. If you have more than one character below level 80, it would be split between them.
This would surely make the Northrend servers less overloaded, 'cause people would run around the old continent with their mains to level alts.
Slog Jun 17th 2009 12:48AM
As someone who has leveled from 1 to 80, I am getting sick of people asking for this crap. Seriously, you want less than 15 levels to reach cap? Either play the game or don't, no one cares, but crying that the first 60 levels are boring and need to be taken out is pissing me off.
FFS.