The Queue: Wherein Alex renames himself Nostradamus
by Alex Ziebart 
Jul 14th 2009 at 2:00PM
After a year of writing this thing, I've run out of quirky ways to introduce this thing that don't reek of veiled desperation. So screw the veil. Along with your question in today's edition of The Queue, I want you to write an introduction for the next edition of this column that I write, which will be the day after tomorrow. I will pick the best of the bunch to use. Keep it clean!
crusherkid asked...
"I've read reports that because of the servers going down in China that World of Warcraft has dropped down to only 5 million subscribers. Is that correct?"
I really couldn't give you solid numbers, because Blizzard never provides them. We don't know 100% for certain how many active accounts there were on Chinese realms. The number was probably in the multi-millions though, yes. I'd probably go as high as 3 million, I don't know about 5 million. Asia is a big region for WoW/Blizzard (with probably half of the world's WoW players) and China is a big portion of that, but don't confuse China for all of Asia. There are still active realms in other Asian countries. For example: Taiwan, where Stars relocated after the Wrath of the Lich King nonsense in China.
Stars is a pretty good example of what's happening with Chinese WoW players right now. The diehard WoW players aren't just sitting back and waiting for Netease to get their crap together. They're just jumping ship to Taiwan's servers, and have been since The9 was still in charge. So we have no clue what the number really is, but whatever it is, it's a pretty big number.
Falcom asked...
"Do Horde characters who go to, say Culling of Stratholme get transformed into a Human just like Alliance non-Human races?"
Yep!
zulix asked...
"Are there going to be new cooking recipes in the upcoming patch?"
Yes, but the only ones we've seen/heard about have been seasonal. There aren't any new recipes from Dalaran Cooking Awards. There is a new Thanksgiving holiday that we don't know much about yet, but there will be some recipes you can get during that.
Mordockk asked...
"Will the Lich King drop Frostmourne????"
I don't know!!!!
No, seriously, we have no idea. It's possible. I imagine that if we do, it'll either be a purified or powered down version. I'm pretty sure Blizzard wouldn't turn one of your raid members into the new Lich King everytime the sword dropped. The recruitment pool would dry up pretty quick, you know?
Andrew R. asked...
"Is there a place I can order the music from Wrath? I've heard samples from the Echoes of War but didn't know if that had the Wrath music on it or not. I love the music in the Howling Fjord. I put my character somewhere safe and turn the music up when I need to study."
Echoes of War has a few pieces from Wrath of the Lich King I believe, but you can get the full soundtrack from iTunes.
Varikk asked...
"Being a daily reader of your page, I have one question that is burning in my mind.. when will people stop asking you about what new race/class etc will be in the new expansion? Are you at the point now where you copy and paste the answer? It's deja vu, like... everyday."
Alja replied...
"People will never stop asking would be my guess, I don't know if they think the guys and gals of WoW.com will have received some magical document in the last 5 minutes (from when they last asked the question) that will be covered with dancing worgen and pandas that will announce what they hope. It's very annoying.
I vote that the next time the question is asked, Alex answers the question using a Magic 8 Ball or the psychic friends hotline, maybe they know."
Tyrian asked...
"Do you think it's possible that we'll see playable Tuskarr in a Maelstrom expansion, seeing as they're a sea-based race?"
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, Humor, The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
whalt Jul 14th 2009 2:07PM
Any idea if prior season PVP/Arena weapons will ever be available from Honor/Arena points like they were back in BC. It would seem to me that we ought to be able to get our hands on Deadly Glad weapons in the next season as there will be at least three full seasons worth of weapons out by that time. I'd save honor up to the 75k cap and pay 5k arena points just to get a weapon, heck I'd practically sell my soul to get my lock a weapon.
usagizero Jul 14th 2009 4:17PM
I'd be happy if they even just had the older stuff for honor and marks, or updated it a little even. Seems like they have just kicked the old battlegrounds to the curb with what you get for doing them. I personally don't like arena or raiding too much, so BGs were a place i could do in my free time and still get something decent or pretty. (yes, i'm vain, lol.)
Daniel Jul 14th 2009 2:08PM
hahahaha nice ending for the column
t0xic Jul 14th 2009 2:08PM
8 ball pic = win
Nuka Jul 14th 2009 2:30PM
^^
This.
I lol'd IRL.
Cadros Jul 14th 2009 4:08PM
Pure win. Alex Z is my long lost daddy. I never thought answering a question with a question could be so funny.
Moncheche Jul 14th 2009 2:13PM
Do you know of any add ons that map out quests that you have not completed yet? Would such an add on be possible? It's often frustrating tracking down the 1 quest from an area that you are missing.
JPN Jul 14th 2009 2:52PM
You can always use something like Carbonite, and I'm sure there's tons of other stuff out there like QuestHelper, etc. that tracks quests. The problem is, they only work if they're running when you complete the quest, so no way to tell on your 80 what Azerothian quests you've done.
Mel Jul 14th 2009 5:10PM
Carbonite: Our extensive quest database lists the location of quest givers, objectives and turn-ins. Simply click any objective from your quest list and Carbonite will show you where to go.
BUT: This baby is functionality overkill, think long and hard before installing this. It is also quite the memory-hog.
jbodar Jul 15th 2009 6:53PM
@Mel
It IS functionality over-kill if this is all you want to do, and it did beat up my old PC's resources, but I don't know if I ever "think long and hard" before installing an addon. If I hate it, I just delete it. Takes a few seconds and no harm done.
impurezero Jul 14th 2009 2:11PM
Haha...best ending ever. I vote for an all Magic 8-Ball Queue next time. Everyone get to asking yes or no questions.
(On a personal note: Whenever our group doesn't know which way to go in a dungeon, I try to solve it with the Titanium Seal of Dalaran. It's almost always wrong, though.)
Freak Mojo Jul 14th 2009 2:12PM
Any thoughts on the ETA for patch 3.2 ?
webdesign Jul 14th 2009 2:56PM
All signs point to "Soon"
Spazmoose Jul 14th 2009 2:57PM
Soon™
Arilyyn Jul 14th 2009 3:53PM
Soon...geologically speaking
Logan Jul 14th 2009 7:47PM
http://www.wowwiki.com/Soon
Doctor Mal Jul 19th 2009 3:13AM
Even sooner than it was yesterday.
Search Jul 14th 2009 2:12PM
I have recently started on getting my loremaster and finding it quite frustrating that i dnt know how many quests I have accomplised in each area. Is there any way to see how much i have already done in an area already and how much left still to do? Maybe some sort of clever addon that has eluded my search.
As for an opening how about this: COME YE ALL AND BASK IN THE MIGHT OF MY WORLD OF WARCRAFT KNOWLEDGE. DO NOT FEAR AS I SHALL CALM YOUR WORRIES AND FEARS. A bit OTT I know but if your going to do things you might as well do it with fear and respect
Ringo Flinthammer Jul 14th 2009 2:21PM
It's called the Wowhead quest listing for each zone. Remember to sort for quests that start with a dropped item and look for quests that only appear when some specific condition has occurred -- Nagrand has several of those, for instance.
impurezero Jul 14th 2009 2:31PM
Yeah, if you want "convenient"...Loremaster may not be for you. ;)
I've finished my achievements for Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor. Best advice I can give is this: Use thottbot (or your favorite wow related database) to figure out where all the questgivers are in each zone. Then, with low level quest tracking on, just head on over to those areas. If you see a questgiver, you win. :)