Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: I don't really know what's happening here
by Alex Ziebart 
Aug 3rd 2009 at 5:00PM
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. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.
The video I've included in today's edition of The Queue is... something. It is certainly a thing. A thing that is entirely unrelated to WoW. I know the music is produced by Justice, but the video? Well. It's a video. Enjoy?
corwin asked...
"Is anything more going to be done with the Grizzly Hills Venture Bay PVP areas? It seems like it has a lot of potential and isn't paid any attention."
We haven't heard anything about changes to those areas, no. It is pretty weird that they're just sort of... there. They're probably intended to give PvP-centric players something PvPish to do while leveling up, but I don't know if they've really served that purpose or not. That's something Blizzard would need to comment on, and... I'm not Blizzard. Unfortunately.
hergen asked...
"Is there a really knowledgeable go-to blog for Rogues? Kinda like BigRedKitty was for Hunters?"
Most of the Rogues I know just do the ElitistJerks thing. As was mentioned in the comments yesterday, ShadowPanther.net is great for figuring out gear. Forever a Noob updates very frequently with good information, though it may not be as bleeding edge as you want. Or heck, it might be right on. Who knows? It depends on what you're looking for. There's also the general melee blog, Big Hit Box.
There are plenty of Rogue blogs out there (and I probably read most of them for The Daily Quest and such), but I don't know if there are any truly comprehensive ones. You'll probably need to follow multiple blogs (which is pretty easy with Google Reader), or bury your nose in the EJ forums. If you readers have any suggestions for hergen, feel free to link your favorite Rogue blog in the comments below. Please, though, keep the links clean. Don't link to anything we wouldn't link to, please.
whiteshark asked...
"If I use a main hand and an offhand weapon, like fist weapons, will they have the same drawbacks as dual wielding 2 one hand weapons, such as 50% damage, increased miss rate, etc, or will they deal the written amount of damage?"
There is absolutely no difference whatsoever. There are various reasons for labeling things Main Hand only or Off Hand only such as preventing you from dual wielding them, art restrictions, trying to get them into the hands of the intended classes for their intended purpose (Thunderfury), that sort of thing, but there's no real mechanical difference. Dual Wielding, no matter what weapons you're Dual Wielding, have the same penalties which are only augmented via talents. For example, Dual Wield Specialization!
If there were a significant penalty for using One Hand weapons, you would never see people using them unless they were the only weapons available.
Pillowtalk asked...
"Is WoW.com looking for more writers? and if so, how can i get my foot in the door?"
Right now, we're not looking for new writers, no. Our staff is pretty well rounded right now, we'd like to think. If you look at the bar to the right that includes a list of our entire staff, we already have a lot more contributors than you'll find at most blogs.
Whenever we do need to look for more writers to fill gaps somewhere, we usually look to WoW blog-o-sphere for already established writers. As with most jobs, people with experience doing what we need will get a first grab at the position. Luckily, it's easy to get blogging experience, unlike... lawyer experience, or something like that. Start a blog. Head over to Blogspot or set yourself up a simple Wordpress blog, and write. Try to write daily. Be interesting, be informed, and be yourself. When we put out a call for writers (or just plain invite someone to join the team), if you're already an established blogger, your chances of being brought on the team go up dramatically.
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, Expansions, The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
BioHazard Aug 3rd 2009 5:38PM
I like to think the a big reason there are main and off-hand specific weapons is to prevent Elemental Shaman from using a 40/31/0 build (such as http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#hEh0qrdct0fZGggfo0d0Mz ) to dual-wield a pair of these bad-boys: http://www.wowhead.com/?item=45612 for 587 extra spell power. You give up 136 SP from Totem of Wrath and a bit more from Shamanism and Lava Flows and you don't get the controversial Thunderstorm, but /it's 587 spell power man./
wondershot Aug 3rd 2009 5:45PM
Really cool video.
Haters-- you don't get it.
Manatank Aug 3rd 2009 5:40PM
"Our staff is pretty well rounded right now"
Perhaps you should exercise more.
Joetheserviceman Aug 4th 2009 12:25AM
You are hereby awarded one Internets.
Jay Aug 3rd 2009 5:42PM
Wow, corwin read my mind; I was going to submit this very question.
I like the mechanic of the Grizzly Hills PvP quests; they don't mandate PvP combat, so you can complete them in off-peak times or on low population servers; they just flag you for PvP and put players from both factions in the same location, and let's see what happens...
I think that because you can level to 80 so quickly now, you're likely to level past the range where the items from Venture Bay are useful (with some exceptions -- the Resto Shaman totem is apparently the best you can get before 80) so there's little incentive to do the quests aside from the Grizzled Veteran achievement.
The other big flaw with Venture Bay is that it's pushed all the way into the far corner of Grizzly Hills, which means that you can't just drop by and do a quest or maybe tag an unlucky opposing player. I was able to do Grizzled Veteran on two different characters without ever encountering an opposing player.
Scott Aug 3rd 2009 6:03PM
Personally I found the Blue Sky Logging Grounds quests to be the best leveling boost in the game. 4 quests than can be done simultaneously in less than 15 minutes. That's like a free bar of experience every day from level 73 to 78 or so. I never pass those up on any character that is near the Grizzly Hills area.
Braundo Aug 3rd 2009 5:45PM
Most informed rogues don't put much stock in Shadowpanther's "gear ranking". You can't evaluate gear in a vacuum.
Harvok Aug 3rd 2009 5:46PM
...wat
epicboyz Aug 3rd 2009 6:02PM
someone has been watching too much Heavy Metal.
Allen Ibrahim Aug 3rd 2009 6:05PM
Seeing as Blizzard has been implementing popular addons into the actual game, when do you think we'll see DBM or even Omen in-game? Do you think they will just save them for the next-gen MMO instead?
Derick Aug 3rd 2009 11:02PM
The DBM would just be allowing for more notification of what happens in a fight. It's like our guidebook for what to expect. If Blizz implimented a DBM, there would be an addon made to go over it.
And as for Omen, they already simplified and integrated threat more into the game. Blizzard doesn't really go full force with the addons they turn into the default UI, e.g. Voice Chat, Calendars, Equipment Manager. I think they've done what they will for threat meters. They've made it accesible to the people that dont get the addons, but they leave the heavy duty stuff for the people that want to go out and get it/make it.
XionFyre Aug 3rd 2009 6:05PM
Love the video... Reminded me somewhat of...
MC Escher and/or Heavy Metal
Joseph Aug 3rd 2009 6:23PM
Are there any reliable Paladin blogs left?
Chris A Aug 3rd 2009 6:38PM
I loved the venture bay experience too. Like to see if there's something more they can do to expand it like argent tournament.
jellyphish Aug 3rd 2009 7:20PM
well, i'm glad i ate plenty of lsd before reading today's 'the queue'...
rodney_marr Aug 3rd 2009 7:25PM
My thoguhts exactly jellyphish.
luca Aug 3rd 2009 10:16PM
I have a question,what where the Ironforge dwarves and the Stormwind humans doing during the 3d war?they were attacked?they just waited while their allies were being eaten by the undead?they send reinforcements?
Thanks
frisbeesrme Aug 3rd 2009 10:33PM
i submit to you: Riflemen, gyrocopters, mortar teams.
Dwarves were fighting like the rest of the world.
joebee1kanobi Aug 3rd 2009 7:50PM
If I want to get the heirloom shoulders or chest for a warrior I wnat to level up should I get the plate one or the mail one. Considering that warriors can 't use plate until lvl 40 can I still equip the plate ones at level 10 or should I get the mail meelee ones just to be safe?
jbodar Aug 3rd 2009 8:02PM
Blizzard realized this, so the plate ones automatically downgrade for you. Mail downgrades to Leather also.