The Queue: I am 25 minutes older than Alex
by Adam Holisky 
Jan 25th 2010 at 11:00AM
On January 24th, 2008 at 9:27 p.m. central I was officially welcomed into the WoW Insider family. At 9:52 p.m. central that same evening Alex Ziebart was brought on board. Between the 25 minutes that I was on staff and Alex wasn't, I had already leaked three Blizzard secrets, pissed off Blizzard PR four times, got an angry email from Ghostcrawler about calling warriors the redheaded step children of WoW, and was fired and rehired at least five separate times by Liz Harper.
Alex, my friend, you have a lot of catching up to do. Get crackin' you whipper snapper!
In all seriousness, between my first post and this one, the two years I've spent writing here have been awesome. It's a job that I never thought I'd have, and definitely one that I never thought I'd stay in this long. And out of all the columns I write, penning The Queue twice a week for you all is some of the most fun I have. So let's get to it!
Justin asked...
"What's Frostmourne doing in the armory?"
It was a demo item at BlizzCon a few years ago, which is why it's named Frostmourne Art Demo. It's not the real thing.
Outlier asked...
"Are mobs tougher to tank now in 3.3? They seem to be harder to position."
There was a bug with positioning just as patch 3.3 came out, but that was hotfixed a couple days later. Everything should be fine now, and I haven't noticed any troubles in my daily heroic tanking.
DarkSide asked...
"What's the best tanking shield I can get from running heroics?"
You'll want to get the Splintered Door of the Citadel from killing Marwyn in regular Halls of Reflection. Have fun farming it, it's only got a 15% drop rate and never seems to come up for tanks that need it.
Mrs. Rossi lamented...
"Do you guys have That Guy in your guild who reads the guild apps and immediately turns everyone down?"
During the time I spent as an officer in a big high end raiding guild, we had several people who fit that bill exactly. I never really appreciated their input. Often times they'd pass up exceptional candidates because they'd misspell a complicated word, or forget to list that they cleared Kara even though they were five bosses into Sunwell. Those silly things never do anyone any good. And they never got a chance to even comment on the applications that were just down right bad -- like the rogue in all greens claiming he can do 2000 dps.
One got so bad that I had to talk with him about it, and gently ask him not to post on applications for a bit. He didn't take it too well, but the rest of the guild was getting pretty angry about it. Eventually he gquit and left the game, but it was pretty obvious from the get go he wasn't happy with it anymore.
The moral of the story here, if there is one, is that people in general need to have a level head and be calm when reading over guild applications. Hot heads and quick decisions never do anyone any good.
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: The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
Zayd Jan 25th 2010 11:05AM
I wonder how many expansions the current WoW has left in it?
Ray Jan 25th 2010 11:07AM
That's up to us to decide. I'm sure Blizzard can keep pumping out expansions as long as they have a player base to enjoy them.
Plzlemme Jan 25th 2010 11:11AM
I think I remember that there was a total of 5 planned expansions, with Cataclysm being the third.
Superthrust Jan 25th 2010 11:22AM
IF it ever gets to be like SWG, a deserted wasteland of ca ca....well, cata might be the last...
I'm just joking. Everyone knows Cataclysm is going to ROCK EVERYONE'S SOCKS OFF...
Seriously, this xpac will bring the OLD SCHOOL old school people back...like the guilds that broke up due to ZG (pre-Blood nerf) or old C'thun...
Especially when people hear BWL is making a level 85 come back...someone will reactivate their accounts...
loop_not_defined Jan 25th 2010 11:45AM
Just some comments about comments:
1) The "five expansions" thing might be from the old, debunked, and constantly updated "leaked list of expansions" that makes the rounds when rumours/announcements of a new expansion come up. We were gonna be getting Worgen with Pandaren in the 4th "Elemental Planes" expansion. /rolleyes
2) Not sure BWL is coming back. They said Nefarian is coming back, and that Blackrock Spire is getting love, which could mean many things. No, being decapitated doesn't dismiss an all new come-back. Arugal can back me up on this one.
y2fatboy Jan 25th 2010 11:46AM
Yes, but bear in mind that the "new" BWL might just turn into another version of "new" Naxx, i.e. a cakewalk as soon as you hit 85 even for new players. Now as long as there's other (preferably new) content to try this is fine, I just don't want to be left with the pre-Ulduar raiding debacle that WotLK was hit with for 5 months.
Avan Jan 25th 2010 12:23PM
@loop_not_defined:
If I recall, we do visit the Elemental Planes in Cata. Deepholme being the plane of earth, for the Black Dragonflight (like one Mr. Deathwing). Skywall being the plane of air or something, home to harpies and a possible raid that I think was mentioned at BlizzCon '09. Sulfuras being the fire plane, home to a pissed off and very much awake Ragnaros. The Emerald Dream is, of course, where Ysera is hanging out and is only rumored to be featured somewhat in Cata, but it really isn't an elemental plane. Lastly, there is the Abyssal Maw, plane of water where Queen Ashzara is chilling it up with the rest of her naga.
Earth, fire, wind, and water. Only plane missing is HEART!
Ari Jan 25th 2010 12:32PM
Was the cost of repairs nerfed a little? I used to pay ~10g a death and now it appears to be down to about 7 or 8g a death.
loop_not_defined Jan 25th 2010 12:46PM
@Avan
The most recent "leaked expansions" list put the Elemental Planes as the 4th expansion (Cataclysm is 3rd), listed Worgen and Pandaren "home worlds" (no home worlds in Cata), and featured the Planes as the *sole* content (as opposed to retooling Azeroth).
I mentioned the Planes in my last post because they AREN'T coming in the 4th expansion. ;)
traptinacivicsi Jan 25th 2010 1:38PM
They said they want to go 10 more years on this game's core engine alone.
Take that as you will.
rawrawrawr Jan 25th 2010 5:09PM
The date "leaked expansions" list was apparently leaked gets earlier and earlier. Most people claim it was leaked during vanilla WoW, with one person saying no later than 2003.
One thing all the posts have in common is they were all published after Wrath was announced, and the list, "amazingly", has only got the basic details of the expansions that were announced before the list first surfaced correct.
I don't know about you, but this makes the validity of the list questionable.
rawrawrawr Jan 25th 2010 5:12PM
Tack "to me" on the end of my post in your heads while reading it, please >_>
iammurlocftw Jan 25th 2010 5:24PM
@Avan
Heard that when we kill deathwing the demon heart opens a portal to the mystical heart plane which is the center of a world event that kicks off the new expansion: WoW attack of the fuzzy carebears which you kill by /insulting them
BigBadGooz Jan 25th 2010 7:35PM
42
bga Jan 25th 2010 9:54PM
"Are mobs tougher to tank now in 3.3? They seem to be harder to position."
There was a bug with positioning just as patch 3.3 came out, but that was hotfixed a couple days later. Everything should be fine now, and I haven't noticed any troubles in my daily heroic tanking.
I disagree. As a bear tank I have a terrible time getting whatever I'm tanking to not run through me and start trimming my tail fur. On my DK it's no issue, the mobs do what I need them too. I think it may just be a Druid bug.
Blondies Jan 26th 2010 2:51AM
@iammurlocftw
Don't ever say never ;)
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/1/9/
Dreamstorm Jan 25th 2010 11:07AM
"What's the best tanking shield I can get from running heroics?"
"You'll want to get the Splintered Door of the Citadel from killing Marwyn in regular Halls of Reflection. Have fun farming it, it's only got a 15% drop rate and never seems to come up for tanks that need it."
If someone still needs a decent shield from a 5-man I don't think he or she is ready to tank in Halls of Reflection. I'd say try to get the Crest (epic) from Caverns of Time: The Culling of Stratholme first. THEN try going through the new 5-mans
Xaverius Jan 25th 2010 11:16AM
Even on regular?
If all they need is a shield then I don't see an issue with them tanking (or they could even tag along as dps). It's like the casters who need that stinkin' off-hand ....
Tim Jan 25th 2010 11:17AM
I am sad to admit this. It takes a big man (troll) to say, I need that shield. My Skull of Ruin smashed into the face of Deathbringer Saurfang numerous times. I have even led these crazy spider things under Anub’Arak (sp?) whom was standing on some ice. But I still have that shield from my first ever Naxx raid. F*ck my life.
Bryterside Jan 25th 2010 11:19AM
Yes, but if you have one of those, go run NORMAL HoR and get it.