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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: Pony games
by Adam Holisky 
Jan 27th 2010 at 11:00AM
The above is a screenshot from Free Realms. Dancing ponies are not exactly my thing, but god knows we've talked about them enough. So I think after this screenshot, I'm never going to ask for a pony again. Forget it.
Instead I'll be asking Ghostcrawler for a moose. I encourage you all to as well.
Ghostcrawler promised me a moose.
Eddy asked...
"Can you lose achievements? I just got the Loremaster of EK and Kalimdor achievements and I keep reading things on Wowhead about how such and such quest used to count, how people's quest count changed... and I'm a little anxious about them. If Blizzard changes whether, say, a particular quest counts for EK or Kalimdor and messes up my totals, would the achievement disappear?"
Right now, once you have an achievement you have it for good. I don't anticipate Blizzard changing their stance on this anytime soon. However the idea of permutable achievements does sound cool -- think if the guild with the most players online at any one time all got the title "of the Crowded," or the player online with the most non-buffed HP got "the Tank." But those are not necessarily achievements as much as titles (much like the current arena titles are implemented).
Either way, for now -- you're safe. No chance of having an achievement removed by normal gameplay means.
Sprinte asked...
"Why did the Lich King never launch a counteroffensive against the Horde and Alliance? He seems to have been on the defensive the entire expansion. A friendly visit to Dalaran could have been great fun. Think of the chaos!"
Who says he's not going to go to Dalaran? Maybe he'll meet up with Jaina and some undead form of Kael'thas and they'll all sit around and pine about how they hate and love each other. I won't continue where this story goes... but what I'm trying to say (for real) is that we don't know that Arthas is done yet.
As for him being on the defensive most of the expansion, we can assume that's because he's had the problems at the Wrathgate, as well as the major offensive he had prior to Wrath's release. That's a lot to happen to any nation state (even a terrorist one like Arthas'), so I don't think anyone should be too surprised nothing has happened yet.
Besides, there's a Cataclysm on the horizon...
And Shade? You win one internets today. Congrats!
Tim asked...
"Does Blizzard hate trolls? We have plenty if backstory, which I am thankful for. It's just that players kill so many of them in the game. Who knows how many troll themed instances there are? I know I don't. It seems Blizzard wants us to enjoy killing them."
No, Blizzard doesn't hate trolls. They also have you kill tons of humans, elves, and other creatures. They don't have you kill enough gnomes however. Clearly Blizzard loves gnomes.
Kyrro asked...
"Does weaponskill have any effect to casters? Would I do better with 400 skillpoints staves than 1 skillpoint in staves?"
Nope. The only thing weapon skills will reward you with is an achievement. Although if you are a caster and can use a wand, I suggest having that skill be maxed. You never know when you'll want to play with your wand...
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 7 of 8)
Shade Jan 27th 2010 3:19PM
You can speculate on blog posts - it's not unheard of. The thing you have to keep in mind when launching into the realm of rampant speculation is EVERYTHING THAT HAS COME BEFORE. And I mean -everything-. The game itself, the comics, the books, every bit of information that we've been given. Blizzard is really clever, there are plenty of clues lying around pointing to what's coming ahead on the horizon, and while I'm sure a lot of them are bogus, it's still possible to make predictions about what's looming ahead on the horizon based on them.
If you'd like an example of wild speculation based on existing in game material, check out the article I did over there: http://greyshades.wordpress.com/2010/01/11/cataclysm-or-catalyst-speculation-on-the-future-of-azeroth/
You can, if you choose, just make up a bunch of stuff - but be aware that lore nerds all over can and will dissect what you've written and turn their noses up at it if they don't think it's based on existing lore. Unless it's really, really funny and obviously tongue in cheek. (and humor columns are fun to write!)
galestrom Jan 27th 2010 3:01PM
What determines the Skittering Scarab spawn rate during the 2nd phase of the Anub'arak fight in ToC 25 man? Some vehemently claim it's tied to the number of frost patches down, while others claim more come out when raid members are hit. There's limited info about this mechanic online; please help! :)
emberdione Jan 27th 2010 3:37PM
As a former Horde who became Alliance I would like to correct your post.
Once you have an achievement you can in fact lose it. When switching factions it changes and adjusts your achievements. You lose quite a few. Also to be perfectly correct, ONLY Loremaster EK and Loremaster Kalimdor stay as far as the quest achievements go.
I got Loremaster of Outland, switched factions, and discovered I had lost not only the meta, but also Hellfire, Terrokar, and Nagrand. I also lost Dragonblight and Borean Tundra for Northrend.
You can and WILL lose achievements if you switch factions.
linkers746 Jan 27th 2010 4:06PM
WHY WOULD YOU SWITCH TO ALLIANCE?!?!!?!
emberdione Jan 27th 2010 5:42PM
Step into my shoes:
You just started a new job. It is *the* coolest job ever. You love your new, well paying, job. Your Boss, the guy who signs your paychecks, writes your reviews, and is generally a pretty awesome dude to hang out with, plays *Alliance*. And wants you to come raid with him. Your Horde guild just crashed to bits on the wall of Ulduar.
Do you switch sides?
Argojax Jan 27th 2010 7:07PM
Hmm that was completely contrary to my A -> H transfer. Only achieves I lost were Tourney related. Counts were reset on some, but I didn't lose loremaster of Outland
staffan.johansson Jan 27th 2010 3:58PM
A møøse once bit my sister...
linkers746 Jan 27th 2010 4:05PM
I was started another alt (again) the other day, and I was wondering, wouldn't it be better if the narrator for your race's backstory had the voice of that race?
(IE: Blood elf speaker would have a blood elf voice, orc speaker would have an orc voice, and so on.)
jbodar Jan 27th 2010 9:58PM
I disagree. The background is supposed to be a "storyteller" -- an objective third-party. The narrative itself would/should be different if told from the perspective of someone of that race. For example, the way the narrator describes the Blood Elves' magic addiction might be different than how a Blood Elf himself would describe it, from a lore point of view. Whether or not that narrative experience would be "better" is a matter of opinion.
I suspect it was just easier to get one voice artist to do all the narrations and write them accordingly.
alpha5099 Jan 27th 2010 4:08PM
What's the deal with Muradin's class? I realize lorewise he's a Mountain King, but is that his class in-game, or does he conform to one of the ten playable classes? He's wearing warrior Tier 10, but I'm interested by his choice of weapons: an Ironforge Smasher (or Aledar's Battlestar) and Stormpike Cleaver (or any of the other axes with that model). Now, maybe he's just a fury warrior who refuses to get Titan's Grip, but those weapons scream enhancement shaman to me. Is there any chance Muradin might end up being involved in the introduction of shamanism to the Dwarfs?
PvtDeth Jan 27th 2010 5:12PM
I really, really doubt Muradin will have anything to do with Dwarf shamanism; that will almost certainly be entirely centered around the Wildhammer Dwarves. He is a playable character in Warcraft 3, as a Mountain King like you said. Not every NPC fits neatly into the player classes.
The very existence of player classes is a game mechanics necessity. Lorewise, many characters are a mix of classes, or some hybrid between several. Obviously most people would only have the time to specialize in one discipline, but every once in a while you get someone who does a Deion Sanders and masters multiple areas. Who's to say a rogue might not learn to be a sniper or figure out how to tame a rat to do his bidding? The paladin and warlock classes are made up of characters who "rerolled" but carried over many of their old skills.
Al Jan 27th 2010 4:09PM
I think he tried, but his various mindless minions refused. Even they won't go to Desolace.
Al Jan 27th 2010 4:13PM
Bah. Just another fail response, move along.
Sky Jan 27th 2010 4:16PM
Is the "Ghostcrawler promised me a pony" shirt a real shirt? I've been scouring the internet trying to get my hands on one but I can't find any.
emberdione Jan 27th 2010 5:40PM
Step into my shoes:
You just started a new job. It is *the* coolest job ever. You love your new, well paying, job. Your Boss, the guy who signs your paychecks, writes your reviews, and is generally a pretty awesome dude to hang out with, plays *Alliance*. And wants you to come raid with him. Your Horde guild just crashed to bits on the wall of Ulduar.
Do you switch sides?
emberdione Jan 27th 2010 5:41PM
That was directed at someone... /sigh wtb edit.
Sintraedrien Jan 27th 2010 6:59PM
No! Convince him to re-roll Horde!!! ;)
Amoo Jan 27th 2010 5:43PM
I've got a question for The Queue.
With the battle.net changes that will be coming allowed cross server and cross game support so you can talk to your friends while in each game etc... I was wondering if it will be possible to group up for 5 man instances (so we can use the lfg tool) with my friends from other servers?
(we're all in the same battlegroup, we've managed to get into groups before using the lfg tool and picking a specific instance, though the more of us their are, the harder it is to get us all together!)
cheers!
Shade Jan 27th 2010 5:44PM
Because NOBODY likes Desolace. Not even the Lich King.
BoomingEchoes Jan 27th 2010 6:09PM
Response to Sprinte's question: I know its a pretty geekified argument but The Lich King probably never mounted much of an offensive based purely on the fact that blizzard got too side tracked by other things to even bother with it. What I mean is to say that he didn't do it because he mounted a big one before the expansion and the whole thing with the setback at the Wrath Gate, if that were the case MANY nations in history wouldn't have made it this far..
For one thing the Wrath Gate thing was probably a big set back, what was done to him by the new plague probably weakened him a lot. But honestly, nations still function and wage war when their leader is sick. He has lieutenants to command the troops he still has, they can manage for a little while with out him I'm sure. Hell all he has to do practically think something undead like and it happens, so his job is more mental then physical (which fits the fact that The Lich King, pre-arthas, was no warrior.. or well paladin I guess) .. I'm also pretty sure the fact that he has scientists and such making more undead means he doesn't need to be a part of the process 100% of the time.
After that to say that because he mounted a huge offensive just once means his resources were too worn out to do it again seems pretty flimsy. Like I said, if that were the case many mighty nations in our world would have fell a lot sooner then they did, and their people were risen from the dead. The Lich King can replace his troops better then any living army can so realistically his assault shouldn't have ended, because his troops would be refreshed with a word and a wave of the hand. Theres no real reason other then Blizzard didn't think to do another big assault again to say why we didn't see another big attack.
Response to Tim's question: They don't hate trolls at all, the trolls just happen to be EVERY WHERE because they're one of the oldest races on Azeroth. Ironically this technically also makes them one of the most populous races, though you'd never know it if you follow player numbers. They built and maintain/ed many of the worlds great structures, but they're also fairly warlike; like the race from Avatar, but cannibals (but strangely with no cannibalize racial, lol). So that means we have to go about holding them back a bit with some good old fashioned warfare. But like said above blizzard gives us reasons to go after all the races, trolls just happen to have the most land to fight for it seems...