Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 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 8 of 8)
Terrant Jan 27th 2010 7:48PM
With Vek'nilash-EU transforming from a PvP realm to a PvE one, is there any chance/danger of this happening to any of North America's servers?
poggg Jan 27th 2010 8:27PM
Didn't Uther say the only reason The Lich King hadn't launched a huge counteroffensive and wiped out the world by this point is because of the last fragment of Arthas' will struggling to prevent him from doing so?
Soren Jan 27th 2010 10:28PM
Just finished reading KYL, and noticed that Deathwing wanted the Skull of Gul'dan. Any idea what he wanted it for and if he ever had possession of it before Illidan consumed it? Also, do you think that the skull could come into play again in Cataclysm? Not the skull itself, since it's now lootable, but if it had any lore impact on Deathwing, becuase from what I've read it's still a mystery what exactly Deathwing wanted it for, though I'm sure he was up to no good.
Sanguinarius Jan 27th 2010 11:40PM
Oh what a twist THIS would be:
"A somewhat subdued Kel'Thuzad appears at the gates of ruined Lorderon with a white flag and an offer to join Sylvanas as her new henchman...since that position was recently vacated. I'm not sure she'd accept ANOTHER former enemy into her midst, but who knows? She's power-hungry and wants to kill every living thing (eventually) and KT is a brilliant wizardly-type. Those are generally useful in engineering world-ending, magic plagues. Or perhaps this could be a set up for a future hero class down the road such as the Necromancer? KT would be a fine choice as a class trainer. Recall his dialogue with Helcular at Southshore during the Durnholde Keep (CoT) instance? He talks about how great necromancy is. And UC would be the obvious choice for housing the Horde class trainer.
Yeah, this is just me tossing random ideas around, but it's fun and WHO KNOWS? Maybe Blizzard is watching...
>.>
Kassima Jan 28th 2010 3:35AM
oh oh oh oh oh oh ...
he can have an NPC quest giver spot in UC, they could boot the orc that replaced Varimathras and put him there :D (btw that orc's dialoge states Varimathras is 'probably on an errant for his queen', now is that just a space filler or WTF???)
EPIC!
We of the horde should learn to embrace all raid bosses we have slain, I do believe there's a nice spot in Orgrimmar for Hakkar too...
Valley of spirits maybe, he can take up the job of FA trainer...
(mad rambling without reason, just another way to kill a few minutes of my day)
jbodar Jan 28th 2010 5:40AM
@Kassima
You see the "errand for the Queen" bit because that character has not yet completed the Wrathgate storyline and Blizzard does not want questgivers to spoil future quests but they need to explain the NPCs absence. Once a character completes Wrathgate, he'll see the "correct" line. Same with the Kok'ron guards replacing the Abominations.
Kylenne Jan 28th 2010 2:49PM
This is pretty much the worst idea I've heard in a long time. For this to be even remotely feasible, we'd need an Idiot Ball of epic proportions for everyone from Arthas to Thrall to Sylvanas to be playing catch with.
Just for starters, if you seriously think Sylvanas will be able to pull anything like the gamble she pulled with the Dreadlords as a member of the Horde (let alone a member of the Horde under the kind of intense scrutiny she's under for the foreseeable future)...I've got a bridge in Redridge to sell you.
Really, this fails on every level.
Sanguinarius Jan 28th 2010 3:23PM
We DO have an idiotball of epic proportions that Thrall at least, is playing with.
His name is Garrosh. He's likely going to be in charge of the "show" here soon. And he'll probably not care one bit what Sylvanas is doing in UC. Unless of course, it kills Alliance members. Then he'll heartily approve. Garrosh strikes me as being short-sighted enough and CERTAINLY arrogant enough to let Sylvanas do whatever she wants, as long as it's not in Orgrimmar. In fact, in response to any doubt being voiced by his "advisors", i can practically hear Garrosh say something like:
"Bah! I will simply crush her if things go wrong. Look what that puny human King was able to do after the Wrathgate! AND I AM FAR MORE POWERFUL!"
So yeah, here's my two coppers. Thanks for the bridge. :)
jbodar Jan 29th 2010 4:08AM
"And he'll probably not care one bit what Sylvanas is doing in UC. "
Yeah, he cares so little that he replaced all her guards with his own men. If that's not micromanagement, I don't know what is.
Gothia Jan 28th 2010 8:54AM
You never know when you'll want to play with your wand...
Adam, do you have a PG version for this column?
raw_toe Jan 28th 2010 9:09AM
i just want to comment that you can in fact "lose achievements". I got Loremaster as an alliance mage. Later, I transferred to horde. I no longer have Loremaster of kalimdor or eastern kingdoms as well as a few other zones. I DO still have the Loremaster title however. Eventually, I'll complete these achievements again from the horde perspective, but it kinda sucked to lose them.
Sinthar Jan 28th 2010 10:36AM
A serious question here :-
There is a lot of talk about how undead would destroy everything if there was no Lich King. This (as far as i know) it taken directly from the little speech at the start of the HoR. The wording at the time is something like 'i believe.....', i think, which allows a little doubt.
When Arthas was human (and not merged), and he was going to find the blade, the blade was NOT held by another 'Lich King'. Yet at that time, the troubles with undead were down to demonic and necromancers influences, and there wasnt a general destruction of everything living. Does this mean the information that the undead would now kill every living thing could be false, or even implanted by the LK to be 'mis-information'. The whole bit about Frostmourne being 'left unattended' seemed false to me, too easy, and he really lets you go at the end. After all summoning a few servants (and not particularly powerful ones), and then following them, very slowly, sort of indicates he WANTS you to get away, to spread the word maybe.......Possibly its the presense that took over Arthas trying to ensure someone else will take the blade up after his death, or to make people back off a little so he can fortify his defenses against the incoming waves of hero's, possibly theres another twisted motive in there.
Is there any other lore/game moments that can give me more clues as to what is happening? (I dont expect a definitive answer - as i dont think there is one that we can possibly know at the moment - but more info would be great). And can anyone please confirm/deny what i have put - with actual wow quotes if possible (that would be fantastic)?
I admit some of this had to be taken from memory (The Frozen Throne disc no longer works for me due to my cat taking a liking to it at some point..as a surfboard...over the kitchen floor....with gravel underneith it ..at least thats what it looks like), and im sure someone with wow can quote the whole HoR speech to confirm. Lastly i am Dyslexic, and while i have tried my hardest to make sure this post is correct - both in spelling and grammar - i may well have made some mistakes, please can all the grammar and spelling police out there please cut me some slack on this?
Thanks for you input (in advance)
Sinthar
Fletcher Jan 28th 2010 10:40AM
Levelling up a new Draenei through Azuremyst and Bloodmyst, I noticed that there's a level 60 cat called Niblet wandering around the flight point at the Exodar. She's much larger than the usual non-combat pet cats, but seems to share the same model with them (no nightsaber fangs) ... IIRC she may even be PVP.
Does anyone know why there's a level 60 tabby cat at the Exodar?
jbodar Jan 29th 2010 4:12AM
Pop culture reference?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nibbler_%28Futurama%29
DareD Jan 28th 2010 11:57AM
While raiding with my guild last night, I was amazed at the fact that more than one of my guildies continually has money problems, to the point that they needed to borrow to do repairs. This struck me as odd, because as a responsible raider, I start getting pretty nervous if my bank account ever drops below 4 figures. Why do I keep a couple grand around for a rainy day fund? Honestly, I have no reason. I rarely spend more in a day than I make in a day, and big purchases are always planned out. While I haven't perfected all of my gem slots and/or enchants, I keep my toons pretty well maintained.
This got me to thinking, what is the average bank account at in WOW? I've seen some guilds that have 6 figures in the bank, I've seen some guilds that have 6G in the bank. I keep an average of 2K on my main, and prolly around a grand on alts that are played regularly.
How much money do WOW players keep around?
Valt Jan 28th 2010 5:17PM
Why I can open LFG browser at level 15 but it keeps saying im suppos to level up for dungeons like deadmines and ragefire chasm.. isnt that bit useless teaser?