The Queue: /sit bench left
by Adam Holisky 
Feb 17th 2010 at 1:00PM
> login adamh23 ************
WoW.com Offiices
You gaze out upon an array of Pizza boxes and computer monitors, surrounded by rows of couches and recliners. Each monitor has inscribed on its top a slogan, "You are everything that is wrong with WoW.com." There are headsets and keyboards of various types, mice and trackballs abound. But no writers. Where did they go?
Exists: bathroom, teh-gym, secret-door-to-blizzard, outside, editors-office
> outside
You attempt to go outside through the door, but quickly find that it's locked and won't budge. But wait... upon closer examination you realize that it's not really a door at all, but just a crudely painted picture of a door. Try another exit.
> secret-door-to-blizzard
You creak open the door and discover a secret passage way traveling hundreds of miles towards the Irvine offices of Blizzard. The passageway is lit with small green and blue bulbs, lining the floor. The walls are made of brick, and there is a certain "old" smell to the air. You think you hear something down the long hallway, and suddenly you spot a small crab scurrying along the floor. It stops to look at you for a moment, and withdraws a candle from its shell. The crab mutters "Soon" in a crabbish voice, and runs back towards its home in the dark. Bewildered, you decide to close the door and leave the candle in hallway. Try another exit.
> editors-office
You find the writers sitting in the editor's office, all enjoying some finely aged gin. They turn to you and all say at once "adamh23, didn't you hear?" You have a puzzled look on your face and reply with a raised eyebrow, "Hear what?" Mike Sacco stops brushing his pretty-boy hair for a moment and says with a Talbuk grin, "Soon. Very soon."
Turtell asked...
"What's gonna happen to all the old world raiding guilds come Cataclysm? Or even BC raiding guilds (rare as they are). Will blizzard really just up and remove all the old raids, or will any of them be getting a face lift but remain at the same level and loot?"
Blizzard has said before they're not going to go back and redo previously released content. In the case of Cataclysm they're not redoing anything, they're destroying it all and moving a few things around. Don't expect ZA to be redone. Some bosses, like Ragnaros, are going to appear as a level 85 raid boss, so we don't know for sure what will happen to places like Molten Core (which could very well go away).
What happens to the level 60 raids will determine the course of action for many old world raiding guild. The Outlands, by all indications, appears to be relatively untouched by the coming cataclysm, so I wouldn't imagine there'd be much change there.
Hardfang asked...
"If all of the Old World is being updated in Cataclysm, will the quests all be brought up to the current timeline? As in will there be talk of past victories, i.e.: the Death of the Lich king or the conquering of Zul'Aman in quests?"
Unlikely. Blizzard views the progression from 1 to 80 (or the upcoming 85) as a story line. You meet Old Blanchy in Westfall at level 10, and you get to see him again when you're questing out in Northrend. The characters, and their stories, progress along with you, the hero-protagonist in the entire WoW storyline.
Some of the quests will obviously be updated or redone, and there will certainly be a ton of new lore injected into the world overall. However I wouldn't expect the villagers of Goldshire to change their daily routines too much.
Blackone asked...
"Do you see The Earthen Ring playing a major role in Cataclysm? Seeing as they are supposed to keep balance in the elements and the elements kinda going outta wack. Could they possibly become the next Kirin Tor/Sha'tar main head honcho group of the expansion?"
It's certainly possible, and I wouldn't be surprised if they did play a major role. But... we don't know yet.
For those who are wondering what the Earthen Ring is, they are a council of Shamans that advise Thrall. Read more about them over at WoWWiki.
Spencer Cross asked...
"What's the point of the 'sit' mechanic with benches/chairs/etc? It totally confused me when I started playing and I still haven't found anything that it's good for. Am I missing something?"
It's an RP mechanic. Sitting in an RPG game has been around forever, and is entrenched in online RPGs. Back in the days of MUDs (or today if you still play them, in which case, /salute), you would type something like /sit bench left or what not, and you'd get a message that said "Adam sits on the left side of the bench."
/leave
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)
zetathran Feb 17th 2010 1:03PM
Best Queue opening
EVER
I was kinda losing hope after all the "today's opening for the Queue is: I can't think of one!" : P
Hal Feb 17th 2010 1:32PM
>Get ye flask
You can't get ye flask.
Yeng Feb 17th 2010 1:38PM
It is a load-bearing flask!
Vladeon Feb 17th 2010 1:39PM
>look at Mike Sacco
Upon closer inspection you find that he is in fact a grue. You are eaten.
Yeng Feb 17th 2010 1:42PM
Thats what you get for not having a torch! ;)
Speedmonkay Feb 17th 2010 2:16PM
Intro brought me back to days of "gaming" on an Apple IIe
Kylenne Feb 17th 2010 2:43PM
There is a grue.
Deadly. Off. Topic. Feb 17th 2010 2:49PM
I have to agree that is a great opening. ^_^v
Slaytanic Feb 17th 2010 4:51PM
Great. Now you've got me looking online for a playable version of Zork.
"It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a Grue."
"Your sword has begun to glow blue."
Daco Feb 17th 2010 5:52PM
To this day I still have nightmares about:
>pick up bar
bar bar
jms32895 Feb 21st 2010 9:07PM
With the up and coming Cataclysm Expansion Patch we hear that Blizz is re-doing Old World. My question is are they upgrading the content rendering engine to use the Video Card Resources instead of like now using CPU power?
Jack Feb 17th 2010 1:05PM
whats the intro about there is that a dream you had?
Yeng Feb 17th 2010 1:42PM
It's made in the likeness of a MUD (Multi-User Dungeon). It is a text based adventure game akin to the old single player text games like Zork. You'd type out commands of what you would want to do like 'east' to go east, 'sit' or 'kill orc'. I have been running a MUD for 10 years and they are still pretty fun. The MMOs you have today are in many ways just graphical versions of MUDs.
Kylenne Feb 17th 2010 3:01PM
As an old school mudder and text adventurer from way back...some of these comments make me feel really old.
Gregg Reece Feb 17th 2010 3:36PM
I feel old as well. Partially, because I still code on a mud.
Ozzard Feb 17th 2010 4:10PM
It's a while since I led UglyMUG (and I really should drop in to visit), but that is indeed a great opening.
:salutes you
(yes, it was a TinyMUD derivative)
Vorhaan Feb 17th 2010 6:23PM
@Jack: I'm 17 and even i know what text adventure commands look like!
@ kylenne, Gregg Reece: you should be proud! MUDs are awesome.
I still remember my first foray into the text adventure zork.
Galtak Feb 17th 2010 1:07PM
What's the deal with cardboard?
Or, if you prefer,
Why are European patch times a day behind the US? It wont effect the majority of us but I'm sure some of the top end guilds wouldn't mind getting their hands on the new content as those in America.
My best guess is to do with translating patches for several European languages but it seems unlikely they'd leave all that to the last day before release.
Descender|LE Feb 17th 2010 1:51PM
It might not be as unlikely as it sounds, Galtak. While it might not be the "last day" thing, it's probably the "last thing". Why? Because then Blizzard is sure that they've got all the equipment done, all the text, all the -insert things that need to get done here-, so they can translate it all in one go.
Hoggersbud Feb 17th 2010 2:10PM
Your guess makes little sense. It's probably just how their business is set up to accommodate the world's time zones and their own server operations.