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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: A bunny!
by Matthew Rossi 
May 27th 2010 at 2:00PM
Hello.
Do you have any greens, or perhaps a carrot or two? No? Some pellets, perhaps? Or a banana chip? I enjoy banana chips and would gladly eat one now if you happened to have one.
You don't have any of that? I disapprove. But as I told Matt this morning while he was giving me some carrots, I'll fulfill this duty of answering your World of Warcraft questions. You're sure you don't have any banana chips? Not even one?
Hmmph.
Salty asks:
When Cataclysm starts up, will us 80's have a rested xp bonus?
Andrew asks:
Any insight into what the design intent for varying buff durations could be? Why, for example, are paladins' blessing buffs 10/30 mins, while druids and mages have 30/60 min buffs, and others, like Horn of Winter and warrior buffs are just a few minutes? What is the point in making us keep track of all these buffs? I've been leveling a paladin tank through the dungeon finder lately, and let me tell you, it's a pain in the ass having to refresh blessings on everyone every 10 minutes.
As a priest myself, Andrew, I have often wondered about this very thing. When not using Mind Control to encourage my humans to bring me carrots and especially banana chips, I'm often pestered for Prayer of Fortitude. Luckily, a disapproving glare will quell the cat's insistent yowling for buffs.
Still, I'd have to say I think it's a legacy of the original game. Varying buff durations then were far more restrictive, and in a large part, buffs that added damage output in some way tended to fall off more quickly than did purely survival/longevity ones like Fort or Arcane Brilliance. In addition, warrior buff durations were most likely intended to interact with warrior rage generation as a means to bleed off additional rage and only became tedious as rage generation became less spiky. (We know shouts might actually generate rage in Cataclysm.) Finally, it seems likely that different buff durations are intended not only to preserve class feel (so totems tend to provide more powerful buffs but require more management than paladin blessings) but also to keep homogenization under control. We've obviously seen several changes to buff durations over time (from vanilla to today, they've tended to get longer), but it's anyone's guess if Cataclysm will continue Wrath's trend towards buff homogenization and normalize their durations further.
Crewdie asks:
Is there any point in me getting Cold Weather Flying on my 70 alt? I mean, it will make questing the last 10 levels way easier, but will I need it to fly around the Old world come Cataclysm? It's not that cold there, but it wouldn't surprise me for Blizz to force me to buy it, even though it isn't technically a skill increase.
Still, I'd have to say I think it's a legacy of the original game. Varying buff durations then were far more restrictive, and in a large part, buffs that added damage output in some way tended to fall off more quickly than did purely survival/longevity ones like Fort or Arcane Brilliance. In addition, warrior buff durations were most likely intended to interact with warrior rage generation as a means to bleed off additional rage and only became tedious as rage generation became less spiky. (We know shouts might actually generate rage in Cataclysm.) Finally, it seems likely that different buff durations are intended not only to preserve class feel (so totems tend to provide more powerful buffs but require more management than paladin blessings) but also to keep homogenization under control. We've obviously seen several changes to buff durations over time (from vanilla to today, they've tended to get longer), but it's anyone's guess if Cataclysm will continue Wrath's trend towards buff homogenization and normalize their durations further.
Crewdie asks:
Is there any point in me getting Cold Weather Flying on my 70 alt? I mean, it will make questing the last 10 levels way easier, but will I need it to fly around the Old world come Cataclysm? It's not that cold there, but it wouldn't surprise me for Blizz to force me to buy it, even though it isn't technically a skill increase.
Anyway, yes, there is a point to buying cold weather flying for your 70 alt, and that is that even in Cataclysm, it will make the 70 to 80 stretch in Northrend much, much easier as well as letting you do quests in Icecrown, Sholozar and the Storm Peaks that require it. Unless we're informed that Cataclysm will be providing some other zones for leveling from 70 to 80, we just don't have anywhere else to go to get those levels, which we'll need to experience the next expansion 80 to 85 content.
Plus, we're not in the expansion yet, and we're at least several months away. You could have your 70 alt to 80 by that time, easily, and having Cold Weather Flying will only make it all the easier. Yes, absolutely, you should get it. And then get me some carrots. They grow in Crystalsong, but those snooty Dalaran cooking quest givers are hoarding them.
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, The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, The Queue, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 8)
KatGrrl May 28th 2010 11:04AM
@Maymer
RUN AWAY!!!!!!
kesherz May 28th 2010 11:44AM
Arthur: "What, behind the rabbit?"
Tim: "It IS the rabbit!"
Duts May 28th 2010 3:19PM
Horatio Caine says that fighting with cute bunnies can sometimes...
/sunglasses
..get hairy.
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! WON'T GET FOOLED AGAIN!!
Ves May 27th 2010 2:04PM
>quests in Icecrown, Sholozar and the Storm Peaks that require it
Well, technically they don't require it, if you're willing to cross the whole of Storm Peaks with no movement speed increase.
Ed May 27th 2010 2:12PM
There are plenty of quests that require you need a flying mount in Sholazar, Storm Peaks, and Icecrown.
Mike May 27th 2010 2:13PM
While you can walk into Storm Peaks through Crystalsong, you're stuck at the southern end, limited to quests in K3. To get to the rest of the zone, you need a flying mount. Likewise, the vast majority of Icecrown is behind hordes of Undead armies, possibly impossible to traverse without dying.
uly May 27th 2010 2:21PM
There is a vendor that will give you a loaner flying mount. Posted by Diputs on the Wowhead page (source: http://www.wowhead.com/spell=60126)
Ok... here's the lowdown on everything you need/want to know
- This mount is ONLY available if you do not have Cold Weather Flying (CWF) AND if you are lvl 77+
- This IS a passenger mount but the passenger has control of the mount and the owner cannot leave the mount
- This does NOT count as a mount towards the mount achievements
- This DOES take up an inventory slot
- This is only a 60 % mount and will stay that way through the patches as a motive to get CWF
- This is obtained from Honest Max at K3 in storm peaks for no charge
- You do NOT need to have any riding skill to get this mount
- This was changed from a vehicle and can no longer do the minesweeper achievement
- You can NOT use this mount in combat
- You no longer get dismounted after logging out
- Usable in ONLY Icecrown, Storm Peaks, and Sholazar Basin
- This will NOT disappear after getting CWF
- Yes it WILL take a LONG time to get where you want to go
- No this mount will NOT make you popular in the World (of Warcraft)
- You might end up being hijacked
---- I hope this helps clarify things before u spend 15 minutes scrolling down the page ----
And to add that it only works in SP, Icecrown, and Sholazar Basin.
uly May 27th 2010 2:23PM
Looks like I added something that was included in the quote, lol. Well at any rate I hope that helps someone. I bet most people have no idea this exists in game.
Jido May 27th 2010 2:24PM
There is actually a way to fly around in those places without buying a flying mount. Behold the Loaned Gryphon! http://www.wowhead.com/item=44221
Yes, it does exist, you can borrow it from some NPC in K3, but you need to be level 77 and only works on Icecrown, Storm Peaks and Scholazar Basin.
MusedMoose May 27th 2010 2:24PM
For those who don't know, there's a goblin by the flight trainer in K3 who will give you (I kid you not) a Loaner Griffin:
http://www.wowhead.com/item=44221
It flies slow and only works in Sholozar Basin, the Storm Peaks, and Icecrown, but it's free. Very useful if you don't want to pay for Cold Weather Flying but wish to fly in at least part of Northrend.
MusedMoose May 27th 2010 2:25PM
...curses. Foiled by staring at the bunny. *Twice.*
Docp May 27th 2010 2:49PM
If you talk to one of the NPC's by K3 you can get a loaned gryphon mount. It can fly but has no speed increase. This is what he was referring too but so few people know about it.
Qot May 27th 2010 2:50PM
It's true that you might need to get a flying mount for those areas, but you may not actually need Cold Weather Flying.
Most of my alts have dinged 80 before hitting the Storm Peaks or Icecrown (two in the Basin, the last one in Zul'Drak... Seriously, no quests done in the Basin or Storm Peaks and only the Ebon Hold/Argent opening quests in Icecrown). The list of places you actually have to fly to is short and some of those (Naxx) aren't even used nowadays. With the dungeon finder, you don't have to fly to heroics and ToC is right at the flight point. Unless you're doing ICC, you really could get away with not having Cold Weather Flying.
Not me, though. My alts get CWF at 68 so I can fly to Dal right away and get all the connecting flight points along the southern shore (at 68, I start in BT up to the DEHTA quests, switch over to HF until I hit 71, go back to BT and do DEHTA and finish the zone, fly back to HF... I usually end up at 73-74 by the end of that cycle, especially if I'm doing the daily random dungeon).
Jaq May 27th 2010 3:15PM
>Well, technically they don't require it, if you're willing to cross the whole of Storm Peaks with no movement speed increase.
Good luck getting to Thorim for the parts of that huge quest chain where you take quests to him then, lol.
Avan May 27th 2010 5:28PM
@Mike:
You can actually walk into the Sons of Hodir town from Zul'Drak. In fact, you can actually walk to anywhere in Northrend, except for Ulduar, Hrothgar's Landing, and Onslaught Harbor. Technically, you can go down to Onslaught Harbor/Hrothgar's Landing, but getting back up requires swimming all around Northrend and I'm not about to suggest an hour of pointless swimming just to turn in a quest.
Feanora May 27th 2010 2:06PM
That bunny could really use a pancake on its head.
Jollyroger May 27th 2010 2:41PM
or a shoe.
Dash May 28th 2010 8:13AM
:D Bunnies, I love that bunny. Is it yours? A netherland Dwarf I believe. I picked mine up and bought her here and she went mental poking the screen and what not.
Dave May 27th 2010 2:07PM
That rabbit is really Schramm poly-morphed by a glyphed mage.
The truth finally comes out.
thanatos81 May 27th 2010 3:23PM
That's no ordinary rabbit. That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on! Look, that rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide! It's a killer!