The Queue: I can't believe it's not beta
by Michael Sacco 
Jul 2nd 2010 at 8:00PM
Wait, no, I can believe it is beta!
Cutaia asked:
"NDA is over Sacco. I wanna know what this was all about.
Spill it!
(Please?)"
Sure! Since Zul'Gurub currently exists in the game world and takes up a large portion of Northern Stranglethorn (now its own zone), there's a Cataclysm quest line that has you entering the instance and defeating several of Hakkar's priests -- all by yourself! The bosses and mob levels are scaled down to make the place soloable. The raid instance still exists, though, so you should be okay when it comes to mount farming.
Will other instances get the same treatment? We're not sure. But this is a pretty good sign.
Moar Heroisms asked:
"Why do we refer to level 60 content as "vanilla"?"
Vanilla is a term long used to refer to the original version or iteration of something. The original Law & Order, for example, is often called "vanilla Law & Order" because of its many spinoffs. The use of the term appears to be due to vanilla's use as a stock "original" or "mild" flavor.
Lauyia asked:
"Recently I got my mage to Northrend and I happened upon the Dragonblight questline where you go to the cave where Arthas took up Frostmourne. Now outside the cave are Scarlet Onslaught, who's goal is to purge the undead from the world from what I understand... Then why are there Death Knights riding undead horses in front of that cave?"
Like many Scarlet inconsistencies, you can chalk this one up to being mind-controlled by a dreadlord.
Popeguilty asked:
"With the death of the NDA, will Ask a Beta Tester, the original version of The Queue, be returning? Perhaps as a separate column for Beta-related issues, with The Queue kept on as a general questions feature?"
The Queue will function as our all-in-one Q&A feature. Ask a Beta Tester isn't slated to return.
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!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
sarkune Jul 2nd 2010 8:04PM
Holy hell that is epic.*falls to ground speaking in tongues*
slythwolf Jul 3rd 2010 3:30AM
THIS.
Kar On E Jul 2nd 2010 8:08PM
Beta folk,
Of the new beast/pet models being shown, which do you most hope is tameable on your hunter?
Docp Jul 2nd 2010 8:15PM
Raid content isn't meant to be solo'd?
Tell that to Raegwyn!
ROB13 Jul 2nd 2010 8:16PM
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2010/cataclysm/cataclysm_models/leviathan.jpg
or...
http://static.mmo-champion.com/mmoc/images/news/2010/cataclysm/cataclysm_models/camel.jpg
julian Jul 2nd 2010 8:20PM
Worgen druid form.
Kitsune Jul 2nd 2010 8:29PM
mistfox
Squatstopee Jul 2nd 2010 9:21PM
@docp or you know, blood dks, feral Druids, prot pallies, and hunters. I'm sure other specs/classes can but these 4 have a sizeable amount of raid content on farm.
TiM Jul 2nd 2010 10:16PM
Monkeys, but only if their special attack or focus dump is related to flinging poo. it's Blizzard after all. Poo related jokes are what they do best.
Ata Jul 2nd 2010 11:04PM
I want a mastiff -so badly-.
Special K Jul 3rd 2010 1:14PM
FOX.
I mean, Fox4lif?
Hoofio Jul 2nd 2010 8:12PM
soloable raid content = best idea ever
Randomize Jul 2nd 2010 8:25PM
It's such a great idea, paladins and druids have already started to do it!
seanthehorde Jul 2nd 2010 9:49PM
And even us lowly Death Knights too :(
But no one ever cares about us /cry
jslim419 Jul 2nd 2010 10:06PM
"It's such a great idea, paladins and druids have already started to do it!"
and bloodthirst/prot speced warriors.
theRaptor Jul 2nd 2010 11:00PM
It is definitely a brilliant way to utilise those old world instances that exist on the map.
I hope they bring in some of the flavour of the boss encounters though and don't just have normal 3 second fights.
I hope they do the same for AQ-20/40 as I never got to do those in classic.
Urquan Jul 2nd 2010 11:40PM
I have a deep fear that this could be the return of "Additional instances cannot be launched, please try again later"
theRaptor Jul 2nd 2010 11:52PM
@Urquan except it isn't an instance. Zul'Gurub has always been part of the map in STV*, it just had a magic wall to block it off. Which is obviously silly now that we can fly over it.
* Also in the ZG instance you could wall climb the entrance and run around the bit of STV that you can see from the gateway.
Endless Jul 3rd 2010 10:20AM
@theRaptor - don't get me started about that... once I escaped outside of SFK, ran around the empty landscape and fell off the map eventually. :-)
Buffles Jul 2nd 2010 8:12PM
Do we know the current timeline From WOTLK to Cataclysm? I mean, it has to have been a couple "wow years" in between Arthas' death to Deathwing tantrum. This is something I was curious about as seeing some screenshots of the new expansion, like Desolece, or the big one, the Plaguelands and how they aren't so "Plaguey" anymore. Something that obviously can't happen over night.