The Queue: He's back and he's awesome
by Michael Gray 
Jul 8th 2010 at 5:00PM
I'm excited to helm today's The Queue, mostly because I get to talk about Captain Placeholder. The captain is a fun bit of lore for anyone who's been playing WoW for a long time. In a time when you couldn't rely on boats to go from one place to another, Blizzard yoinked them from the game. Instead, the captain would teleport players from continent to continent. It is therefore without further ado that I now dive into the questions.
Joker asked:
"Why has there been no talk of Captain Placeholder in Cataclysm so far?!"
Joker! How could you say such a thing? There above us is the good captain, dancing up a storm in Azshara. What's he doing there? Well, obviously, he's dancing! If you'd just returned from a hiatus, wouldn't you also cut a rug?
While Captain Placeholder is seen in the beta, it's unlikely he'll make it to the live game. After all, he's doing what he does best: being a placeholder.
There will be Cataclysm spoilers behind the cut.
Tarvos (the hopes-to-be-Insane) adroitly asked:
"Are the factions for 'Insane in the Membrane' still present in Cataclysm? i.e., can we still get hat when the expansion comes out?"
Aloix actually had the link on hand in which Ancilorn points out the achievement will still be in the game. He also says that we don't have to rush to get it done. So while there might be minor changes to the way people achieve this insanity, the achievement will still be around.
Josh asked:
"What accent do worgen have?"
Gilnean! (Credit to commenter Artificial for that one.)
No, seriously. If you imagine a Californian voice actor trying to do Michael Caine while paying homage to his German shepherd, then you're getting pretty close to the worgen. The accent actually sounds, to me, like no one so much as Badger from Firefly. Of course, that could just be that I love Badger.
Mostly, I suggest you check out their voice emotes on WoW.com and decide for yourself what it sounds like.
Arizor asked:
"What's your favorite thing from the beta so far?"
Between you and me? A goblin female emote that says: "I'm a free spirit! I can't be tied down! Oh wait, you mean literally? No, I'm totally into that." I don't know why, but it made my wife and I laugh for hours. I'm really excited about goblins.
Sassy asked for confirmation:
"Is it true that the druids' tree form will be a cooldown in Cataclysm?"
Yup.
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 10)
Zayd Jul 8th 2010 5:03PM
With Blizz making drastic changes to talents and the like I'm guessing it's a waste of time me planning my future build on the Wowhead Cata talent calculator?
Shame as I'd just about managed to pick one out for my ele Shammy.
Telwar Jul 8th 2010 5:55PM
Yes.
cartmensfoe Jul 8th 2010 6:39PM
I acctually had a somewhat viable DW resto build before they dropped the bomb about DW being an enhancement only ability. That and the fact that i dont get thunderstorm at 10 as my shammy just hit 58 :( maybe arcane mage will get more interesting for my worgen :)
logicalfundy Jul 8th 2010 6:56PM
Yeah - the new talent calculators are pretty useless now. It's gonna be changed drastically.
Riley Jul 8th 2010 9:38PM
And here I was looking forward to Cold Blood + Killing Spree
Orrine Jul 8th 2010 11:08PM
It was the case even without total revamp. Talent trees on this stage of testing are very, very far from their final versions.
Joey2250 Jul 9th 2010 8:37PM
Its totally cool to pick out your talents in a system that isn't (nor has claimed to be) finalized, in a game that is still in the early stages of beta testing. I'm sure if you just post your talent build on the forums bliz will lock those in for ya.
Matt Jul 8th 2010 5:04PM
One of the Wow.com articles mentioned that an NPC in Hyjal says it has been 10 years between the player's exploits in Outland and the Cataclysm. Where does that put everything on the WoW timeline? I think vanilla was 3-4 years after WC3. How much time passed before the Dark Portal reopened, and how much time before Arthas returned?
Bryan Dare Jul 8th 2010 5:19PM
I've always remembered hearing that each installment/expansion has been about one year in the timeline (though people often throw around 5 years for everything, but that's only real-world time, which does not necessarily dictate in-world time). If that is correct, then the Dark Portal would have reopened 5 years after WCIII, and Cata will take place about 9 years after Wrath.
Yup, Frozen throne occurred in the year 21, Vanilla in 25, TBC in 26, and Wrath in 27.
http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/story/timeline.html
Birdog Jul 8th 2010 5:21PM
Vanilla is supposed to be 2-3 years after WC3 I think
Outland-4 years after
Lich King-5 years (it says it in either the book or on the install thing when you install Wrath)
Cataclysm-10 years after Outland
Drakkenfyre Jul 8th 2010 5:29PM
Birdog, the intro video clearly states "It's been four years" since WarCraft 3.
deepred Jul 8th 2010 5:49PM
I'd wager that has something to do with the Battle of Mt Hyjal, either in WC3 or the Caverns of Time re-enactment.
WhiteAfroSamurai Jul 8th 2010 6:04PM
I don't know how fast dwarves grow up, but Moira's baby in Ironforge is, well, a baby. Where does that put that in the timeline?
Darrai Jul 8th 2010 6:17PM
The NPC actually states that it's been ten years since the battle for Mount Hyjal, which places Cataclysm three years after Wrath.
WC3 + 5 = Vanilla + 1 = BC + 1 = Wrath + 3 = Cataclysm.
The events of Westfall in Cataclysm confirm this theory.
Amaxe-1 Jul 8th 2010 6:30PM
I find the timeline confusing. As near as I can figure from the printed timeline in the RPG (still canon for now), technically Vanilla should be shortly after Daelin Proudmoore was killed (which would explain the current low level quests), and theoretically it is (at the time of WOLK) around 6 years after WCIII ended.
Of course it wouldn't be the first time Blizz retconned things so I guess it's however the hell long they want it to be.
The timeline really compresses a lot into the events of WCIII and right after... too much actually to be plausible, so a rewritten timeline would be useful, especially for RP.
A friend of mine gave me this timeline based on books, RPG WoWwiki, the lore from Blizzard and so on. If he made errors I am not sure what they are:
Draenei come to Draenor about 200 years ago (per "Rise of the Horde")
War with Draenei begins about 40 years ago
Surviving Draenei hide in Zangarmarsh about 32 years ago
Orcs came to Azeroth 31 years ago [First War]
Thrall born 30 years ago
Stormwind attacked 26 years ago
Second War 25 years ago. Horde ravages Lordaeron and Quel'danas
Draenor shattered 23 years ago
Scourge appears 21 years ago
Thrall escapes from Blackmoore's control 16 years ago
Gilneas cut off from world 10 years ago
Thrall begins attacking internment camps 7 years ago
Teldrassil came into existence 6 years ago, as did Nelfs jointing alliance
New Horde starts 6 years ago
Sylvanis made into undead 6 years ago
Third War 6 years ago
Arthas joins scourge 6 years ago
Blood Elves side with naga 5 years ago
Blood Elves Secede 5 years ago
Blood Elves go to Outland, seize Tempest Keep with Illidan. 5 years ago
Draenei leave hiding and counterattack the blood elves, seizing control of Exodar 5 years ago
Arthas goes to Northrend, becomes fused with Ner'zhul 3 years ago [Theoretically, this is when Sylvanis was freed... contradiction here]
Daelin Proudmoore attacks Durotar 2 years ago
Draenei arrived on Azeroth 1 year ago
Belfs join Horde one Year ago
Events of The Burning Crusade 1 year ago
Current: War in Northrend
deepred Jul 8th 2010 6:41PM
@Darrai: just as I thought. Now the timeline makes more sense.
Calaana Jul 8th 2010 6:46PM
I could buy a three year war against Arthas(certainly boring enough), though I think Kil'Jaden added a half year to the Outland saga, making it a year and a half long. Is it at all possible "10 years since outland" is referring to the first human expedition sent over, back in War3? That seems more likely than the players(Or, heroes as we're meant to be) dropping foot and grinding the local environment into submission.
Suzaku Jul 8th 2010 9:51PM
@Calaana: It's 10 years since the Battle of Mount Hyjal, not since Outland. Someone must've misinterpreted the statement thinking that the Battle of Mount Hyjal was referring to the Caverns of Time raid rather than the actual battle.
00 - Warcraft: Orcs & Humans
06 - Warcraft 2: Tides of Darkness
08 - Warcraft 2: Beyond the Dark Portal
20 - Warcraft 3: Reign of Chaos
21 - Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne
25 - World of Warcraft
26 - World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
27 - World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
30 - World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
BigBadGooz Jul 8th 2010 10:36PM
hmmm game time for our toons....thankfully my toons are dranei which means thats a drop in a bucket. probably more like didnt I kill that fool Illidan like yesterday. for you fuzzy humans you are probably thinking its about time settle down with that little gnome mage who is just tinkering with a few things.
Radioted Jul 8th 2010 5:05PM
Since I have no beta access, I have an extremely important, yet trivial, question that needs answering!
Is Adam Lind still in Menethil Harbor?
In the current game, Adam Lind is on the docks in Menethil. He tells you about that goes to Theramore (I think?). Is he still around in Cata?