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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: EVE
by Alex Ziebart 
Jul 19th 2010 at 11:00AM
I made an "oops" and missed out on this past weekend's edition of WRUP, so what better place is there to blather on about what I did this past weekend than The Queue? There is none, so here I go! I decided to check out EVE Online this past weekend and I was utterly shocked at how many other WoW players there were in the rookie areas of the game. Heck, they even had names like TheAshbringer and Kaelthas Starstrider. I'm really curious whether the overwhelming number of former WoW players is normal for EVE or if it's a recent thing. It's always interesting to see just how many WoW players there are in other MMOs.
Now with that out of the way, on with the show!
TAD asked:
"Have the level 20-60 quests in the newly-revamped Old World been updated with the newer mechanics brought in with BC and WotLK? Bombing missions, vehicles, etc. I know there's some of that in the new starting zones, but I wonder if it's been extended to the rest of the game up to Outland."
Those mechanics aren't used as heavily as they are in Northrend, but they most certainly are there in the old world. Every single zone has received some sort of attention in Cataclysm, and many zones have received complete rebuilds from the ground up. Every zone is much closer to being in line with Blizzard's quest design of 2010 rather than the design of 2004.
TAD also asked:
"What's the story impetus now for players to even bother going to Outland or WotLK?"
Outland and Northrend are in very strange places now that they've revamped the "old" world in Cataclysm. There's an immense disconnect in the story between levels 58 and 78 now. The quests you do in those areas technically take place in the past as far as the story goes, and you just have to roll with it and pretend it's perfectly normal. There's very little story impetus. None at all, really. It's just a victim of the fact that Blizzard is already rebuilding most of the world, they can't rebuild another at the same time. Maybe next expansion will see an Outland revamp that sets the story right. I won't lie, I loved Outland. Most people didn't, but I did. Zangarmarsh remains my favorite zone in the game even after seeing the Cataclysm beta. I'd love a reason to go back there.
tgrhawke asked:
"With Darkshore and Auberdine destroyed in Cataclysm, how do the draenei and the night elves get from their islands to Kalimdor?"
The night elves still have an encampment in Darkshore. After Auberdine's destruction, they moved further north. To actually answer your question though, you sail into Rut'Theran now, off the coast of Darnassus. Then you take a flight down to Darkshore.
Rezai asked:
"You know the thing where you complete a quest, and you can turn it in right there and get the next quest instead of going back to the quest giver? Does anyone know if that has been implemented for BC and Wrath content?"
I think people are misunderstanding this feature. Not every quest gets that treatment. Not every single quest completes automatically in the field and lets you pick up the new one in the middle of nowhere. This is only for specific quests and quest chains. The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King's content has been touched very little, so you most likely will not be seeing that in any quests in those areas. Only very specific parts of the new Cataclysm content have received it.
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 Queue, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 6 of 9)
Aikou Jul 19th 2010 11:53AM
In stormwind i notcied as i was making my way to the boat leading to darnassus. I saw a statue of a bald looking man holding a sword with the tip down. He faces towards the tunnel right before you make your way down the harbor. My question is, Was he an important figure that they made a statue of him, or is it just decoration?
Gaurisk Jul 19th 2010 12:01PM
The statue with sword pointed down appears in several places, including the Cathedral and the subject's grave in Tirisfal Glade.
He's Alonsus Faol, mentor of Uther the Lightbringer and founder of the Knights of the Silver Hand. In addition to turning the tide of the Second War with his Paladins, Faol was intsrumental in raising funds for the rebuilding of Stormwind. He was buried near what is now the Scarlet Monastery after dying of old age.
JC_Icefox Jul 19th 2010 2:20PM
Man, people actually die if old age in the Warcraft universe? I thought it was mandatory to either be killed in a war, get plagued, poisoned, burned alive, sacrificed, murdered or pelted with rocks to make it permanent...
Shoikler Jul 19th 2010 11:55AM
"To actually answer your question though, you sail into Rut'Theran now, off the coast of Darnassus. Then you take a flight down to Darkshore."
Wouldn't that make it hard for Horde members to get to Darnassus (and Exodar) for "Explorer" and various holidays? Or will there be a path they could use to fly/swim without fatigue becoming an issue?
Drakkenfyre Jul 19th 2010 12:00PM
You can actually get across it without dying from fatigue. It requires a swim potion, water walking, or an Epic mount. So while it would make it harder for Horde players to get there, it wouldn't be impossible.
They may still put boats in.
Samutz Jul 19th 2010 12:02PM
I imagine that there will still be a boat between Darkshore and Rut'theran for the new characters that are moving on to Darkshore from Teldrassil. The boat hub is just being moved to Rut'theran. In the maps I've seen, Rut'theran has 3 piers, so they should be for Stormwind, Exodar, and Darkshore.
Jiffah Jul 19th 2010 2:17PM
...And level 78-85 characters will most likely be able to fly across on their mount. I'm sure that will help ;)
Cephas Jul 19th 2010 2:32PM
Screw the boat, who needs a boat when you've got epic flying? I just tried this on Beta, and even if you're Horde you can totally fly straight from Darkshore to Rut'theran.
Draelan Jul 19th 2010 4:53PM
@ Samutz
You've got it a little backwards, there. On live servers, When a new Night Elf reaches Rutheran and is on their way to Auberdine, the Rutheran-Auberdine flight path is already unlocked. However, I don't believe the opposite is true for other races. If you're in Auberdine and on your way to Darnassus for the first time, you won't have the flight path yet, so you have to take the boat.
Of course, my information could be out of date. It's been a LONG time since I had to get the fp in Rutheran on a lowbie. Maybe they've changed it, or will change it, so that other races get the Rutheran-Darkshore connecting path just by getting the Darkshore part.
Grimm Jul 20th 2010 8:50AM
@Draelan -
In the Cata beta, there is a normal quest that - if taken when level-appropriate, at least - opens the flightpoint.
It's a little tricksy, 'cause it really just opens a conversation option on the flightmaster; you have to grab the flightpoint when you arrive.
skurfer48 Jul 19th 2010 12:08PM
I have a couple questions about Cataclysm changes.
Is armor class still a requirement for mastery like they had initially intended? Like will Hunters have a reason to stick with mail because of mastery?
Also, with the changes to loot in 10 and 25 mans in Cataclysm, will a 10 and 25 version of the same boss have the exact same loot table? Or will they have different loot that is just of the same item level?
Samutz Jul 19th 2010 12:10PM
My understanding is that a 25m boss has the same loot as thee 10m version, but the 25m drops more of it.
Oreet Jul 19th 2010 12:05PM
"The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King's content has been touched very little..."
I keep hearing this. The "very little" wording implies some changes were made.
So my question is, what HAS been changed in Outland/Burning Crusade and Northrend/Wrath of the Lich King?
Ztk Jul 19th 2010 12:39PM
I THINK that Outlands has been untouched since it's in, y'know, another dimension. Northrend I think just has some scars from the explosion, but other than that prolly nothing that changes the story in Northrend.
Carsten Jul 20th 2010 10:26AM
Has anything happened to Deadwind Pass in the beta yet? Or is is still the same?
Robert Jul 19th 2010 1:18PM
"With Darkshore and Auberdine destroyed in Cataclysm, how do the draenei and the night elves get from their islands to Kalimdor?"
A question in regards to that, with open world flight will you now be able to fly from Eastern Plaguelands into Ghostlands without a loading screen, or from Darnassus to Bloodmyst Isle without a loading screen?
Jiffah Jul 19th 2010 2:27PM
I am not in the beta, but I don't think they will do that. I'd like them to, too, but I think since that 'content' is from the Burning crusade expansion, they need a way to allow accessibility only to those who have it. Now, if BGs didn't give xp, it would be impossible to level from 60 to 78 without the expansions, but since they do now... they could work around it, but I'm not expecting it, sadly.
Imnick Jul 19th 2010 12:27PM
I want to try that game again but foolishly used up my Steam free trial years ago, any other way I can play a trial version?
Chmee Jul 19th 2010 12:44PM
Go to the EVE online website. The free trial is available there.
Cyrus Jul 19th 2010 12:41PM
I've got a question for The Queue, or maybe even a post of its own: Which is faster, leveling by quests or leveling by random dungeon finder?
I had assumed the RFD was, but the author of yesterday's priest column said she suspected quests were faster but didn't know for sure. It occurred to me that I don't know either, since I don't think I've leveled an alt too much since RFD, just an instance or two here and there.
Obviously, using RFD alone for pure DPS classes would be slower than using RFD alone for classes that can tank or heal because of longer times to wait between dungeons, and RFD obviously has a big random element - maybe you'll have to wait longer than usual for a group, maybe a group will suck, maybe you'll get an instance that sucks. Generally though, hour /played per hour /played, which goes faster? Has anyone looked into this in detail?