Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsThe Queue: S'more
by Alex Ziebart 
Jul 21st 2010 at 1:00PM
Once upon a time, Hawaiian pizza was all the rage here at The Queue. Well ... okay, I won't lie, Hawaiian pizza is still all the rage here at The Queue, but now we have dessert, too. I've been inspired by Streetza Pizza, a local food truck here in Milwaukee, and will be making s'mores pizza this evening. I'll report back on how it goes.
FluffedMojo asked:
"Are AoE pulls gone in favor of legitimate strategy in 5-mans?"
I assume when you say "strategy" you mean crowd control. That's a hard question to answer right now for a couple of reasons. We haven't seen any level cap heroics in the beta yet, only leveling content. The leveling instances need to be tuned low so people of varying gear levels can do them successfully. If you have any Wrath of the Lich King raid gear, you're overgeared for the instances. If you have any tier 9 from triumph emblems, you're overgeared for the instances. Just about any group you will get for available content, most of the group members will be overgeared. That's not a great environment to figure out whether crowd control will be necessary or not.
So far, speaking only from my personal experience, most groups will not need crowd control in leveling content. If anybody needs to use more strategy in these groups it will be the tank, because knowing your cooldowns makes using any sort of crowd control even more unnecessary. It's much easier for me to use Shield Wall on a pull I know will be challenging than get my PUG to sort out Polymorphs or Saps. That sort of thing might only be possible due to overgearing, so who knows.
TomiToikka asked:
"Has there been any signs of the worgen racial mount yet?"
None. Just about every level 20+ worgen you see in the beta is using a night elf mount temporarily.
Many asked:
"With so much going on with the world leaders these days, what's up with Lor'themar Theron? What is he doing in Cataclysm?"
You know, I have no idea. As far as I know he isn't doing anything at all in Cataclysm. If he is doing anything, it's nothing on the level of the other leaders. He might still be preoccupied with the regeneration of the Sunwell like we saw in the Quel'Delar quest chain and we'll see that culminate at another time outside of the Cataclysm.
flutterbytweets asked:
"Is it true that Death Knights in Cataclysm will start at level 1 instead of level 55?"
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 4 of 8)
kazeko.fuuga Jul 21st 2010 1:35PM
The Mac Beta Client for SCII was released much later over the course of the beta period. Is it the same for Cataclysm? Is the Mac client out yet? If not, is there any news on when it will be?
Vrykerion Jul 21st 2010 1:50PM
Never! Mwa ha ha ha! Actually, as a Mac user I was wondering this too, and I had the wicked thought of Cata going PC only as the universe attempts to balance out the impossibility that is Steam on the Mac. It's not true, but it would be funny. Ish. Not really. Maybe.
Cephas Jul 21st 2010 2:00PM
The Mac client has been available since the start of the F&F Alpha, since there are posts in the Beta Forum's Mac Tech Support subforum that go all the way back to May 3rd. The reason for the delay in the Starcraft II Beta client is that a client had to be built from scratch for Mac, whereas the the Cataclysm client is just an extension of the existing Wrath client.
kazeko.fuuga Jul 21st 2010 2:15PM
Thank you. I've been looking for that info without success.
styopa Jul 21st 2010 1:36PM
Phht for knockoffs.
S'more construction:
half of a Graham Cracker
gooey Marshmallow toasted over campfire (or if you prefer, burnt)
1/2 of a Hershey chocolate bar
half of a Graham Cracker
Total calories, surprisingly only 186 calories.
59 calories of graham cracker
22 or 44 calories in marshmallow (1 or 2)
105 calories of chocolate
Face of a European when they bite into what has to be nearly the sweetest snack in a land of over-sugared everything? PRICELESS.
krusty_burger Jul 21st 2010 1:44PM
stop reminding the fat nerds that we are fat.
greenbeans Jul 21st 2010 3:18PM
I like to add peanut butter to my s'mores, just a touch of salty in a sea of sweet...mmm
Endless Jul 21st 2010 5:50PM
I gotta try this thing someday.
Our marshmellows are strange though... they expand rapidly when introduced to heat.
Until I can get proper ingredients, I'll just stick to salty beer-sticks dipped in molten chocolate, that's good enough for me.
Slaytanic Jul 21st 2010 1:38PM
Any idea if they will try to squeeze in one more Arena season before Cata?
Pyromelter Jul 21st 2010 5:31PM
I'm fairly confident (99.999999%) that this is the last arena season of the expansion. Kind of makes sense, since there isn't going to be any further tier gear for pvp or pve.
VegetaPrime Jul 21st 2010 1:44PM
Why are so many people into CC being brought back into use? I see so many people clamoring for less AoE pulls and such but personally, I like not having to spend so much time slogging through trash to get to the meat (bosses) of a dungeon or raid.
theRaptor Jul 21st 2010 1:52PM
You can achieve that by just having less trash. If the trash are so insignificant that you can mindlessly zerg them they shouldn't be there in the first place*. A boss without powerful minions just feels like some homeless super hero. Sure they are crazy powerful but you can't take them seriously because no one follows them.
* Most raid trash in Wrath has been as threatening as the zombies in Culling of Straholme.
N-train Jul 21st 2010 3:57PM
While Wrath trash certainly wasn't Magister's level insanity here, I think we all have a kind of distorted view on it since we still run through content we overgear it so heavily.
Maybe I'm just a lolnubz casual raider, but I remember plenty of places where a botched CC meant a wipe and an AoE-fest wouldn't cut it (Faction Champs/Vezax & Blood Wing trash I'm looking at you).
Now I didn't raid in BC, but the overall consensus I heard coming out of it was that there was too much CC, and that people were being turned down because they didn't have the CC required purely by class choice (which is just as bad if you ask me).
We all have to remember Wrath and onward is about "bring the player, not the class", and forcing CC, while it makes the instance more challenging, works against that notion.
I think in Cata CC is going to stay much like Wrath in that CC will more often than not be a luxury, with some packs that will require it every now and again.
CC in trash should test your ability to choose your targets wisely and prioritize, not test your ability to bring a mage or rouge because the trash simply isn't doable without one.
A simple downshift in the role and effectiveness of AoE, and a clear distinction between what is to be single-targeted and what can be AoE'd would fix a lot of the problem, but we also have to accept that even the most difficult trash is going to be easy when you outgear it.
Pyromelter Jul 21st 2010 6:01PM
You hear and see the clamoring because people either reminisce about the good old days and remember them more fondly than they were, or they are hardcore elitists that want to show their epeen at the noobcakes that fail and wipe and need to l2p.
I have the sinking suspicion that CC will be maybe slightly more needed in 5man heroics, but not all that much more than in wrath. The real challenge will be more trash like what we see now in the blood quarter of icc.
Imperiallight Jul 21st 2010 1:47PM
I have a burning quest that I cannot find the answer to:
What do the two flags outside of the flight paths in various cities and towns mean and/or stand for? There are either two red flags, two blue flags, a red and a blue, etc. They seem to change every day or week, I cannot remember. I have looked online and have not found any information regarding this.
Thanks, love the article.
Samutz Jul 21st 2010 2:16PM
I'm pretty sure they represent the faction and then the sub-faction of flight masters. For example, in Stormwind, there's the standard blue Alliance flag, and the red Gryphon Master flag right next to it, whereas the Night Elves might have a different flag for the Hippogryph Masters. I noticed Undead Bat Handlers have their own yellow/brown-ish flag with bat wings on it. And I don't think they change at times, they're just different in different locations depending on who the flight master is.
Peter Jul 21st 2010 2:22PM
See, I swear that I have seen two red ones at one time. Actually, I am sure of it. Here is a picture of what I am talking about: http://tiny.cc/dn2rz
Thanks for the reply!
Samutz Jul 21st 2010 2:30PM
They're both the Gryphon flag. I was talking about the smaller ones on the left.
http://my.jetscreenshot.com/2348/20100721-ha8x-170kb.jpg
Drakkenfyre Jul 21st 2010 4:39PM
One is the Alliance flag (the lion) the other is the gryphon flag.
And holy mother of God what is wrong with the graphics in that screenshot? Everything is brightly lit and yellow. That's not what it looks like at all. Looks like someone has some messed up setting.
Samutz Jul 21st 2010 4:45PM
It's from the map viewer. I can't login to the game until I go home.