The Queue: Oops
by Alex Ziebart 
Jul 28th 2010 at 11:00AM
I won't lie. I almost forgot to write The Queue today. It's not my fault. It really isn't. Blame Jimmy Raynor and his bedamned Hyperion. It's completely his fault. Actually ... on second thought, blame Tychus Findlay. He's a better scapegoat.
Now to distract you from what could have been a horrible error ... Have you all entered our contest for a Blazing Hippogryph yet? You can enter once per day, remember! Head over there, leave a comment to enter and show WoWTCGLoot.com a little love. They're the guys who make these giveaways possible.
Josh asked:
"Can you give the non-beta testers a feel for the completion of Cataclysm so far? Will they make the 2010 deadline?"
That's a difficult question to answer because we don't know exactly what the developers still have left to do, just a vague idea of what we think they need to do. We also don't know how much of the incomplete content is mostly done on their end but we can't see yet, or how much of the back-end work is done, with whatever remains for X, Y and Z feature being only aesthetic. I'll try to answer anyway, though.
I do think they will have a finished product before the end of 2010. There are a lot things that still need polish and finishing touches, but I don't think it's five months' worth. A vast majority of the zone revamps are done. The goblin starting experience is done (or feels done), and the worgen one is mostly done. About half of the level cap zones are complete, including non-raid instances (I believe), and we're seeing finishing touches being put on a lot of the classes. The guild leveling features aren't done, but there are a whole lot more of them in the game now than there were just a month ago. If a 2010 release wasn't in the stars, I don't think we would even be in the beta right now.
I could be wrong, because we simply don't have all of the necessary knowledge to make that call. But I do think we'll see a late 2010 release, possibly right before BlizzCon. Then Blizzard could use BlizzCon as an opportunity to tease the first major content patch.
shawrk asked:
"Is there any basis to the rumor that the only people getting beta invites also have authenticators?"
It's not true at all. I know people who are in the beta without authenticators. Though you should really have one anyway if they're available in your region!
arixian asked:
"Has the Gilnean crest been revealed yet?"
Yes, but it's kind of lame.
"Will the Alliance crest be updated to include elements from the draenei and the Gilneans?"
I do not know the answer to this one. Sorry!
jishdefish asked:
"When is WoW.com going to run another live beta stream?"
Possibly tonight! Anne Stickney has volunteered to stream tonight around 9 p.m. EDT on our Justin.tv channel.
dawn asked:
"What's going on with the Argent Crusade in Cataclysm?"
They're taking names and kicking ass in the Plaguelands. They've taken over most of the Scarlet Crusade's territory and made it their own. They've also taken over those silly PvP towers that the Alliance and the Horde have been bickering over for years now. Tirion Fordring is still kicking around and calls Hearthglen home, which is the place where you used to be able to find his son Taelen. He has also constructed another statue of himself.
Stupid Tirion.
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
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 11)
prenden2 Jul 28th 2010 11:05AM
With the new implementation of Mastery, what exactly will Mastery rating affect?
feniks9174 Jul 28th 2010 11:20AM
My understanding was that if your tree's mastery bonus is (Affliction Lock, for example) + shadow damage, then stacking Mastery rating will up the percentage by which your Shadow damage is being increased.
For example, just from your spec you could have, say +5% increased Shadow Damage while naked, but the mastery rating on your gear could bump that to 15% increased shadow damage.
prenden2 Jul 28th 2010 12:38PM
Cheers for the reply!
What's confusing me is the relationship between Mastery and the 31-points spec bonuses. Say, for an Arms Warrior, will Mastery increase his Two-Handed Weapon Specialization bonus or are Mastery and Spec bonuses unrelated?
A beta key would really sort out my confusion!
P.S. List of 31-pt bonuses here: http://www.wow.com/2010/07/14/cataclysm-beta-new-31-point-talent-trees-spec-bonuses-and-mor/
Bobson Jul 28th 2010 1:44PM
The way it works (as I understand it) is that you get X, Y, and Z abilities for choosing a spec, then have to put 31 points into that spec. Those points don't give you anything beyond the talents that you put them in - no more increasing mastery for putting more points in a tree. That's what you linked to.
Once you reach 75, or 80, or somewhere up there, you learn a new abiliity from your trainer called "Mastery". This gives you a spec-specific bonus that scales with the mastery stat on your gear. I'm not sure if these have been announced or not.
Boobah Jul 28th 2010 10:18PM
Shortly before they announced the talent tree revamp, they mentioned that they'd renamed the 'common' masteries that were only affected by the number of talent points in the tree to something else. Presumably, the third, unique, mastery that was previously announced is still intended for the trees. So Beast Masters still get extra pet damage with mastery, Arcane mages still get more damage with a full mana bar, and so on.
Last I knew, masteries hadn't yet been implemented with the talent tree revamps.
snowleopard233 Jul 28th 2010 11:05AM
Man, when is everyone going to realize that ashbringer releases mercury poisoning and that it is rapidly making Tirion go completely insane?
Samutz Jul 28th 2010 11:14AM
Sometimes I wonder if Ashbringer will return to its dark form, as the crystal that it was forged from was originally the "living embodiment of shadow". It could become the next Frostmourne.
Arturis Jul 28th 2010 11:44AM
I could be wrong, but it was my understanding that the crystal that Ashbringer was built around is actually a chunk of dead Naaru, and thus has both the potential for light and void energy.
Boz Jul 28th 2010 11:49AM
The creation of the Ashbringer is pretty sketchy.
Mograine: "Howdy-ho Silver Hand-erenos. Check it: I found a really, really evil crystal from a random dead warlock."
Silver Hand: "Ew, ew, ew; let's kill it!"
-zap-
Silver Hand: "Hey, it sucked up my spell; and it's pretty now. Ooh, shiny!"
Mograine: "Sweet, now it's a good crystal!"
Logic and Reason: "Maybe we should consider how quickly it switches between The Light and dark before we rely on a random crystal recovered from a dead warlock in our battles against evil. Also, it looks like it has a preference towards patricide."
Mograine: "Who invited you? Shut up, this weapon is going to be cool!"
Butthead: "Yeah, cool! Huh huh huh."
Beavis: "Fire! Heh heh heh."
Nina Katarina Jul 28th 2010 12:05PM
I thought it made him grow really, really tall. Tallest human I've ever met.
Eli Jul 28th 2010 12:05PM
@Boz
I cannot uprate this enough.
Hawkeye Jul 28th 2010 12:13PM
@ Boz
This was funny. I lol-ed.
Boz Jul 28th 2010 3:20PM
Ashbringer the Dad Slayer
The continued summary of the known history of the Ashbringer
Alexandros: "Phew, putting the smack-down on the undead of Stratholme is tiring! Son, would you hold the uncorruptable vanguard of Light, the Ashbringer, a sec while I wipe some of this heroic sweat off my brow?"
-Renault kills his Pop with Ashbringer-
Renault: "Boo-ya! My turn to shine now!"
-Ashbringer corrupted-
-Kel'Thuzad casts resurrection on Alexandros-
Renault: "Oh, uh, well this is awkward. I guess that- here ya go, Pop."
-Hands Ashbringer back to Alexandros-
Alexandros: "Wow, I never saw that coming from a random evil orb we cast Smite on once and forged into a sword. Well anyway, thanks for holding that for me, Son. At least now we know better than to put our trust in this thing."
Darion: "I'll take that!"
Alexandros: "What the-"
-Darion slays Alexandros with Ashbringer-
Alexandros: "Again?" (dies)
Spirit of Alexandros (pops out of sword): "This is ridiculous, give me that! Freakin' kids don't listen."
-Takes sword back from Darion, slays Renault-
Spirit of Alexandros: "You have something to say, Darion?"
Darion: "Oh, crap; sorry, Dad! Uh, maybe this will help?"
-Darion suicides with Corruper Ashbringer-
Spirit of Alexandros: "Alright, this is just getting silly." (Spirit redeemed)
-Kel'Thuzad casts resurrection on Darion-
Kel'Thuzad: "Welcome back, you mind holding on to this again?"
-Hands DK Darion Ashbringer-
DK Darion (rolls eyes): "Ugh, FINE."
Tirion Fordring yells: "Damn Mograines; give me that!"
-Snatches Ashbringer, Ashbringer purified-
DK Darion: "Woah! Look, YOU keep it. I got a spare sword that'll be perfectly usable with a little duct tape."
Tirion Fordring yells: "That's RIGHT, punk: You BETTER step off! Behold my sparkling armor and shiny teeth! Imma gonna turn this up to 11! Icecrown Citadel or bust!" (pauses) "But first- a Tournament!"
-Many Champions of the Alliance and Horde die needlessly in Tournament-
Tirion Fordring yells: "Alright, that was a wicked pissah, now ICC everyone; you guys that won the tournament go first, I'll meet you up at the throne!"
Arthas: "Fordring, I see your sword that consumes souls is as big as my sword that consumes souls."
-Arthas kills Champions-
Tirion Fordring yells: "Not cool, Arthas!"
-Fordring smashes Frostmourne with Ashbringer-
-Champions revived, kill Arthas-
-Champions loot and leave-
Tirion Fordring yells: "Hmm, Frostmourne had a nice hilt..."
Hellwraith Jul 28th 2010 11:08AM
Speaking of the Argent Crusade, what news does the beta leak regarding the Scarlet Crusade (or Onslaught)? Are there still some pockets of these guys or we can say they're completely vanished?
Moeru Jul 28th 2010 11:27AM
It's kinda stupid that we do this whole questline to find out one of Arthas' old nemesis is behind the Onslaught, saying he'll get revenge...and then he disappears. The Crusade's been crumbling since the end of Vanilla, and I'm unhappy with how it is now. Would be nice if it either got revived or just disassembled. Seems like in Lich King they got some more exposure with the DK starting area and in Dragonblight/Icecrown, but still they seem like a lot of passion and little else.
Pyromelter Jul 28th 2010 11:53AM
It's not so much a leak, but I heard on a podcast that a lot of the Scarlets are now officially gone, and are being raised as undead. This was specifically in reference to Stratholme, where the Scarlets that you killed a few years ago have now been raised as undead warriors (by Balnazzar maybe? I don't remember that detail). There was a note about Balnazzar shedding his human form and just being a demon in Strat, so I have to imagine that that is the case. That would leave just the western plaguelands and SM as holdouts for the Scarlets, so maybe if someone has been through there they can chime in.
Fallacy Jul 28th 2010 8:29PM
I just ran through Tyr's Hand last night on the Beta and, while all of the Scarlets there are still listed as "humanoid", but they were all undead models. I think it's possible that the creature type may change by launch.
Hellwraith Jul 28th 2010 7:10PM
Interesting, as Moeru said, I would really find it interesting if the SC would come back, perhaps with some twisted fanatism against hmmm don't know, Deathwing or something. As for what Pyromelter and Fallacy said, the whole undead thing is kinda weird, don't you guys think? I mean, Arthas was the main reason for weird undead things raising as soldiers for him. Now with Arthas gone, some demon is raising ONLY the SC guys? Let's hope when Cataclysm hits, there's a good lore behind the history of the SC.
Kallix Jul 28th 2010 10:57PM
It seems like the problem with the Scarlet Crusade is that Blizzard doesn't really have anywhere to go with them, especially now that the Lich King is dead, but removing them completely would mean they would have to get rid of the Scarlet Monastery, quite possibly the favourite instance of players in all of WoW.
It will be interesting to see if they've added in any real new storylines involving them in Cataclysm, or if they'll just slowly disappear from the game.
Henri Jul 29th 2010 9:42PM
Maybe, Bolvar realises that the SC are too crazy to stay alive and decides he knows best...