The Queue: Me, myself and everybody else
by Alex Ziebart 
Aug 30th 2010 at 11:00AM
Today's edition of The Queue is very us-centric. Since you guys asked many questions about the staff here at WoW.com yesterday, I decided to try and knock them all out at one time. So if you hate our staff and all that we stand for, you might not enjoy this post! However, I'd like to think you don't hate us and in fact love us. We love you, too.
Gossamer asked:
"It seems like nearly every article on WoW.com has a spoiler warning on it recently. This got me to thinking, how does the WoW.com staff feel about spoilers? Are there any surprises left for you? Is there anything you've kept from yourself so you can experience it on release day?"
It is impossible to keep ourselves from being spoiled, even if we wanted to do so. We make sure to put spoiler tags on critical lore moments in the story of an expansion to give all of you the choice of skipping it, but we typically don't get the option of skipping spoilers. Not only do we need to be in the know regarding major expansion events, we're also constantly exposed to other sources of spoilers -- other websites, the comments section on our site, the emails that come in our tip line and all of those other methods of communication we keep open between our readers and ourselves. We often know about major game events months in advance and it is rare that we go looking for that information. It comes to us.
We've intentionally not posted about really world-shattering spoilers before because we didn't want to ruin the surprise for everybody else. If it's in the game files, we consider it fair game because anybody with an MPQ reader can see what's in those files ... If it isn't in the game files, our editorial staff has very long, heated conversations about whether or not we should ruin the surprise. Generally, we decide to not say anything, even if it would benefit us (as far as traffic is concerned) to dump the spoiler. Of course, we can't convince the other sites to play by the same rules, so if they end up spoiling what we were trying to keep secret ... well, that's how it goes. And then there isn't much point to us staying quiet anymore after that.
The only way to avoid being horribly spoiled while working at WoW.com is to completely cut off communication. Don't read your email, don't come into our team's little newsroom, all of that sort of thing. If you do that, you're probably not doing your job effectively and then you'll have even bigger problems than being spoiled. We work in online media. Refusing to open your email is equivalent to going to your 9-to-5 and throwing all of your work out of a window instead of actually working.
Now, it isn't all bad. We're not abused bloggers being barraged with unwanted spoilers. Being spoiled doesn't actually ruin the game for us. The entire staff geeks out together when we get some truly delicious news or find something really cool in the game files. We don't spoil things because we're cruel people with black, black hearts trying to suck everybody's enjoyment out of the game. The news that gets posted fastest is the news that excites us the most.
Ted asked:
"Have we, will we or can we see the actual real-life faces of the WoW.com writers?"
Some of our writers (Matt Rossi, Mike Sacco) get their faces plastered on the site constantly. Others have their faces in our extremely outdated About the Bloggers series. If you're going to BlizzCon, you'll be able to see many of us in person.
So I guess the answer is either "sometimes" or "maybe."
Task asked a few questions:
"I posted a question awhile back regarding Alex Ziebart's surname and its supposed relation to the automotive company with the same name. I never did find out if it was family business or just coincidence."
I'm fairly sure I did answer this question, but it was probably in the comments and not The Queue itself. It's just coincidence, I don't have any relation to that company at all. If I do, it's extremely distant and any link might as well not exist.
"Will Ms. Harper be attending this year's BlizzCon as a farewell/get-together/super awesome party?"
Yes, Miss Liz is going to be at BlizzCon. She will even be at our BlizzCon meetup, which we're going to announce officially very soon!
Oh, and before I close this out, you can thank one of my raidmates for the header image on this article, though Deathy was not the original subject of Ms. Gnome's unending love.
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 5)
devilsei Aug 30th 2010 11:06AM
Personally, I've been wondering where the [/local] disappeared to, been a while since I last saw that, always had the little nuggets I seemed to miss when reading articles...
(cutaia) Aug 30th 2010 11:21AM
They retired that column. Sadly.
devilsei Aug 30th 2010 11:26AM
Ahhh, tis a shame... don't remember ever seeing any announcements or the like...
(cutaia) Aug 30th 2010 11:47AM
Yeah...they didn't really do an official announcement. Sacco just responded in a comment section awhile back:
http://www.wow.com/2010/08/11/the-queue-mike-sacco-vs-the-world-of-warcraft/comments/29813308/
Qot Aug 30th 2010 11:47AM
Is there any way to directly subscribe to (cutaia)'s comments then?
[1. Local] was the primary way I found all the great (cutaia) comments I missed in normal reading.
Darky Aug 30th 2010 2:01PM
Click on (cutaia's) name and it shows you all of his/her comments. :)
devilsei Aug 30th 2010 2:03PM
Wouldn't it just be easier to make a (cutaia).com though dark?
Iirdan Aug 30th 2010 3:55PM
(cutaia) Insider.
MrJackSauce Aug 30th 2010 8:16PM
@(cutaia) Stop creating new accounts to make yourself look cool! Even though you know that your comments are awesome and I would subscribe to such a feed but still; your ego knows no bounds !!!!! :P
/cries at not being as cool in the interwebs
Arizor Aug 30th 2010 11:08AM
/target Wow.comstaff
/hug
Arizor Aug 30th 2010 11:14AM
And about Deathloc, I mean who WOULDNT been madly in love with him?
MrgglglrrlgrlrrrlgROOAARIWILLDESTROYYOUANDALLTHATYOULOVErlrgrrrlglrrrrggglr
Anon Aug 30th 2010 12:02PM
Don't give them any ideas!
Racing the dragon at the login screen is bad enough. I don't want to be hearing Deathwing chase a herd of murlocs around the Wetlands.
bui Aug 30th 2010 11:14AM
Dear the Queue,
I am considering starting a new toon on an RP server and giving that a shot. My question to you is, how easy do you think it is starting on a server with zero support ? I know people do it all the time but do they stick with those new toons or do they go back ? I mean I'm not cutting my mains out of the picture or any such thing, I just wanted to know how much easier/difficult it is starting over.
N-train Aug 30th 2010 11:28AM
It's actually far easier than you think it will be! I recently started my first Alliance character (on the same server, but with no gold or heirlooms sent over), and I found myself making more than enough gold to keep up a profession and buy riding at level. The dungeon finder helps a lot with this, as it gives you good and sellable gear, as well as a fair amount of gold.
If you want to play it safe, pick up a gathering proffession and sell your cloth, and you will be fine.
As for me, I found the experience of starting over to be quite enjoyable, especially without the rush of heirlooms, it made me think back to when I first started the game. It's not like my new character is going to be my new main or even make it to 80, but whenever I need a break it's nice to have it.
Zuljo Aug 30th 2010 11:28AM
I've done this a few times. It's easy if you've played for a while because you know all the best places to quest, how to work the AH etc etc.
However I just don't have a very large attention span and tend to get bored with the-
Oh look, a bunny!
Phaelan Aug 30th 2010 11:39AM
I've done it a couple times...what usually happens is I go back and forth for a while playing my old toons and new ones. This time I've xfered one of my 80's with all the BoA gear I'd bought and a bunch of gold as incentive to keep playing on that server.
David Aug 30th 2010 11:40AM
I started a new character on a fresh RP server for myself and found myself having no trouble. Actually just by RPing, my first encounter with another character netted me 25 gold from a very kind blood elf who was trying to earn the respect of my brother & sister taurens. My advice as a new character starting out is just pick up the gathering professions and even selling things like "Small eggs" can earn you some nice money.
Meatwadz Aug 30th 2010 11:48AM
Personally, I find it liberating! The challenge is refreshing and as a bonus you get to choose your new friends/guild based entirely on what YOU LIKE, without being held back or roped in by RL or in-game friends that are probably the reason you want to reroll ;)
Qot Aug 30th 2010 12:01PM
I started a couple of characters on a new server about halfway through the expansion. RL was preventing regular raiding, but I could jump on and level for an hour or so when I had time. I didn't want to level on the same server (otherwise I'd be acutely reminded about all the awesome raiding I couldn't commit to), so I headed off to Arygos for a brief bit.
Here was my protocol (which worked really well):
1) Create the character you want. Don't log in.
2) Roll a death knight. Not as "the character I want", but as a seed character. Do the entry quests as quickly as possible.
3) Learn mining. Run around Elwynn/Durotar mining for a few hours. Sell copper on the AH.
4) Take the money from those auctions and buy four netherweave bags. Use the rest to play the AH or keep as an emergency reserve fund (you'll need it while leveling).
5) Send the bags to your new toon, enjoy leveling.
It's also nice to have a level 58-60 DK because of the holiday dailies. I think I got a gold per quest for doing 30 seconds of juggling during Fire Festival. Not a huge amount if you're an 80, but if you only have a level 17, any gold is huge...
I did end up going back to my original main, not because he was already semi-geared (honestly, I was in Naxx gear during ToC, so gearing up either him or my new 80 would've taken exactly the same amount of time), but because I missed the people in my guild. Not that the people of Arygos are mean or anything, it's just hard to find as a great group of people as my guild.
legolas3265 Aug 30th 2010 12:50PM
When I started a new toon on a different server, My professions were mining and jewelcrafting. I earned about 100 gold before level 20. Its not much, but way more than you need to start. Low level rings and necklaces always sell quick....imo