The Queue: Saturday, what a day
by Mathew McCurley 
Sep 25th 2010 at 4:00PM
Those were some adorable kittens Sacco posted, huh? Yay, it's Saturday! After this Queue I'm going to one of my favorite places for lunch, and I am eagerly awaiting some delicious spicy orange chicken lunch special. Mmmmm ... Stay on task, Mat! Stay on target!
Achnos asked:
As a newly transferred Alliance, what should I go see in the world? I'd like to experience the Alliance side a bit more, since I've been mostly Horde through these almost six years of WoW. Any quests, places, etc.?
In vanilla WoW, Alliance players swear by Duskwood (which rocks) as well as the Nathanos Blightcaller quest line. Portions of the Onyxia chain are also still around, and that whole adventure is completely awesome, filled with great lore and awesome events. I know a good amount of it is gone, but what's there is probably still fun.
As for Alliance content in the expansions, Northrend is one giant Alliance love-fest. Seriously, it's awesome. You get awesome lore about the humans, spectacular characters like Thassarian, and a host of cool quests. Experiencing Northrend as an Alliance character is pure joy.
Ornuk asked:
Question for The Queue: For most new zones, we've heard what the intro quests are, apart from Hyjal, unless I've missed it all this time. Is there a special intro quest to Hyjal like there is for Vashj'ir, Uldum etc., or is it simply, "Go there and pick up first quest"?
Hyjal's beginning quest starts you in Moonglade, where you are given instructions to fly on the back of a green drake to Ysera in Hyjal to prevent the summoning of Ragnaros and Deathwing's nefarious plans. While flying there, however, you find out that you're too late, and the Firelord's invasion has already begun. You witness Ragnaros' summoning and make it to Nordrassil to begin fighting back the elementals.
Haden asked:
What's the best place to get a Cataclysm Collector's Edition on release night? Should I wait in line or pre-order one? If I pre-order, where from? Would it maybe be better to just play it safe and pre-order one from something like Amazon.com? How many Collector's Editions do Gamestop, Target and Walmart get?
That's the beauty of pre-orders -- the stores usually get the number of copies that are pre-ordered. I never really worked for Gamestop, but I'm sure some commenters have and can give detailed information on how the pre-ordering works. Suffice it to say, I've never had a problem picking up a pre-order from Gamestop when I had successfully pre-ordered in time.
As for release-night collector's editions, I would find the most out-of-the-way, hidden big box store like Walmart or Target, because those stores have shelves of collector's editions available on release. Usually. Potentially. That's your best bet, really. Otherwise, if pre-orders are still going around, that will be your surefire way of getting the collector's edition at your local store. Amazon pre-orders will most likely get to your house on release day, unless otherwise noted, but not at the midnight launch.
Trever asked:
If tauren can be both druid and shaman, why not the night elves? I've said for a long time that it would be awesome if they could.
Tauren have a connection to both Mu'sha (Elune) and their Earthmother, two different types of faith that allow them to practice both the druidic arts and the shamanistic bond with the elements. Night elves, on the other hand, do not have the same belief system in the ancestors, spirits of the elements themselves and other shamanistic tendencies, and instead are "children of Elune," worshiping nature but not necessarily the spirits or the elements. That's the short lore explanation. Browse through some of our excellent Know Your Lore articles for a deeper explanation.
transrelativity asked:
Will completing "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" confer 310% flight after Cataclysm, or should I just give up now?
Most likely, yes.
Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW Insider 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 7)
MusedMoose Sep 25th 2010 4:09PM
Definitely agreed about pre-ordering if you want a Collector's Edition - I stopped by the local GameStop and put in my order the day after we got the news. I think they'll be doing a midnight launch thing too. Can't wait. All we need now is for Blizzard to announce the release date. ^_^
Wulfkin Sep 25th 2010 4:24PM
For those in London, going to the HMV midnight event almost guarantees you a Collector's Edition, that's what I did for Wrath. Pre-ordering through sites like Amazon doesn't guarantee you'll get one, just that they will try. I always want to have the thing in my hands.
johnyquestion Sep 25th 2010 4:31PM
i tried to pre-order the collector's edition this week from gamestop. i was told that they could not pre-order anymore collector's edition copies, but i could still pre-order the standard copy. they said that they are only sent a certain amount of collector's editions, and they had already reached the max (all three local gamestops told me the same thing). best buy was the same way, so i ordered it through wal-mart's online store.
Brainded Sep 25th 2010 5:11PM
Ah, Gamestop. I don't personally play Starcraft, but I have several friends who do. They pre-ordered SC II, and asked Gamestop if they were having any midnight release event for it. They were told, "We only do that for BIG games, like Halo."
/facepalm
Brainded Sep 25th 2010 5:15PM
Oh, and Amazon is showing their scheduled ship date for Cataclysm as November 23. Don't know if that means anything, but it's there. Quote: "Available for Pre-order. This item will be released on November 23, 2010." Then on the main item page, it notes that the release date and price have not been announced by the publisher.
Azbulldog Sep 25th 2010 5:19PM
Yeah I tried to get a preorder at Gamestop but they were full, after only about 9 copies the employee said. I got the WotLK Collector's Edition there last time though. Instead I went over to Play N Trade, a similar smaller chain store, and preordered it there. It costs $10 down, and you can pay the rest later.
Kroof Sep 25th 2010 6:52PM
Everyone likes to go to gamestop to buy their games. I hate this.
They can only pre-order so many copies per location and not all locations are open til midnight on release day.
The advice about visiting a big box store is spot on. May Wal-Marts are open 24 hours so there is a possible solution.
If you're not worried about picking up your collector's edition until regular store hours stores like Best Buy or Fry's are perfect.
For Wrath I was worried about pre-orders and had heard things about there not being enough produced to meet demand. Then the day of launch I walked into a Fry's only to see a humongous pyramid of Collector Edition boxes. Took less than 10 minutes from the time I parked to the time I pulled away. No silly lines in the cold and rain.
Aftermathmatical Sep 25th 2010 7:01PM
I work for gamestop, and they've stopped pre-orders on cataclysm, they stopped more than a month ago. Even though there is no release date they stopped.
There have been many times people pre-ordered the collector's edition, or the legendary edition of something, and then decided to get the normal, and never cancel their pre-order so Gamestop is taking a new stance on that. I'm sure this is not at all Gamestop's but its not just at my store either. So find one that still does it or better yet, pre-order from somewhere other than Gamestop.
It seems kinda silly to me cause its better to have a few extra collector's to sell than get less pre-orders, but its their company so they do what they want. I hate it for guys who come in super excited like they got in just in time to pre-order, and find out 3 months before their game is coming out that we're not taking collector's pre-orders. :(
If you pre-order one from Gamestop, trust me they'll 99% of the time have it. But if you want collector's, and they aren't taking it, just go pre-order from amazon or something.
Ken Sep 25th 2010 7:31PM
With apologies to any Gamestop employees, don't bother pre-ordering amything from Gamestop. Gamestop has the nasty habit of making items seem more rare than they are, pulling you into the pre-order craze. Our local Fry's STILL has WotLK Collector's Editions on the shelf, and up until about 6 months ago, had the BC Collector's Edition. Gamestop creates their own scarcity. If this release is like the others, you'll have no problem walking into any place other than Gamestop, and getting the Collector's Ed.
Natsumi Sep 25th 2010 8:07PM
@Johny
I used to work for Gamestop and I have to say that for the big releases with REAL collector's editions you HAVE to go the day that they are announced or you will not be getting one. Wrath was "sold out" in about 2 hours around me, and I have 3 GameStops less than a mile from me, 14 are "close by", and about 30 in the region. I think MAYBE 2 of them lasted the first day.
Murmel Oct 3rd 2010 9:20PM
This isn't about collector's editions, but it's similiar.
If i want to buy just a regular edition of cataclysm, would I have to pre-order If i want it on release day, or would i be able to walk into a store like Futureshop or EB Games on release day (not at the midnight release) and just pick one up?
Flint Sep 25th 2010 4:11PM
No idea if this was brought up on the last comments thread, but another 'essential' Alliance experience is the Missing Diplomat questline, lasting about 10 levels (minimum requirement wise) and going through several zones: http://www.wowwiki.com/The_Missing_Diplomat_quest_chain
Banthis Sep 25th 2010 4:37PM
Which is the Onyxia questline...
Grubba Sep 25th 2010 5:14PM
Ultimately, Onyxia was behind all of it, but this chain is not part of the Onyxia attunement chain (or what's left of it), and it ends before actually connecting to Onyxia in any way.
Mayhew Sep 25th 2010 5:27PM
"Which is the Onyxia questline..."
No, they are completely different. The Onyxia questline wasn't accessible until you were in your low 50s, and it started in Burning Steppes with the quest Dragonkin Menace. That quest is no longer in the game, so I'm guessing that the alliance can no longer complete any portion of the old Onyxia questline.
As for the Missing Diplomat, that quest chain starts from Thomas in the SW cathedral, and you can begin the chain in your mid-20s. The original chain that has existed since vanilla WoW was incomplete, but the second half of the storyline was added in Theramore, when they revamped the Dustwallow Marsh zone. It is definitely one of the better leveling questlines for the Alliance, these days.
Jack Miles Sep 25th 2010 6:12PM
Shame both those quests are missing their endings. The Missing Diplomat doesn't suffer quite as badly, but who the hell wants to do Jailbreak without The Great Masquerade?
Gamer am I Sep 25th 2010 4:11PM
"Will completing "What A Long, Strange Trip It's Been" confer 310% flight after Cataclysm, or should I just give up now?
Most likely, yes."
I believe they once said that anyone with a 310% speed mount will get the 310% upgrade for free, so I don't imagine why it wouldn't.
Docseuzz Sep 25th 2010 4:21PM
I think he was being deliberately elusive, as he was given an A or B question and just said 'yes'.... :)
niko Sep 25th 2010 4:27PM
In beta, I xferred my paladin with the Long, Strange, Trip achievement and mounted my tourney mount to find out: Tooltip says 310% on what is now a 280% mount.
Confirmed!
(cutaia) Sep 25th 2010 4:29PM
I don't think he was being elusive. The question wasn't really whether or not having a 310% mount will give you the training for free. We know that's true. It's a given. It was more, "Will completing that meta achievement after Cataclysm still award a 310% mount in the first place?"
Technically, we don't know *for sure* if it will or not. BUT the developers have always kind of wanted the 310% mount to be either through something really difficult or really time consuming, and the time involved in What a Long Strange Trip won't change. So, "most likely" is really the only answer.