The Queue: Talbuk surfing
by Michael Sacco 
Nov 5th 2010 at 11:00AM
Surfboards? Passé. The latest extreme sport is surfing on alien ungulates.
Grovin asked:
Not being in the beta, I was wondering what the current status is on the storage space issues related to tabards, backpacks and banks (as brought up here)?
Right now there's no new news relating to inventory space. Blizzard has said that it's exploring options for tabard storage, but we haven't heard anything else since.
Gerardthepriest asked:
Does WoW Insider have editorial standards on the serial (aka Oxford or Harvard) comma? Fox's last column could have been improved by a serial comma, I felt. Do I need to start a campaign in favor of freedom, equality, and the serial comma?
Actually, yeah; our style guide doesn't allow the use of the Oxford comma. I try to slip them in without Lisa noticing, but every time she does catch one, she puts a pin into a little voodoo doll fashioned from locks of my hair she snipped off at the reader meetup.
No, seriously, Lisa. Please let me use Oxford commas. When I receive Time's Man of the Year award, I want to thank my parents, Jimi Hendrix, and Martha Stewart. I do not want to thank my parents, Jimi Hendrix and Martha Stewart.
Rexplode asked:
Has Blilzzard announced what its stance will be on race-changing to the new races?
It looks like race changes will be open very soon after Cataclysm's launch, if not immediately. The realm-first worgen/goblin achievements were recently updated with the condition that only allow characters who've completed their respective starting zones can receive them. There'd be no reason to do this unless race changes would be available very, very quickly.
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 12)
Alex Ziebart Nov 5th 2010 6:52AM
Damn you, AP Stylebook! *shakes fist*
chris crouse Nov 5th 2010 11:05AM
You just wanted to be first :P
Eli Nov 5th 2010 11:05AM
Ninja-commenting again, eh?
Alex Ziebart Nov 5th 2010 11:11AM
Perk of the job, my friends.
Nadi Nov 5th 2010 11:57AM
Not only does proper punctuation convey meaning, but it also saves lives:
Case 1:
Let's eat, grandma!
Let's eat grandma!
Case 2:
A panda walks into a café. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and proceeds to fire it at the other patrons.
'Why?' asks the confused, surviving waiter amidst the carnage, as the panda makes towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.
'Well, I'm a panda,' he says, at the door. 'Look it up.'
The waiter turns to the relevant entry in the manual and, sure enough, finds an explanation. 'Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.'
From /Eats, Shoots & Leaves/: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eats,_Shoots_%26_Leaves
mathias Nov 5th 2010 12:19PM
Here's a question about all this punctuation business: Why does the Queue not love Vampire Weekend?
Also,
Who gives a f@ck about an oxford comma?
Dameblanche Nov 5th 2010 12:23PM
Bah, the upgrading of comments is inadequate. When I read "Eats, shoots and leaves", Nadi's comment was already blue. So there was no way to extra reward the fact that I've startled my neighbors with a burst of laughter that lasted for minutes.
WTB the option to turn a comment into sparkly rainbow colors.
Thundrcrackr Nov 5th 2010 12:26PM
Question for The Queue:
Is there anything you can do to limit the amount of unrelated chit chat in the Queue comments section? So those of us who are actually trying to leave a question (or answer) aren't immediately buried on page 6, and have to reply to an earlier, unrelated comment just to be seen?
(i'm being semi-sarcastic, i know there probably isn't anything you can do about it. It'd just be nice if people helped keep these threads open for people trying to ask/answer questions.) =)
Omenemo Nov 5th 2010 12:29PM
@mathias
would someone perhaps be referencing a certain song?
mathias Nov 5th 2010 12:33PM
@Omenemo
I would be referencing a song; a song that just so happens to be titled "Oxford Comma."
Claire Nov 5th 2010 2:49PM
I feel blessed that when I worked for a newspaper that used the AP Stylebook, we had wise copy editors who recognized the glory of the Oxford comma. One can always override the Associated Press; one must simply be thoughtful, clear, and consistent in doing so.
Fox Van Allen Nov 5th 2010 3:41PM
every time I try revolting, it just gets edited out :(
tulipblossom Nov 5th 2010 3:58PM
Oh man, I love the serial comma! It wasn't until I got older that I even realized there was any other way to write a sentence. It's how I was taught to punctuate, as a child. And, for the longest time, I thought not using one was incorrect.
Jeremy Nov 5th 2010 4:36PM
I am a staunch serial comma hater. The only time you should use them is for clarity's sake, as in the "parents, Jimi Hendrix, and Martha Stewart" example. The AP Stylebook is the best thing ever (at least, now that it's "website" instead of "Web site").
Viper007Bond Nov 5th 2010 5:34PM
A really great book on punctuation is "Eats, Shoots & Leaves". I know a book on punctuation sounds boring, but it really isn't.
My personal opinion is that one should write in a method that provides clarity rather than trying to stay true to some antiquated rule book. As such, I always use the Oxford comma.
On a side note, notice how I left the period outside of the quotation mark in my first paragraph. That's another thing that annoys me -- why should the period be inside of the quote if it's not a part of the quote. It introduces ambiguity.
Carson Nov 5th 2010 5:50PM
And here I was thinking "the Oxford comma" was a euphemism for a particularly heinous sex act.
pancakes Nov 5th 2010 7:36PM
I've always thought the whole point of the vampire weekend song was that people spend too much time arguing about the little, & unimportant things in life, their example being punctuation. Ironic really.
( btw, I love my punctuation, I'm just analysing things.)
sayling Nov 6th 2010 11:25AM
@Viper
"My personal opinion is that one should write in a method that provides clarity rather than trying to stay true to some antiquated rule book. As such, I always use the Oxford comma."
Personally, I hate the Oxford Comma, unless it is used to provide clarity. So using it all the time kind of grates. Flexibility is the key
Frostymage Nov 6th 2010 1:36PM
i'd much rather be a kiwi. A kiwi eats roots & leaves :P
Sleutel Nov 8th 2010 8:15PM
The AP Stylebook has a number of rules, decided on back when space was at a premium for newspaper publishers, that are now obsolete, especially for online publishing. You're not going to run out of little metal commas if you use too many of them in composing your blog post.
Given that even styles that "don't"* use the Oxford comma allow for its use in cases of ambiguity, it's even more ridiculous to not use it all the time. After all, the goal of all stylebooks is *consistency*. As in the examples above, I shouldn't read a phrase that can go two ways and wonder if its current meaning are because someone simply failed to include the final comma in a series.
Final note: I really wish people would stop raving about Eats, Shoots and Leaves. I'm a massive language nerd, and I found it obnoxious and overrated.
*Note: Yes, those are supposed to be quotation marks; no, they're not being used for emphasis.