The Queue: Min-maxing archaeology
by Alex Ziebart 
Dec 13th 2010 at 11:00AM
What does one do after hitting level 85? Spend three straight days digging up rocks, of course. Zin'rokh, you will be mine. Even if your model is upside down now.
MoarHeroisms asked:
What's a good time to use the green archaeology fragments to solve artifacts? Is it a good idea to use a handful at once?
I think it's a matter of personal preference. If you save it for when a rare discovery pops up on your archaeology panel, you'll be able to learn that rare discovery faster. If you use them as fast as you can and as early as you can, it will get you through the commons faster for a chance at a rare. Which is better? I'm not sure yet. Personally, I use my greens right away, but that might not be the best way.
Vorenos asked:
Quick poll: What's your favorite Cataclysm instance so far?
Vortex Pinnacle. I think WoW's djinn are somewhat silly, but Vortex Pinnacle is absolutely beautiful, and Altairus has very cool mechanics. It's even more exciting on heroic.
Grim Batol is fun, but I'm not a big fan of the drake bombing run. Screwing that up can add a good extra 30 minutes on a run, and at that point, you might as well start the instance over and try again. It's just too punishing if you screw it up. It's not like wiping, running back, and reassessing a boss. It makes the entire instance significantly longer. Don't get me wrong, I love the instance and think the mechanic is really neat; it's just too punishing if you do poorly.
The bosses in Grim Batol are great too. The ettin, Forgemaster Throngus, is basically just a redo of Pit of Saron's Forgemaster Garfrost wherein the weapon swap mechanic actually matters. I think that's cool. Plus I've always wanted more bosses that make use of their shields.
Enigma asked:
In the beta, worgen had an awesome animation when switching to human form (not from). First one arm changed, then the other, then in a back-arched howl the rest would go. Now we just have a *poof-you're-a-worgen* thing.
What happened?!
Nothing happened. It's still there. The only time it doesn't happen is when you transform in combat, because you probably don't want to be stunned and stuck in a long transformation sequence when you're getting ganked and/or trying to fight something. If you transform manually, it will play the transformation animation in full.
Henrah asked:
One of the first few quests in Hyjal has you transport Fandral Staghelm from his prison to the Emerald Dream. Why exactly was Fandral imprisoned in the first place? Is there any in-game lore or event that I missed to explain this?
Unfortunately, no. That entire scenario is explained in the recent Stormrage novel. Blizzard hasn't put much effort into keeping players that haven't read the novels in the loop. I'd hoped they wouldn't have repeated the Obsidian Sanctum error, but they sure as heck did.
If you don't want to be spoiled on the end of the Stormrage novel, stop reading now.
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, Archaeology
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
alcohol Dec 13th 2010 11:05AM
Poll for The Queue: Who is older Thrall or Garrosh?
A. Thrall is older according to all the characters in WoW who call Garros young.
B. Garrosh is older because he was born before Grom drank the blood of Mannoroth and before the Dark Portal was opened and Thrall was born on Azeroth after the First War.
C. I don't care. Lore is stupid. Gimme fat lootz!!!11
Halgrimur Dec 13th 2010 11:28AM
It is strange.
The whole Mag'Har lore is VERY interesting and thanks to Archaeology, well revealed in-game.
You are correct though, Grom was the first orc to drink Mannoroth's blood and turn the Horde into bloodthirsty, rape-and-pillage destroyers of Azeroth, and Garrosh was already born by then, whereas Thrall was not. If I remember correctly, Thrall was still very young when he escaped from Durnholde and that was after the Second War. Perhaps, Garrosh is considered "young" because he was relatively unknown 'till Thrall brought him back from Outlands and the fact that he was whiny and refusing to accept the responsibility that the position of the Leader of Mag'Har would bring (When the player arrives in Nagrand, we discover than the Greatmother is dying). Garrosh really is a much deeper character than people give the writer's credit for.
Ice Dec 13th 2010 11:28AM
Garrosh could be older. Hes just inexperienced "noob" so thats why the orcs might call him young. Young in wisdom and so forth, maybe not psychically.
Candina@WH Dec 13th 2010 11:37AM
Does Time flow at the same rate in outland as in Azeroth?
That to me is an interesting question. If time moves more slowly in Outlands, relative to Azeroth, then Garrosh COULD be both 'older' and 'younger' than Thrall [older in Az, younger in physical development].
On the other hand, the 'younger' could just be in reference to his Petulent, whiney, childish personality.
roseclown Dec 13th 2010 12:00PM
I think it is because while he is older than Thrall, the fact is that no one is going to call Thrall young after he lead wars, established the new Horde, and so on and so forth.
Garrosh? Stuck in the middle of nowhere on Garadar for most of his life.
Age wise, they are prolly both considered young. Experience wise, Thrall is head and shoulders above Garrosh.
And then the characters who dislike Garrosh call him young because he acts like a two year old throwing a temper tantrum at times.
Goren Dec 13th 2010 12:04PM
Thrall is probably younger but he most likely isn't called young as a respect type thing since he is the warchief and a shaman.
REDMJOEL Dec 13th 2010 12:49PM
Time flowing at a different rate may help explain why we're going back in time when we do Outland, also. Although that's a little TOO convenient.
snowleopard233 Dec 13th 2010 12:35PM
(http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/1253416370#1)
(Easy, just figure out many candles are on his cake)
Baker: Okay, there it is. Garrosh’s birthday cake. Standing at an impressive six stories tall.
Peon: A cake fit for a warcheif. What flavor is it?
Baker: Gnome.
Peon: Ah.
Baker: Well, guess there’s nothing left to do but put on the candles.
Peon: How many do you need?
Baker: (scaling a ladder up the side of the cake) Oh, well let’s see. We’re going to need one for each year so that would be…uh…(looks back down at Peon)….twen…thirt…ortyish?
Peon: (eyes widening in horror) no it’s more like…wait…it would have to be like…he’s like thirty. Right?
Baker: Dude, are you just guessing or do you really know for sure? We can’t screw this up!
Peon: (Looks around frantically and sees a grunt passing by) Hey, my man! Do you know how old the warcheif is?
Grunt: Um, like he’s got to be at least in his early thirties. Yeah, yeah like…he looks like he’s in his thirties.
Baker: But then why does everyone keep remarking on how young and reckless he is?
Grunt: Hey, hey. Hold up. Thirty is still young. You can be reckless and young at thirty.
Peon: Are you kidding me? Thirty is not young. My cousin’s thirty and he’s got a mate, two kids and a hut.
Grunt: (defensively) Well, some people aren’t willing to rush into things, okay? Listen, I’m not really a good judge of age when it comes to mag’har anyway. It’s like they go straight from being young to old men overnight.
Baker: Whoa! That’s a little bit racist.
Peon: All I know is he at least has to be younger than Thrall. They got that whole “responsible older brother/psychotic younger brother that’s a fury warrior” dynamic going on.
Baker: But then why is Garrosh brown whereas Thrall is green? That means Garrosh would have to have been conceived before Thrall.
Peon: Gross!
Baker: And why does Thrall have more hair whereas Garrosh is bald?
Grunt: (adjusting his helmet) Hey, it’s not uncommon for some orcs to go bald…earlier than others…
Peon: So, wait. How old is Thrall then?
Baker: (now descending the ladder and counting his fingers) Well, let’s do the math. He was born two years after the black portal.
Grunt: But how many years has it been since the black portal?
Peon: I don’t know. I’m not even sure how many years it’s been since we’ve killed the Lich King.
Baker: Well, it’s been enough time for Anduin Wrynn to hit puberty.
Grunt: Yeah and he looks like he’s at least thirteen.
Baker: Isn’t he kind of short though? I remember being a lot taller at that age.
Peon: Who are we even talking about anymore!?!
Baker: I need a timeline!!!
Grunt: I’ve wasted my youth!!!
Garrosh: The cake looks nice.
(All three of the orcs turn around to face their warchief)
Baker, Peon, and Grunt (In unison): HOW OLD ARE YOU?!?!?
Garrosh:….(shrugs) twenty-one?
….
Baker: …(sighs) Works for me.
(The four orcs sit on the steps of the Great Hall working their way through a keg of Dhron’s Brew)
Peon: Happy Birthday, you immature @#^%*.
Alanid Dec 13th 2010 12:37PM
actualy age doesn't affect your maturity, Thrall will have wisened up and become very mature from leading his people through a lot of crap, while Garrosh was just moping about how awful his life was for years.
NightRayne Dec 13th 2010 2:11PM
@snowleopard233
Thats was so funny I laughed till I cried.
Thanks
F. Somalia Dec 13th 2010 2:12PM
I think Thrall should...
*distracted by fat lootz*
Alassiel Dec 13th 2010 2:37PM
@snowleopard233
I love you. You made me laugh so hard when I really, really needed it.
Totally awesome.
Were you the one who posted it on the forums, or did you just find it and paste it here?
snowleopard233 Dec 13th 2010 3:43PM
@Alassiel
I originally posted it about a week ago in the story forums. I’ve been reading the Shattering and it’s so confusing how everyone keeps referring to Garrosh as young and brash, yet they never really pinpoint how old he is. There’s not even an exact date of his birth given on wowwiki. He’s like one of those Cuban little leaguers who can play in the twelve year old division when they’re nineteen because no one has a birth certificate lol
Shoikler Dec 13th 2010 3:50PM
People don't call Thrall young because he has one of those "old soul" things going on. You know, like that guildie you thought was 45 until you got into vent with him and discovered he was still a teenager. "Dude, you were recommending fiber supplements in chat!"
Garrosh is more like that mouthy kid bragging in Trade, you know, the one everyone thought was twelve but turned out to be twenty-three (and still living with mom and dad).
alcohol Dec 13th 2010 4:43PM
Hello everybody and thanks for your answers. As some of you might know I posted this question about 4 times already but never got as many and as conclusive replies.
I think we have reached the conclusion that Garrosh is older than Thrall but the later is more mature and responsible. In the past some The Queue readers answered Thrall is older and I want you to know I respect your opinion, I mean that's why i made a poll to see how many people agree with each option.
@snowleopard233
Thanks for that awesome answer, man. I'm grad to see more people asked themselves this question. Also I found on wowpedia.org and wowwiki.com some information about Garroshs possible birthday. I have to point out it is only a possible birthday.
Garrosh was sent to Garadar before Gromash drank the blood of Mannoroth and that is more than 5 years before the First War. The First War lasted about a year so ,Thrall who was born after the war, is at least 6 years younger. Now the only variable is the age Garrosh had when he got the red pox, but i personally don't think he was older than 3 years. This information is purely speculation so don't quote me on it.
Thanks again for your participation in this poll everyone and I promise I won't bother The Queue with this question again.
Crimson Dec 14th 2010 4:58AM
@ snowleopard233
You sir, are win.
Stella Dec 13th 2010 11:06AM
I guess we'll find out son enough but can anyone confirm if the Spectral reputation mounts from Tol Barad are Ground or Flying?
Nathanyel Dec 13th 2010 11:35AM
Well I haven't seen them in use yet, and I'm too lazy to look them up on Wowhead, but judging from the fact they're cheaper on the vendor, and that a wolf with wings would look wery er very silly, I'd say ground.
Bronwyn Dec 13th 2010 12:27PM
I'm fairly certain they're ground mounts as none of the pictures I've seen of them have wings.
Pyromelter Dec 13th 2010 1:12PM
Pvp mounts tend to be ground mounts, except for arena/rated bg seasonal reward mounts. The ones you get from vendors, they are ground mounts. (Think black war mammoth, alterac ram/frostwolf howler, etc.)