The Queue: The blame game
by Alex Ziebart 
Jan 3rd 2011 at 11:00AM
Today's Queue is going to be another short one. I blame Mike Sacco, because that's what I do.
Jack Spicer asked:
I've been running a lot of low-level dungeons using the dungeon finder lately, and I'm wondering about something. The rare item that you pull out of the goody bag you get from completing a random dungeon, the stats on the item seem random, but the type of item -- ring, pants, etc. -- seem pre-determined. Are they? If so, how? Any helpful links?
The rewards you get from the satchel are determined by level. Wowpedia says the following:
- Level 25: Back / Waist
- Level 35: Neck / Hands
- Level 45: Shoulder / Finger
- Level 55: Wrist / Feet
- Level 60: Back / Waist
- Level 64: Neck / Hands
- Level 70: Shoulder / Finger
So what's the deal with engineering in Cataclysm? We're missing the most important part of the profession: bombs.
You know, I was confused about that, too. I switched to engineering at the tail end of Wrath because bombs are awesome, but Cataclysm doesn't have any? What is the deal? Where's my grenade-y goodness?
The answer lies in the High-Powered Bolt Gun. The tooltip suggests that it's a single-target ability like the Tazik Shocker tinker, but it isn't. It's a small, targeted AOE, just like the grenades. Instead of mass producing bombs every day, you can just farm up some Obsidium and turn it all into bolts. Be warned, however, that using the Tazik Shocker tinker will put your Bolt Gun on a short cooldown.
Kolonus asked:
Everyone knows how to resurrect Aeris and get her to rejoin their party, right?
You are a very cruel person.
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: Analysis / Opinion, The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
Andrew R. Jan 3rd 2011 11:10AM
Blizzard said that archeology can be easily expanded. Does that mean we will see more artifacts from different races in the future? I was disappointed we don't have any gnome artifacts or blood elf artifacts.
Also. The forsaken were once human. Does that mean there would be no artifacts from the forsaken, just humans?
Imnick Jan 3rd 2011 11:14AM
I don't think the forsaken have really been around long enough to generate their own artifacts.
It's only in Wrath of the Lich King (in canon, about the last five years or so?) that they've even started building their own houses or forming an individual culture instead of just leeching off the remnants of Lordaeron.
Basically you can do Forsaken Archaeology if you want, but don't be suprised when you find out that the only artifacts around are still in the posession of their owners.
Tazibah Jan 3rd 2011 11:18AM
Blood Elves were once Night Elves, hence Night Elven archaeology finds are as much Blood Elven as they are Night Elven.
You are correct about the forsaken, as they have only existed for less than a decade.
You raise a good point about the Gnomes though, i think blizzard just hasn't put much effort into their history.
bandwee Jan 3rd 2011 11:22AM
Well, the forsaken as a race has only existed for the few years in-game since they broke away from the Lich King. The only way an archaeologist would find relics of the Forsaken would be if they either ran around burying all their knick-knacks to be dug up in the immediate future, or got sent back in time by the bronze dragonflight to ancient azeroth. Which is about as ridiculous as alien goat-men showing up in spaceships!
Cyrus Jan 3rd 2011 11:23AM
"Blizzard said that archeology can be easily expanded. Does that mean we will see more artifacts from different races in the future? I was disappointed we don't have any gnome artifacts or blood elf artifacts.
Also. The forsaken were once human. Does that mean there would be no artifacts from the forsaken, just humans?"
Right, probably no Forsaken artifacts, and blood elf artifacts should logically be called high elf artifacts and appear here and there in Kalimdor, not just northern Lordaeron. We don't know for sure whether they would, but that would make the most sense.
I've been disappointed by archaeology so far, but then, I only have 90 points in it; I haven't even actually made anything yet. Still, though, in a setting with 10 playable races and probably at least 20 intelligent races/species with their own culture and stuff, only eight types of artifacts seems like very few. And of course, I've only seen four of them so far. With 90 points into cooking, leatherworking or any other profession I can make dozens of different things that are useful, at least at low levels, but with 90 points in archaeology I... have found two keystones so far.
rich.krzem Jan 3rd 2011 11:25AM
It was my understanding that Humans descended from the Vrykul. The quest in Howling Fjord about the "runt" Vrykul baby that turned out to be the first human.
Robert Jan 3rd 2011 11:31AM
According to WowWiki, the High elves seperated from the Night Elves 7,300 years prior to the 2nd war, which is around the same amount of time that IRL human history has existed. That's somewhat similar to saying that because of their same origins, ancient South American archeology is the same as Ancient African archeology because they're both from 3000-2000BC.
Kylenne Jan 3rd 2011 11:36AM
Except that Blood Elves haven't existed long enough to have archaeological artifacts and neither have the Forsaken. It would be patently ridiculous to have sites for those races. Ten some-odd years isn't nearly long enough. Hell, the Forsaken only just barely got their own architecture and quit living in rundown human buildings like five minutes ago.
You *might* be able to make an argument for High Elves, but aside from the Farstriders, they weren't really well traveled enough to be leaving their crap all over the place, and their civilization wasn't widespread enough for it. You could say the same thing about the Tol'vir, but they're native to their own land. Quel'thalas itself would be more likely to have Troll artifacts than quel'dorei ones, considering the Amani lived there for thousands of years longer than they did. I could see a limited number of quel'dorei dig sites popping up in Eversong/Ghostlands, maaaybe northern EPL, or that spot further south where Dath'remar first landed (the one they left because people started to mysteriously go crazy). But no more than that.
In short, it'd be bullshit. There's a reason the Blood Elves you see in the game, even prior to the Reliquary being reformed (see: that unfortunate sod in Dire Maul) aren't looking for their own stuff. It doesn't exist. Highborne stuff does actually exist, and that's what they're looking for. That's "their" stuff, since they have an ancestral connection to it.
Scooter Jan 3rd 2011 11:38AM
Forsaken Artifacts? I don't even see how that's possible regardless of how old they are. I mean come on don't those things have a habit of digging themselves out and scurrying off on their own. You're more likely to find one still attached to one of the populace than stuck in the ground.
That gives me an idea.... QUICK! Hand me my mining broadsword...
Ullaana Jan 3rd 2011 11:46AM
@Scooter,
Where did you get your Mining Broadsword? And are there any Mining Axes available?
roseclown Jan 3rd 2011 11:50AM
I'm just ticked there are no Tauren dig sites. >:(
SeriphNEO Jan 3rd 2011 11:56AM
None of those Artifacts will ever probably exist. Blood Elves (Previously known as High Elves) and Night Elves were once all one big happy race. Then Azshara came along and screwed things up for everyone. The Night Elf race splintered into several different factions, but the two major ones that people focus on are the Night Elves and the Highborne. The Highborne were exiled from Kalimdor and sent across the sea. They arrived in the Eastern Kingdoms. Things went okay for them for a while there and they decided that daylight wasn't so bad, so they started to stay awake during the day, instead of at night, breaking their nocturnal cycle. Apparently, Night Elf physiology breaks all conventional ideas of evolution and jumps straight to, fair skin, blue eyed High Elves. From there, the High Elves had Quel'Thalas and then the Scourge came and Kael'thas did his thing to get everyone addicted to magic and people split AGAIN into High and Blood elves. After that, a whole bunch of things happened that I really won't get into, but suffice it to say that anything old enough to be considered a 'relic' will count for Night Elves and Blood Elves just the same.
Gnomes on the other hand, have atleast 1 relic in game already. In the Dwarven Archaeology tree. [Clockwork Gnome] anyone? It's pretty easy to clump those two races together. They pretty much stick with each other as the short stuff of the world, and their history comes from pretty similar origins. ("Oh, you guys were shaped from the earth by the titans and then stricken with the Curse of Flesh? We were machines for the titans struck by the Curse of Flesh! We should totally hang out and stuff.") So if we do see more Gnome Artifacts, I would expect to find them in the Dwarven Archaeology tree. Sorry Gnomes, even Blizzard doesn't love you enough.
Forsaken wouldn't have artifacts really. They've been around for less than a decade. Relics really count as relics for some time. (And if anyone even thinks about mentioning [The-Troll-Sword-That-Must-Not-Be-Named] I'll remind you that the sword in question was part of Hakkar's personal treasure collection, and as such was potentially older than any of the other relics really.) Forsaken are still relatively new, and as such, it's unlikely that they've lost anything really worth the time to go and dig it up. Most likely, if you start digging in an undead hole, all you'll find are a bunch of skin and bones.
Human archaeology could, theorhetically be done, but anything that humans have already gone and lost, has been found again in some way. ([Trollbane] anyone?) More likely we'd see some other specific races. Some of the more obscure ones, such as Titan Relics could still be found. No matter what though, we should all look forward to the coming content that Archaeology and WoW in general can bring us? (Even if Archaeology never gives you what you want. :D)
Tirrimas Jan 3rd 2011 11:59AM
@Roseclown:
The impression I get is that Tauren culture is very like Native American culture, with little permanence placed on *things*. They make what they need and make it to last only as long as they need it to. When it's worn out, it's sent back to the Earthmother with thanks. Their dead aren't buried; they're placed on biers to be taken by the winds and other, ah, forces of nature. They don't build in stone. They make single-use totems, rather than more durable items and such.
Honestly, I think we'd be lucky to find anything more than holes where their tipi supports stood and char marks where their bonfires were. :(
Pyromelter Jan 3rd 2011 12:02PM
High-elf artifacts should be at least plausible, from their first landing in Tirisfal glades. And they've been in Quel'Thalas for a pretty long time, long enough to have at least a few artifacts dropped around.
We also only really have a strong idea of the story of the elves since The First War, and they have been in the eastern kingdoms for many thousands of years before then, so you can make an argument that there might have been some elven settlements further away from Quel'Thalas in that time.
Josin Jan 3rd 2011 12:05PM
I'd love for there to be some gnome artifacts, though most likely with the lore events of Wrath, they'd be in Northrend, despite the old retconned lore about a gnomish civilization that disappeared (sand gnomes?) some time before Gnomeregan.
Lots of possibilities
Scooter Jan 3rd 2011 12:21PM
@SeriphNEO
Sorry buddy but your knowledge of the races is patchwork at best.
The elves appearance is greatly dependent on their primary magical influence. It's not some physiological/evolutionary jump. It's a natural adaptation to their environment. Realistically Night Elves should be subdivided and relics for all of the major Elven races should be found in each dig site.
Night Elves -Northern Kalimdor
Highborn - Mid-Southern Kalimdor
High/Blood elves - Northern Eastern Kingdoms
Most of gnomes history has been spent underground. Deep underground. There's a reason why there aren't any gnome settlements in the world. If you want artifacts then you need to look to Titan specific areas and the mechano-gnomes.
Dun Morogh (Spelling)
Storm Peaks
Uldum
Ulduar
Sholazar Basin
Un'Goro
For Humans cant have traditional, artifacts because they have no longstanding civilizations that have fallen or aren't Forsaken controlled. Your best bet here is to place dig sites on battlefields of older wars and graveyards.
Someone else fill in the blacks for me here.
emberdione Jan 3rd 2011 12:33PM
To those who keep saying "X Race hasn't been around long enough to have artifacts."
While it is generally "true" that length of time determines if something is an artifact, it is not set in stone. After all, the Smithsonian collects a GREAT deal of stuff that isn't more than a a decade or so, because they have significance.
So really, since WoW Archeology focuses on the significance of some items, it is perfectly reasonable for the Forsaken to have artifacts (though they would all have ties to the world before, they would just need some new connection to the Forsaken) and even more reasonable for the Blood Elves to as well. (The sheer visual differences in Blood Elves and Night Elves cities means there is likely a wide gap in their artifacts as well.)
szilagyi Jan 3rd 2011 12:35PM
Human artifacts are easy. Wasn't the kingdom of Arathi a couple thousand years old? Lordaeron? There's tons of human history they can just make up.
Josin Jan 3rd 2011 12:49PM
@emberdione:
WoW Archaeology largely revolves around digging up these artifacts. While the Smithsonian collects more recent items of import for display and recognition, it'd be hard to say they "dug up" any of those items, or that they were procured by archaeologists, rather than historians.
I do think Blood Elves could conceivably have some artifacts, as High Elves have been around for quite some time. However, Forsaken artifacts would be more accurately termed "human artifacts" as the Forsaken haven't even existed for a generation, in Azeroth's timeline.
RetPallyJil Jan 3rd 2011 1:02PM
Capital idea, Scooter!
[Detached and Slightly Broken Skull of Sylvanas Windrunner] ought to fetch me 75 copper or so! To the Undercity!