The Queue: President's Day
by Alex Ziebart 
Feb 21st 2011 at 11:00AM
Hey, hey, it's President's Day in the United States! How many of you Americans still actually get this holiday off of work? How many of you are like me and are deathly jealous of those off of work today? I get the feeling there's more of the latter than the former, but maybe I'm wrong.
On to the Q&A, hmm?
riley asked:
Has Blizzard ever acknowledged using someone else's idea in game? Like a spell, mechanic, or battleground idea from a major blog or this site not directly tied to them?
No, and it legally cannot acknowledge them. Like many in the comments stated yesterday, acknowledging that it used someone's idea opens up Blizzard to wonderful, wonderful lawsuits. If you were to suggest a change to some mechanic in the game, and Blizzard acknowledged your specific recommendation and then made the change, you could turn around and start up a lawsuit because the company stole your idea. Blizzard can read and often use suggestions, but it can't acknowledge where those ideas came from.
Vacasta asked:
My question is regarding the hybrid tax. Do classes with more roles pay more of a tax to DPS? Does a druid (4 roles) do less DPS than a paladin (3 roles), who in turn does less DPS than a priest (2 roles)?
I don't think the hybrid tax is a magical number Blizzard has carved into stone for game design. I don't think the hybrid tax really exists at all anymore, except that the designers keep in mind that pure classes need to bring something to the table that makes up for their inability to respec and heal or respec and tank.
I suppose my answer to your question is ... probably not?
Spiffydude asked:
If you had to pick one quest that you think sets the tone for Cataclysm, what would it be?
The Alliance quest in which Fargo Flintlocke shoots you out of a cannon, because while the Horde spends the entire expansion slashing and burning Alliance territory and slaughtering its people, the Alliance is busy having wacky adventures with every pop culture nod that rears its ugly head. Twilight Highlands is especially thick with it. All of my Horde friends are shocked that the Alliance doesn't have quests to lay siege to the Krazzworks like the Horde has for Highbank. It's just two different places the Horde can kill Alliance.
I'm not sayin' I hate pop culture references. I'm just sayin' the Alliance is useless this expansion. Losing territory to the Horde doesn't bother me so much, because the territorial split was uneven and they're fixing that for gameplay purposes. But the Alliance can still win a battle once in awhile in our own quests, you know?
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 13)
MattKrotzer Feb 21st 2011 11:04AM
Couldn't have really explained the silliness of the Alliance questing much better than this, really. Sure, the Rambo stuff was awesome in Redridge, but it doesn't really advance the Alliance's story much. They already controlled that zone.
jealouspirate Feb 21st 2011 11:15AM
I don't think Blizzard is all that interested in advancing the Alliance's story very much. There are some exceptions, but... meh. Even the Council of Three Hammers essentially does nothing. Never leaves the throne room, involved in one quest at the end of Dun Morogh.
Gnomes are a great example. While the Trolls have taken back their homeland, defeated the Sea Witch from their past and are currently engaged in political turmoil with Garrosh, the Gnomes are just treading water.
Their situation is exactly the same as it was in 2004, trying to take back that damn city. It still baffles me that Blizzard thought a "retaking Gnomeregan" event where the Gnomes *failed* was supposed to be a fun, uplifting event for Alliance players.
damagex26 Feb 21st 2011 11:17AM
If you define controlled as unable to keep the undead warlock from standing on top of the Lakeshire Inn and nuking everything the town, then yes. They were all over Redridge.
Really though I've always seen the alliance as the people who just want to read the quests and enjoy the game part of the game. The horde want to win stuff and enjoy the social part of the game (both creating a cohesive team and causing misery for people who just want to go out and adventure).
MattKrotzer Feb 21st 2011 11:28AM
I define "controlled" from a lore perspective, not an in-game dealing with douchebags perspective.
Generally I avoid trying to define what sort of people play one faction over another, because generally such labels are bound to be wrong and offend people. All sorts play both sides.
And yes, Jealouspirate... gnomes got slapped in the face by Blizzard. (And considering their height, I'm not specifying what Blizz used to slap them.) "Hey guys! We finally gave you new stuff! Oh... you wanted something to change? No... you're still unable to have any progression. You're still unable to oust a leprous turncoat and a bunch of low-level troggs. But hey, we added starter quests that essentially give you a bath!"
MattKrotzer Feb 21st 2011 11:59AM
@Buf
A. No you didn't.
B. Creeeeeepyyyy.....
Noralith Feb 21st 2011 3:16PM
I agree with the sentiment. The majority of the time I spend doing Alliance-only quests, I either felt that I wasn't doing anything particularly important or that I was fighting off another Horde assault. There was the couple odd quests that broke this, but mostly I felt unexcited to be fighting for the Alliance (which is a damn shame. I love this faction).
The other problem goes along with our races, like jealouspirate said. Gnomes don't get their homeland back, Worgen in short supply around the world, Draenei STILL in short supply around the world...
Bernie Roscoe Feb 21st 2011 5:39PM
I feel several of us are forgetting Southern Barrens. I'd lose Southshore any day if it means I control the road between TB and Org.
vocenoctum Feb 21st 2011 8:13PM
I think (from my alliance perspective) that South Barrens best showcased the "horde vs alliance war" for Alliance. In Twilight Highlands, there was no conflict really, except for a little bit there at the intro. Otherwise it was almost all vs Twilight, which is okay I guess.
But yeah, I got the feeling that they weren't clear on where to take the alliance story so they just kind of goofed around a bit too much.
MattKrotzer Feb 22nd 2011 8:06AM
@Bernie Roscoe
That would be important if they didn't have a zeppelin going back and forth around the clock between the two.
thegatherer Feb 21st 2011 11:05AM
Wait, President's Day? What's that?
But really, as a grad student, its another reason to keep working, one of 365/366 depending on the year....
Zal Feb 21st 2011 12:20PM
President's Day only applies to those in K-12, banks, retail, and people who want an excuse to go spend a ton of money on a "sell." The rest of us, whirl an index finger in the air, give some sort of verbal response and continue to grind for coloured bits of paper and metallic disks with images of long dead people on them.
Chokaa Feb 21st 2011 12:28PM
You forgot us government types. Government employees, their contractors, and the military. Except for 'essential personnel' which ends up being about 75% of us. Stupid hospitals!
war101 Feb 21st 2011 6:15PM
@zal
*sale
And my university gets the day off
Vaeku Feb 21st 2011 12:40PM
@Zal
I was wondering why you brought up retail, then I remembered the sales... Furniture stores, mattress stores, and other stores as well (I work in retail and my company had a four-day president's day sale)...
woshiernog Feb 21st 2011 2:07PM
@Zal
Years ago I revised my definition of a holiday as a day where there can be sales based on a theme.
Dr. Knox Feb 21st 2011 11:07AM
Feliz Navidad.
jealouspirate Feb 21st 2011 11:09AM
"But the Alliance can still win a battle once in awhile in our own quests, you know?"
Apparently not. Gotta love Swamp of Sorrows, the closest thing the Alliance got to a win. It was all set up making you think that the Alliance was going to defeat the Horde there and then at the last minute the commander was all "Oh no, we don't want to me too mean. We're just going in and taking some crates. That'll show 'em!"
/sigh
Muse Feb 21st 2011 11:14AM
And the bloody thing doesn't even STAY phased, so once you turn the quest in, the horde are back in completely full force.
jealouspirate Feb 21st 2011 11:17AM
Yeah, and the Horde players get to successfully repel the attack during their quests. So for Alliance players it's a disappointing non-event and for Horde players it's this great victory against Ally invaders.
Alex Ziebart Feb 21st 2011 11:20AM
Personally, I liked Swamp of Sorrows. It was a clear Alliance victory handled in a way that was clearly Alliance. They didn't have to be savages to pull out a win.
But it's also what, a single mid-40s zone? I wish they'd have continued the trend elsewhere.