The Queue: Lazy Adam
by Adam Holisky 
Apr 28th 2011 at 11:00AM
I think I miss The Burning Crusade content. I've been having a grand ol' time doing long-forgotten BC dailies and rep grinds.
Just thought I'd share.
Andrew R asked:
Every major patch brings bugs with it and we've come to accept that as normal. Something new I've never seen before was the authenticator box disappearing with 4.1 going live. I know some bugs can't be detected or won't surface until hitting the live servers. My question is how does a bug like the one with the authenticator box come about? It seems like a really odd bug that has nothing to do with the content.
It usually boils down to human error. WoW is a very complex computer program -- probably one of the more complex systems out there. It's not terribly hard to have something change, say, a background graphic, that then invalidates a text box's frame and forces the dialog box to appear because there was no entry in the authentication box (because it was never rendered). That whole scenario could be caused by moving one single, small file.
As for why it wasn't caught, quality assurance testing is not and never will be an exact science. Now don't get me wrong, there are tons of very scientific methods for testing software, but with a system as large as WoW, even a 0.5% failure rate is bound to be noticeable.
Overall, the WoW programmers do a pretty good job at keeping everything running smoothly. It's much better than other stuff -- and doesn't even disclose your credit card numbers!
Bryan asked:
Can you please let me know why I still need to be revered with a fraction so that I can use the BOA head enchant. I thought BOA was so you could pass it along not getting it then having to go through the same stuff your main did?
You shouldn't need to be revered to use the head enchant, just to buy it. If you're getting errors saying you need to be revered to use the item, then something is probably wrong -- contact a GM or wait for it to be fixed. Stuff like that usually gets solved pretty quickly.
Claric asked:
Is there a place where Blizzard explains the rationale behind fundamental classes changes in patches? Say, for instance in patch 4.1, changing the cool down of Word of Glory from 0 to 20 seconds clearly affects the way the class is played (even as advised in articles on this very site)... Is that because the way players use the spells don't fit the model they have in mind? If so, where can I find information about the model they have in mind?
The best way is to just pay attention to the news posted here and on other sites like MMO-Champion. Our class columnists regularly go into detail about the mechanics and philosophy of such changes (or as much as the can). As for Blizzard communicating about why it's made such-and-such change, that's dropped off significantly since Ghostcrawler is no longer posting very often, and the other blues are not really providing the same level of informative communication.
We do get bits and pieces, but as far as the whole picture? The days of knowing that are probably done.
Note to BioWare: Communicate like the Blizzard of 2010.
Nix asked:
Should you need to format your PC an remove WoW, what is the quickest way to install it?
Keep a backup copy of the WoW folder on a thumb drive or another portable harddrive, then just copy the folder over. That is by far the easiest method. Installing by DVD might be fast to get the initial program on, but you're still going to have to download a ton of patches -- and at that point, Lazy Adam says just to download it all from the internet, probably overnight.
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!
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 9)
fallemwarrior Apr 28th 2011 11:03AM
Anyone else notice when you kill somthing with a knock back spell your get a "your not close enough to loot that" error?
Kurtis Apr 28th 2011 11:15AM
Maybe because you're not close enough to loot that?
shealle Apr 28th 2011 11:18AM
yup thought it was just me.
ComradeJavi Apr 28th 2011 11:19AM
It's a bug. Never put a ticket in, but if the mob dies from your knockback, but didn't get one-shotted by it (such as grinding low-level instances), then you're unable to loot it no matter where you're standing.
Shinae Apr 28th 2011 11:19AM
This was mentioned here just a few days ago. When a mob is killed while off the ground (like with Typhoon), it can result in the client and the server disagreeing on the location of the corpse. If you relog (which granted is annoying), the corpse's location should be resolved and lootable. Otherwise, try not to kill mobs in that way.
ddbrown89 Apr 28th 2011 11:19AM
Been having this problem with typhoon. I've only ever played my moonkin in cata, so I don't know when it started.
Noyou Apr 28th 2011 11:22AM
No. Most of the time I get "you do not have permission to loot that" to my response of then who the eff does? especially when I am not in a party ;) Yeah. I love that one. I must hit so hard that it befuddles the server. Yeah. /facepalm.
Bronwyn Apr 28th 2011 11:26AM
Yep, this happens to me, too. That said, if you happen to be an engineer, the loot-a-rang helps. A lot.
The Dewd Apr 28th 2011 11:31AM
That does raise the question of looting it with a Loot-A-Rang on an Engineer. (My engineer is a Paladin so I couldn't really test it.) Anyone know if that works?
Luotian Apr 28th 2011 11:33AM
My hunter continually has this problem when trying to get low level leather from cats. Technically my shot hits them and they are dead before they leap at me-- but they still leap. So the server doesn't know where the body is.
Haven't found a fix for it yet but to go against my natural instinct and run up and beat the thing to death with whatever is in my hand.
mibu.work1 Apr 28th 2011 12:19PM
I can confirm that looting mobs killed with a knockback with a loot-a-rang does work. My girlfriend is a fun-loving elemental shaman who can get a tad...enthusiastic when we're questing together, and I often have to pull out my loot-a-rang to oot mobs she kills. As we're both engineers, this has ceased to be an issue for us.
Sapphiria Apr 28th 2011 12:49PM
@Fallemwarrior
I have been getting this bug for a very long time now, I opened a ticket to talk with a a GM and instead of them I received an in-game mail which told me I need to register ideas or complaints in the Forum's.
I was not complaining I just wanted to let a GM know so that it may be registered as a bug.
Me being a Druid If I kill with Typhoon or while typhoon is active I am not able to loot the corpse. I am happy I can use my Loot-a ring as an Eng.
Suzaku Apr 28th 2011 1:13PM
The problem is very simple. Similar issues can often happen due to latency or evade bugs.
In these situations, the game client has fallen out of synch with the server, and is incorrectly displaying the location of the corpse.
Basically, your game client is incorrectly reporting that the corpse is at the coordinates where the body *landed*, while according to the server the corpse is actually at the coordinates where it *died*.
So when you run over to the corpse, you're probably moving too far away from its *actual* location to loot it. Sometimes you can find a sweet spot where you're close enough to the corpse to "use" it and are still within range of its real location.
Generally, it's just easier to relog your character. Upon logging back in, the client will be properly synched with the server and display the corpse's location correctly.
Khaeleth Apr 28th 2011 1:09PM
the same problem occurs in reverse, if you have a mob that leaps towards you and you kill it in midair you get the same problem.
Mahram Apr 28th 2011 2:47PM
You don't have to re-log to loot. Just leave the area so that your client is no longer rendering the corpse - this is key. I'm not talking about line-of-sighting, I mean your client doesn't render the corpse because you're out of the area.
After you return to the area where the corpse is at, the client should update with the correct location of the corpse. Goes really quick if you're on a flying mount. It's much quicker than re-logging and I've done it quite a few times now. (Killing lots of stuff with typhoon on my Boom boom.)
Allenok Apr 28th 2011 11:20AM
What is up with the Dreanei Moustache (or porn-stache) that was added to the "goatee" facial hair option? When this initially happened back in Wrath they claimed it as a "bug." First of all, a moustache suddenly appearing sounds like a pretty complex bug to me, and secondly it hasnt been fixed. So, do you think that we will ever see the goatee in its original form, or is that facial hair option now forever the "Porn-Zorro?"
slim1256 Apr 28th 2011 11:15AM
Maybe something like this happened:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZWXRIlAl9w
Ahh, the Tick. Such a great, great cartoon.
Drakkenfyre Apr 28th 2011 11:48AM
The original CM who said it was a bug later said he checked with the artists, and it was intended. It was there all along, but due to a bug was never displayed.
Bapo Apr 28th 2011 11:49AM
It's the Tom Sulleck stache. Why would you want it gone?!
Nic Grayson Apr 28th 2011 11:07AM
I had opened a ticket about the BoA head enchants. The GM said it's how the item is intended to work. I just don't know why they made them BoA if you can't use them without the required rep.