The Queue: Moooo
by Adam Holisky 
May 10th 2011 at 11:00AM
I was watching Game of Thrones Sunday night, and all the sudden I saw Hodor. I turned to my fiancée and said, "Hodor! We talked to him on WoW Insider!" She just looked at me and went "What's a Hodor?"
Then I realized I'm marrying someone who hasn't read Game of Thrones.
I am now on a new mission -- a quest, if you will. GoT she shall read; it is so.
Also, Fat Tom doesn't say "coward," he says "craven." I am le disappointed, HBO ...
Irin asked:
Who is Anthony Ray stark? He has a headstone tended by a drawf named Rousch in the very southeastern tip of the Hillsbrad Foothills just beyond Dun Garok. He is no one in lore since on the headstone it simply reads 'Anthony Ray Stark 1961 - 2005'. What is the story behind this little easter egg?
According to Wowpedia, he's a friend of a developer who passed away and has an in-game memorial built for him.
Vehx asked:
Once you've reached your weekly limit for conquest points, can you still trade in valor points to push past the cap?
Nope, the conquest point cap is a hard cap based on the amount you earn, not the amount you've earned and kept.
Sinthar asked:
Isn't WSG the first BG you can get into at low level? Or have the changed that (I dont PVP much - or at all really if i can help it)?
Warsong Gulch is available, as well as Arathi Basin, at level 10. Blizzard added AB a while ago.
Hawk asked:
The only way to get "free" fast flying is What A Long, Strane Trip achievement. What if you already purchased it? Can you get a refund of your money?
That's the only way that I know of. You might also be able to get it via getting an arena-awarded flying mount, but I'm not sure if that gives it to you now or not.
Blizzard won't refund your gold if you already have max flying.
Jishdefish asked:
Heroic Gnomeregan. Would defeating Thermaplug at 85 get us some momentum on that front?
While I have no special knowledge of the subject, I wouldn't at all be surprised at this point to see heroic Gnomer. Makes a lot of sense, given Blizzard's recent penchant for old instances.
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 10)
Zalvi24 May 10th 2011 11:02AM
Heroic Gnomer, ohh the nightmare, it will bring back memories if they did that
Luotian May 10th 2011 11:22AM
Seconded! Gnomergon is a winding horrible dungeon at best, even with the built in short cuts. It isn't HARD just HUGE, much like Deadmines. On heroic I'd want to hang myself.
Hal May 10th 2011 11:29AM
They would have to do a major revamp of the instance, or else I imagine it going something like this:
-You port in. The tank takes off at a sprint, determined to skip every boss possible, which is pretty much all of them, excepting Thermaplugg. This, despite your protestations that you really need some gear that drops off of that bot who resides in the ass-end of the instance. (If you are the tank, just swap this out for DPS who will bitch at you for not skipping straight to the end.)
-Rather than take the long way around, someone decides the best way to go would be to jump down off the platforms. So the group of you all drop carefully down, avoiding a splattery death, except for that one guy who can't figure out how to land properly. But you keep going, except now that guy can't hook back up with the group because he's died and re-zoned four more times while trying to nail that landing. (Alternatively, one person goes off the platform alone while the rest of the group takes the long way. Now he's sitting by himself because he expects everyone to join him.)
-You start pushing through those long tunnles filled with Dark Iron Spies and other assorted mobs. First you wipe because somebody keeps setting off the mines before they can be disabled or ran from. Then you wipe because some putz can't figure out to stop casting while the defense bots have spell-reflect up. Then you wipe again because somebody accidentally attacked a mob in another part of the tunnel, drawing about 20 mobs down on the group.
-You finally make it to Thermaplugg. Except since it's heroic, you now have to actually worry about the buttons and the adds. But since nobody ever paid any attention to those, you'll wipe several times while the group gets overwhelmed with adds or blown to bits by the bomb adds. He finally goes down, except one guy rolls Need on loot for four different specs and then runs off laughing back to his server.
Does that sound about right?
Jack Spicer May 10th 2011 11:33AM
I don't know if its been 6 years since you ran Gnomeregan, but its not really that complicated a place. The worst thing about it was the massive amount of patrolling trash, but that's been cut down considerably over the years.
Drakkenfyre May 10th 2011 11:44AM
Over the years they have nerfed it over and over. It's not as hard as it once was.
The days of going in, and the final boss being 10 levels above you, having to hug the walls to keep from aggro'ing everything around you, and alarm-bots summoning 30 adds seem to be gone.
As much as I hate Gnomer, I don't like the idea of it becoming a Heroic simply because that means they most likely would completely change everything in it. I still miss the old Deadmines. I would rather not see another instance get a "revamp", which completely changes it on both normal and Heroic.
(cutaia) May 10th 2011 11:37AM
They'd just fix it with some roadblocks like they did with ZG.
Arturis May 10th 2011 12:10PM
The first time I ran Gnomeregan was with a group of guildies back in 2004. We assumed that it would be roughly the same length as Deadmines.
Six hours later, it was 2am and we all had to hearth out due to work in the morning. The repair bill was astronomical (for the time) and we barely made it into the area with the Iron Dwarf Spies. Finding out the next day that we were almost done was the icing on the cake.
Gnomeregan, I do so hate you, in a thoroughly loving way.
slim1256 May 10th 2011 12:25PM
"On second thought, let's not. 'Tis a silly place."
Eirik May 10th 2011 1:10PM
@Luotian: Winding, I'll grant you. Confusing, I'll also grant you. But long? Come on, haven't you ever DONE Blackrock Depths before? It doesn't hardly compare to the epic 5 hour BRD runs of yore.
Ledonne May 10th 2011 1:45PM
I wouldn't mind seeing Gnomer in heroic, but I doubt they'll be doing that. While making it for Alliance makes sense, I just don't get what would the Horde possibly go there for. The place isn't a threat to them, it's irradiated and should they manage to kill Thermaplugg the gnomes would get their homes and considerable workshops back, giving the Alliance even more siege engines and gyrochoppas and whatnot. Chances are the Horde wouldn't be able to use it to launch an attack on Ironforge either, considering it's already under siege.
Noyou May 10th 2011 1:52PM
I am with you Drakk. I am one of the few who likes Gnomer as is. I miss the old Deadmines too. The only thing I would do different on deadmines is be able to mount or put a port in for those who don't like to wander aimlessly. As many times as I have ran it I still get lost getting to the instance. I don't know how people think Gnomer is too long. Dire Maul. Now that's too long. Maraudon. Ditto. I will say they are both a little better since putting in the maps.
spikepoint May 10th 2011 2:04PM
Arturis: LOL, you described my own first experience in Gnomer so well that for a second I thought you might have been one of my old guildies.
icepyro May 10th 2011 2:18PM
@Hal - The scenario I see (kinda combines a couple you mentioned)
That dps that wants to skip straight to the end jumps off the platform no problem. Another dps that doesn't know about that, but sees the parachutes will grab one and jump. He floats off course, pulling the mobs and dieing. The other dps sits there waiting for the rest, except the tank is going the long way.
Now the one dps is bitching and waiting for the others to join (which they don't) and the other has no idea where the entrance is. The other three make it to a boss with careful pulls.The reluctant dps either has dropped or teleported out/in and rejoined him. The lost dps finally found the entrance, but don't know how to get to the group.
The other four decide are trying to explain where they are while standing fairly close to the boss. The one pulls a group by accident but can stay ahead of them. As they rejoin and try to take out the stray pack, the boss pulls and they wipe.
As this is now a solid 30-45 mins in, try to imagine how the rest of the dungeon goes. Oh wait, it doesn't. The tank, healer, and one dps get back to the entrance, zone in, hearth and drop. Another dps rezzes at the graveyard, drops, hearths, and requeue since it will be over 10 mins til he gets anywhere anyways. Nobody is sure what that dps that got lost all the time did, but his spirit was well on the way to Ironforge asking for directions when that last person left group.
loop_not_defined May 10th 2011 2:20PM
While I understand why people would miss losing the original instance (revamping in general, not just Gnomer), I think there is more to gain from keeping the lore consistent - especially if it advances the story - and updating a dungeon with current tech (mechanics, layout, possibly graphics).
For me, BRD and Scholomance were the two instances I ran most: first one for Hand of Justice, second one for Silent Fang. However, I would *love* to see these instances updated with current lore, design, and tech. After all, wouldn't the Dark Irons be in civil war with Moira and others seeking to rejoin their brethren and others wishing to remain loyal to Ragnaros? What if her desires are actually part of a deeper plot?
I don't think it's fair to ask new (and existing) players to wait until they are 70-85 to experience the relatively large advances made in dungeon design, with just SFK and DM to wet their palettes.
Herman May 10th 2011 2:38PM
everyone has forgotten one common occurence- everyone jumps, everyone is fine, but even after you kill the mob that the dps aggroed because he fell on it, everyone is still in combat. "Why are we in combat," you ask with a growing sense of trepidation as you realize what must have happened. the healer jumped a little late, and before jumping, he got the attention of one of the non elite pats up above. so now that pat has taken the long way around, and 3 minutes later comes out of the tunnel with the entire first half of the instance in tow.
Elmo May 10th 2011 2:50PM
Funny that everyone hates it, since it was watching a friend play in Gnomeregan what made me say "I want that game!"
for that sole reason I still love it, besides its not the only uber long boring dungeon.
(WC, RFK, BFD, Mara, etc.)
Jawn May 10th 2011 3:26PM
The only worthy revamp of Gnomer, is to kick out all the bad guys, de-instance it, and have Gnomes rebuilding and de-contaminating the place.
It's about time there is REAL closure with that story.
Katherine May 10th 2011 5:11PM
"It isn't HARD" Since it gor nerfed. That place could kill 60s (a group of three of us!) back in classic if you weren't careful. That damn corridor!
Xantenise May 10th 2011 6:22PM
@Eirik I once spent 8 hours in there, the entire group turning over except for me, and we only got halfway.
Then I did it in a pug, expecting to not go far, and cleared it in 2 hours.
It was awesome.
I hope they don't "fix" BRD. The fact it takes forever is what made it so fun.
cyanea85 May 10th 2011 11:05AM
Heroic Gnomer? God no...that place still gives me nightmares.