The Queue: July 4

Last night, I finally had a solid Zul'Gurub group -- the very first one since patch 4.1. Now that I've been able to topple the place in a good, solid group that was willing to take its time and actually experience the instance, I have to give props to Blizzard for the amount of effort it put into the zone. All of the little optional mobs and bosses are very cool, and it felt a little like classic WoW again. You are actually rewarded for exploring and doing more than going from Boss A to Boss B.
I know I tend to rail on how dry WoW instances tend to feel nowadays, so I felt I should give Blizzard a high-five for the work the developers put into this one. Good job, team.
raingod asked:
I've noticed since Firelands dropped my queue time wait looking for a group has dropped considerably for regular dungeons. I mean from 10-20 min (I'm dps) to under 5. Have they tweaked this or have I gotten very lucky this week?
Since it's a new tier of raiding, players need valor points for gear again. Queue times will be good for a few weeks, maybe a month or two, and then I expect them to drop off again. As soon as players have purchased all that they need from their valor points or they can get all of their valor points for the week from Firelands and such, they won't have any need to queue anymore.
Enjoy your awesome queue times while they last.
Dennis asked:
My heirlooms say bind on battle.net account. Is there a way to send them to an alt on another server?
Not currently, no. Well, I think you can do a paid character transfer, but that's a little extreme. Blizzard has mentioned that it wants to make it possible to send your heirlooms to other servers, but it's not something that has been implemented yet.
Yvl asked:
How do you guys keep your cool even through the stupidest of questions?
The cliché answer to that is that there are no stupid questions. We have readers that are seasoned raiding vets who have been around since 2004 and have killed every single raid boss in the game. We also have readers who started the game within the last 24-48 hours and can get lost in Northshire Abbey. There's room for all sorts of players in World of Warcraft, and we legitimately enjoy being able to help all of those sorts of people.
There are, of course, plenty of questions that are just people trolling or being jerks. The ability to roll with that and let it slide off your back just comes naturally when you've been doing this kind of job for years. And if you don't have that sort of capability, you shouldn't have this sort of job. It's the internet, after all. I don't think anybody has managed to actually make me angry in years, and good lord, have people tried.
Tat asked:
In the Thrall Questline in patch 4.2 I find it annoying that when Thrall gets taken away by the Druid of the flame while the following are powerless to stop it: The Aspects, Malfurion and us. What are your thoughts???
Blizzard tends to overuse the "plot stun" in its cutscenes. When the developers want to give someone a chance to monologue, they just lock everybody in an unbreakable stun, extremely powerful NPCs included. Yes, it does give that NPC a chance to speak their dialogue unimpeded, but it feels very not-good to players and doesn't make a lot of sense when looking at the relative power levels of various NPCs.
Maybe development time doesn't allow for it, but I personally would have liked the Flame Druids to show up in force with Ragnaros's crew. The Aspects would be busy fighting them off in the background while Fandral made off with Thrall. You could still get a front row seat to what was going on, but it would explain what the heck all the other powerful people there were doing while Fandral spoke his lines.
It felt double-bad because it wasn't the only time the devs used a plot stun in this patch. They do it to you when you meet Leyara, too.
Teryn asked:
Since it's another BBQ holiday in the States, can you give us another side dish recipe Alex?
Sure. Buy a bunch of tomatoes -- it doesn't matter what kind as long as they're good and ripe. Slice. Salt or pepper if desired. Devour.
Simple!
Filed under: The Queue






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 8)
jayden Jul 4th 2011 12:04PM
How many hot dogs can you eat in 10 minutes?
Moobs Jul 4th 2011 12:14PM
Buns and all or just the wieners?
4 for the full deal, cause I am full after 4
just the wiener never tried?
mem0ryburn Jul 4th 2011 12:49PM
I don't know if this is the proper forum for discussing the eating of buns and weiners. But the answer is over 9000.
Oppel Jul 4th 2011 3:10PM
I read mem0ryburn's comment right as I was drinking some water. I had to clean my monitor after I stopped chocking.
Artificial Jul 4th 2011 3:46PM
Old memes never die, and refuse to fade away...
Iirdan Jul 4th 2011 12:05PM
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Plot-Stun King?
In all seriousness, I do have a Queue question: Is there any word on the Abyssal Maw dungeon? I understand that their stated goal of faster content patches led to its exclusion from the Firelands patch as was initially planned, but has it been scrapped altogether or simply pushed back in the patch order?
Knob Jul 4th 2011 12:23PM
The wording on their Q&A suggested that it's been scrapped for now. Maybe they'll develop and release it for the Azshara expansion?
mark Jul 4th 2011 2:13PM
"World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Plot-Stun King"
to be honest i don't mind these so much (since there skipable when i take my 2 big alts through them)
but i'd really like to have the chat window there - some of them are quite long ones and i'm in a fairly busy guild
Tim Jul 4th 2011 12:07PM
Also use balsamic vinegar on those tomatoes (homegrown if you can find them. It's kinda early). Delish!!!
Adrianne Jul 4th 2011 1:36PM
Throw in some fresh mozzarella cheese, and if you wanna get really fancy, add in some fresh basil.
razion Jul 4th 2011 3:00PM
What's this?! Your "Tomato" is evolving!
... Your "Tomato" evolved into "Caprese"!
Andrew Jul 4th 2011 3:03PM
Extra points if you reduce the balsamic a bit first, get those sugars caramelizing. Mmmm.
Chad Jul 4th 2011 5:06PM
Or just some good oil and basil.
Ronin Jul 4th 2011 6:48PM
Sliced tomatoes are best served with _sugar_ sprinkled on them. Not salt. I thought everyone knew that! ;)
Jo Jul 4th 2011 12:12PM
You say tomato, i say tomat. (Because thats what they're called in Denmark. I guess we ran out of 'O's)
Moobs Jul 4th 2011 12:16PM
My parents say Tomartoe (spelling????)
csarcops Jul 4th 2011 12:38PM
They're maters down here.
Delerowen Jul 4th 2011 12:54PM
You pronounce it toe-mate or toe-mat or ta-mat or ta-mate??
S.O. Jul 4th 2011 1:13PM
TOH-MAY_TOES. Boil 'em, mash 'em, stick 'em in a stew.
Sorry couldn't resist
Jo Jul 4th 2011 1:28PM
Pronounced 'to' (as in toe, but short, without the "soft" ending) and then 'mat', sounding a little like the english 'mad'. To'mad