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!
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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 8)
Gemini Jul 4th 2011 2:31PM
Tomat, bro?
Amaxe Jul 4th 2011 3:08PM
Let's call the whole thing off!
http://www.stlyrics.com/songs/f/fredastaire7866/letscallthewholethingoff278669.html
Jo Jul 4th 2011 3:22PM
Its a must...lets call the whole thing off
http://youtu.be/sQimGPY6Lfo
Xantenise Jul 5th 2011 9:47AM
Toe-maa-toes FTW!
When I went to the 'States someone I know made the mistake of asking for toe-maa-toe sauce instead of ketchup, and they gave him tartar.
fallemwarrior Jul 5th 2011 10:59AM
Can i have some Po-Ta-Toes?
Vacasta Jul 4th 2011 12:19PM
I haven't seen Org get raided in a while. I wonder if it's possible to kite Gamon over into enemy player's AoE in order to get him to defend Garrosh. Anybody ever seen that?
Reanne Jul 4th 2011 12:23PM
That would be awesome! I get tired of trying to kill him alone...(I'm a mage lol)
Carune Jul 4th 2011 1:09PM
Yes, it is possible, and I have seen it happen on my server and on the ptr.
Noyou Jul 4th 2011 12:21PM
Sliced tomatoes are awesome if you add salt and a little bit of oregano. A dash of vinegar (or Italian dressing) makes it a simple, quick and delicious side dish. You can do the same with the cucumber minus the oregano. Enjoy and have a safe and happy holiday!
Mordok Jul 4th 2011 12:15PM
May I suggest modifying your tomato recipe from salt to garlic salt.....oh soooooo much betterer.
lolikitty Jul 4th 2011 12:17PM
I've been playing since 2005 and I can tell with absolute certainty that the people who design the caves (and the Northshire Abbey) are a bunch of vicious evil rabbits (possibly with big pointy teeth)
Knob Jul 4th 2011 12:24PM
Let's not forget that they wield dual-miniguns.
pancakes Jul 4th 2011 11:02PM
It's amazing, there's about 4 different cave layouts reused through the whole game, & I still can't figure out my way around any of them after 4 years.
RetPallyJil Jul 4th 2011 12:17PM
Here's my suggestion for a dessert:
Chop up some apples
Sauté them in some pure maple syrup.
Mmmmmmm tay-stee!
Noyou Jul 4th 2011 2:00PM
Don't forget the butter and a pinch of cinnamon!
wow Jul 4th 2011 1:05PM
Forget maple syrup. Use Brown Sugar and Cinnamon. Instant Apply Pie style. Yummy.
Shinanji
Noyou Jul 4th 2011 2:00PM
You could try this as a side dish. I think I discovered it out of boredom or an accident but anyways:
1 bag of frozen corn
1 jar of queso
Prepare the corn however you normally would do (steam, boil&drain, nuke, etc.) Place the veggies in a medium to large bowl (so you have room too stir) add as much Queso as desired and serve. You can probably use any veggies you like. Also if you feel more adventurous you can fry the corn in a pan with some chopped onions. ;) Very simple and easy side dish for any meal! Even breakfast :p
MusedMoose Jul 4th 2011 12:21PM
"We also have readers who started the game within the last 24-48 hours and can get lost in Northshire Abbey."
Hey, I started playing in 2005, and I *still* get lost in Northshire Abbey! Seriously, that place get me turned around far, far too easily. @_@ At least we don't have to go upstairs for the grape quest anymore.
Necromann Jul 4th 2011 12:54PM
Northshire Abby is the reason I only got one human toon past the starting area.
Greg Jul 4th 2011 12:23PM
What percentage of players choose Hyjal as their 80 start zone? What percentage chooses Vashj'Ir? Have these numbers changed since 4.2 went live?