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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: The one with a pun
by Alex Ziebart 
Jul 27th 2011 at 11:00AM
Get excited, people.
Vector asked:
Is anybody else super bummed that the new Guild episode released today is only available on XBL? I mean, I can watch it when I get home from work, but what percentage of the MMO community is missing out because of this?
It's only a short delay. I believe the episode will be available for all audiences on Thursday (that's tomorrow.) Considering Microsoft sponsors the show and it's the company that allows it to happen, I think it's reasonable for Microsoft to get a little exclusivity out of the deal. In other words, without Microsoft and XBL, we'd all be unGuilded.
walkerspace asked:
Am I a bad person for killing Karkin?
Yes. Absolutely. You probably shouldn't do that!
styopa asked:
Has there been ANY whisper of response from Blizzard on the idea of reputation shared across toons on the same side on the same server? (Or at least make the reputation rewards/purchaseable gear BoA?) They've done a good job of removing 'silly grindy bits' for everything except reputation.
I don't think the developers have ever said anything about this. I'm all for reducing grinds, but there comes a point where you're just asking for characters after your first to be automated. Should everything transfer from one character to the next? Probably not. Where do you draw the line? Reputation? Levels? Gear?
I don't think Blizzard would transfer rep across characters, but it might. Who knows?
chriskinzey asked:
I got killed by Deathwing in Arathi Highlighands the other day. Does Deathwing torch the major cities (Stormwind, Orgrimmar, etc.) like he does the other areas?
No.
juxul asked:
At what time does auctioneer Hesse in the Dwarven District of Storwind change into his worgen form?
Auctioneer Hesse's transformation is timed to exactly match Azeroth's day/night cycle. He transforms into a worgen at 9:00 p.m. server time and reverts into human form at 5:30 a.m.
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 5 of 11)
Jason Jul 27th 2011 12:03PM
Here is the post I was thinking of Matt, but thank you for going out of your way to guilt me up and down.
Adam Holisky, "The Queue" - July 21, 2011:
We try to answer as much as we can, but between comments here, via email, on Twitter and Facebook, we usually get between 80 and 100 or so every day. You have about a 1% chance of being answered. Just keep asking; eventually the odds will be in your favor. Also, we really like to answer questions that we can actually answer, versus just speculate over.
eel5pe Jul 27th 2011 12:08PM
I think you're a bit confused Jason. WoW Insider (despite it's name) is an unofficial fansite, and has no direct link to Blizzard. In fact other than Sacco (who generally doesn't talk about his time as Belfaire), I don't think anyone officially working at WoW Insider has direct experience working with Blizzard. So even if your question was picked to be answered in the queue, the response would still be unofficial (albeit a bit more knowledgable than normal).
If you're looking for the perspective of someone from the inside of the company, you'd be better off at the official WoW forums.
Jason Jul 27th 2011 12:23PM
@eel5pe: Thank you and yes, I don't blame Blizz alum for being quiet about their ties to the company, their experience there is merely a part of their greater sum. I've tried to get info via forums and other means, but it either turns into an Official Blue Post Soundbite or rampant speculation. I just wish we could get a candid honest perspective from inside Blizz. Are employees there sympathetic and working toward a solution? ...or have they all but forgotten the small-pop dying realms? We can only speculate, and I'm sick of speculation, I run a large guild and those of us who are stalwart don't want to pay $25/toon to give up on our friends. : (
(cutaia) Jul 27th 2011 12:32PM
It has been suggested often that people who don't get answers should feel free to try again. It could be debated that it's a bit of a different scenario when you have indeed received answers, but will only accept one from one specific person. That seems to be a slightly muddy interpretation of Holisky's post if you ask me, but I don't suppose that makes you rude.
In any case, you should also keep in mind this sentence from the quote you posted: "Also, we really like to answer questions that we can actually answer, versus just speculate over."
While Sacco was a Blizzard employee, at this point I wouldn't imagine that even he can do anything more than speculate about Blizzard's current internal stances on things like this. If you keep asking this question, I'd venture to say that The Queue might finally give you an official Queue answer, but don't be surprised if it's no more enlightening than the information you've already been given hundreds of times.
eel5pe Jul 27th 2011 12:44PM
My unofficial response is this: they have never shut down realms, or allowed people to move from a low population realm to a high population one. Historically what they do to alleviate imbalances is to allow people from high population realms to come to your server. In rare instances they have converted a PvP realm into a PvE one and allowed free transfers off (PvE realms remain stably more popular than PvP ones), but this has only happened twice (?) in WoW history.
As someone who was on the receiving end of those transfers (Hakkar US), I can tell you that the transfers tend to be a poor solution. The surge in population tends to be temporary (we went from low to medium for maybe a week or two and have since regressed to being low again), and most people don't stay, either transferring back or quitting altogether. Also in my personal experience, the quality of players who transfer tends to be sub-par in terms of both attitude and playing ability.
There is currently an increasing groundswell on the forums for allowing free transfers or merging realms, especially given WoW's recent dip in subscriber numbers. Keep your fingers crossed.
Jason Jul 27th 2011 12:48PM
@(cut) & @eel: Thank you, yes all I was hoping for was an unofficial "sense" of how Blizzard perceives this issue internally (as with any company, an Official Hardline is often contrasted by more reasonably balanced perspectives within). I certainly wasn't trying to petition any one writer as I figured many have some connections to Blizz employees. Great perspectives on the issue, thank you for them, and you've inspired me to post in the CS forum.
Puntable Jul 27th 2011 1:14PM
I would just like to add that with every other MMO that has lost enough subscribers, they always start merging servers. Eventually WoW will reach this point and it's a good bet they too will merge servers. This may be a long way off in the future.
eel5pe Jul 27th 2011 1:44PM
Best of luck Jason! Hope you get a reply... I just found out (literally minutes ago) that the best (only) 25-man group on our server is transferring off. Guess our server's becoming even more empty =/
Jonisjalopy Jul 27th 2011 2:56PM
The problem becomes trust. How would you know that the person answering you REALLY works for Blizz? I could say all day long I work there and give whatever answer I want. There is no way for you to know for certain that who you are speaking with is from Blizz. For all you know one of the posters who gave you an answer does.
Also, if they are like the tech company I work for they have all of their people on NDAs. They could loose their jobs just to give one person an answer. Hell, I had to promise I wouldn't tell people the name of the company I work for and cannot list them on even my personal Facebook page.
Irin Jul 27th 2011 11:21AM
Has there been any word on how the former Horde Warchief will be addressed?
Will his speech text always begin as...
Thrall:
or will we ever start seeing...
Go'el:
?
MattKrotzer Jul 27th 2011 11:27AM
I believe he prefers "Mr. Aggra."
Darky Jul 27th 2011 11:30AM
It will always be thrall because that's how Metzen prefers to call him.
The Dewd Jul 27th 2011 12:06PM
They put the name "Thrall" in the title of Golden's book. He's been using that name for so long now that I don't think most folks would really identify with him under any other.
MattKrotzer Jul 27th 2011 12:13PM
He may call himself Yusuf Islam now, but he'll always be Cat Stevens to me.
AudreyR Jul 27th 2011 12:38PM
Go'el may be his name from birth, but Thrall is his identity.
Animaneth Jul 27th 2011 12:44PM
He will be shown as Thrall, besides in SDCC (according to articles published here at wow insider) Metzen stated that thrall was likely to come back as Warchief. I don't see a Warchief Go'El, even Thrall states once and again that he goes by the name Thrall because that's the name that reflects who he really sees when he sees himself.
Løkii Jul 27th 2011 11:22AM
I found sambas (simbas??-the rare lion pet fro Twilight Highlands) at about 3am one morning.
No hunters were online so I killed him...I felt terrible and he drops a "grey" vial with his tears in it worth 25G
I felt terrible esp. when I read the inscription on the loot and he looked really week and feeble after I had butchered him
Knob Jul 27th 2011 11:38AM
All rare spawn beasts that can be tamed drop only that and nothing else. Unfortunately, many non-hunters kill it for that specific reason.
Harvoc Jul 27th 2011 11:40AM
Some people collect those tears. Makes me sick... Plus, I seriously doubt no one online was a hunter. Just because no hunters are online doesn't mean that no players with a hunter character are online.
Harvoc Jul 27th 2011 11:42AM
Also, in the rare chance that no one online had a hunter character, you could've just left Sambas alone. You didn't have to kill him. Sure someone else might kill him later but at least you didn't. Or you could've watched over Sambas to see if anyone else who wants him will log on.