Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: Dollars to donuts
by Michael Sacco 
Sep 24th 2011 at 12:00PM
Besides being a fun phrase to use, "dollars to donuts" is also a regular conversion I make at the Donut Star down the road.
Hal asked:
Any idea why the tuning on the new Brewfest trinkets is so odd? I'm specifically thinking of the stamina trinkets, which are both ilvl 365, but objectively worse than other similar trinkets.
The Brewfest trinkets drop off of a boss that you can kill an unlimited number of times per day. It would be a little bit silly to have them be truly comparable to items that require you to kill raid bosses.
Chris asked:
Regarding the PvP to PvE transmog question, how would Blizz rationalize allowing this when one of their big defenses against changing forms, colors, etc. has always been that they don't want to change silhouettes because that would not let people recognize other players class/spec/gear lvl? I forget what specifically they addressed with that answer but I do recall it was a blue post. Any thoughts?
The silhouette theory was really about race/faction, not about class. Blizzard's original philosophy was that your gear would indicate how far along you were in progression, but it turned out that didn't really matter anymore once there had been three or four endgames already.
No matter what they're wearing, you can tell the difference between a Tauren and a Draenei. That's what matters.
digitalscribe asked:
I'm sure this has already been discussed elsewhere, but how is item level calculated? Is it strictly what is equipped, or also in the bags on your person? Does this include the items in your bank? Is it slot specific, if I had a 365 str trinket, but 333 int trinket for my off spec in my bag, does that count against me? Thanks in advance!
Commenter loop_not_defined nailed this one:
It counts the highest ilvl item in all your storage - bags and bank - for every given slot, regardless of whether it's useful to you or not. So no, having lower ilvl items won't affect it in any way.Cowboy asked:
Why does wow insider hate pvp. Are you all clickers or something?
Unfortunately, our regular PVP columnist is no longer with us. We're looking on providing you guys with more PVP content as soon as we can.
Morloch-KT asked:
Are you guys sick to death of 90% of your questions being about transmog ever since the feature was first announced?
Just wait until 4.3's release date is announced and we get a dozen identical questions about the VP-to-JP conversion every day. Time is cyclical, friend.
kL asked:
With the release of the new Tier/Raid Finder and specifically the Rogue Legendary, do you think portions of the quests will be achievable in the LFR tool. They have said that items will be of lesser power in the LFR but what are us Rogues with out a decent raiding guild going to? This would also open the item to a bit more casual players. When my group is raiding we tend to be a bit slower but if I could finish somethings in LFR that would allow me to speed up the process.
Blizzard has stated that the legendary daggers will not be available through Raid Finder. It's lockout-free; there's just no way that's happening.
Brighthammer asked:
Question!: Does the author think I will be able to transmog my Arcanite Ripper? And if I can, is there any possibility the on-use effect will be usable on the other weapon?
Yes and no, respectively.
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: The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 8)
ravyncat Sep 24th 2011 12:42PM
Pretty much no.
You could do this if your pally is wearing high end mail gear (which breaks the armor bonus) but not with plate. They are not going to allow mail to plate (or vice-versa) conversions.
loop_not_defined Sep 24th 2011 1:19PM
You should consider getting a high-end Mail chest piece to xmog with it, then set up a second armor set that uses it.
Set 1) PUGs, progression raids, Arena/Rated Battlegrounds.
Set 2) Pretty much everything else.
The DPS loss just isn't that big of a deal in most cases, especially if you use a Mail piece with stats that will still benefit you.
Sinderion Sep 24th 2011 3:11PM
Also remember they're starting conservatively, this could be allowed a week or two into 4.3 :D
I have a feeling there will be tons of tweaks to this. I hope they dont break my plan of my rogue PvE'ing in t8 druid lookalike gear though. Dress and all :D
eakin3 Sep 24th 2011 12:19PM
"Dollars to doughnuts" no longer makes sense in the way it originally did. When they cost a nickel, you were essentially using the phrase to mean "I am so sure I am correct about this I will give you 20:1 odds that it will happen." Now doughnuts cost just under a dollar themselves, so the meaning has changed to "I guess I'll bet you straight across that it will happen." The same odds as a coin flip.
mem0ryburn Sep 24th 2011 1:29PM
somebody's canadian
Drakkenfyre Sep 24th 2011 2:17PM
Sounds like someone's attributing a meaning after the phrase was already coined. It originally meant nothing but "guaranteed odds", and had nothing to do with doughnuts themselves except it was a catchy-sounding phrase.
It originated in the 1800's. You can look up the whole history of the phrase.
Brufurion Sep 24th 2011 12:21PM
Mmmmmm donuts
/drool
Arizor Sep 24th 2011 12:22PM
I'm sure it's been suggested before but you guys really should compile a short RFAQ (Ridiculously Frequently Asked Questions) page and post a link to it very conspicuously at the top of every The Queue, for a fair period after each patch.
llcjay2003 Sep 24th 2011 1:33PM
Before patch is really where this is needed. After patch it is almost self-explanatory. Not that people don't still ask, but yeah. Maybe add updates as info comes in. Wait...don't they do this anyways?
Shinae Sep 24th 2011 3:07PM
A frequently asked question was a big reason for why Anne wrote this:
http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/04/wow-insiders-chronological-guide-to-warcraft-novels-manga-com/
Amaxe Sep 24th 2011 3:39PM
Well, I recall in the past waiting for WOLK and Cata, there were a lot of questions which never seemed to be answered or else the answer was buried in deep in the replies. Without an improved search engine or index of answers, some people are not going to find those replies.
I imagine WI could do an "As of this writing, there is no new information on [X], [Y] and [Z]. The most up to date info we have is at [Link]" to reduce the number of repetitive questions. They can just cut/paste daily until they do have new info.
Ianmis Sep 24th 2011 3:50PM
I like this suggestion and I do believe that it has been given before. However, I can only imagine the ludicrous amount of time it would take to compile such a list, unless they started fresh, perhaps.
llcjay2003 Sep 24th 2011 6:53PM
Good call Shinae and Amaxe.
This sounds like something they could hire someone to do.
...DIBS!!!
You see that? I called it.
fudge Sep 24th 2011 12:22PM
Sounds like the Bloodsport guy died.
He's fine, though, isn't he? I enjoyed his taste in music.
revan238 Sep 24th 2011 12:24PM
Q for the Q,
As much as I love mounts and titles (77 mounts amd 24 titles), is it just me or did it feel like getting the flaming hippogryph and the Flame Breaker title was a bit too easy? I know some of the achievements were a bit challenging (like have....have we met, took forever to fricken find Mankrik as an Alliance player on a Alliance heavy server), but as epic as the firelands felt I would have thought there would been more to it then the normal, do these dailies for a month and a half and kill some guys while not standing in their fire kinda quests.
- Rev
Joseph Smith Sep 24th 2011 1:27PM
Sounds about on par with other holiday bosses. It's just strange now that the currency is points rather than badges (which used to be IN the barrel) to see an empty loot when you don't get an item.
Joseph Smith Sep 24th 2011 1:30PM
reply fail. WTB Delete button
VioletArrows Sep 24th 2011 2:01PM
Easy, difficult, subjective. Technically most reputation mounts are 'easy' if you have the dedication to stick it out, and they take even less time (the Netherwings, Cenarion Expedition, Bronze drake). I finished the Molten Front grind on one, and I really loathe to do it again on my other maxed alts. I consider it 'difficult' because the dailies got old after a week, let alone 5.
Why is everyone neurotic about whether something is hard or difficult or obtainable or wankable for everyone else?
Telwar Sep 24th 2011 3:01PM
Also, some of those bosses are almost impossible to do for the achievement with a melee toon, without being a jerk to people around you. Harbinger, I'm looking at you!
Killik Sep 24th 2011 5:36PM
Just like pretty much anything in this game - easily achievable given enough time and motivation.