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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: Lodur, Herald of the Elements
by Michael Sacco 
Sep 25th 2011 at 12:00PM
Looks like our good friend Joe Perez has finally made it big, if this card from the preview event for the WoW TCG Throne of the Tides expansion has anything to say about it. Congratulations, Joe. Seriously, you even got Jonboy Meyers as your artist.
Lastgaurdian asked:
Has WoWinsider ever considered reaching out to role-play servers a bit? I find that Know Your Lore and All The World's a Stage is quite helpful for knowledge, but I feel that some communities and guilds therein could use a lot of help and WoWinsider is a strong enough force to do that.
Well, roleplaying is the task of the roleplayer, and our RP column is pretty much all we can do to "reach out" to roleplayers. AtWaS covers a lot of ground; I don't really feel like it's lacking for much in terms of content. The rest is up to you.
FireMaster asked:
Do you think there's any indication that Rexxar will have a major role in the future or do you think his story is over?
There's been no indication of anything regarding Rexxar at all lately, much less that his story is over.
Quaza asked:
Why does every column start with a picture or banner of some sort?
So there's some visual differentiation in between articles when viewing our blog roll.
Ylinae asked:
Do you think there's any chance, what with transmogrification allowing greater visual customization, that druids will see an option to reclaim their old, permanent tree form?
If you mean "will Blizzard let me be a treant permanently," then no, I don't think that'll happen. The glyph that lets you be the old, ugly treant for as long as Tree of Life Form is active is probably as close as you're going to get.
MusedMoose asked:
Do you think BioWare's announcement that SW: TOR will be released on December 20th will have any effect on when we see patch 4.3?
I think 4.3 will be released when it's done; I'm not really sure that Blizzard can afford to hold out until December, even in the face of SWTOR. I think we're looking at a November-something-th release date -- not before BlizzCon, not during BlizzCon, but shortly after.
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 9)
adalon Sep 25th 2011 12:18PM
With the looming threat of SWTOR, what do you think the odds are of WoW going free to play in the near future?
Iirdan Sep 25th 2011 12:22PM
Slim to none. Free-to-play models work well with a large network of microtransactions and a small subscriber base; 11 million players and eight microtransaction items and a few services is not enough to support WoW financially.
A lot further down the line, once WoW's subscriber numbers have started to dwindle, then perhaps we will see a truly free-to-play WoW. But it is highly unlikely that we will see it in the near future.
Andre Sep 25th 2011 12:23PM
How would another game make WoW free to play? Losing a lot of money doesn't seem like a sound business strategy.
MusedMoose Sep 25th 2011 12:31PM
"Looming threat" is putting it rather melodramatically. WoW has had competition from the day it started, even before then, as games like EverQuest had solid player bases that WoW would have to compete with for customers. Is TOR a credible competitor? Absolutely, as the combination of Star Wars and BioWare has a very positive history.
However, despite TOR being another MMO, it's not necessarily playing to the exact same market as WoW. TOR is a great deal more story-based, and not everyone who plays WoW wants that. TOR is also (obviously) set in the Star Wars universe, and not everyone who plays WoW likes SW. Some people will even play both; I plan to give TOR a test run as soon as there's a free trial available.
So while WoW may see an initial drop in subscriptions when TOR comes out, that won't be any different from other games that were supposed to be "WoW-killers", such as Warhammer Online. But I highly doubt it will be enough to make Blizzard reconsider their pricing model just from the influence of one game.
Of course, this is just my opinion, I could be wrong.
Also: thanks for answering my question, Mr. Sacco. ^_^
Scott Sep 25th 2011 12:32PM
It would take a pretty catastrophic event (pun intended) for WoW to go F2P or P2W.
SWTOR is just another in a long list of games that has been heralded as the "WoW killer". Worst case scenario is that WoW dips to somewhere around 9.5-8.5M subs by the time the next expansion goes live...and that won't cause a switch to F2P.
Paul Sep 25th 2011 1:24PM
Blizzard employees have stated a couple of times this year that they are looking at F2P models, but so far they have not stated that they're looking at using that business model to WoW.
Future MMOs being subscription based is looking unlikely within the industry at the moment, so chances are Blizzard are only looking at F2P business models for their future products. WoW is unlikely to shift business model for a long time.
If F2P ever hits WoW, it'll be concurrent with the sub model, not an outright switch. It's too profitable with the number of people playing. It would have to reach levels lower than it's release subscriber numbers before they need to consider it.
Sally Bowls Sep 25th 2011 1:38PM
@andre - that thinking is a couple of years out of date. Companies now go "f2p" (a/k/a satanic RL$ micro transactions) because they want more money.
http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/08/11/age-of-conan-unchained-conquers-300-000-new-players-doubles-re/
http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/02/17/champions-online-gains-profits-and-players-as-a-free-to-play/
http://massively.joystiq.com/2011/01/06/turbine-lotro-revenue-tripled-since-going-f2p/
only 3 URIs massively.joystiq.com/2011/09/15/mmo-subscription-dollars-in-decline-for-the-first-time-since-200/
Noyou Sep 25th 2011 1:48PM
What's with the clamor of Free to play? Isn't that generally reserved for when the interest in a game is waning and clinging on to fragments of it's former self? I like how WoW is now. So do about 11+ million people.
Trippy Sep 25th 2011 12:27PM
Q4tQ: Will it be possible to use 1 source item to transmog 2 items?
For example, will I be able to use Shadow's Edge to transmog both my Reforged Trollbane's that my warrior is dual-wielding? Or can Shadow's Edge only be used to transmog 1 Reforged Trollbane and would I need a second Shadow's Edge to transmog my 2nd Reforged Trollbane. (And yes, I know you can only possibly get 1 Shadow's Edge due to it being an item which requires a quest to obtain.)
MusedMoose Sep 25th 2011 12:33PM
If I remember right, you asked this question yesterday, and got an answer of "yes". As far as I know, Blizzard hasn't said anything about limits on how many items you can make look like one single item.
Why did you feel the need to ask this again? @_@
loop_not_defined Sep 25th 2011 12:44PM
I'm lazy and don't feel like digging for a link today (sorry :P), but Blizzard has previously stated that you can use one source item to xmog two other items.
Skarn Sep 25th 2011 1:20PM
Yes. You can use one source item to Transmog as many items as you want. It doesn't matter. Beyond the actual act of the Transmog, there is NO link between the two items. Delete the source item, bank it, use it for another item, it doesn't matter.
This question pops up fairly often and it bafffles me. Oh well, there's your answer. :)
Kurash Sep 25th 2011 3:43PM
http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/09/23/the-queue-xxl-gilled-burpito/
Yours was the final question answered. When you ask a question it's generally a good idea to read the answers.
Killik Sep 25th 2011 9:44PM
What's the point in asking a question, if you aren't going to bother looking for an answer?
Uh, I should point out that's a rhetorical question!
Trippy Sep 26th 2011 2:41AM
I'm sorry for totally missing that my question already got answered, completly missed the "xxl gilled burpito" post.
Wouldn't have reposted if I had noticed it got answered.
Eirik Sep 26th 2011 6:09PM
@Killik: Isn't that misquoting the movie?
ephuthepaladin Sep 25th 2011 12:28PM
Q4Q:
I know it has been stated that loot is determined when the mob spawns but how is loot determined while fishing? Is it when you cast or when you actually click the bobber thing?
Let's say I have a lure attached to my fishing pole. If it expires midcast will I still get the bonus when I catch a fish?
Daco Sep 25th 2011 12:59PM
According to the page on lures at El's Extreme Angling, the effect of the lure is applied when you cast, not when you click on the bobber. This jibes well with my experience. If the lure runs out midcast, you'll still get the effect. And my experience (I have Salty on one of my characters) agrees with this.
Drakkenfyre Sep 25th 2011 2:50PM
You get odd errors due to the bonuses applied to fishing.
If you use a gold coin in the Dalaran fountain, thus giving you a 2% bonus to fish up another one, but the buff expires after you cast, while the loot window box is open, but before you loot the fish, it won't let you loot. You have to recast.
That proves the buff is active on cast.
ShakoBako Sep 25th 2011 12:33PM
How's wow insider doing on finding a new PVP columnists?