Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: Books From Boxes
by Michael Sacco 
Oct 16th 2011 at 12:00PM
Not a new song, but one of my favorites circa 2007. The pounding rain continued its bleak fall; we decided just to write after all, after all.
Thatacus asked:
Who posts on WoWInsider's Twitter? Some times, some thing funny gets posted and I want to say it's Fox, but I don't want to inflate his ego anymore than I have to :P
Adam, Alex, Dan, and I all post on the WoW Insider Twitter. I'm generally the one who does non-newsy stuff on there, but it could be any of us at any given time. Fox has, to my knowledge and deep gratitude, never used our official Twitter.
Shrimper asked:
Whatever happened to Heroic Stockades? I vaguely remember playing through it during Beta but can't find much on what actually happened to those plans.
Heroic Stockades was never announced and certainly never playable.
Subtotal asked:
Will we be seeing a return of "Ask a faction leader" at some point?
Some of the answers in those columns were hilarious... Oh yeah and there was some thought provoking stuff in there too or something.
Yes. I'm writing it right now. Well, I mean, not right now, but I was before I was writing The Queue.
Susinko asked:
Do you think there will be more rewards for the Molten Front dailies? I have almost a thousand Marks of the World Tree and don't know what to do with them. It would be nice if we could buy the green Flame Bird that was datamined or those other skins of the Ravenlords that are on fire.
Not with patch 4.3 coming, no. Don't expect any Molten Front updates.
VioletArrows asked:
Is there someone we can report bad WoW Insider ads to? I keep seeing those text ads that say "It made my doctor furious!" "Your car insurance dealer HATES this!" "Follow this one simple tip..." And it's been shown on numerous websites that those ads/websites are all scams.
We have a "Contact Us" link at the top right corner of the site you can use to alert us of that stuff. Try to include a link to the ad in question where possible.
Noyou asked:
91 comments seems to be a record low for the Queue, at least in my viewings of it. Is this so?
Weekend Queues are kind of a crapshoot. I don't think 91 is the lowest one ever, but it's definitely on the lower end (as most Saturday Queues are).
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 9 of 9)
Noyou Oct 16th 2011 8:00PM
Q4u-Q4tQ:
I have been doing some quests in the 6-10 range in Dun Morogh. I noticed there is a severe lack of quality items to be had. Similarly, there seem to be better gear rewards in the same range in the Goblin/Worgen starter zones and also in the Elwynn range of quests. Anyone else notice this as well?
Wrathkind Oct 16th 2011 7:54PM
Are paladins and priests all supposed to be drawing from the same well of power, or do they each pull from different holy lights? Draenei seem to explicitly channel the Naaru's energies, but I don't think that applies to all the other races. I mean, even the Blood Elves appear to draw from the Sunwell now (at least, that's how I took it).
From where does Troll voodoo magic generate holy light? Dwarves and Humans seem to connect to something spiritual rather than religious (the same way that the Cult of Forgotten Shadow seems to be entirely separate from the fel energies of the Burning Legion). Tauren imply that their light is, literally, the sun, so unless the sun is a giant Naaru, I don't see how all these wielders of holy light are connecting to the same font of power.
I'm guessing that Elune-worshipping Night Elves channel Arcane lunar light, but project it as Holy due to reverence. Do goblins channel electricity as their holiest light (which would be awesome actually, as implied by their jumper cables)? Did Gnomes learn what the Dwarves learned because the Humans preached their religion to them?
If Forsaken are forced to draw from the Forgotten Shadow (I don't even know how shadows project light, but I get the general philosophy behind their religion), and Broken Draenei turn to shamanism because their fel taint prevents them from wielding Light, then what do Worgen channel (the light of Elune)? There seems to be an implication that the Holy Light can't be wielded by the impure. Why is the Orc the only player race that does not have access to the Light (game mechanic or lore-based)?
Are all these sources of Light supposed to be variant aspects of the same power (maybe the Light of Life)? Is my question a "Know Your Lore" question, or has it been covered in something like "All the World's A Stage"? I know Google has all the answers (probably via a WoWpedia article), but I want to get a better feel for the answer by how the lore nerds worked it out.
razion Oct 17th 2011 3:37AM
It's arguable if they all draw from the same "fount of power". Indeed a lot of people have speculated that Elune is, in fact, a Naaru, and that all of the faiths are somehow connected. But at this point, that's just Tin Foil Hat theory. And, while fun, it hasn't been set in stone. What IS set in stone, is that faith is typically (or used to be) held on a race-by-race basis. But it is not exclusive as such.
Any race can believe in The Light (despite being Forsaken, Gnome, Goblin, or otherwise), and how the Light works is: as long as you believe in it, the Light will protect and bless you. If your faith is strong enough, you can protect others, mend their wounds, and do good in the name of the Light, spreading good-will and what-not across the land. Your race need not matter, as the Light does not discriminate.
There are examples of every race being involved in the Argent Dawn and the Argent Crusade. It is not impossible for any race to obtain faith, and thus it is not possible for their faith to be denied to them (and thus, being "rejected" from the Light is not ever the Light's doing, but rather the fault on the believer's part).
To answer your questions directly:
The Draenei worship the Light, and look to the Naaru as a sort of rolemodel or demi-god, sort of how the druids would revere Cenarius. The Trolls are similar to the Loa, where they practice a set of ideas and put faith in the Loa, and while faithful, are more tied to their "belief" system of The Voodoo rather than Loas particularly, although some tribes do take a fondness to certain Loas who give them their favor.
Blood elfs used to draw from the Sunwell (or rather, energies given off as a sort of radiation from a Naaru they kept imprisoned)--in BC, back before the Sunwell was restored. Now? They follow The Light, just like (most) Humans, Dwarfs, and... just about every priest and paladin out there.
The Tauren believe in Mu'sha (sp?), which is the eye of the Sun belonging to that of the Earth Mother, in their faith. This is more of a take on Druidism (a radical one, at that), with them being more like "druids of the sun" being there to balance out the Moon worship of the Night Elves. The druid belief system is based entirely around balance, you see. The Tauren believe worshiping the sun to be just as important, and that in doing so, they are keeping balance in the world, creating order, and thus avoiding chaos. Creating life. Protecting. It is this faith--faith in the balance they create--that gives them their power. The fact that their power comes from faith turns it to act like all other powers of faith do--into that of the Light. For now, this is pure game mechanics. In a perfect world, Blizzard would probably like the Trolls and Tauren to heal (and otherwise) as priests and tauren differently (Shadow Tauren Priests being Lunar druids, respectively, and so on) however game mechanics restrict them at this time.
As for Goblins, they approach the Light the same as Shamanism--that the Light is just another customer, like the Elements, and one you can bargain with. Do a little good will, and in return you get some fantastic powers. And with powers, you do a little good on the side, and then whatever you want and make some extra cash. Their Goblins, and that's regular goblin ingenuity. The goblins tend to refer to their faith as The Light in their starting zones, however it is entirely possible for radical goblins to view it as just lightning that works through power of will... and through faith, they can believe whatever they want, as faith, in Warcraft, gives power.
The Forsaken are unique in their interaction with the Light--most have rejected it, seeing as their deeds irredeemable and their existences an abomination in the eyes of their old faith. That said, Forsaken who were faithful did try to use the Light, but found that it would hurt them excruciatingly to do so (because of the nature of their bodies being from the Lich King, one of dark intent). One thing that most Forsaken fail to realize is that **the Light doesn't abandon anyone**. If you have faith, you can use it--no matter how much it hurts, feels diminished (Broken, via fel corruption), or whatever. Some Forsaken have realized this, and use it anyway, and treat the pain as either a test of faith (which it is), or a sick, twisted pleasure that makes them feel more "alive" (having lost their other senses, and what have you). Other Forsaken numb out the pain, and soon the Light comes as easily as breathing once did.
Orcs to The Light is like Draenei to The Void / Fel corruption. It's a taboo to say the least. Not to say it isn't possible--we see Eredar warlocks all the time, and shadow priests in southern Terrokar primarily in crypts. We see Orcs in the Argent Dawn, and even in the Argent Crusade. Any race can be a priest or paladin, all that's required is faith. ... And not being discovered long enough to flee your home capitol to join the Crusade, where you can be protected and not slaughtered for your blasphemous beliefs. I imagine, for an orc with fel corruption in his veins, his vision of The Light is probably obscured, like with the Broken, however like the Broken it is only as impossible as the individual feels that it is. That said, any orc willing to die for their faith probably wouldn't think twice of their fel corruption, and probably force their way over it or something and use it as a way to solidify their beliefs.
In closing, I'll leave you with some popular quotes. "The Light never abandons its champions." "The Light is a gift given to all creatures," "It is a feeling that starts out small at first, manifesting by prompting one to do good". The Light can be upheld by *anyone* who wishes to protect those in need of protection, no matter how much the void tries to obscure it: the Light will always be there. Waiting. Protecting. Healing.
Killik Oct 17th 2011 5:09AM
Rossi tackled The Light briefly in a Know Your Lore:
http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/06/01/know-your-lore-the-sources-of-magic-part-2/
It's interesting that the Orcs generally don't access the light, being as it was their actions that cut the Broken off from it too. Maybe there's something about orcs in general.
Wrathkind Oct 17th 2011 8:08PM
@Razion
Thanks for taking the time to provide such a comprehensive reply. Am I understanding correctly that you believe only a few races are casting the same Holy Light (specifically those who convert to a belief system that promotes the Light), while some are just not casting Holy Light at all (specifically Tauren and Night Elves, who pull from Druidic magics based on sun and moon)? So Blood Elf priests are wielding the same Holy Light as Human paladins, but Trolls are channeling Loas?
My original conjecture was that everyone was casting Holy Light, but that their light varied depending on what they perceive as Holy. Tauren cast the holy light of the sun (which would normally be a Nature spell), Blood Elves cast the holy light of their Sunwell (which would normally be Arcane), and Goblins cast the holy light of ...explosions(?). However, I can go along with your contention that there is only one source of Light, and you must convert belief systems to cast it (those who do not subscribe to the Church of Light are only casting Holy spells due to game mechanics).
@Killik
Thanks for that link; it was very informative. It still didn't completely clarify the Cult of Forgotten Shadow for me, but I gained some new information about it. I've always had problems comprehending Holy priests among the Forsaken, because Holy spells destroy Undead flesh.
While I can appreciate the duality of shadow and light (light casts shadows; light is at its brightest in darkness; etc), I still don't understand how manipulating the shadow lets you wield the light. I get that maybe it allows them to pull the black death away from a target (allowing resurrection), and avert the dark despair of lethal wounds (allowing massive healing), but that would be Shadow magic, wouldn't it? Maybe they're wielding the light of their spirit, which was forcefully interred in their rotting corpses...
thpthpthp1 Oct 16th 2011 9:40PM
Question, sometimes when I attack a mob before dismounting or completely landing, the attack seems to not register. I've only noticed this recently, and I see the damage pop up but the mobs health is neither depleted nor is a debuff (Flame Shock for example) applied.
It's not a huge issue but I was wondering if I'm the only one who's experienced this?
teejmorrison Oct 16th 2011 10:27PM
LOWER COMMENTS CAUSE WE GETTING DRUNK AND WATCHING FOOTBALLLLLL
Ice Oct 17th 2011 8:20AM
1) The balance would be the same it was on patch 1.x.
There would NEVER be any class balances as this would be the "original feeling". That means warriors are always tanks, paladins couldnt tank and were only out of combat ressers or buffers.
Why would anyone roll paladin if all they would end up doing is that? The difference here is that we KNOW this lasts forever so best dps will always be the best and people roll the OP class.
No point rolling druid if you hate healing as that would be the only thing you would do.
"DWARF PRIESTS ONLY" too - and warlocks would spam sbolt only etc.
2) NO new content ever.
There would never be "we just did 7 boss raid for vanilla servers! yay!". You would ALWAYS run AQ and Naxx for 3+ years or however long it still goes on once you've done MC, BWL and ZG.
Is that fun? Would you have blast? It would end up like Star wars Galaxies, the content in that game has been run to death and ONLY reason people still play it before it goes down is RP, others have moved on already due lack of pve/pvp.
Since theres no reason to RP in vanilla servers..yeah.
3) Less people to work with. No dungeon finder to fill those slots from other servers etc. You would have hard time making 40man raids with handful of "nostalgia nerds" 5days a week at 9 pm. "Sorry I'm raiding dragon soul on my main, cant come raid molten bore".
4) Raids were hard because people were new to the game(thus "bad") and game wasnt fully found its ways either. There, I said it.
You could run 40man with 25 people doing stuff where rest were afk hunters autoshotting, guy at lunch and out of combat ressing or buffer paladins. It was only in naxx where people had to step up and almost all would need to actually play.
Like my friend said "Vanilla was like amateur league football for kids. The best players were like teen agers going against kids. The current game is like playing in major league wheres ton of good players and people know what to do and why"
If people are ok with that then I have to wonder why.
Ice Oct 17th 2011 8:22AM
..this as reply to vanilla servers. Damn commenting system shenanigans
Holycorpse Oct 17th 2011 4:33PM
I've just looked on your old address, wow.com, and it seems the 'new' owners have given up and are changing domains. Any chance that you might go back there :) ?
datgrl Oct 18th 2011 6:58AM
Question: Is there any possibility that the number of dailies could be increased? I don't know when they were first introduced but have they always been limited to 25? What about opening up the fishing/cooking dailies to allow completing more than 1 each of those?