The Queue: Leaving on a Jet Plane

As you read this, I'm most likely on a plane to Anaheim. Well, no, probably not, because I know you guys. Most of you are reading this the very second the post goes live, and if that's the case, then I'm still sitting at my desk in Milwaukee staring angrily at the high wind warning that has been issued in my area. The beginning of my flight is going to be fun.
@rjwii asked:
Will the alliance become the dominant faction this expansion?
I've been trying to think of a kind way to say hell no, and the best I could come up with was a regular no. I don't expect that will happen. As an Alliance player, I have come to terms with the fact that we're likely to be the whipping boys forever. At no point in World of Warcraft has the Alliance been dominant, and the Alliance's victories are not victories so much as they are isolated events in which the Horde does not completely slaughter the Alliance. Blizzard does not really grasp how to write the Alliance at war. Blizzard is very good at writing the Horde at war, however. Notice how in Twilight Highlands, the #1 zone featuring the war between the Horde and the Alliance in Cataclysm, is a completely one-sided slaughter. The Horde is lok'tar-ogaring all over the place and rocking the Alliance's face in. The Alliance is busy holding a wedding.
I think Varian Wrynn embodies this somewhat. Blizzard is very much about the Horde and how they wage wars. It's into that so much that it gave the Alliance their king back, but they turned him into an Orc first. I don't dislike Varian Wrynn, but he's certainly not a bastion of humanity. He's Lo'gosh. He's the Ghost Wolf. The Alliance doesn't need a Ghost Wolf; the Alliance doesn't need an Orc in charge. The Alliance needs another Lion of Stormwind, but we're not going to get that.
Do I hope I'm wrong? Yes, absolutely. Swamp of Sorrows does have Joanna Blueheart, so at least one of the quest designers at Blizzard grasps how the Alliance rolls. If they can use her as their basis for Alliance warfare, we could have a great thing. Joanna is alone in her example, though. Things look ... bleak.
Andre asked:
Does the sword drop from the Horseman or the bag?
The bag!
Bellajtok asked:
So what do you guys unrealistically want from the next expansion? In other words, what's on your magical wishlist?
I want player/guild housing with a tremendous spread of decorative options that you can acquire and achieve in sub-raid content. Five-mans and solo are fair game. It would serve as a way to advance your character (or your guild) when you're at the level cap, and I think World of Warcraft desperately needs to get back into giving players something to work toward at the level cap that isn't just inflating your ilevel. Archaeology attempted to do this, but just grinding out fragments is not particularly compelling.
I think it would be incredibly fun to hunt down trophies, statues, armor racks, rugs, and so on to pimp your pad. I was on the fence about player housing for years, but after Cataclysm, I desperately long for something I can really strive toward on level-capped characters that isn't simply Blizzard pushing me back toward raiding. The Burning Crusade had a large amount of content like that, I feel. Wrath didn't have much and Cataclysm had even less.
Terrant asked:
What kind of parents name their kid Kel'Thuzad?
His name is actually Kelly Julius Thuzad, but since Kelly is a girl's name, he shortened it to Kel'Thuzad.
@peterchristy asked:
What are you most looking forward to at BlizzCon? Least?
I'm most looking forward to the WoW Insider meetup. Really, I am! BlizzCon is great and I'm excited about any WoW news that happens to come out of it, but the meetup is just unrivaled in the excitement department. We plan this thing off and on all year long, and September and October is when the planning comes together and coalesces into something real. We're all excited to hit the ground in Anaheim, prep our venue, and rock out with our fans and friends. I imagine it's how Blizzard feels about BlizzCon itself, except BlizzCon is a heckuva lot bigger.
What am I looking forward to the least? The lines. You always do a lot of standing in line at conventions, but BlizzCon is extra bad about it. All of the vendors are crammed into such a cramped space, and lines grow to be so long that all of the lines start wrapping around unrelated booths and intersecting with each other, and it gets to the point where you're not even sure you're in the right line anymore.
Filed under: The Queue
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Reader Comments (Page 14 of 14)
Drakkenfyre Oct 19th 2011 10:44PM
There's a whole thread on MMO-Champion about what shows it's fake, including the artwork being pulled from DeviantArt, and the icons being cropped versions of existing pics. Blizzard isn't going to upload something like that three days in advance.
Maybe he thinks it's funny? Maybe he's trying to get a reaction out of people? It's fake.
Amaxe Oct 19th 2011 11:02PM
He might be doing a variant of #14 from the Daily Bink?
http://www.thedailyblink.com/comics/2011-10-19-219.jpg
Noyou Oct 19th 2011 11:56PM
I dunno. He posted it on his guild website as well as facebook. While that doesn't take a whole lot of time, that seems to me pushing it over the line of a simple joke. The only 2 things I have read that it is a fake seem to be:
*priest talents
*Fan art
Though their seems to be comments that argue against those. What I find EXTREMELY interesting is the lack of comments by the WI staff on this and Boub on MMO champ hasn't weighed in yet. I would think someone would either be willing to support it or shoot it down. It could be because they are busy. I am preparing myself for it to be fake but hoping (hey I hope the cubs are going to make it to the WS every year, it's not much different) it will be proven right!
Noyou Oct 20th 2011 12:21AM
Youtube* not facebook. Sorry.
Ant Oct 19th 2011 5:42PM
Please god, no player housing. It's useless fluff and it will take players out of the world that people already complain about. Coming from LotR and EQ2 when I played them, the cities were basically ghost towns. You may as well made a house with every npc inside instead and there you go.
Amaxe Oct 19th 2011 8:09PM
Actually, when I played LOTRO, the cities like Bree were like ghost towns because most of the high level players were doing Mirkwood or finishing up Moria.
Such was the problem with Tolkien's world being made into a game. A centralized hub like WoW wouldn't really fit the concept of "the evil gets worse the farther east you go." vs. the Placid western lands
Hellwraith Oct 20th 2011 11:01AM
@Killik: "Six, definitely six" http://xkcd.com/692/ Amazing comic lol
@Pyromelter: thanks for the reply! I assumed the same, in the matter of needing 3 because they weren't as powerful as Annhylde the Caller. And no, the suicide event was in Icecrown, where Annhylde sacrifices herself; in WPL players are sent (Alliance sent by Thasarrian) to kill one of the remaining 8 Val'kyr. I guess I wrote it kinda confusing :P And as you state, it makes a perfect scenario for a raid on Sylvannas, but alas! For my allegiance is with the Dark Lady :P
Hellwraith Oct 20th 2011 11:09AM
Ugh... meant to reply on my previous comment. Downvote at will.
calaf Oct 20th 2011 10:13AM
I have some rapidfire questions regarding the virtual ticket i couldnt find online.
1. Has anyone had any luck streaming this to their tv via 360 or ps3? ( i don't have direct TV)
2. If i use my wife's account (so she can get the minipet) will i have to use her authenticator to log into the feed?
3. Has anyone had any luck streaming this via tablet or cellphone with a 3g connection?
Chris Oct 21st 2011 10:06AM
Lol Alex soo true and so goood, Alliance is the proverbial tragedy king that even our victories sound depressing.
I LOL'd so hard at this
"Notice how in Twilight Highlands, the #1 zone featuring the war between the Horde and the Alliance in Cataclysm, is a completely one-sided slaughter. The Horde is lok'tar-ogaring all over the place and rocking the Alliance's face in. The Alliance is busy holding a wedding."
For The Alliance !!