The Queue: Why Blizzard must deliver today

Blizzard has a golden opportunity today. The entire gaming industry will be watching the opening ceremony; not an eye in the greater community will be elsewhere. Everyone will be waiting to hear two things: the Diablo 3 release date, and more importantly, the next World of Warcraft expansion.
This expansion in particular cannot just be another cataclysm/Cataclysm. It has to deliver unlike any expansion has ever done so in any other game. The Wookiees are pounding on the door to Blizzard, and they're not going to back off until Arthas himself swings forth the next expansion and beats them back like the Sith Lord he wishes he was. If Blizzard today can reinvigorate the player base, convince the press and critics that it still has the #1 game -- and always will -- there is nothing that BioWare or anyone else is going to be able to do to stop WoW's continued dominance for the next 10 years.
But Blizzard has one chance at this, and that chance starts and ends today.
Watch it.
Either way, it's gonna be a helluva an interesting BlizzCon.
EverythingRuned asked:
How do you describe the different shaman specs without getting into game terms?
Shaman control the elements of the Earth. Restoration shaman heal you with the life-giving power of terra firma, elemental shaman rain down the elements onto their enemies, and enhancement shaman call on powers of Earth to grant them strength in physical combat.
Sidvicious asked:
Are we finally going to get an update on the old character models in the next expansion?
We'll find out today, but I honestly doubt it. I think a lot of people are so stuck on their old models at this point, it'd be kinda cruel to change them. Blizzard has said as much at points as well.
Gabe asked:
I know that I'll be able to get the information from Blizzcon from WoWInsider, but I'd like to view the stream, since I can't actually go to Blizzcon. Is there another option, where some kind soul decides to post videos of the stream on YouTube, or will I have to pay for it to watch it?
That kind of stuff does happen, but it's not something that's going to be up for long when it does -- at least in most cases. You can find some of the older things, but since Blizzard started charging for it ... yeah. It doesn't like giving the video away for free (obviously).
Allie Roberts and I will be teaming up for the live blogging this year. We've already got a system in place for blogging and picture taking, so we should be better than ever!
eel5pe asked:
While flying through northern Feralas on my way to Feathermoon Stronghold to check it off the list of Kalimdori pumpkins, I flew over Dreamer's Rest and noticed that it had an exclamation mark. Closer inspection confirmed that it was indeed a fully functional trick-or-treatable jack-o-lantern (though to my disappointment it only yielded candy and my 18th or so Sinister Squashling).
So question: what other "unlisted" (aka functional, but not listed on the achievement) pumpkins are out there? My example is obviously an alliance pumpkin but pumpkins for dirty horde would be welcome too.
I haven't seen a list anywhere, but I've seen this happen to one of my toons a ton. My guess is that Blizzard wants them everywhere, but only wants to "force" you to go to a few of them. Not really a bad thing, just slightly unusual for WoW.
Paladious asked:
The best 90's cartoons in my opion were Exo Sqad, King Arthur and the Knights of Justice, and, of course, the X-men.
I am proud (or ashamed, not sure which) that I've watched most of the '90s X-Men on Netflix. That was a darn good show in many respects.
Filed under: The Queue
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Reader Comments (Page 2 of 11)
Noyou Oct 21st 2011 1:26PM
They need to bring back Nat Pagle as a power player in the fishing community. Perhaps with a week long fishing holiday?
Telwar Oct 21st 2011 11:05AM
That X-men cartoon got me back into comics. But it wasn't as good as Exo-Squad or Gargoyles.
Jamie Oct 21st 2011 11:42AM
As far as I'm concerned those cartoons don't belong in the same sentence as X-Men.
Amaxe Oct 21st 2011 11:59AM
I recall the 90's X-men cartoons. A friend tried to get me into them.
But then I saw the episode in which they handled Jean Gray and the Dark Pheonix (which was an excellent comic book issue btw).
The resolution was downright stupid IMO.
Boobah Oct 21st 2011 12:50PM
That's one of the problems with doing the whole Dark Phoenix thing in an episodic format. You need far more continuity than that show generally offered. Unlike in the comics, these guys never started a story by trying to get over whatever trauma the authors inflicted on them in the last story. Pretty much all the continuity was carried by villains and guest stars instead of the actual protagonists.
Telwar Oct 21st 2011 12:52PM
Sorry, Jamie, but while X-Men was good, it didn't hold a candle to Gargoyles, Exo-Squad, or Batman:TAS.
Alexran Oct 21st 2011 11:06AM
I secretly think it would be super funny if Blizzard initially had no intentions of an expansion announcement at Blizzcon, but due to the overwhelming response to rumors, they threw something together at the last minute, the night before the opening ceremony.
"Oh crap. They are expecting greatness! We have to deliver! Metzen, get the art guys to throw some panda drawing together in MS Paint, I'll bullsh*t the rest." Extemporaneously.
Chris Marasco Oct 21st 2011 11:22AM
Geek is......
I pray that the debacle that was last years opening isn't more of that
Kadzeroth Oct 21st 2011 11:31AM
Interesting, was I the only one who thought the Geek is... thing was just awesome?
Grak Oct 21st 2011 11:31AM
Everyone I know who played WoW has gone now. My longtime social-raiding guild is falling apart with even the last of the die-hards finishing up and canceling their subs. I'm the last one left in the building, waiting out the weekend to see what Blizz can scrape together for their next expansion to see if I should just turn the lights out and lock up once and for all.
DigitalMonitor Oct 21st 2011 1:53PM
@Grak The mental image of you turning out the lights sadly reminded me of the last episode of Babylon 5. *sniff* I'm OK... I just got something in my eye.
mord Oct 21st 2011 11:08AM
What session on what day are we most likely to hear information regarding the next expansion? Is that the "WoW Preview" at 12:30 today? or maybe the open Q&A tomorrow at 2:30?
Ace Oct 21st 2011 11:14AM
This was answered in yesterday's queue wasn't it?
Shinae Oct 21st 2011 11:26AM
To quote Holisky, as he wrote in yesterday's Queue:
"The expansion will be announced at the opening ceremony and then immediately elaborated on at the preview panel."
eresin Oct 21st 2011 11:36AM
if they annouce the next expansion it will be during the opening ceremony, then I guess more about it in the preview panel
Zune Oct 21st 2011 11:08AM
Question
Is there any particular reason Horde has soooo many more candy buckets to visit in Kalimdor and EK than Alliance does for the achievements?
Bellajtok Oct 21st 2011 11:15AM
Blah blah blah, Horde favoritism blah.
The Lesser Evil Oct 21st 2011 11:17AM
Yes, forcing Horde characters to run/fly an extra hundred miles for the same achievement is a clear sign of Horde bias.
Astoreth Oct 21st 2011 11:39AM
Simple! The Horde LOVES candy, as all good and righteous people should. The Alliance is full of crotchety old folk who gripes as they hand out toothbrushes and scream at the kids to geroff their lawns.
Grovinofdarkhour Oct 21st 2011 11:56AM
You're complaining? You get more candy! That's not fair.
We like candy, too.