The Queue: BlizzCon was really fun

Here is an except from my third grade BlizzCon book report:
I had a really great time at BlizzCon this year. I saw Mike Sacco and Alex Ziebart and Daniel Whitcomb and Fox Van Allen and Adam Holisky and Dawn Moore and Chase Christian and Matt Low and Joe Perez and Dan O'Halloran and Kelly Aarons and Lisa Poisso and other people too. I would recommend BlizzCon to all of the other kids in my class. The end.Didax asked:
Can a Horde Pandaren talk to an Alliance Pandaren by using the Pandaren language? Or at level 10 are they going to suddenly suffer a case of explosive amnesia, forgetting their native tongue?
No. Pandaren of each faction cannot talk to each other. Blizzard has said numerous times that it does not want the factions conversing in game with each other. It is purely a gameplay decision.
thedoctor2031 asked:
Question for the Queue: I have been looking at the new talent trees and it seems like balancing of talents is going to be very difficult, especially for the hybrid talents. My hunter main is pretty happy with all the talents, but from a paladin and druid perspective, it seems like there are way too many specilizations to make the talents as balanced for each spec as hunters are. It feels like a lot of the choices have much less benefit for one spec and it kind of makes the talents feel ill fitting for the hybrids. I know this is only our first preview of it, but how do you think they will change this?
I feel the complete opposite about this. Having talents that exist cross spec means that they can balance talents based on each other, not each spec. Whereas before you would have to balance an ability and deal with its ripple effect through the entire spec, now you just balance the talent against the two others in its tier. We also have no experience playing with these talents in game, nor have we seen the final talents. It's too early to call. However, the whole point of hybrid talents is to make your class as a whole feel cooler or more specialized in something, not your spec. Talents are class-wide now. I think the new talent system is going to be fine as is.
Gillium asked:
Since the focus of this expac seems to be moving away from the epic lore figure as a end boss, who or what is the considered the end of this new expac as far as PvE goes?
It's not so much the case that big lore figures won't be big bads of the expansion, it's that Blizzard didn't want to put one on the box. For three expansions, we've gotten focused villains that detracted greatly from the overall story between these two factions. There was always some point where we worked together, blah blah blah, and while that was compelling most of the time, it was still not focused on the Horde and the Alliance. Will we fight Azshara? Maybe. But the expansion is not called Tides of Azshara.
wowitsemail asked:
Is my impression correct that Pandaria will have only one starting zone?
If that's so, won't that just crowd all the players into one area to compete for the same quest items and mobs to kill? And isn't that why both Wrath and Cataclysm each had two starting zones--because Hellfire Peninsula was so crowded in Burning Crusade? Even with the split zones and semi-intelligent respawn rates, I occasionally got annoyed at all the other players crowding Vash'jir, so I don't want to compete with twice as many.
The only reason starting zones historically have been too crowded at the beginning of an expansion was that their layout and size made it such. Hellfire Peninsula is the biggest culprit, being small-ish in size and scope for the linear questing experience you had to go through. People were funneled, and not in a good way. Wrath opened it up to two zones, and that worked fine. Cataclysm as well. Mists of Pandaria's starting zone is enormous, so I think the problem will be averted with the sheer size of the zone and the nature of questing in the new age of WoW, with more places for people to go in the original zone.
Filed under: The Queue






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 17)
Boz Oct 28th 2011 11:02AM
I saw the new BG and Arena announcement, but any word on Tol Barad and Wintergrasp in 5.0? Will Tol Barad get the 4.0.1 Wintergrasp treatment, or might Blizzard scale the two to make them viable again?
Sorro Oct 28th 2011 11:14AM
They said in one of the Q&A's that there will be a TB/WG-esque area, though they haven't said what form it will take.
Boobah Oct 28th 2011 11:22AM
Last night's Q&A implied that they were looking into the idea of multiple quest hubs that could be controlled by one faction or t'other.
Boz Oct 28th 2011 2:23PM
It is clear by the responses that readers may not have understood what I was asking.
Wintergrasp is unplayable because vehicles did not scale with player level post 4.0.1. If you queue into Wintergrasp today you'll find that vehicles are two- and three-shot by Cataclysm-geared players, making an assault all but impossible.
Tol Barad does not suffer scaling issues as dramatically because it relies less on vehicles, though it still includes six that are used to down towers and extend play time. If Blizzard does nothing Tol Barad isn't necessarily broken, but it does limit some of the strategies and tactics available to players.
I am hopeful that Blizzard will patch both TB and WG to scale vehicles with player health similar to how vehicles scaled in Ulduar, allowing vehicles to continue to be viable indefinitely, but I have seen nothing on the topic, and wanted to know if I missed something from Blizzcon given the heavy focus on Pandaren and the vanity pet battle system.
kirrathjehrain Oct 28th 2011 3:18PM
I think it rather unlikely that they would go back and update those zones, as the content is no longer relevant. It's not like BGs, where the rewards and brackets scale from 10-85, but past expansion endgame material with commensurate rewards.
Matthew Oct 28th 2011 4:28PM
actually, the dev I spoke to at Blizzcon said they are likely NOT doing a TB / WG. Made me sad. Would like to read where Sorro gleaned his info would make my day!
llcjay2003 Oct 28th 2011 4:45PM
Actually, in one of the Q&As they claimed that world bosses would serve the purposes (gear-wise) of BH/VoA. That will be interesting, to say the least.
Vorenos Oct 28th 2011 11:17PM
@llcjay2003
i think you misread that dude. the way i understood it was that they didn't explicitly say that there wouldn't be a VoA/BH type raid, all they said was that the world bosses are considered "optional", like BH is these days. its not a mandatory raid for HC raiders, but it is still a viable option, especially when trying to get geared.
WrecklessMEDIC Oct 29th 2011 12:15AM
I personally love running Wintergrasp at 85. There's virtually no opposition on my server, and doesn't matter whether I'm attacking or defending. I usually end up soloing it for an easy 200-400 honor. I head there immediately after Tol Barad ends, kill 10 guards, hop in a seige engine and go to town. Easy peasy. :)
Reklisc Oct 29th 2011 12:16AM
I'm just posting this here to be a complete ass and have people read this (I believe the proper term is "douche hijacker"), so...
Am I pretty much the only person who isn't going to immediately roll a Dwarrf Brewmaster? (because I'll be playing a Draenei Brewmaster)
Discolando Oct 28th 2011 11:03AM
Why don't the Alliance and the Horde make much use of the Naru? These are practically God-like beings with overwhelming power, but we seem content to just let them hang around in Shattrath. It seems like they would be handy to have around on Azeroth to ask for advice.
Discolando Oct 28th 2011 11:03AM
Oops, Naaru.
The Dewd Oct 28th 2011 11:12AM
They can't fit through the portals and the last time we tried to smuggle one to Azeroth the ship crashed and contaminated all the wildlife. :(
Jamie Oct 28th 2011 11:10AM
That would mean we'd have to use the Draenei in some way and nobody wants that. They're just hear to make us Gnome's lore look full & plentiful.
Jamie Oct 28th 2011 11:11AM
Oops, here.
This comment thread is cursed!
Batleth Oct 28th 2011 11:12AM
I hear you and completely understand. However, the answer to your question is the same answer to as to why Varian doesn't take a nice Sunday stroll, march into Deadmines and one-shot everyone, including Darling Van Cleef...settling the score and getting rid of a headache in one move.
Storywise and game wise, it just wouldn't make the game interesting.
Artificial Oct 28th 2011 11:16AM
"...we seem content to just let them hang around"?! Since when do the Horde and Alliance have any say in the matter? The... incident... with the blood elves aside, I don't think either the Horde or the Alliance can dictate what the Naaru do.
Knob Oct 28th 2011 11:23AM
The Naaru are more interested in dealing with the Burning Legion and have no interest in "terrestrial" Azerothian problems. Once the Burning Legion makes a comeback, you can be damn sure the Naaru will be there to help us.
MattKrotzer Oct 28th 2011 11:51AM
I've seen first-hand what happens when you threaten a Naaru. Back in BC, there was a hunter who kited the Fel Reaver to Shattrath. A'Dal took this affront personally, unleashing his Light upon the vile fel construct.
The short answer to your question is: It doesn't make for a very interesting story.
If you have Godlike beings handling all your problems, then there's really nothing interesting about what YOU can do.
For example: (And this is a doozy of an example...)
Old Testament God wasn't exactly the most relatable deity. You did what he said, or you were smote.
New Testament God settled down, had a kid, and his kid goes around having adventures.
Judging by the number of Christians, who generally base their faith around the New Testament, compared to the number of Jews, who follow the Torah, which contains the first 5 books of the Old Testament, one could draw the conclusion that the New Testament, with a human protagonist, is a bit more compelling and relatable.
The World of Warcraft is also more compelling with mortal protagonists, as opposed to deities who go around smiting evils.
Massa Oct 28th 2011 11:54AM
Isn't there a quest in Icecrown where you do go ask a Naaru for help, and then they come to Azeroth and actually help you. I'm thinking it's because they are so "God-like" that they know what we can handle and what they really need to help us with.
Maybe...