The Queue: The fate of Sky Captain Swayze and Ka'anu Reevs
by Mathew McCurley 
Dec 5th 2011 at 11:00AM
My two new favorite NPCs in World of Warcraft are Sky Captain Swayze and Ka'anu Reevs of the Kor'kron Air Command. In the past, I have been very vocal about my disdain for "lazy NPCs" design in which a clever name that just replaces letters or flat-out names the NPC after the pop culture reference is created for content. Haris Pilton is the queen of all lazy NPCs, for instance, because it's not even a joke on Paris Hilton -- it's just her.
Sky Captain Swayze and his best orc buddy Ka'anu Reevs, however, are stalwart heroes, best friends, and champions in the highest regard. Whatever happens to them after that fateful jump and subsequent tentacling, I hope they survive. I hope they live on. In the name of freedom. I want Sky Captain Swayze and Ka'anu Reevs to be surfing off the shore of Pandaria for years to come.
You're about to jump out of a perfectly good airship, Reevs -- how do you feel about that?
mord asked:
Is raid finder too easy with 372 gear? I think Raid Finder was tuned for ilvl 365. I can understand why they decided to initially set it to 372, but I have a hunch it will eventually drop to 365 in a month or two. Have blues hinted at this possibility?
The Raid Finder will never be "too easy." People are completely missing the point of the Raid Finder if you ever think that it is "too easy." The Raid Finder is not meant to be difficult. Yes, it's meant to pose interesting challenges to players who are running it, but by no means is it meant to challenge you on the level of normal mode or heroic mode difficulties.
The reason the Raid Finder is built the way it is boils down to the fact that as a game mechanic, raiding is a pretty poor one. Think about it -- content is difficult, it used to be extremely time-locked and artificially gated, and it's logistically difficult for the everyday player. These are not people who needed to learn to play but rather people who just didn't have the time.
The Raid Finder's difficulty is to give all of those people the chance of at least seeing the encounters and being a part of the grand story without the traditional traps and gates of raiding in an MMO. MMO raiding is this weird anomaly that exists as game content moves toward accessibility over exclusivity. For people who legitimately feel threatened by the Raid Finder, I just feel like I'm at a loss for words sometimes. Why are you threatened by the Raid Finder? Because it's easy mode? Because someone could say, "Well, I defeated Deathwing and saved the day!" and did it via the Raid Finder? What the hell does that matter to you if you beat the fights on a harder difficulty?
As for whether or not they will lower the difficulty or, rather, lower the ilevel required to raid, I think they keep it up high to increase the chance of success each LFR group has of completing the raid wings. They would rather require higher ilevels to get in and have more innate successes than to lower the ilevel and have too many frustrating encounters and experiences. It will probably stay where it is.
razion asked:
Okay queue-goers, let's brainstorm here for a minute. What is the quickest way to do the quest "Test Your Strength"? Alternatively, what is the most AMUSING way to do so?
As usual, my go-to spot for farming experience-yielding mobs are the ghosts and undead in Icecrown due north of that awful area where you do the stupid jousting with the commanders. They die extremely fast and give you a grisly trophy. The most amusing way is PvP in the Darkmoon Free-for-all Deathmatch because that thing is a joke. Remove players from groups in there, in my opinion.
Darkseid asked:
Okay, so Blizzard introduces the Raid finder... Then makes none of the Rogue legendary quest or items attainable through the raid finder....
But... because of the Raid finder, you never see anyone forming PUG raids.
So the question is...
How are any Rogues who aren't already part of a raiding guild supposed to have ANY shot at completing or even starting the Legendary dagger chain...
Seems like piss poor planning on Blizzards part. Or, a ridiculous continuation of what they started with Cata, of basically trying to force everyone into a guild.
Legendaries are intended for players who are part of a guild in which the time, dedication, and logistical work is more difficult than your average encounter or quest. Not everyone is meant to have legendaries, as they represent one of the highest echelons of rewards in the game. PUG raids will form in time as players get geared up from Raid Finder and get more familiar with the fights. It just so happens that right now, there is an easier way to PUG raid, and it's Raid Finder.
Hal asked:
I understand Blizzard giving reforging duties to the ethereals... in Stormwind and Orgrimmar. Why in blazes did they take reforging out of the other cities?
I had literally no idea there were reforgers in other cities.
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 4 of 13)
Lishalacey Dec 5th 2011 11:55AM
Completely agree.
I just beat the Lich King last night for the first time. It was AMAZING. I could not believe the sheer epic-ness of the fight. I loved every minute of it, and I'm glad I've finally gotten to see the content- even though it's not current.
I am so glad that Blizzard has created a way to let people see content while it's current. The epic feeling is only more pronounced!
Raid Finder = the best thing that's ever happened (for me) in WoW.
MattKrotzer Dec 5th 2011 1:21PM
"Pretty much any mechanic that prevents you from getting all rewards instantly is artificial gating..."
Bosses prevent you from getting all rewards instantly.
This is called ACTUAL gating. Nothing artificial about it. You have to get past something for the reward. The only thing close to artificial gating is the time-released stuff, where it doesn't matter how well you do, because Blizzard ensures you CAN'T move onto the next challenge.
Heroic modes requiring a Normal end-boss kill, which means you can't do them Week 1 of release: Artificial.
2nd half of the raid not available to LFR during the first week of release? Artificial.
Everything else is just normal gating, really.
loop_not_defined Dec 5th 2011 5:55PM
Bosses only dropping X amount of loot per kill is artificial gating. Gear checks are artificial gating. Rep grinds are artificial gating. Dailies like the Argent Tourny and Molten Front are artificial gating. JP, VP, HP and CP are all artificial gating.
Comparing MMOs to single-player games is a completely flawed argument, right from the get-go. When was the last time you paid a subscription fee for an Elder Scrolls game? Why would you need to? Bethesda doesn't maintain servers that host your game.
This is an apples and oranges argument.
Killik Dec 5th 2011 6:49PM
@loop I'm confused. So some gating is artificial and some is not artificial? What defines the difference? Certainly bosses not dropping all loot for all classes at once is gating of a sort. Is it artificial though? Isn't the entire game artificial? Or are you trying to draw a finer distinction than actually exists?
I'd probably apply the definition to content that is not available through standard actions within the game itself. Eg, raids requiring scheduling an active raiding group via means outside the game, or holding back content that is ready until a certain amount of time has passed.
Sinthar Dec 6th 2011 10:43AM
Guys - a debate about what is artificial and what is 'normal' is not really what we should be talking about - can we just call it 'gating' and leave it there?
The way I see it
Some gating is there because Blizz wants you to spend time in the game, to get some value for money
Some gating is there because Blizz does not want you to run the instance once, get everything you want and not go there again
Some gating is there because Blizz hasnt finished the encounter on heroic yet
Some gating is there...........
I can go on (and I HAVE been told I can go on..and on...and on....and on!)
Personally I believe people complain about it because they dont want any gating at all. And if there was no gating at all........then the game would be long dead and buried by now
@Loop
Please dont bring Skyrim/server/subs arguement. I am struggling to find a reason to resub to wow and this emphasises why I am currently laspsed atm.
Skyrim vs WoW atm
Skyrim has better graphics, better lag free gameplay, no trade douches, no ninja's, you can pause any time you like and has a superior storeyline which you dont have to purchase books to follow.
Wow has more social interaction, multiple people raiding, as well as online support, a good storeyline which is spoilt by having to buy/read book, but is enchanced by your direct participation.
Personally I feel they have about equal merit - with wow having a longer lasting appeal but Skyrim having a shorter term appeal that is stronger. However when you factor in burnout ....I feel skyrim wins atm - mostly due to the lack of grinds (rep, money, opening x, etc etc ) to do, which is what burnt me out I think. Will I come back? - I dont know but suspect so....but not for a while.
Necromann Dec 5th 2011 11:13AM
I know we will fin out tomorrow, but what do you think Blizz is going to do about the Ultraxion encounter in LFR? I think they are just going to remove the hour of twilight ability but I don't know if that is the best option.
Necromann Dec 5th 2011 11:15AM
Find*
Andrew Dec 5th 2011 11:28AM
I'm sorry, haven't been paying attention, but what the hell could be so wrong with Ultraxion in LFR that they would remove the one ability HE WAS CREATED SPECIFICALLY TO END THE WORLD WITH? That would be like making a WWII game, but then removing Nazi Germany's ability to kill anything.
Sunaseni Dec 5th 2011 11:55AM
Same thing they did with the ping pong ball in Warlord Zon'ozz, raid ending abilities merely become difficult to deal with. It'll probably do a crapton of damage, but not enough to one-shot people since the tight level of coordination needed to eat Hour of Twilight with immunities and the like isn't possible. Most likely, tanks will be made to eat it, everyone else bails or they die.
Ice Dec 5th 2011 1:32PM
@Andrew
To start with:
"Hour of twilight" cast requires 3 people to stay behind with cooldown like dispersion.
I assume this requirement will be removed in LFR because its too hard for your non-listening pugs. Maybe ~8 minute enrage too(or very low health).. people are doing 16k dps for crying out loud and they are tunneling...you need like over 22k each to beat enrage.
I've run lfr 6 times so far and only abilities people have avoided (or pretended to) are:
First bosses black puddles
Kill ooze in unsleeping
Pretend to avoid ice walls in stormbinder (still 10 people die to it every. single. time.)
Bouncing on warlord? Seems I'm always only one doing it. Its ignored totally. They even made it so that after X amount of bounces the ball automatically goes to boss...
Beam/ball thing on first boss? 3 people maybe ever go near the ball..not that it matters it doesnt even do damage.
Ice walls on stormbinder? Like I said theres at least 10 people that die to it :s
I just cant imagine why is it like this. Do people that ignore all boss mechanics actually enjoy doing this and playing the game?
Krsnik Dec 5th 2011 11:14AM
Question for the Queue,
So what's going on with these Darkmoon artifacts? I've got the book in my inventory and I've ran about six, max-level dungeons with it but haven't seen a single one of the artifacts drop. Do I have to do some sort of crazy dance while playing a ukulele or something? What am I missing here? Please help.
Thieren Dec 5th 2011 11:17AM
I saw one, but, unfortunately, it is rolled on by anyone with the ability to see them. Three people in my random. I lost. :-(
Hal Dec 5th 2011 11:20AM
Pretty certain it's just a low drop rate. We had one of those books drop in Firelands last night off of a boss, though it was available to everyone who had their DMF guide.
Incidentally, we also had both a piece of BoE gear and a recipe drop off of the same trash mob. I can only imagine the odds of that happening.
loop_not_defined Dec 5th 2011 11:51AM
The Guide says "appropriately-challenging dungeons, raids, and battlegrounds." Does anybody know what the limits are for something to be considered appropriately-challenging? Like, if a 5-man boss is still green, would they count?
MattKrotzer Dec 5th 2011 12:39PM
Not sure exactly what "appropriate level" means, but I did lose the roll on an artifact in Well of Eternity last night.... to a guy in 359-378 gear who couldn't get past 7k dps, which is almost what I pushed on my resto shaman when regaining mana/lightning bolt spamming.
DracoSuave Dec 5th 2011 2:45PM
No one cares that you lost a casual gamer's game quest item to pug.
Mowtems Dec 6th 2011 11:07AM
"Why in blazes did they take reforging out of the other cities"
Blizzard likes cities to "feel" populated. During BC/WOTLK, this was easy as we all naturally congregated in Strat/Dal. With Cata, they've looked for other mechanisms to concentrate us in SW/Org. (removal of other portals from Dalaran, making these cities portal hubs for Cata zones, etc.)
I suspect concentration of the reforgers in a single city are part of this same effort.
Note that back in the day, however, it was Ironforge that was the de facto alliance capital (Like Org, it played home to two races and the faction's only auction house).
Peebers Dec 5th 2011 11:18AM
anybody else not able to gem/reforge some gear items? haven't seen any word about it.
Hal Dec 5th 2011 11:24AM
Reload your UI. The new interface stuff screws up frequently, but reloading your UI should do the trick. It works for me, at least.
ravyncat Dec 5th 2011 2:09PM
You might also have an addon messing it up.
I had a few that were not updated for 4.3 but still worked--except when it comes to reforging.