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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: Morshed Khan the sitar player
by Mathew McCurley 
Dec 24th 2011 at 12:00PM
Morshed Khan is an amazing sitar player. Also, he totally owns a restaurant that I eat at way too much.
slim1256 asked:
Do you think Blizz would consider not giving the role bonus to players rolling on a token for an item they already have equipped?
I ask, because - it doesn't seem that far outside the bounds of likelihood that you could go in there for weeks on end, and win nothing (especially if you're on a popular token - I'm looking at you, DK/Druid/Mage/Rogue token!). It's inordinately frustrating to run through both wings of the raid and get nothing, especially over multiple weeks - this is the voice of experience here.
I can see the potential for problems with that (e.g., people might be less likely to join an LFR if they feel like they can't win OS tokens...), but I'm curious to hear what others think?
I understand your loot pains and the logistical issues with the first round of rules for the Raid Finder. Loot has been and probably will always be a pain that way. I think that the loot system for Raid Finder is in its infancy. This is a feature that Blizzard has wanted to put out for a long time, ever since those Morhaime comments about how players are consuming a lot of "their" content too quickly. By creating Raid Finder, Blizzard has made raid content a lot more people's content. Over time, refinements to the loot system in Raid Finder, as well as new technology and tweaks to the existing loot rules, will make the next iteration of the Raid Finder that much better. Until then, we need to understand that this is version 1.0 and it will only grow and get better over time.
As for the idea of checking to see what people are wearing or looking into their bags, much like average ilevel does, the problem comes from dual spec issues and whether or not the system even supports it. To be honest, I'm not exactly sure how much of the technology is just cobbled together or if a whole new system had to be built from the ground up for Raid Finder. Over time, though, you'll see a refinement of the system and better loot rules for everyone.
Puntable asked:
Does anyone think the "luck of the draw" buff is really stupid? It makes it harder to do dungeons with friends and guildmates. Why not scrap the buff, and tune the dungeons for pugs to begin with?
Luck of the Draw actually helps random pick up groups succeed by lowering the threshold for DPS, healing, and tanking by artificially inflating a player's output. This compensation is needed for players in a setting where detailed communication is not paramount or expected. I have never been in the situation where someone said, "You know what would be a great idea? Ditching my friends for 10% extra healing." I just don't buy it.
Bdawg38 asked:
How do warriors charge underwater?
Excellent swimmers. Also, rage.
Skyburnone asked:
Why do some dwarves die in a belly-up position and others in a face-first fashion?
Center of gravity issues.
jcbuckle_hachey asked:
QftQ: Is it just me or is there A LOT of nefarious people in South Shore, noticed as I was rep farming? Has there been a KYL about it? As an Alliance player generally, it makes me a bit less sad of its treatment from the Horde after noticing all the naughty people hanging out there. Sorry if this has been covered before.
Well, everyone is someone before they become who they are. It was not only the people of Southshore but the events that transpired and the environments created that led them to
their ultimate destinies. Those naughty natives of Southshore also were gone well before the Forsaken invasion into the southern Lordaeron lands, Gilneas, and Hillsbrad. While I wouldn't be happy about Southshore's fate, it is interesting to see how many persons of note did in fact come from the little seaside town.
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 3 of 8)
Blayze Dec 24th 2011 2:25PM
Now I'm imagining Murozond as a goth.
Paul Dec 25th 2011 6:33AM
There's a lot of assumption to be made regarding what the ending cinematic to Dungeon Soul informs us, there is a lot of confusion (and disdain) that their destiny, and the reason they were turned into aspects was to kill Netharion.
However, I feel that is a misunderstanding.
All that has changed is that the aspects are no longer charged with safegaurding the Dream, Magic, Life, Earth or Time. That responsibility is now on the shoulders of ALL mortal races.
The destiny of the aspects has nothing to do with Netharion or his defeat. It's to do with training the mortal races to look after the ancient powers of Azeroth, as betowed by the titans.
Alternatively, you can pretend that the remaining aspects are flowering up what is actually a punishment. Every single aspect has failed to do their duty, and it has been the "interferance" of mortals which resolved these issues.
Alexstraza: Captured and her own fertility was used to reign destruction upon life, rescued by mortals. The dead have been freely brough to life, over and over (and violation of life), the mortals have put more effort in fixing that than she has.
Malygos: Sworn to safeguard magic. Went nuts and failed to do so. This negligence resulted in abuse of various schools of magic (such as necromancy, which led to Alexstraza's failings). When he finally regained his wits, he over compensated and opted to abuse the Magic he was sworn to protect in order to commit genocide. The disruption to the ley lines was the final straw in his abuse. Mortals stopped him (as well as working on fixing other abuses of magic) with the aid of the Red Dragonflight.
Ysera: Protector of the Dream, which as we know became corrupted and she herself became trapped. Mortal druids and a priest made greater strides to resolve this issue. She failed to safegaurd the dream, and the cause was (potentially) caused by another aspect.
Nozdormu: The biggest threat to the timelines has been his nutty alter-ego. No one else has ever attempted to disrupt the flow of time, and all because the knowledge of his death drove him mad. Mortals end up killing him, removing that threat.
Netharion: Now, here's were we go into theory overload. He failed to stop the Sundering AND was the cause of the Cataclysm. Two things which literally tore the world apart. However, is that his true failing? The morals dealing with him didn't resolve those issues. They're permanent and there's not much with the power within the hands of the mortals to prevent future destruction. In fact, it's such an impossibility to protect against, I'm inclined to say that it's not fair to say Netharion failed on those grounds. His failing comes from his role as the jailor of the Old Gods. Even though he has managed to prevent them from running rampant for the past 10,000 years, despite his madness, he has let two manifest, and a third is clearly making great efforts to free himself (which I personally feel was a success when we kill Netharion). It has been the Mortals who have taken it upon themselves to defeat the Old Gods.
Mortenebra Dec 24th 2011 12:53PM
Okay, I've got a holiday-themed question: What's your favorite holiday treat?
This year, I think I've got everyone hooked on rice krispie treats with white chocolate chips and peppermint crunch.
Scuutor Dec 24th 2011 2:16PM
Mrs. makes a Chocolate Pecan Pie that is amazing, and only at the holidays. So that's my vote. :)
Caylynn Dec 24th 2011 12:55PM
Happy Holidays to all those celebrating any of the many different festivals celebrated this time of year, and have a good weekend to all of you who don't!
ravyncat Dec 24th 2011 12:56PM
Merry Christmas from equally unsnowy central Texas!
darthcraigious Dec 24th 2011 1:00PM
Speaking of LFR fairness. The other day I ran Fall of Deathwing and the caster gloves and will of the unbinding dropped from the Spine. A Mage rolled and won both of the gloves and the trinket. How is that a fair loot system? Maybe I'm just angry cuz I'm a warlock and I hate mages? But still..... come on!
darthcraigious Dec 24th 2011 1:01PM
I forgot to state that two pairs of the gloves dropped and he won both.
seamus Dec 25th 2011 12:59AM
I've been in groups before and seen two of the same token drop as well. I've felt no problem rolling Need on both. I've never won both rolls. If I was fortunate to win both of them, the correct thing to do would have been to stay in the group and offer them to the next highest roller.
I'm not sure what else there is to say. I'm certainly not going to halve my chances at winning by passing on one of the token. That would be madness.
MoarHeroisms Dec 24th 2011 1:01PM
Does ignoring players in a Raid Finder pug prevent me from raiding with them in future pugs?
Rhüarc Dec 24th 2011 1:30PM
Assuming LFR works like RDF in that aspect, then yes it would
jfofla Dec 24th 2011 1:14PM
Merry Christmas from Los Angeles!
Weather is perfect!
Lishalacey Dec 24th 2011 1:30PM
"ever since those Morhaime comments about how players are consuming a lot of "their" content too quickly"
What are you alluding to? I must have missed this, but would love to know what it's about.
Skarn Dec 24th 2011 2:03PM
There was an interview a while back, pre-Firelands I think, where Mike stated that players were consuming content in Cataclysm faster than any other expansion. This didn't include raid content, it was just referring to leveling/questing content. I think there simply wasn't enough leveling content, plus leveling was just too fast. Yeah, there will always be some people that level extremely fast, but the overall pace for everyone was silly fast. Especially for just 5 levels, Blizzard should have slowed it down.
I am worried that Mists will suffer from the same issue, since they only showed 5ish zones at BlizzCon. They did mention that the zones are bigger and at least one has two different quest paths you could take. That might be ok. If there are two totally separate quest paths in a zone, then it might be the same as having two separate zones. I know it sounds weird to Blizzard, but EXTRA leveling content is a very good thing. More than you need to level one character is good design. It gives you something to do at max level besides dungeons/raids and/or something for your alt to do.
KataSamoes Dec 24th 2011 2:14PM
http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/05/09/world-of-warcraft-dips-to-a-mere-11-4-million-subscribers/
Earnings call for quarter 2.
Jeremy Dec 24th 2011 1:35PM
Merry Christmas from the somehow unbelievably un-snowy Upstate New York!
Roberto Dec 24th 2011 1:34PM
Ha, Brazil here! Gotcha!
Merry XMAS!
omedon666 Dec 24th 2011 1:35PM
The most repeated advice I find I aim at friends and guildies, (we're too small to raid, so LFR is a godsend for us!) concerning the raid finder is:
Don't raid for loot.
If your enjoyment of the undertaking is entirely in the hands of RNG-distributed loot, don't do it, especially if "it" is the raid finder.
This is an evolution of another rule that applies to WoW in general:
Don't do it if it's not fun.
Skarn Dec 24th 2011 2:09PM
Definitely! I encourage everyone to apply that to any aspect of raiding. If you are doing it solely for the loot, you're not gonna enjoy it. Raid to raid. If you don't like raiding, don't do it!
droknar Dec 24th 2011 1:38PM
Solving the loot problem in LFR is easy. Just look at the Holiday bosses for inspiration.
Remove all dropped loot. Replace dropped loot with a single loot bag per week for finishing the wing of the raid. So you get two bags per week. This loot bag will have two randomly chosen items from all the drop tables. You could even specify it to be a random token and a random non-token item. No rolling, so if it's a token you need, whether main or off-spec, it's yours, free and clear.
These items are non-vendorable, non-tradable, and non-disenchantable.
No more guild rolls on items to share, no more impromptu auctions from douchenozzles that are trying to make a quick buck on stuff they already have, no more loot drama. You get your bag. You get your loot. It might be useful, it might get destroyed. But you are always guaranteed to get something.