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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: My heat still isn't fixed
by Mathew McCurley 
Jan 6th 2012 at 11:00AM
questions about the World of Warcraft. Mathew McCurley (@gomatgo) will be your host for today.
I may start to combust internally to fuel my warmth, as opposed to waiting for my landlord to fix the heat. It is uncomfortably cold here. Send heat.
kyle asked:
I love the Asian theme in MoP. What real world cultures or mythologies un-used in WoW would you like to see?
Back before Cataclysm was announced and revealed, I had desperately hoped that Blizzard would eventually do an Egyptian-themed world or expansion because of how much I loved Egypt-related stuff as a kid. All boys at some point in their lives want to be an Egyptologist, astronaut, or some kind of dinosaur expert. I think I wanted to be all three at the same time ...
The next cultural theme that I hope Blizzard does is something more along the lines of an ancient Roman empire with supporting titan worship -- or even make the draenei civilizations that remained on Argus reminiscent of the early Roman Empire. Very mystical while being extremely martial could work for a WoW race, I would think. It would be cool, at least. Imagine the shields.
Also, whoever said Wild West in the comments gets an extra point. I want World of Warcraft: Deadwood, please. Next expansion confirmed.
[Editor's note: Adam gets to be Ian McShane.]
antieuclid asked:
Q4tQ: Why are there no gaming trackballs? Trackballs are so much better than mice that need a flat surface to move around on, but I've never found one with all the handy extra buttons of a gaming mouse.
I disagree. My thumb doesn't have the same range of movement that my wrist does for specific actions. For a while, I jokingly tried to use a trackball when playing WoW, and even after a week of trying, I still couldn't get my thumb to make the necessary smooth motions to get from one place on the screen to another pinpoint spot. It just wasn't working out for me.
As for gaming trackballs with extra buttons and stuff, I do believe Logitech makes the best trackballs in the business that do come with some extra buttons, but definitely not anything Razer Naga-esque in terms of a full complement of buttons. Not enough people use them for it to be a gaming thing, I guess.
durandal asked:
Not sure if this was explained somewhere, but what happened to the Dragon Soul after Thrall used it? Was it an on-use trinket with only one charge, or does it still have some powers? Is anyone keeping it, has it been sharded, or is it going to be delivered back in time, back to the Well of Eternity?
The Dragon Soul mysteriously and magically has reverted to its rightful place in time. All is well in Azeroth. The end. Roll credits. If you stay until afterwards, you can hear Darth Vader breathe.
Zaet asked:
werent we all told there would be a big bad in MoP just it would not be on the box?
Pretty much. Putting the big bad guy on the box makes instances and storytelling experiences like Ulduar or Firelands make little to no sense to the average player or outsider. By removing the big bad guy from the spotlight, Blizzard is now free and not locked into any specific path for the expansion. We don't need (and didn't get) a year of fighting Deathwing. Instead, now we have a more varied story that doesn't have every major character in the universe pointed at destroying one of the greatest evils Azeroth has ever known. Instead, now we have smaller, personal conflicts that drive a war and an expansion that is attempting to rely on exploration and variety to return WoW to a sense of former stature. I think it can, and will, work.
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 9)
robsmith77 Jan 6th 2012 11:13AM
Wish my cats were able to do that. When I'm cold they're usually nowhere to be found so I have to resort to an extra layer and possibly a woolly bobble hat.
McGintoy Jan 6th 2012 2:25PM
The Mat Stone has melted!
The Mat Stone has melted!
The Mat Stone has melted!
The Mat Stone has melted!
The Mat Stone has melted!
mtsadowski Jan 6th 2012 11:08AM
Question for the Queue: Why are all the Night Elf demon hunters blindfolded? I remember there was one in Nagrand and then there's Illidan. What's the deal with the blindfold?
DracoSuave Jan 6th 2012 11:15AM
Blinding themselves allows them to access special 'spectral sight' that lets them detect undead and demons with greater clarity.
Straight from the WoW site.
Batleth Jan 6th 2012 11:16AM
Illidan's eyes were purposefully burned out by Sargeras. In return he gained "fel-magic/fel-energy" eyesight. Other demon-hunters may have taken their own eyes as a homage to Illidan. I don't think they have identical sight to Illidan though. But I could be wrong....
EidlonImp Jan 6th 2012 11:24AM
Something about attuning themselves to arcane flows and their single-minded purpose. Instead of seeing as most mortals, they hone their mystical senses to see a world illuminated by fel influences, training that involves blinding themselves, iirc.
I believe the blood elf demon hunters in felmoon valley also wear blindfolds.
VioletArrows Jan 6th 2012 11:33AM
Do the questline in Felwood starting from the central druid grounds. They send you to go tell a demon hunter across the way to get out. You learn their rituals and about the blindfold.
mtsadowski Jan 6th 2012 11:40AM
Thanks guys!
Noyou Jan 6th 2012 2:18PM
Not many people found him probably, but the guy who was in Azshara with his pet fell hunter, was not blindfolded. He was part of an epic quest that sent you from Blasted Lands to there.
Darkseid Jan 6th 2012 11:13AM
Is anyone else not really feeling this 'all is well, its the age of mortals' thing? Don't get me wrong, I loved the final cinematic and all, but it seems like they are putting a ribon on something that is ready for it yet.
After all, what we did for this whole expansion is nothing but take down 1 lacky of 1 old god. I mean, they're still there, right under our feet, locked in the planet... Did they sign off on this whole, 'its the time of mortals'. Are they just gonna chill out while the main theme (apparently) of MoP is for the Horde and Alliance to fight it out?
Guess I'm just confused as to where we're going with the story(if you can call it that after playing real stories in swtor) of WoW. Like if there is going to be a big bad in MoP, just not on the box, how do they fit that in with an expansion focused on mortals and mortal affairs. And how do you fit in instances and Raids in the WoW universe, without some 30ft tall walking monster/elemental/god/etc...
Maybe I'm taking too much away from that final cinematic.
/head spinning...
DracoSuave Jan 6th 2012 11:17AM
If by 'one lacky' you mean 4. Deathwing was the most powerful old god pawn, but let's not forget you also dealt with Al'akir, Cho'gall, and Ragnaros, who were answering directly to the Old Gods, not Deathwing himself.
Sinestra and Nefarian are the only ones answering to Death Wing.
robsmith77 Jan 6th 2012 11:19AM
I think it's more a case of "All is well for the moment, but further challenges lie ahead."
And if I understood the cinematic correctly, the Aspects are no longer immortal and so the age of mortals can apply to them just as much as it can apply to us players.
Puntable Jan 6th 2012 11:25AM
Was Arthas just "one lackey" of the Burning Legion? Arthas had a lot more personality. It's really hard to give a talking dragon much of a personality, unless you are Sean Connery...
R. Jan 6th 2012 4:30PM
What if the Old God's plan looks like this:
Deathwing succeeds, Life on Azeroth ends/devolves into Chaos. Old God's win.
Or
Deathwing loses, but manages to remove/reduce the powers of the Guardian Aspects, clearing the way for future evil deeds. Old God's plan advances.
Mortals then pat themselves on the back, tell themselves what a good job they did, and go back to making war on each other, thus further advancing their plans for chaos.
Either way it doesn't look good for us.
loop_not_defined Jan 6th 2012 11:36AM
The entire War of the Ancients involved bit actors, with the major ones (Sargeras & Old Gods) hardly ever directly involved. Deathwing has been a major bad guy for a very long time, so no, I didn't find Cataclysm's conclusion underwhelming.
We stomped through the Elemental Planes, ending the reign of two Elemental Lords and directly assisting two others. We fought *inside* the bellies of otherworldly beasts. We've joined up with two classic factions, the Dragonmaw and Wildhammer. We got to see Gilneas and also play as the Worgen (a starting experience I still believe trumps the Goblin equivalent). We FINALLY got to see what was behind those damned doors in southern Tanaris. We even got to experience the Well of Eternity first hand.
All-in-all, I'm pretty satisfied with Cataclysm from a lore perspective, with the Dragon Soul being the cherry on top (largely thanks to LFR accessibility).
interceptingshadows Jan 6th 2012 11:51AM
@puntable
He has a name!
N-train Jan 6th 2012 11:51AM
The problem I have with the OP's argument is that yes, Deathwing was, at heart, just a really really big pawn, however that doesn't change the fact that he just about blew up the world a couple different times.
That doesn't change the fact that he was backing Ragnaros in his attempt to destroy the world tree, or the fact that he was backing AlAkir's attempt to kill everything, or the fact that he tried to destroy the Wrymrest Temple with Thrall and all the Aspects on it.
Sure, he wasn't the grand puppet master, but he was still a very real, direct, and powerful threat to every race and faction on the planet.
That being said, those very same puppet masters don't just show up willy-nilly ready to be killed for loot. What were Thrall and the aspects going to do after killing Deathwing to get at N'zoth? Hire some Goblins to start digging somewhere and hope you find him? We've technically killed two Old Gods at this point, only because they surfaced somewhere we could find them and even then it's hinted multiple times they're not actually dead (if they can even die at all). You may know there's a sea monster somewhere under your boat, but its a big ocean and you're not going to sit there firing harpoons randomly into the ocean because you could possibly hit him.
TL/DR: Deathwing ripped the world in half and almost succeeded in wiping all life off the planet like 3 different times, and going after Old Gods isn't feasible, reasonable, or practical, so everyone's going to settle with the world not getting cracked in half.
Pauguster Jan 6th 2012 12:59PM
Well it seems to me that the age of mortals is the work of the Old Gods, especially when you remember that most of the mortal races are on Azeroth because of the Old God's and the curse of flesh. I mean really the only reason Humans are on Azeroth is because of the Old Gods.
Which includes opening the Dark Portal and letting the Orcs in, which results in the end of Cataclysm, which realistically is a huge loss for the titans and a big win for the Old Gods. Yes they lost one powerful lackey, but in doing so they brought down five very powerful enemies.
Plus thanks to dwarves like Mr. Bronzebeard, we have disabled, or at least severely weakened the Titan constructs in Uldum and Ulduaar.
The Old Gods are winning, and really you have to remember they are playing on a completely different timetable then the rest of us, they literally have all the time in the world for their plan to come together.
William Collins Jan 6th 2012 12:24PM
I think another reason they are stating it is the Age or Mortals is with what we as "mortals" have accomplished. If we look back at previous expansions, "who" were the heroes? The Imortal Aspects? No the Mortal races were the ones kicking butt and taking names. Like one of the posters above me stated, "We have "killed" old ones, Killed two Elemental lords (One of them twice), All sort of powerful lackeys, and so many more". The aspects finally realized it after Deathwing's death. They have realized we do not need them, so they can finally become mortal and live out there days "in peace" (so to speak).
slim1256 Jan 6th 2012 12:48PM
@ Puntable & Interceptingshadows:
Wow, obscure reference. I'd have missed it, but that movie came on at 3 in the morning a couple of weeks back when I was battling insomnia.
"You can't pronounce my name in your tongue, but if you must know, it's ROWWRRRAARARRWWWWRRRRAHHHH!"