The Queue: Here, have another cat

The comments of The Queue yesterday wanted more cat pictures. So here's a cat. Specifically, it is Kelly Aarons' cat Alfrado.
Everclear asked:
Besides humans (which far and away need it the most), which race do you feel needs the graphic upgrade the most? And do you think this will finally - FINALLY - happen in 5.0? Considering all the gear assets they'll have to readjust for each race, it seems the longer they take, the more work they're gonna have to do. So the sooner the better, right?
Ugh. All of the original races need an overhaul. I don't think I can pick just once. Draenei and blood elves are still pretty cool, but all of the races that launched with vanilla WoW are not so good. With every new game that releases, it becomes a little harder for me to look at WoW's races, and I imagine it's even worse for new players. I'm going to be much more accepting of graphics I've been seeing for eight years than someone who has been playing, say ... an MMO like RIFT/Aion/TOR, or even a single player game like Skyrim. Those people are going to look at World of Warcraft's characters (and character creator) and go, "Really? This is what all the fuss is? Really?"
We're not looking for photorealism; we're just looking for ... better. The cartoony style is perfectly fine, but Warcraft right now is like watching cartoons from the '80s and '90s. They're not nearly as vivid as you remember them.
I love World of Warcraft, but I feel it needs to start putting up a serious fight to maintain its status as top dog in the MMO 'verse. Updating character models is just one thing the developers need to do. I think that many of us still playing WoW in 2012 are waiting for the developers to pull out a Hyper Beam, but they're Splash Attacking instead. I'm really eager to see what they're going to pull out for Mists of Pandaria.
... OK, fine, if I must pick one race that absolutely needs a redo, it's night elves. Holy crap, what is wrong with night elf males? They looked like horrific science experiments in 2004, and we're still looking at their mutant flipper hands eight years later. Destroy them. Destroy them all.
AltairAntares asked:
What exactly happened with Benedictus? I thought we found him out abou him turning trator during the alliance intro to twilight highlands- did Varian think it'd be funny not to tell Thrall that Benedictus had turned?
That quest chain never made it into the actual game. All of the sound files for that quest were recorded, Varian and Benedictus and the whole thing, but it was never actually implemented. The Alliance is given no indication of Benedictus' going traitor at all.
The Alliance's introduction to the Twilight Highlands is ... a little lackluster. We get a 24 reference, than Fargo Flintlocke flies us to the Twilight Highlands, where we discover the Horde has nearly destroyed our only foothold in the zone. That's it. The Horde's intro to the Twilight Highlands is much better and actually has some story relevance.
Morgatho asked:
I've been farming MC on my hunter trying to get Thunderfury (2 years and no left binding, Geddon hates me) and I got the Eye of Sulfuras off Rag one run, My question is if I get the Sulfuron Hammer could I make the Legendary and get the achievement off it?
I wasn't sure, so I checked the Wowhead comments for Sulfuras. According to the comments over there, you'll only get the Feat of Strength if you can actually equip the item.
Like you, I also spent multiple years farming my second binding for Thunderfury. I finally gave up on it when transmogrification was announced. I'm not much of an achievement guy; I just wanted it to look cool.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Queue, Mists of Pandaria






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)
Rubicon Jan 9th 2012 11:04AM
All I am gonna add is that the cartoons from the 80's and 90's are still the best cartoons I have ever seen. Masters of the Universe, Thundercats, Transformers, GI Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Real Ghostbusters, Batman the Animated Series, X-Men, Spiderman. I re-vist these often and wouldn't change a thing.
iadamson Jan 9th 2012 11:16AM
Dragonball Z.... the og pokemon... say what you want but it def had a foot hold in that era of animation.
Edymnion Jan 9th 2012 11:17AM
Have you seen the 2011 re-imagining of Thundercats? Its actually really good. I even love Snarf in this one, and thats a line no one would ever have uttered before 2011.
Rubicon Jan 9th 2012 11:21AM
I have seen some of the video clips, but honestly, i don't care for the anime style... I miss the old Thundercats.
Puntable Jan 9th 2012 11:25AM
I can't stand those new cartoons. In my day, you watched either Bugs Bunny or Bullwinkle, and you were happy about it! Also.... get off of my lawn!
Ullaana Jan 9th 2012 11:35AM
@puntable,
Exactly, but you forgot Ruff and Reddy.
Oh great, now those kids are on MY lawn. Shoo, scat, don't make me call your parents.
There, that shifted them.
Miranda Kali Jan 9th 2012 11:43AM
Batman TAS is, to this day, one of the best cartoon series ever.
In MoP, what say we give Metzen a break from voice acting. ...Give us some Kevin freakin Conroy.
Rubicon Jan 9th 2012 11:47AM
I agree Miranda. I played Arkham Asylum and City recently, and my wife watched and was really getting into the atmosphere of the games. (which were amazing) and so I decided to show her TAS. The whole series is like a prequel to the games. And also, Paul Dini, who wrote Arkham Asylum also wrote episodes for Batman the Animated Series.... and He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. Yay! Our childhood writers still have good jobs!
Calicia Jan 9th 2012 11:48AM
Star Blazers
/drops mic
Maymer Jan 9th 2012 11:52AM
in MY day, we painted on the walls with the blood of our enemies, and the beast we slaughtered for entertainment! We would hunt for days, stalking our prey, then retell the tale by campfire, allowing all to hear!! The caves came to life with our stories, the paintings seemed to dance at our fingertips as we added details, the sound of the animals themselves it seemed emitted from their painted throats!
....Then we got a TV and basic cable, so I watched Pokemon, Gargoyles, Darkwing Duck, Beast Wars, and all that jazz. Much more fun, and a lot less blood
mbison Jan 9th 2012 12:14PM
The art-style of World of Warcraft is one of its greatest strengths. It's a pretty unique style and it allowed Blizzard to put out a very pretty game (for the time) without requiring a lot of processing power.
They need to clean everything up a bit, not just the old character models.
PeeJay Jan 9th 2012 12:15PM
What, no love for Robotech?
What the hell??
Bynde Jan 9th 2012 12:26PM
I disagree. Some of the worst crap since Hanna-barbera squated over a storyboard was produced in the eighties.
And then that spawned the horrible anime fad which cannot end soon enough.
Eternauta Jan 9th 2012 12:26PM
Beast Wars! Oh man... Beast Wars was awesome.
Now Q4theQ:
Since we're talking about model upgrades, do you guys think WoW needs more customization options for creating characters?
I'd love to see different body types, tatoos, scars, more hairstyles and new faces (most races today seem to have only one face: The good looking one, and the rest are horrible expressions as if the characters were smelling poop all the time).
StClair Jan 9th 2012 12:29PM
Mighty Orbots.
Calicia Jan 9th 2012 12:43PM
@ PeeJay
"What, no love for Robotech?
What the hell??"
Robotech definitely deserves some love.
Fa110u7 Jan 9th 2012 12:57PM
@ Miranda/Rubicon
Totally Agree, Batman TAS was/is one of the best cartoons ever. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamil will always be Batman and Joker to me. When I watch the newer Batman movies and shows that don't have them doing the voices I die a little inside. If you haven't seen the Batman Beyond show it may be worth your time to check that out. Bruce Timm (who was an animator for TAS) was involved in that one and Kevin Conroy is still Bruce Wayne even if Bruce isn't Batman anymore.
Rendarkin Jan 9th 2012 1:05PM
Where is the love for the Dungeons and Dragons cartoon? For Reboot? Ren and Stimpy?
Kids, these days...
wybenga42 Jan 9th 2012 1:37PM
Batman Beyond was a favorite of mine up through high school.
Sergel Jan 9th 2012 1:50PM
True, but a lot of that is due to nostalgia and not much else.