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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: It's now cold outside. In Fargo. In the winter.
by Adam Holisky 
Jan 12th 2012 at 11:00AM
So far, this winter has been beyond mild. It got up to the mid-50s the other day -- warm enough that the missus and I were able to go take a walk outside. Of course, now it's zero out with blowing snow and lots of wind, so winter's back.
But really, it was a nice little slice of heaven in Fargo for a bit.
Zack asked:
Do you think that the Pandaren faction choice is a dry run for making that the norm for the playable races in the game? Between that and the politics played by Vol'Jin to stop the Zandalari, the fluid nature of the Dwarves at the moment, the current doubt of the Tauren in Garrosh, and a host of other story developments it seems as though Blizz is aiming to make faction choice a different kind of conscientious game mechanic. It certainly would open up some fun RP opportunities!
It's always possible that Blizzard would take some kind of dramatic overhaul to a core pillar of the game, but I don't think we should read into it very much. With pandarens, it makes sense that they could belong to either the Horde or Alliance and that each faction would accept them.
Would orcs really be accepted and given important quests by all Alliance, the people of Azeroth? Doubtful. Doesn't make much sense given the status quo. I think it makes even less sense in the future, given that we know MoP will be about the ramping up Alliance / Horde hostilities. People are not going to be very trusting then, especially of turncoats.
I could see individual races opening up, however. As you mentioned, it wouldn't be a huge wild card to see the tauren or an evil faction of the dwarves cross over. But as a blanket policy? Nay.
Puntable asked:
Why does all the Valor gear for cloth DPS have Hit (except for one piece)? I'm already over the hit cap for dungeons. Even with reforging, I'm better off wearing 378 gear. Why would they put hit on everything?
I suspect the reason is that 384 gear from the Raid Finder doesn't have much hit on it for casters. At least, that's been the case that I've experienced on my warlock. I ended up upgrading a lot of my Firelands gear to Raid Finder gear early on, and I suddenly found myself having to reforge and gem for hit almost exclusively.
Now that I've got mostly 397 gear, hit's not very much of a problem -- but for a while there, it was. Valor gear helped make it less of a problem.
Keep in mind that while some secondary stats might not make the most sense for you, there is probably a good reason for their being there (and they're helping someone else out a ton).
Puntable also asked:
Do you think people will ever get tired of doing HoT randoms and start doing the "old" heroics for their Valor Points, or are we stuck doing the same 3 dungeons for the next 10 months?
People are doing the old heroics, but as was pointed out in the comments, the reason you're not getting the old heroics much is that the newer heroics are getting ran a bunch and have a higher rate of attrition (because they're new), and you're getting put into them. Of course, it's really not a problem if the gear you've got on is less than the minimum requirement for the new heroics; you'll never end up getting them then.
Blizzard also wants to be sure that everything has the possibility of getting run without having to wait in a queue for an hour. It also doesn't want to design things around short-term trends in a game, which is why we're not seeing an option to exclude the newer heroics. Eventually, in this patch, their appeal will decrease.
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 7)
tgianelli13 Jan 12th 2012 11:42AM
As soon as all of my gear slots were 378 or higher, I started queuing for all heroics. I can't even imagine being satisfied running the same 3 dungeons for the next few months. Variety please!
The Dewd Jan 12th 2012 11:43AM
I think the reason Pandaren are getting to choose is that there is probably no other race that as many people want to see in the game right now. If they made Pandaren only ally with one faction (regardless of which it is) there would be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth all over the forums.
The added bonus from this is that it pretty much shows that the neither the Horde nor the Alliance is "evil" - because then the Pandaren wouldn't want anything to do with them.
Edymnion Jan 12th 2012 12:01PM
This is true. As Horde, I would gladly trade those anorexic belfs for the Worgen.
(cutaia) Jan 12th 2012 12:43PM
"The added bonus from this is that it pretty much shows that the neither the Horde nor the Alliance is "evil" - because then the Pandaren wouldn't want anything to do with them."
Does it? Only if you assume that every single pandaren has the exact same stance on morality.
Noyou Jan 12th 2012 4:20PM
"The added bonus from this is that it pretty much shows that the neither the Horde nor the Alliance is "evil" - because then the Pandaren wouldn't want anything to do with them."
Not really. It's more like you come into a room and two people are yelling at each other. In a few seconds you may form a judgment based on a perceived principle. You may pick a side only to find out later, the other person was "in the right".
Really, If the Pandaren core belief is balance and benevolence, they would kick both parties from their island. So it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. There will inevitably be two sides to the story, perhaps the horde gets there first and looks like defenders or vice versa.
I also agree that there are less races that would have the impact to draw millions of people in, and giving them to one side or the other would cause more of an uproar than it would benefit them.
N-train Jan 12th 2012 11:58AM
I think people may be overthinking the whole both-sides Pandaren thing here.
Put yourselves in the developer's shoes, you want your new expansion to be about Pandaria and want to include Pandaren as a new race.
Imagine the uproar if the legenedary Pandaren went to one faction or the other, and then what race would you give the other faction (for argument's sake lets say we give them to the Alliance)? You can't give one faction legendary, fairly established Pandaren and the other a just revealed, no precedent or lore at all race. Despite some retcons and shakiness in lore, every playable race has some established background and lore behind them, it wouldn't do Blizzard any favors to give the Alliance epic, well-known Pandaren and the Horde Jinyu. If the expansion is supposed to be about Pandaria, then it would be a pretty large stretch to give the Horde ogres or furbolgs and call them somehow relevant to a continent they've never been to (think Death Knights in Outland).
The only reasonable conclusion, if you still want Pandaren to be playable, want the expansion to focus on Pandaria, and want to avoid a massive shitshow from one faction not getting Pandaren, is to make a long-time neutral race pick sides on a player-to-player basis.
That being said, while I think it would be cool (and reasonable on some level) to see some turncoats, I doubt it will ever happen because it doesn't make sense in a story context. You may be willing to defect, but it doesn't mean you'll be welcomed by the other side. The Horde (and their allies) have razed capital cities to the ground, they've brought the end of Alliance kingdoms, they freaking killed a Night Elf demi-god. If you're an average human, you're not going to forget that, no matter how much this Tauren claims he despises Garrosh. As for the Horde side, you really think Garrosh or Sylvannas is going to accept the aid of turncoats once they've outlived their usefulness? Sylvannas killed a dreadlord, something much more powerful than a lvl 20 dwarf, when she found him no longer needed, I'm sorry I just don't buy it. You may not like the faction you're in, but its a hell of a lot safer there than it is taking your chances trying to switch over.
Killik Jan 12th 2012 1:08PM
The human kingdom of Alterac has a fairly well-documented history of working with the Horde, at least until it was crushed by Stromgarde and Lordaeron.
The Alliance is arming and supporting the tauren Grimtotem tribe in Stonetalon.
Leper gnomes are working in the laboratories of the Undercity.
Cross-faction wouldn't work for every race, but there is some lore precedent.
Matheus314 Jan 12th 2012 1:23PM
And what about Blood Elves in Burning Crusade?
They had an extensive lore already stablished, and most of the storyline was based on them.
Alliance got the Draenei ,that are really cool too, but they had to be actually CREATED to fit the balance at the time.
Khirsah Jan 12th 2012 1:44PM
@ N-train...
Your arguments are well reasoned and right on the money.
Unfortunately, all I can think of is the epic quest chains they could do if they wanted to implement some kind way for races to change factions.
Imagine you're a night-elf, and you want to prove your loyalty to Sylvanas. She would make you do some amazing, fun stuff. And you'd have to solo it all because nobody on your new side would be willing to help you yet, and nobody on your old side can know that you're trying to turn traitor. It could cost thousands and thousands of gold, and involve soloing one of the faction bosses. Maybe Sylvanas would let you borrow a special weapon for the job, or something.
Anyway, your comments, while totally true, are making me want them to implement a way to faction change even more, just for the epic quest chain that could be involved.
clundgren Jan 12th 2012 3:50PM
I like your post, but it has to be pointed out that, in fact, there are already all kinds of cross-faction or potential cross-faction subgroups in the game as NPCs. Leper gnomes, Grimtotems, High Elves, Syndicate...the only group that I have any trouble with are the Night Elves.
Branni Jan 12th 2012 12:07PM
Question for the queue:
For the folks that don't like using name plates (I use them, but this question just popped into my head), how will you be able to tell the difference between an Alliance Panderan and a Horde Panderan? Especially in a place like a large battleground area, or world PvP? Will there be a way to tell them apart? It seems like a neat idea, being able to pick between Horde and Alliance, but it seems like it could be abused a bit by some meanies, to trick someone into thinking you're on their side. Right now, it's merely a quick visual thing, hey that's a Tauren, he's Horde, or hey, that's a Draenei, he's Alliance. Seems like it won't be that as easy as that when we have Panderans on both sides.
(cutaia) Jan 12th 2012 12:40PM
Silhouette was always a lame excuse in the first place. It's always been, "If it's red, it's dead." Not, "If it's slightly taller and skinnier, and stands with a different posture, it's dead."
The scenario of someone not having enemy name plates -- of any kind -- turned on, and then being "tricked" into letting an opposite faction pandaren attack them is kind of far fetched.
Shinae Jan 12th 2012 12:41PM
First of all, I don't know why anyone wouldn't use nameplates in PvP.
For the sake of arguement, if nameplates are turned off, one's "targetnext" keybind (Tab by default) will show any hostiles within range. Track Humanoids (available to non-hunters with a food buff FYI) is another way.
With the many ways to change the appearance of one's characters, e.g. an orc with Deviate Delight looking like a human or a troll with enough Pygmy Oils looking like a gnome, there really isn't such a thing as faction-specific silhouettes.
For more reading:
http://wow.joystiq.com/2011/08/17/transmogrification-and-the-dismissal-of-the-silhouette-theory-an/
Telwar Jan 12th 2012 12:52PM
Silhouette primarily matters at long range, when the Other Person is not targeted.
Fairly obviously, you can see that they're The Enemy when you have them targeted. But I have been momentarily confused when I saw a belf on a ram from a distance, and thought it was a human.
MisterRik Jan 12th 2012 1:03PM
My solution, which I came up with way early on, is to turn off only /friendly/ nameplates. Face it, you spend most of your time surrounded by friendlies. I found it annoying being in Stormwind and having a wall of blue text all over my screen, so I shut off Friendly nameplates. But I left Enemy nameplates turned on.
And so it has nothing to do with silhouettes, or even color, for me. If I can see a player's name, even if it's blue, even at long-distance, I immediately know that person is of the opposite faction.
MisterRik Jan 12th 2012 1:06PM
Edit: I should have said "Names" not "Nameplates". Because name/plates/ only appear at close range. Names, though, stay visible even when the other person is out of range.
loop_not_defined Jan 12th 2012 1:09PM
My problem with this whole "death of silhouette theory" idea is large groups, not one or two people out in the wilderness. Name plates don't help much when they're stacked on top of each other, but identifying someone by their race is second nature. And no, it's never been as complicated as "Kill the average-sized humanoid with 8 inch ears" - that's just misleading. Quickly identifying objects by sight is an incredibly basic human trait we all possess.
And the transformation stuff is almost never a counter-point. I can honestly say, outside of Winterveil, I've never fought a single person transformed in 7 years.
clundgren Jan 12th 2012 1:20PM
If nameplates aren't up, my Healers Have to Die addon won't function.
slim1256 Jan 12th 2012 1:30PM
@ clundgren:
And THAT is unacceptable, because... healers HAVE to die!
hicks Jan 12th 2012 3:05PM
I don't use nameplates, I think they clutter up the screen and the way they move/stack is distracting. What I do instead is have name/guild in plain text over everyone, so I can see who's green/blue/yellow/red to me at any given time.
It's kind of funny, I played with no names over anyone ever (unless they were targeted) until leveling my second toon to 70 (I started playing mid-BC), when I learned from Wowhead how to turn them on. It was a big help to complete that quest in Terrokar with the Orc disguise that the Hunters can see through. While everyone else shows up with green names, they're red or yellow. Yes, I was a noob.
Anyway, I've left the names (and not nameplates) on ever since. It's always irritating when I accidentally hit V or CTRL-V and they all flash up until I can turn them all back off.
All that said, even with all visible names turned completely off, their nameplate in the UI will have a red background when you target them.