The Queue: I said no, Julia
by Alex Ziebart 
Jan 16th 2012 at 11:00AM
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.
I'm writing this in the dead of night as a distraction from creepy ocean noises. Look, I'll come right out and say it: I'm a huge wuss. I'm scared of everything. I'm afraid of the concept of being afraid. So when Wikipedia leads me to listening to Julia ... I need a serious dose of cute to set me right again.
Here, have a baby monkey (going backwards on a pig).
Andrew R. asked:
What is the piece of Deathwing by the Earthshrine in Stormwind? Is it a scale or piece of his armor?
It isn't a piece of Deathwing. It's his favorite d8. In heroic mode, he drops a zocchihedron instead.
Nix asked:
Has there ever been any discussions about learning professions by buying skill points with in game gold?
I am asking because on all alts I level, I always over level the zones where I would find the mats required in the particular profession bracket. Leveling always gets boosted in terms of xp required but professions always stayed the same more or less.
What are the implications of boosting profession leveling (for example till Wrath) by buying skill points instead of grinding mats?
I think we've discussed the state of early trade skills in The Queue before but not this particular avenue. The issue certainly deserves discussion. It's a big one. You don't get to level your professions while you level anymore, it has become something you have to do entirely at the level cap. You don't gather enough resources to skill up while you're leveling, and those resources are prohibitively expensive until you have an endgame income. You end up not doing it at all.
I don't know if straight up paying for profession skill points is the way to go, because that's what you're doing right now, really. Instead of paying for Linen Cloth, you'd be paying for the points the Linen Cloth would give you. That's not crafting. Actually creating items or doing quests that provide related activities is the way to go. Some sort of real rebalancing of trade skills to match how fast players level nowadays is what needs to happen. Leveling quickly and catching up with your friends is great ... but when every other aspect of the game lags behind you in the process, that doesn't seem to contribute to the game's overall playability.
Something akin to the Darkmoon Faire quests but available as daily or weekly quests would be good. One quest per month doesn't cut it when you're trying to get from 75 to 450.
theDECk37 asked:
What races that are currently playable do you thank could use the "choose your faction" action like the Pandaren are getting? Try not to think of the crazy headache it would be to re-balance the game for it, just go with your heart!
Personally I think the Blood Elves would be an excellent choice, especially since lore wise they supposedly fixed their magic problems, & there has always been High Elves in the Alliance, (since that's where they started out as).
Other thoughts?
The blood elves/high elves would be a fun split, for sure. Their entire race would be locked in an ideological civil war. You could have people like Lady Liadrin and her followers defecting back to the Alliance and rebuilding the high elven way of life. Velen has quite literally shown her the Light. It would make sense. Characters like Rommath could continue filling that darker, more sinister tone Kael'thas gave has people before his demise, continuing down the road of the blood elf.
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: Analysis / Opinion, The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 10)
Piper Jan 16th 2012 11:13AM
+100 nerd points for the zocchihedron reference. ;)
Ametrine Jan 16th 2012 5:38PM
You mean +1d100 nerd points, right?
Fragments Jan 17th 2012 12:40AM
Crits get maxed.
fudge Jan 16th 2012 11:13AM
If Blood Elves were split as suggested in the article, what Alliance race would be most likely to become available to both factions?
freebeatfly Jan 16th 2012 11:26AM
When I started Wow back in '06, not knowing anything about the game at all... I wanted to roll a Human on Hordeside. So that is where my vote would go. I'd faction-change instantly. (I'm not sure that could be explainable lore-wise though, unless Varian makes some huge mistake that would make some of his people desert him for Garrosh)
daimonie Jan 16th 2012 11:31AM
Gnomes. I need new slaves for my goblin-run-factory, and nothing would improve my workers' spirits more than having a few more gnome slaves. I'd say, give me a few hundred for starters, and i'll build out.
Hal Jan 16th 2012 11:32AM
Dark Iron Dwarves. Moira making a play for total control of Ironforge would be a perfect pretext.
I'd also choose Tauren as another "neutral" race. They get along well with the Night Elves, and the Grimtotem would be a somewhat feasible faction to join the Alliance, at least in an "enemy of my enemy" manner.
Amanda A. Jan 16th 2012 11:36AM
I vote for the Dark Iron dwarves defecting (and becoming properly playable in the process.) A 'we'll help you if you help us take Ironforge' deal.
sts.howard Jan 16th 2012 11:34AM
Dark Iron Dwarves or Horde?
Nagaina Jan 16th 2012 11:34AM
Humans -- because after decades of warfare, another heaping serving of the same with extra genocidal lunatic with massive Daddy Issues sprinkles on top cannot possibly look good to the entire race.
I'd die of joy to see a faction of humans from, say, Theramore teaming up with the Tauren and the Darkspear trolls to mess up both Varian and Garrosh.
fudge Jan 16th 2012 11:35AM
Humans are out as long as there are Orcs and Forsaken in the Horde.
Night Elves are out as long as there are Orcs and Forsaken in the Horde.
Worgen are out as long as there are Forsaken and Orcs in the Horde.
Draenei don't have a particular reason to despise the Horde, but the Alliance is a much better fit for them.
Dwarves were part of the wars and are therefore out as long as there are Orcs in the Horde.
Gnomes are out as long as the Dwarves are not part of the Horde.
Glyphstone Jan 16th 2012 11:36AM
If I had to pick one, I'd say the Dwarves. There's no way every dwarf alive is cool with the Council of Three Hammers, and I don't just mean the Dark Irons. A good chunk of the DIs, yeah, but even some of the Bronzebeard and Wildhammer tribes might be angry enough with the Alliance to go try the grass on the other side of the fence.
clundgren Jan 16th 2012 11:41AM
For Alliance, I would say Humans would be the best bet to be able to play for both factions. Some humans have already allied with the Horde (c.f. Alterac) and others, like the Defias, I could see making common cause against a mutual enemy. Dark Iron dwarves wouldn't be a stretch, either, and leper gnomes are already in the Horde.
I have a tougher time with Night Elves, Dranei, and Worgen, but it really wouldn't be hard to retcon any of them if Blizzard wanted to.
moreau.derek Jan 16th 2012 11:57AM
@Fudge
"Draenei don't have a particular reason to despise the Horde, but the Alliance is a much better fit for them."
Oh you know, other than the fact that back on Draenor the Orc's kinda sorta committed mass genocide against the Draenei people....
Pyromelter Jan 16th 2012 12:01PM
fudge, Dranaei have the MOST beef with the horde and the orcs since the orcs went on a genocidal rampage against them on Draenor.
I concur with most that the Dark Irons give a good lore reason for dwarves to be in the horde.
But I would definitely say humans would the most compelling case to have a faction joining the horde, there are plenty of humans that hate Stormwind, as well as the fact that humans have collaborated with the horde in the past (Jaina in WC3).
fudge Jan 16th 2012 12:04PM
Well, wasn't that the old, demon-influenced Horde? Draenei also seem to be much more willing to put away past grudges.
Pyromelter Jan 16th 2012 12:32PM
I think you need to bone up on your Know Your Lore fudge - yes, the horde were demon fueled, but most of the orc tribes readily drank the blood punch. And the current orcs are conquering and pounding the night elves in Ashenvale, not too far from azuremyst isle and teldrassil.
Also, genocide fudge. The orcs committed genocide against the Draenei. There are plenty of people on this planet that hold grudges from World War 2, 70 years after the fact, and I can't blame them.
The only way you could possibly involve the draenei in the horde would be the demonic draenei aka the eredar. Maybe a splinter faction of the Burning Legion that has decided that it is better to live a life of honor instead of being mass murdering maniacs. You could shoehorn that in with some warlock lore, maybe Ner'zhul, after having his spirit expelled from the Lich King, inhabits the body of an Eredar and starts a revolt against Sargeras and Kil'Jaeden.
But there is no way in hell that a race of people is going to join forces with another race that committed genocide against them. Imagine the worgen allying with the forsaken - it's just implausible, and I can't see how any conscionable draenei would fight as a comrade with an orc.
VSUReaper Jan 16th 2012 12:51PM
@Hal
Actaully, the other way around IMO. Hear me out before you just dismiss the idea:
Baine cant get over what Garrosh has done and is thinking of doing. He knows the Horde is slowly killing the planet around them, and he challenges Garrosh. They fight, but instead of death, Baine and his followers are banned from the Horde.
If you pledge fealty to the Horde, you can stay. Most of the tauren leave except for one or 2 tribes - the tribes that leave are taken in by the Alliance.
In come the Grimtotem, minus Magatha - they want back into the horde, especially if it means they can kill the Bloodhoof Clan (Baine's clan).
Dont take this as I want this to happen, because I dont. I play a tauren b/c I like the Horde, but I could totally see that, or a variation of it, going down if Tauren became neutral.
Edymnion Jan 16th 2012 1:40PM
I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out how the Horde got the Blood Elves and the Forsaken, while the Alliance got the Worgen.
No, seriously, have you stopped to look at the respective histories?
Forsaken: Former humans that were cursed with undeath that just wanted to go home. Kicked out by the alliance for a curse beyond their control.
Blood Elves: Former high elves that lost the sunwell and became magic addicts that just wanted to go back to the way they were. Kicked out by the alliance for a magical addiction beyond their control.
Worgen: Former humans that were cursed with lycanthropy that just wanted to be left alone. Welcomed with open arms by the alliance despite a curse beyond their control.
Everybody sing with me now, "One of these things is not like the others..."
Noyou Jan 16th 2012 1:42PM
@VSU
I love your thinking. I have said over the last year or so, I can picture the Tauren switching sides. Especially in light of what happened with Cairne. I know it probably won't, but I would embrace it. I play alliance most of the time. I do have a little tauro that I was running through to get the horde aspect of things. I know this might go against popular thinking, but I wouldn't mind if the alliance got tauren and the horde got a new race.