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6 blue posts to read before Diablo 3's launch
Cross-realm zones coming soon
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: DMF
by Michael Sacco 
Jan 28th 2012 at 12:00PM
I'm working Darkmoon Faire Los Angeles this weekend. You should stop by if you're in the LA area.
Nina Katerina asked:
They announced that everyone who took out an annual subscription would get a pass to beta-test Mists. I see an awful lot of Tyrael's Chargers running around. With all these people getting beta keys, aren't we going to have to have more than the usual number of PTRs? Are we going to have waves of beta test invites? How are they going to make it fair?
I don't think there's any doubt that MoP's beta test is going to have a larger pool of testers than we've had in the past, but that also doesn't mean that all of them will be joining the beta at the same time. The Annual Pass agreement doesn't state when you'll be invited to the beta; it only says you will at some point. We'll likely see waves of invites lasting for quite a while before beta ends.
The Dark Wayne asked:
Is there a sort of quest progression to follow before the Dragon Soul raid? I haven't really done anything in WoW for about a year but want to change that and get to all the juicy story parts. Do I need to complete all the firelands quests to fully understand what's going on with DW? Are there breadcrumb quests for the DW 5-mans? (Are there 5 mans? Did I make that up?) I've heard bits and pieces about the Infinite Dragon flight, are there other quests and dungeons ill need to do?
You should do the Elemental Bonds quest line with Thrall and then do the three 5-man dungeons released with 4.3. That should get you up to speed with the Dragon Soul raid. Firelands stuff isn't necessary.
The Dewd asked:
Do we know if Blizzard combs through sites like WoW Insider like they do their own forums? I know I've seen a lot of really good suggestions on any number of topics ranging from achievements and archaeology to PvP and loot drops and it'd be a shame if they miss them because they don't have the manpower and no one bothered to copy them over to the official forums.
I don't expect anyone to suddenly come out and say "Yeah, I work for Blizzard and my job is to read through external sites to see what the non-hypervocal community thinks of things." (Admittedly, I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Krotzer ghost-writes for the Blues, too, since he disappeared not too long before Blizzard made the we're-too-busy-for-Blizzcon-if-you-guys-want-3-game-releases-this-year announcement.)
The community managers do more than just read the forums; they look at all facets of the community for feedback. We definitely have developers who read the site, but I think it would be disingenuous to say that our feedback is valued more than any other given person or site. Blizzard employees often get hold of me directly for advice, though -- hair care advice.
Fallemwarrior asked:
Is raid finder going to be the new norm for wow? making a version of raids where i literal think people could faceroll their keyboards to do just to hold up the content for everyone ideal?
Yes, the Raid Finder is going to be the new norm ... for the Raid Finder. It's intended to be a difficulty level that pretty much any group of 25 people can complete. It's not supposed to be prohibitively difficult for the average (or below-average) player. That's what normal and heroic modes are for.
Ganrokh81 asked:
Metzen said at Blizzcon that "Love of Life" is what describes Pandaria. If the Pandaren are so entwined with life, why can't they be Druids?
You're misinterpreting. He means that they enjoy living life, experiencing things, leading rich and happy lives. He didn't mean capital-L Life.
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 5 of 5)
Task Jan 28th 2012 3:37PM
At Bliizzcon, they said (I think) where it was, and that Zandalar Isle was just north of it, but Zandalar might have been a location placeholder temporarily.
Noyou Jan 28th 2012 4:29PM
I believe they said it would be the southern equivalent to Northrend.
Noyou Jan 28th 2012 4:34PM
I dug this up. I believe the quote is from someone with Blizzard from Blizzcon- basically says Pandaria will be south of the maelstrom and directly opposite of Northrend. The actual map was an interpretation of that quote and posted on MMO champ.
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1006920-image-Pandaria-on-the-World-Map
detailbear Jan 30th 2012 1:09AM
I thought the small sort-of diamond-shaped island at the bottom of the current map was Zandalari, which shows as a very small island at the top of the Pandaria map, making Pandaria bigger than Northrend. Am I wrong? Will they just retcon the map?
Callimaco Jan 28th 2012 3:46PM
Speaking of the WoW TCG, I have a question. I've played other TCGs, and the WoW one has always interested me. Is it possible, if you have a group starting with say the class starter decks, to run the through the different raids and dungeons, downing bosses and collecting loot and have it be like leveling and progressing?
Scotepi Jan 28th 2012 4:19PM
For someone new to the game, yes
Pyromelter Jan 28th 2012 5:08PM
Q4tQ:
Anyone have any idea where N'Zoth's physical location is?
Killik Jan 29th 2012 8:08AM
N'Zoth seems to get around a lot, for an Elder God, but best indications are that he's physically located in the Abyssal Depths, beneath Vash'jir.
Xantenise Jan 28th 2012 5:22PM
Not sure if I commented too late on yesterday's entry, so this is the second & last time I'll ask these, I swear, then I'll shut up.
- What are mouseover macros and how do they work?
- Did we ever find out why Ravenholdt wanted Wrathion's egg?
(Sorry if my comment WAS seen and the questions simply weren't used. I'm in Australia so the Queue goes up at 3AM my time.)
Pyromelter Jan 28th 2012 8:25PM
Mouseover macros:
What a mouseover macro basically does is it allows you to perform an action on the target you currently have moused over. This is most commonly used on raid or party frames to friendly players. It allows for quicker actions and increased reaction time, and also allows you to not have to change your target. This is especially helpful if you are a DPS'er who is helping out with decursing. For example, on my mage, I have a macro that looks like this:
#showtooltip Remove Curse
cast [@mouseover] Remove Curse
My raid interface frame has a neat little thing where when someone is cursed, their frame lights up with a huge purple aura. I have that specific macro keybound to my mouse-button 4. So basically, if I see someone lit up with a purple aura on my raid frame, I can just move my mouse cursor over their purply-framed box, click mouse-button 4, and boom, they are decursed. This allows me to do the de-cursing while not having to switch my target from the boss or add or whatever else I'm targeting.
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Regarding why Ravenholdt wanted the egg, I believe it was Wrathion that reached out to Ravenholdt to "kidnap" him, so he could get out of the clutches of the Red Dragonflight.
In http://www.wowhead.com/quest=29802 "A coded Message," your goal is to help decipher an encrypted coded message from Ravenholdt. This is where you learn they "took" the egg.
In http://www.wowhead.com/quest=29847 "To Catch a Thief" Wrathion hints that it was he that either hired or outright mind-controlled some of the Ravenholdt rogues to get him out of the custody of the Red Dragonflight, and he then sets up his own little base of operations.
"Wrathion says: I'm not some trophy for a red dragon's mantle-piece, and I'm never going back.
Wrathion says: Don't look so surprised! We dragons are conscious, even within our shells. As I grew, I could hear the plotting and scheming. I was to be born a prisoner.
Wrathion says: But I'm one-of-a-kind! A black dragon raised free from the taint of my father's corruption. And that's how I intend to stay: free."
It's never spelled out exactly how he was able to reach out to Ravenholdt, but there obviously was some sort of telepathy going on. I'm guessing the people involved in snatching the egg were open to an operation of that magnitude, so whether Wrathion actually had to warp their minds or just offer them a deal, it probably doesn't matter so much. The point is it was Wrathion who arranged to have his egg "stolen" and taken to Ravenholdt.
Xantenise Jan 28th 2012 8:48PM
@Pyro Thanks!
I had the feeling Wrathion had manipulated Ravenholdt into it, but I thought that an egg wouldn't be able to do that. Mind control sounds exactly like the kind of thing he'd do.
And mouseover macros sound amazingly useful. I'll have to make a few of those myself.
Killik Jan 29th 2012 7:54AM
Ravenholdt has been pretty close to the Black Dragonflight in the past. It was probably just a matter of slipping them the word, to get them to move in and reclaim Deathwing's egg.
blazenor Jan 28th 2012 7:09PM
Question for the Queue:
Is there a reason why a casino type gameplay (cards games, slots, lottery etc..) does not exist in WoW or for the matter any MMO?
Noyou Jan 28th 2012 9:29PM
Probably because they don't want anything to do with gambling. WoW is addictive enough on it's own without bringing that crap into the mix. Too much liability for no gain.
chester_eats_cheese Jan 28th 2012 8:43PM
cool DMF video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEUEExh29s8&feature=colike
rodmin Jan 29th 2012 6:30AM
"The Annual Pass agreement doesn't state when you'll be invited to the beta; it only says you will at some point."
Well...
...
...at least they're getting Diablo 3 without paying.
Always see the good in all cases, right? ;-)
andrews Jan 31st 2012 4:46PM
I doubt all that have an annual pass will want to spend time on the MoP beta. I figured I was going to play for a year anyway, so I may as well get the mount. Beta access and D3 were not compelling for me.
It was nice not having to pay for a mount (or flying one) on a few realms where I am low on gold.