Patch 5.3 interview with Ghostcrawler
Mystery of the Unborn Val'kyr
The latest patch 5.3 news
All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsThe Queue: Catnap
by Michael Sacco 
Jan 29th 2012 at 4:00PM
It's almost the end of a very long weekend. Who wants to take a nap? It's me. I do.
Tfish asked:
What's the deal with that new Lor'themar story?
I mean I guess it's kind of cool that we get some new lore on him considering he has just been sitting around doing nothing for the longest time, but I really don't care about what he was doing in the time span between BC, and the launch of WOTLK now that we're almost 3 expansions away from that time period.
A valid question. I'd agree that it does feel a little odd for blood elves to be the only race that didn't get a "new" story, but In the Shadow of the Sun is important for a different reason -- Blizzard just made a writing contest entry canon. It's very rare for something like that to happen in the industry. Sarah deserves a lot of credit for writing a story so good and so in-universe that Blizzard decided it should be part of WoW canon.
As for Lor'themar, well, who knows? Velen got just the smallest amount of presence in Cataclysm; maybe MoP will hold some new developments for Lor'themar.
Scotepi asked:
QftQ: What ever happened to the epic weapon procs we had in Vanilla and I think BC? There were a few tanking ones that were insane on AoE encounters. There are a few back in Cata but nothing as epic as back in the day.
They're back. Try taking down Deathwing in Raid Finder mode to get your own!
CursedMonk87 asked:
Do you think the Guild level cap is going to be raised in Mists? I haven't heard specific news about it but it would make sense. Some new or improved perks like increased crafting speed or a reduced cooldown on 'Have Group, Will Travel' come to mind. I just hadn't heard any specific news about it.
Yes, Blizzard reps have said that several new guild perks and levels will be coming in MoP. Don't know what the new perks are yet, though. We have a lot of new features coming in MoP that could probably be boosted by guild perks.
Xorthus asked:
Have they given us any indication where Pandaria will be on the world map? I'm betting it will be just South of the Maelstrom. There's a tiny little island there, which I imagine would be the Alliance and Horde's foothold into the new world. It could be the new starting zone for level 85 players, or could be the contested PvP zone (e.g. Tol Barad).
From what we heard at BlizzCon, we know that Pandaria will be south of the Maelstrom, but that's all we know right now. You can't really pinpoint its location based on current maps since, well, it's been invisible for millennia.
Callimaco asked:
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?
You can start doing cooperative play with Dungeon Decks, which only require Class Starter Decks to play. You can "level up" and gain loot from the Treasure Packs if you so desire. There are three Dungeon Decks available right now: Shadowfang Keep, The Deadmines, and Scarlet Monastery, each with different bosses and events.
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 2 of 6)
Lipstick Jan 29th 2012 8:01PM
This happened to me, and I exited the raid without realizing it wasn't in my bags yet (lesson learned, ALWAYS check your bags before leaving raid) however I was able to put in a ticket to a friendly GM who was able to mail the item to me (they're able to go back and check to see whom won what) so if this happens to you, put in a ticket ASAP.
I didn't realize they could still restore items from a LFR run as it doesn't have a tangible lock out, but they're able to! Just thought I'd share so others would know from my terrible experience.
shotiechan Jan 29th 2012 9:36PM
Their inventory was full when they initially won the roll, or they left the instance or something along those lines.
antieuclid Jan 29th 2012 9:43PM
No, I've had it happen without leaving the instance or having bag space issues. I went afk after an LFR Deathwing fight, and when I came back I had won some loot that I had to loot manually.
Amaxe Jan 29th 2012 10:57PM
I've had this happen in some holiday bosses, like HH. I rolled the highest, but nothing happened, and it took a ticket to get the items.
I had just assumed it was a holiday thing but I guess I'm wrong on that.
Edymnion Jan 30th 2012 8:54AM
It happens when you leave the instance. And I do not mean leave the raid, I mean whenever you leave the room the boss was in. Hagara is in a different sub-instance than Zonz, for example, so if you kill Zonz, leave his boss room through the portal and run into Hagara's before the rolls finish, then you aren't in the same technical instance as Zonz anymore, and the game doesn't know how to transfer the item to you anymore. If you go back and loot again, then you can pick it up.
Moral of the story, if you rolled Need on something, stand by the boss until you win/lose that item, then move on to the next boss.
Revnah Jan 29th 2012 4:14PM
CUTENESS!
Revnah Jan 29th 2012 4:38PM
Argh, I made another "heart" sign there and the post was cut off. When will I learn? Sorry.
The post went on:
"Can't read queue today. Must keep squee-ing over picture!"
bushkanaka86 Jan 29th 2012 4:20PM
Question:
Are there any single player games that are close enough to WoW to keep me satisfied until I can play again? Prehaps some fan has made a cheap online game that is based in the same universe? I currently live in a country with slow internet and won't be able to play WoW again for another 17 months, unless the internet improves.
Nadia Jan 29th 2012 4:30PM
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/301531
Unexplained Bacon Jan 29th 2012 4:52PM
Skyrim has questing, crafting, swords and magic.
Also, if you want to stay in the Warcraft universe, consider getting the Warcraft III battle chest. It's a totally different style of game of course, but it's fun seeing historical characters like Uther, Thrall, etc. Sure it's aging graphically but still a ton of fun.
razion Jan 29th 2012 5:05PM
Warcraft III. Play. Now.
VioletArrows Jan 29th 2012 5:46PM
Amalur:Reckoning = WoW (art and depth) + Skyrim (playstyle and a few story elements) + Fable II (fight/talent mechanics)
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAC995298EC7EBC6B&feature=plpp
bushkanaka86 Jan 29th 2012 5:54PM
Thanks for the suggestions. I actually own Warcraft 3 and just recently finished playing through the whole campaign. I also got Warcraft 1 just to see the story line...and there isn't much in that game. I may play through Warcraft 3 again as it fits into the timeline since I am reading through the Warcraft stories in Chronological order.
I might have to look into buying Warcraft 2 as well but hopefully the game play is better than Warcraft 1...
Drakkenfyre Jan 29th 2012 6:04PM
WarCraft 3. Echoing that suggestion.
WoW flavor, tons of lore explaining some of the stuff you see in WoW. some familiar icons (you would be surprised how many icons were pulled straight from it), and no online connection required.
Lipstick Jan 29th 2012 8:17PM
I second the vote for skyrim. I took a hiatus from wow for about 2 months to recharge my batteries and handle some RL stuff, and it definitely filled that void for me. It also has some unique features I sort of wish wow has.
Abilities I love in skyrim, I'd love to see make it into wow somehow -- the ability to Fast Travel back to a place after you discover it, instantly. The only real drawback to this would be no real need for a flying mount, except for the purpose of initial discovery, or in the event you wanted more random world encounters ..
Which brings me to, random dragon encounters where you get to actually KILL dragons who are off flying around as you quest through the world!!!
(as cool as deathwing burning down a zone randomly is, it would be way more cool if you could fight someone like death wing by yourself, or with a follower on your own at random intervals, it would integrate well with raiding if they were to write some kind of lore where he flies off injured dropping x satchel of goods to a player, and then when you first fight him in a raid his health is weakened, this sort of thing would allow for personal development, but also raid content, and allow those who don't raid a feeling as if they were able to personally help save azeroth from disaster).
Another great thing that skyrim has which wow currently lacks, is the ability to be multiple classes at once, where your strengths as a character are determined entirely upon which abilities you choose to use, want to be a mage like character who sneaks around places like a rogue? you can be. Want to be a warrior, whose a pro at the bow and arrow and can take out enemies from a far, and then demolish them when they get too close via melee.. you can be, the possibilities are seemingly infinite).
I feel like the new talent system is a bit of a step in this direction, but there are so many levels they could take it further in. The only real limitations, or difficulties I see with this blending would be things like PVP or PVE balancing for group activities. If every race were given a set list of abilities or skills they could choose from, or improve however there could be an ingrained sense of limitation which might allow for better balance. Not sure if this type of thing will ever make it into wow, but would be nice to see.
Lastly, better landscaping/better npc interaction. Currently there is a level of realism which is somewhat lacking from wow that many have been begging for, for years. Despite improvements which have been made over the years it feels light worlds behind other games which are out there these days and in a way makes wow feel dated.
NPC interaction in skyrim is more robust, in that some of what they say and the behaviors they exhibit change, as your character changes. I feel as if this goes a long way towards making the world itself feel more alive .. and this sort of thing as it would be character driven, wouldn't necessarily cause issues with phasing. There is already a small amount of text changing from npc's in some cities, but it would be nice to see / have a bit more voice acting, and more abilities to interact with more npc's.
Kal Jan 30th 2012 1:30AM
If you're looking for something a bit more colorful than Skyrim I'd try Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning when it comes out. Some people have an issue with how brown Skyrim tends to be since it tries to be so realistic, while Amalur takes a more Warcraft type approach, lots of bright, vivid colors. And so far pretty great reviews :)
Adam Holisky Jan 29th 2012 4:23PM
That cat looks like a young version of my cat: http://twitpic.com/nk4ff
Spritetoggle Jan 29th 2012 5:28PM
Captain Picard is clearly trying to hide his glee for today's header image.
Noyou Jan 29th 2012 5:34PM
Or he is overcome with joy from saving a ton of money on his car insurance?
bushkanaka86 Jan 29th 2012 4:23PM
Question:
Since I am unable to play WoW for the next year or so (see my comment above), in order to satisfy my Azeroth desires I have started reading the Warcraft books. Right now I am following the Chronological Guide on this website for the books. I was just wondering, is that list being updated as new books and short stories come out?