The Queue: Rolling the bones
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 in the mood to answer some WoW Insider behind-the-scenes questions this week ... so I will. If you're curious about the inner workings of WoW Insider, feel free to ask your questions today -- what it's like to work here, the state of your favorite feature, whatever you'd like to ask. I can't answer everything, but I'll certainly try to answer what I can.
You're still welcome to ask normal questions, of course! I'll just be seeking out a few behind-the-scenes questions to answer, too.
Kar On E asked:
What do you suppose the common folk of Azeroth do for fun and entertainment? It doesn't seem like there's much for them to do outside of the Blue Recluse...
Likely, many of the same things people on Earth did in the middle ages. No, there was no television and no video games, but there's plenty to do. Dice is one of the oldest games in existence, so you'd see quite a bit of gambling. It wasn't always played with the six-sided die we see today -- it was often played with knucklebones from animals. Various forms of dice actually exist in-game as pieces of loot:
Azerothians would have board games, too -- not Monopoly or Chutes and Ladders, no, but games like chess and draughts (checkers in America) have been around for most of written history in one form or another. Chess, especially -- we actually play it in Karazhan! Backgammon is a solid 5,000 years old here on Earth, too, so Azerothians may certainly have a form of that.
Then there are sports. Football/soccer, golf, hockey, bowling, and cricket all existed in some form. In a European village in the middle ages, when there was no work to do, kids could get together and play a game of pickup soccer. Except their ball would be an inflated pig's bladder. Or a pig's stomach. Or a Norseman's decapitated head.
Don't underestimate how much fun these guys could have at a place like the Blue Recluse, either. There would be more to do than get drunk and barf in the gutters afterwards. The local inn, tavern or pub would be a bustling community hub. You'd go not only for food and drinks, but music, stories, and other small-scale performances as well.
Pretty normal stuff, really! Oh, and you can watch a game of Footbomb, where goblins kill each other with circular saws whilst riding giant robots. If you can't watch it in person, you could always listen to the play-by-play on your buzzbox.
Azerothians cheat.
antieuclid asked:
In raid finder, gear occasionally stays on the boss until the person who won it loots it manually. Why is this?
If you win a loot roll, you need to be in the same zone as the item to receive it. If you dropped group or ported out of the zone too quickly, the game can't give you the item -- you need to go back and get it. Alternatively, the player's inventory may have been full. The game only tries to give you the item once. If you had no room for the item, you need to make space and manually loot your spoils of war.
Cole asked:
After the Arthas was killed in WOTLK what happened to Tirion? He was the major lore character leading us to the death of Arthas. I know cataclysm did not deal with the Light at all and much more about the aspects but it was kind of weird how Tirion just fell off the map. He was such a powerful character lore-wise, considering the power the Ashbringer wields, you'd think he could help out when a giant fire breathing dragon of death tries to destroy all of Azeroth.
He's in the Western Plaguelands, repeatedly failing to foil a saboteur in his midst that your character discovers and executes in like 10 minutes.
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!
I'm in the mood to answer some WoW Insider behind-the-scenes questions this week ... so I will. If you're curious about the inner workings of WoW Insider, feel free to ask your questions today -- what it's like to work here, the state of your favorite feature, whatever you'd like to ask. I can't answer everything, but I'll certainly try to answer what I can.
You're still welcome to ask normal questions, of course! I'll just be seeking out a few behind-the-scenes questions to answer, too.
Kar On E asked:
What do you suppose the common folk of Azeroth do for fun and entertainment? It doesn't seem like there's much for them to do outside of the Blue Recluse...
Likely, many of the same things people on Earth did in the middle ages. No, there was no television and no video games, but there's plenty to do. Dice is one of the oldest games in existence, so you'd see quite a bit of gambling. It wasn't always played with the six-sided die we see today -- it was often played with knucklebones from animals. Various forms of dice actually exist in-game as pieces of loot:
Azerothians would have board games, too -- not Monopoly or Chutes and Ladders, no, but games like chess and draughts (checkers in America) have been around for most of written history in one form or another. Chess, especially -- we actually play it in Karazhan! Backgammon is a solid 5,000 years old here on Earth, too, so Azerothians may certainly have a form of that.
Then there are sports. Football/soccer, golf, hockey, bowling, and cricket all existed in some form. In a European village in the middle ages, when there was no work to do, kids could get together and play a game of pickup soccer. Except their ball would be an inflated pig's bladder. Or a pig's stomach. Or a Norseman's decapitated head.
Don't underestimate how much fun these guys could have at a place like the Blue Recluse, either. There would be more to do than get drunk and barf in the gutters afterwards. The local inn, tavern or pub would be a bustling community hub. You'd go not only for food and drinks, but music, stories, and other small-scale performances as well.
Pretty normal stuff, really! Oh, and you can watch a game of Footbomb, where goblins kill each other with circular saws whilst riding giant robots. If you can't watch it in person, you could always listen to the play-by-play on your buzzbox.
Azerothians cheat.
antieuclid asked:
In raid finder, gear occasionally stays on the boss until the person who won it loots it manually. Why is this?
If you win a loot roll, you need to be in the same zone as the item to receive it. If you dropped group or ported out of the zone too quickly, the game can't give you the item -- you need to go back and get it. Alternatively, the player's inventory may have been full. The game only tries to give you the item once. If you had no room for the item, you need to make space and manually loot your spoils of war.
Cole asked:
After the Arthas was killed in WOTLK what happened to Tirion? He was the major lore character leading us to the death of Arthas. I know cataclysm did not deal with the Light at all and much more about the aspects but it was kind of weird how Tirion just fell off the map. He was such a powerful character lore-wise, considering the power the Ashbringer wields, you'd think he could help out when a giant fire breathing dragon of death tries to destroy all of Azeroth.
He's in the Western Plaguelands, repeatedly failing to foil a saboteur in his midst that your character discovers and executes in like 10 minutes.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, The Queue
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Reader Comments (Page 5 of 9)
Hateraide Jan 30th 2012 11:38AM
I Lol'd.
Amaxe Jan 30th 2012 11:39AM
"Dice is one of the oldest games in existence, so you'd see quite a bit of gambling."
Well, Blizz probably banned them for doing that...
razion Jan 30th 2012 12:18PM
You forgot to duck.
Noyou Jan 30th 2012 12:51PM
*balks at the obvious headshot*
Al Jan 30th 2012 4:25PM
I think you mean *obvious rimshot*
malaika Jan 30th 2012 11:44AM
Was Northrend affected at all by the Cataclysm? Apart from removing the Battle for Undercity quest, are there any references to Deathwing's breaking Azaroth apart (and sparing an entire continent)?
Shinae Jan 30th 2012 11:50AM
Nope because, like Outland, it's story is stuck in the past.
AudreyR Jan 30th 2012 2:39PM
Lorewise, yes. It would have been affected by the Cataclysm just like every other place was. (Which leads to an interesting question pertaining to the Cataclysm's effects on the ongoing campaigns to keep the remaining Scourge in check.)
Gamewise, nope. Northrend is stuck in the past.
arkhan Jan 30th 2012 11:44AM
When do we get a real warlock columnist? Nothing personal but Caraway is clearly either underpaid and therefore phoning it in or he doesn't have the time to write in-depth warlock columns. Either way, I can't remember when I read a warlock column that wasn't in some way inane or littered with falsehoods.
Arrohon Jan 30th 2012 9:08PM
His main character and column is Boomkin. If he's lackluster, that's probably because he doesn't raid with him. When I first started reading WoW Insider about a year and a half ago, the Warlock column was the Defense Against the Dark Arts position. I don't think they had someone stay in for over a month (but had a lot less time in between writers than ret pallies). You're honestly lucky to even HAVE a writer considering past history. Finally, writing this is KILLING ME. Being neutral when I abhor warlocks is suicide by literature.
Spelio Jan 30th 2012 11:45AM
OMG!! I did not know about the Loaded Gnomish Dice. I have all the other types of dice but not those. Looks like I will need to employ the services of a Rogue.....
Anyone have a Rogue on Maelstrom that's looking for work? I pay well!!
Shade Jan 30th 2012 12:11PM
Ooh, Maelstrom? I'm a Belf mage there! (Tomokei)
slim1256 Jan 30th 2012 1:42PM
Hee hee - I just bought myself a set on the AH this past weekend for 50g. Thank you, Undermine Journal!
I was happy.
Adam Jan 30th 2012 11:46AM
Even if you're in the same zone as the loot, I've noticed that sometimes if someone is "looting" (has their grubby hands all over everything) it won't get passed out.
yous95 Jan 30th 2012 11:46AM
Have there been any changes to WoW Insider or its workings ever since Alex Ziebart came to power?
lazymangaka Jan 30th 2012 11:48AM
How does Fox Van Allen take his coffee?
Rho Jan 30th 2012 11:58AM
In a coffee mug that reads "World's Sexiest Belf".
Silversol Jan 30th 2012 1:56PM
In a mug. Do not pour it directly in his lap.
Spelio Jan 30th 2012 4:43PM
I would assume he has a direct IV drip like me.
jasonfelliott Jan 30th 2012 11:55AM
What's going on with Christian Belt and Arcane Brilliance? His column is what originally brought me to this site, and while I love the site in general, his column is the one I look forward to most each week (partly because I love the writing style, and partly because mage is the class closest to my heart). For years it seemed he never missed a Saturday, but lately we're lucky if we get 3 columns a month. Is everything OK on the Pants front?