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: NO
by Michael Sacco 
Feb 24th 2012 at 11:00AM
I know Adam just used this image yesterday, but man, how could I resist? Image relevant to next question.
Finneous asked:
I wonder, if you create a character in the MOP beta, and later buy the game, will the character still be there to play, or do you have to start from scratch?
You don't get to keep your characters from any Blizzard beta (or many online game betas, period). Expect that trend to continue with MoP when the beta ends.
Draven asked:
What are your guys opinion on the Ironman Challenge that is happening on WoW? Are any of the writers partaking in the grind to 85?
I think it's insane and great. Talk about high stakes! I have some friends at Cryptozoic who are undertaking the challenge; in fact, one of them creates characters based on coworkers and plays them until they die. I'm proud to say that Ironman contestant Mikesacco the undead mage lasted until level 16, whereupon he was killed by two prowling worgen with Shadowstep. RIP.
Welshy asked:
I went back and watched some of the BlizzCon 2011 preview panel and saw where Ghostcrawler joked about the lack of a female Pandaren model at that point. If I recall, they had trouble with the worgen female model before Cata's release as well. Why does Blizzard have trouble with female character models? Are they somehow harder to create?
It's less a problem with female character models -- you'll notice goblin females came out just fine -- and more a problem with female anthropomorphic animals. It's pretty easy to make a male anthropomorphic character look "right" within the constraints of WoW's art style, but it's hard to avoid sexualizing a female one because male sexual characteristics are a little less obvious than female ones. Worse, if you have an "unattractive" female model, no one will want to play it, and you need people to play your new races. I don't really envy Blizzard. But I still think worgen females look like wet chihuahuas.
Jebediah54 asked:
Why is it that when I run my 64-bit client of WoW, I tend to get a lower framerate? I've heard everywhere that running the 64-bit client should make the whole experience smoother. I even have all the settings on low... Any thoughts would be awesome.
Computers with less than 4GB of RAM will suffer from poor performance under the 64-bit client. It's built for a better machine than whatever you're running it on. Add some RAM and I bet it'll run fine (a good rule of thumb for any software, actually).
AltairAntares asked:
I have a question for the queue- I'm thinking of creating and leveling a new character on a new server- is there any server (faction really doesn't matter) that's widely considered to be at "just the right spot" with faction balance/people being decent/overcrowding etc? Every realm forum I look at people always seem to be frustrated with their server.
Most servers are pretty balanced in total population as well as Horde/Alliance ratio; just pick one that seems to get a lot of forum activity rather than one that looks like people are "happy". Everybody who posts on the forums hates their server.
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)
Drakkenfyre Feb 24th 2012 11:32AM
The original asker asked for a balanced server. My suggestion was avoid PVP ones if that's what you want.
It doesn't make a whole lot of difference in PVE, but I guess if someone doesn't want to feel outnumbered, like you said, it might matter to them.
There's a possibility that Dark Iron is more balanced because people know Gabe plays, or played, on that server, and he's Alliance, so they rolled Alliance, even if they aren't in the guild.
Noyou Feb 24th 2012 11:48AM
@Silm
For TB and wintergrasp. Maybe Halaa, if you are into doing the rep there. It's not a huge deal but If you want to get the full benefits of those, then it matters. I'm guessing it would have been a major downer if at the beginning of MoP the opp faction held it 90% of the time. Something I hope blizzard adresses in MoP. On my server alliance hold TB and WG probably 70-80% of the time. Horde usually takes it when they want to. I think they should probably make it "neutral" for an hour or so after one side holds it 3-4 times in a row so the other faction can do their quests and whatnot. I'm sure they can come up with something better than total domination.
Malon Mar 19th 2012 8:52AM
Balance is just as important for PvE sides. If you go to a server with a severe lack of Horde (for example) and you're an Orc, you'll see less movement on the AH, fewer people to interact with, will have a harder time recruiting for/joining a guild and see less progression for your faction in general.
slim1256 Feb 24th 2012 12:18PM
Malon -
The question was about balance - does the number of active Horde players match well with the number of active Alliance players. That has no effect on the AH. That is to say - you could be on a wildly unbalanced PVE server, and as long as you're on the right side of things, could have a very healthy economy. Conversely, you could be on a 50/50 balanced low pop server, and both sides could have crappy economies...
As for TB and WG - I've heard stories about unbalanced PVP servers where the minority faction have become, by virtue of being grossly outnumbered, are not to be tangled with lightly. They're all hard-boiled PVPers because they've had to learn to be. And since TB and WG numbers are balanced, it makes me wonder if in some cases the lesser pop side doesn't actually have the advantage in those contests?
Hob Feb 24th 2012 4:27PM
If you're playing the low-population side on a PvE server, you are basically without an Auction House. There's nothing to buy, and no one to buy your goods.
Leveling can be a pain if the high-population side decides to kill your quest givers, because there's 5 of them to every 1 of you.
Other reasons.
TNK Feb 24th 2012 11:09AM
This brings forth an idea. How about having every class columnist do the Ironman challenge of their respected class/spec and the first to 85 gets some sort of prize? It'd make for great entertainment to the WoW Insider readers.
matt Feb 24th 2012 11:35AM
my money would be on rossi or frostheim. warriors and hunters are very easy to level in cata. My undead hunter (sans heirlooms) made it to 33 without a death before I abandoned him. I leveled a warrior to 67 that has only died in dungeons (something I am sure you would not do if you were trying not to die.
byronius_prime Feb 24th 2012 12:07PM
That's a great idea! Unfortunately Daniel wouldn't be able to go with a DK, AFAIK they're not allowed, unless they compete with a bit modified rules.
Grovinofdarkhour Feb 24th 2012 12:31PM
Frost would ANNIHILATE these people. There's a reason they've never been in direct competition.
Noyou Feb 24th 2012 12:40PM
You have to do it randomly. Otherwise it's kind of cheating. some classes are certainly going to be better suited than others.
D Feb 24th 2012 9:39PM
Noyou is correct. You pick your race, sex, faction etc from a random number. Still I think it would make a great series. Let the authors all do it and see how gets the farthest. Maybe a rule that if you randomly pick your normal class you pick over.
Awesome McAwesome Feb 24th 2012 11:09AM
You didn't italicize the second to last question. Just thought I'd point that out.
S Feb 24th 2012 11:12AM
As a WOW veteran, I have wanted to try the ironman challenge, but I can't imagine trying to do hyjal at lvl 80 in only white gear... Even if I pick the class I used
Revynn Feb 24th 2012 11:21AM
Last I was on my Ironman toon, we were talking about that very situation. The consensus was that you can't even attempt Hyjal or Vash until you're closer to level 83 or 84. Stuff just hits too hard. Your bet bet is to level from 80-83 on dailies and wrath quests.
Shinae Feb 24th 2012 11:23AM
Seeing how one of the rules for the Ironman is that you start as level 1 and you're done when your toon dies, chances are pretty slim that one would make it to 80 in the first place.
Aaron Feb 24th 2012 3:15PM
You could keep questing in Northrend. Kill EXP drops dramatically once you outlevel the content, but quest EXP doesn't decrease until you're seven levels above the quest level. 25 dailies x 22,000 EXP = 550,000 EXP per day, which means five or six days to level 83 (it gets a lot slower from there; total EXP for 80-85 is 22M, so you're looking at about six weeks). If not for the "no professions" rule, gathering and Archaeology would also work well. At level 80, I got about 5K EXP per herb and 25K per digsite, not counting rested bonus.
vthemechanicv Feb 24th 2012 5:14PM
Even though I've never done iron man (so whatever rules there may be), i just finished leveling a new mage, fire/arcane. She hit Hyjal at 80 and had zero problems killing stuff or doing quests. In fact since she was a jewelcrafter, when she hit 76 she got the Hyjal jewelcrafting daily, and while she probably had a 60% hit chance, the elementals still went down without any trouble. Yes, she was in BoAs, but those become just as worthless at 80 as any other non-cata gear (my ilvl at 80 was 116 as I recall).
Cjmulhare Feb 24th 2012 11:13AM
Your answer to welshys question.. What a load of crap. That's the most complicated way to say 'i don't know' I've ever seen. Hope your getting paid per word.
slim1256 Feb 24th 2012 11:25AM
Your response is the most complicated way I've ever seen for someone to say "I didn't read the EFFING answer."
The response Sacco provided to that question is clearly an extrapolation, but a very well founded one.
And remember, kids, reading is fundamental.
Hoofio Feb 24th 2012 11:39AM
You sound angry .. grrr