The Queue: In space, no one can hear you scream
by Michael Sacco 
Feb 26th 2012 at 2:00PM
Hey, get the Blu-ray transfer of this movie; the visual quality is great. Plus you'll own two of the finest movies ever made if you buy the Aliens Blu-ray too. If you have to pick one, though, get Aliens instead.
TheBishop asked:
With the change to achievements in MoP, specifically sharing mounts and pets towards collection numbers and them being useable by all toons, do you believe my warrior would be able to use and count my pally specific mounts? Or do you think certain mounts like the pally and lock ones may be class use specific?
The mounts that will be shared between characters on your accounts are specifically ones that are granted by achievements, according to what Blizzard reps have stated. It's unlikely that your shaman will be able to use your dreadsteed mount or your warrior your charger, since those are granted by a class trainer, not an achievement.
ajburden asked:
Whatever happened to the melee "buff" for raids so we could compete with ranged??
Blizzard buffed the abilities that granted melee/ranged attack power, like Blessing of Might and Abomination's Might, so that the melee attack power portion of their buff doubled (20%) compared to the benefit hunters receive (10%).
Mal asked:
Any chance we'll see an article on the recent "Ironman challenge" thing going on among players?
We wrote about it a few weeks back. We think it's pretty cool!
Murmel asked:
What kind of pact did Sylvanas make with the val'kyr? Why did it take all 3 to rez her and cost them their lives when before one of them could easily turn 10+ mobs at once into forsaken? What does Sylvanas mean when she says that the val'kyr are their future? That the undead will eventually become them? They are the evolutionary next step?
These questions are answered pretty well in Sylvanas' short story, Edge of Night. I'm not going to go into detail about it here since I'm sure plenty of people haven't read it yet, but it's a good read!
redwinger_6 asked:
If Blizzard does start selling gold, as has been suggested, won't that just inflate the prices of everything and make it so that you HAVE to buy gold in order to keep up with them? I think the only thing that keeps it from getting out of hand now is the risk of being hacked or banned if you get caught, but if it was done through Blizz, the amount of gold on each server would jump to a ridiculous amount, devaluing the currency and driving the prices up.
I honestly couldn't say what the effects of Blizzard straight-up selling gold would be. The thing about a game like Diablo III, which is essentially shipping with a way to convert gold to dollars and vice versa, is that the game is launching with an economy built for that kind of transaction. WoW just isn't, and there's no good way to gently introduce that kind of change into WoW's economic ecosystem. Guardian Cubs don't count, for reasons I've mentioned before. (They're a single-use item that a character will never need again once bought; thus, you can't really make assumptions based on how much they did or didn't sell). Personally? I think it'd be catastrophic for the economy and for the average player.
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 1 of 5)
Scuac Feb 26th 2012 2:14PM
QftQ: Why does WoW Insider insist in calling Arcane Brilliance a "weekly" column?
I love to read the archmage articles, and it is always sad to have my anticipation for a new column crushed by the realization that there will be none this week.
Oteo Feb 26th 2012 4:49PM
Shhh! I'm not complaining. I would much rather read sporadic columns from Archmage Pants than a truly weekly column from an inferior writer.
(Besides, the poor Archmage has like a whole litter of kids. He probably has to spend a lot of time teaching his brood to control their burgeoning powers of destruction.)
Scuac Feb 26th 2012 5:10PM
@Oteo
Oh goodness no. I 100% agree with you and it was not my intention for them to do anything to our venerable Archmage. Mine was a selfish post because I really enjoy his columns and I wanted to read one this week.
Chivvy Feb 26th 2012 5:11PM
Except you're missing one vital thing:
A true Archmage would NEVER let his offspring spec into Destruction.
Supertom Feb 26th 2012 5:40PM
A wizard's column is never late. Nor is it early. It arrives precisely when he means it to.
nataswar Feb 27th 2012 7:57AM
@supertom - I see what you did there...nicely done!
clever Feb 26th 2012 2:20PM
what if blizzard made an item that adds 30 days to the subscription time, and could be traded in-game and bought on the site like the Guardian Cub?
that wouldnt be single-use, so the demand would never dry-up, so it could provide a much more steady way to buy/sell gold
wutsconflag Feb 26th 2012 2:41PM
You mean like CCP Games has done with Eve Online and PLEX?
Nah, that makes too much sense! ;)
Ailuvan Feb 26th 2012 3:11PM
You mean like using your Blizzard Wallet as a payment source for BattleNet?
Didn't they alway say they were doing that? I remember a commenter here saying they would pay did their WoW time by running their D3 AH...
Khirsah Feb 26th 2012 3:23PM
I haven't thought through all the ramifications of your idea, but my initial impression is:
LOVE IT!!!
This is perfect for someone like me. I have very little in-game money. My arena partner has plenty of gold, but constantly has to take time off because his subscription runs out. We could solve both our problems at once!
DarkWalker Feb 26th 2012 3:46PM
The best thing about this kind of scheme: Blizzard would not create gold in any way.
While players would be able to indirectly get gold for money, it would be indirect, by purchasing gold other players have amassed normally and in exchange for something Blizzard already sells but does not influence game performance in any way (except by allowing players to actually play).
Of course, this works better for EVE thanks to the absurdly better AH/broker system that game has. After all, EVE has what is, perhaps, the best economic system of any multiplayer game currently in existence - and I'm not exaggerating when I say this.
Adegan Feb 26th 2012 2:21PM
Looking forward to Prometheus?
Jere Hunter Feb 26th 2012 2:31PM
Yes, Yes I am :)
Bynes Feb 26th 2012 2:32PM
If I remember correctly, the devs said we'd come to a point while leveling our Pandaren in MoP where we choose our allegiance to either the Horde our Alliance. Does this mean we'll be able to mail things to these characters from our alts before they choose? Meaning, can both my Orc and Human send them mail before they choose a faction?
Jere Hunter Feb 26th 2012 2:37PM
I would think that there would be no mailbox's till after you choose
Scuac Feb 26th 2012 2:46PM
I would guess not, unless Blizzard changes it policy of making trade between factions very difficult (right now to pass items between your toons on same accounts, you need someone else to help you, and only through the neutral AH with all the additional fees and risks that involves). I would imagine that you wouldn't be able to send them anything but heirlooms, which are the exception to cross-faction mailing right now. Maybe they treat pandas under lvl 10 as belonging to a third "neutral" faction and automatically get the same cross-faction restrictions (including also the ability to chat to horde or alliance before lvl 10).
Killik Feb 26th 2012 3:00PM
You'd only be able to mail them heirlooms, since Pandas would be part of neither faction rather than both.
John Robinson Feb 26th 2012 4:12PM
They said at Blizzcon that there would be no mailboxes available until after you choose. So no heirlooms etc.
Presumably, if that does go ahead, they'd put something in place to even stop you trying to mail something to your new Panda. Perhaps it won't technically "exist" until you're a part of the Horde or Alliance.
Revynn Feb 26th 2012 6:29PM
Before you choose a faction at level 10, you won't be able to send or recieve mail, join a guild or otherwise communicate with anyone outside the Pandaren starting zone.
Yeah, you wont have access to your heirlooms for a couple levels, but 1-10 go so fast anyways that it's not really a big deal.
Noyou Feb 26th 2012 7:22PM
Since your player won't have a faction until you chose one, any attempt to contact or send them mail will get the "No player found" message. Which is probably a good thing.