The Queue: The Age of Fire and Gravel

Ignatius Donnelly wrote both Atlantis, the Antediluvian World and Ragnarok, the Age of Fire and Gravel. He was a proponent of woman's suffrage and a passionate populist politician, serving in the United States Congress and as lieutenant governor of Minnesota. He wrote books speculating on the future (to him, anyway) and who really wrote Shakespeare's plays. He was a fascinating, inquisitive, and slightly cracked mind. He's one of my favorite people and a personal hero and inspiration. And yes, a lot of what he wrote was wrong at best and completely deranged at worst, but that's why I like him. He also came up with some awesome names for The Queue when you end up writing it.
Why do I bring this up? Because I don't watch TV.
MikeLive asked:
What? Zandalari will be in Pandaria? When did this come about?
Well, Mike, as several of our commenters answered you yesterday, it does appear that there will be some kind of Zandalar presence in Mists. As you can see on the map accompanying this page, there's a place named Zandalari Isle at the top of the Pandaria map from BlizzCon 2011. Whether that is the actual home of the Zandalar tribe or just a territory they're staking out in Pandaria is yet to be seen.
Nicoro asked:
So, with the the new areas a No fly zone. is there a likely event that there will be Better Training for Ground mounts?
At present, no such announcement has been made. I expect there will be something like Cold Weather Flying available at level 90 once we've gone through the various Pandaria zones on foot, much the same as we did the first time we leveled through most of Northrend. I doubt highly Blizzard will make a faster ground mount speed, but it's certainly within the realm of possibility.
Revynn asked:
Should I be worried about the future of raid design now that the Raid Finder has been implemented?
You're always welcome to worry about raid design or anything else you like, but having done Raid Finder, normal 25 and heroic 25 in Dragon Soul now, I think I can safely say that raid design itself is not something Blizzard seems to skimp on now. I do agree that it does seem likely it'll keep the paradigm of two tanks, six healers and 17 DPSers for RF groups, but already in normal/heroic mode, you see pretty sophisticated mechanics on fights and people doing things well beyond the complexity of the RF version.
Now, I saw in the thread that developed from Revynn's original question some discussion of 10-man difficulty. Frankly, I'm biased and find 10-man easier than 25-man, so I don't think I can address your statement properly. Since you're at around where I am in progression (except on 10s, whereas I'm on 25s), I can only say that I find 25s to be suitably difficult. Perhaps the issue is that RF will limit how much 10-man design can really innovate? It's much easier to scale up from RF 25s to normal/heroic 25s, but then trying to also do normal/heroic 10s might be too many variables and 10s will suffer for it. I really couldn't say. It's definitely worth watching for, however.
You95 asked:
If you had to choose one thing that Blizzard could never ever remove from WoW (whether it be a zone, class, concept, etc.) what would it be?
Warriors.
pdusen asked:
What ever happened to WoW Archivist?
Alex Ziebart, the man mostly responsible for the feature, is now our editor-in-chief. As a result, he's ludicrously busy and thus, the column is somewhat on the back burner.
No one at all asked:
Why are you so handsome?
I read a lot of weird books. I also wrote one, if you'd like to buy a copy. (Well, I wrote it whether or not you want to buy a copy, really.) Ask me some time about Charles Fort and the super-Sargasso in the sky.
Filed under: The Queue
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Reader Comments (Page 5 of 10)
Revynn Mar 1st 2012 1:04PM
- "We're looking at this from the perspective of playing something that was hurried into release, into a tier that likely wasn't designed for it from the outset."
I'd be interested to know if this is actually the case. I know LFR is still in it's infancy and has a lot of potential to (continue to) be an awesome feature of the game, but I'd like to know how long theyve been working on it and if DS was designed with it in mind or retrofitted late in the process to work with it.
Actually, I'd like to know that about Hard Modes vs Normal as well. Do they start with LFR and build from there or do they start with Heroics and cut things out for the lower difficulty levels.
ejunk Mar 1st 2012 11:26AM
I predict an instance (5 man definitely, maybe a raid) in which we heroes of Azeroth are tasked with cleaning invading Zandalari out of some formerly Pandaren controlled zone. Either that, or they are invading something the Pandaren sealed up for safety in order to use the power of the Sha to empower themselves and their overseer.
you heard it here first! ;)
razion Mar 1st 2012 11:47AM
I would be both sad and disappointed if we didn't get a troll dungeon/raid for Mists. We've had troll activity in every release of the game to date, and so to me it's getting to the point where WoW just wouldn't feel the same (personally) if we went an expansion without one.
ejunk Mar 1st 2012 12:01PM
while I'm at it (and on my lunch break), I'll expand further upon the second prediction.
While, in the 5 man/raid where we're trying to stop the Zanadalari from unleashing something (a prison, an artifact, etc), succeed in stopping them from TAKING whatever it is they are after, but FAIL to stop them from actually releasing/uncovering/etc. whatever it is they are after. This sets up the next tier of story.
I'm on a roll!
xvkarbear Mar 1st 2012 11:27AM
Rossi, :( your book is not available for the Kindle.
Lipstick Mar 1st 2012 11:30AM
Also, I know this is probably a question better served by add-on spotlight but does anyone know a decent, light weight add on which will let me know how much time is left on my guildee's divine hymn, tranq, etc during raids? Or if we have any battle rez's left?
I've used Ora3 in the past but felt it had waaaay more features than I needed. I just want a simple cool down display.
Leorad Mar 1st 2012 6:22PM
Weak auras can be created with a specific player name, or for all players that aren't you. That way you can get an icon displaying the cool down or duration of spells like that. I have one for warrior co-tank's shield wall. I tank on my DK, and we both have the 4 piece bonus, so it's important information.
coville Mar 1st 2012 11:30AM
Ok, today is March 1st.. Where is the MoP updates?
At least throw us a bone and give us a D3 launch date to count down until.
razion Mar 1st 2012 11:41AM
The March Mists press tour wasn't scheduled for the beginning of March, but closer to the middle of March. It's still a ways off yet.
Drakkenfyre Mar 1st 2012 1:22PM
Not to be shitty, but if they announced a release date, would you know it?
They announced the press event would be March 15th.
Ullaana Mar 1st 2012 12:09PM
razion's correct, the announcement said March 13-16.
Still waiting patiently (no I'm not) for nearly another 2 weeks.
Noyou Mar 1st 2012 12:22PM
Wow. That's going to be one fricken crazy weekend. MoP info extravaganza, NFL free agency AND St. Patrick's day. I better stock up on Guinness and hot pockets. (which is better than tequila and pizza rolls- trust me!).
Draelan Mar 1st 2012 2:22PM
Yep! March 13-16! It's like Blizzard is giving me a (slightly belated, but only by a day) birthday present consisting of Mists of Pandaria info!
Caylynn Mar 1st 2012 11:31AM
Edmonton, ugh. Lived there when my husband was posted to the engineering regiment there. Not my favourite Canadian city. Better than some military postings though (like Gagetown).
For the Canadians: favourite Canadian city?
Doffencrag Mar 1st 2012 11:37AM
Quebec City. Gorgeous. Almost makes me wish I were fluent in French.
Terrant Mar 1st 2012 11:38AM
In terms of diversity, fast pace of life, and lots of things to do: Toronto
In terms of aesthetics and architecture: Quebec
In terms of most wonderful place to relax and get recharged, but still have urban conveniences: Victoria
ToastyPosty Mar 1st 2012 1:34PM
Winnipeg
No? Anyone? Winnipeg? Come on, it's not so bad here. We have ... uh ...
So Toronto/Quebec City/Vancouver. Best cities, amirite?
RogueJedi86 Mar 1st 2012 1:51PM
Doesn't Winnipeg have the North American/Canadian equivalent to the Loch Ness Monster?
Caylynn Mar 1st 2012 2:35PM
@Toasty, I was born and spent the first 8 years of my life in Winnipeg. Not a bad city, but not great either. Hey, you have an NHL team back in the city now. Go Jets!
I guess I should answer my own question. I love Victoria - I hope my husband and I can eventually retire somewhere on Vancouver island.
Other than that, I tend to like smaller cities - Kingston, Guelph, St. John's.
Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and even Ottawa now, are too big for my liking. Ottawa does have a lot of wonderful recreation opportunities but it's too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer, plus it has so much sprawl now, it's not the city it was when I was in high school (back in the 80s, when Nepean was still its own city.)
ToastyPosty Mar 1st 2012 4:23PM
@Caylynn
Don't get me wrong, I rip on my home of 25 years quite a bit, but at the same time, I'll never see myself leaving. It's the perfect combination of city life (for lack of a better term) and small town living. That girl I met at a Rise Against concert? Odds are I went to school with someone in her family.
Winnipeg's a city where strangers aren't actually strangers. Unless the person just moved to the country, you know someone that knows them.
*insert obligatory #GoJetsGo*