The Queue: Somebody buy me an iPad
by Mathew McCurley 
Mar 8th 2012 at 11:00AM
It's, uh ... for work. I swear.
I'll take one of the old ones -- that's totally fine. Not the old old one, though. Only one old ago.
Jamie asked:
How long do you think it'll be before we'll be able to buy a previous expansion level capped character from Blizzard?
Technically, you can do it now with the Scroll of Resurrection, if you have a second account that you've deactivated for some reason. Might I remind all of you out there who RAF'd for Swift Zhevras or X-53 rockets and have an account lying around that it would be perfect for resurrecting, granting a level 80 character, and then transferring that character back to your main account? That's essentially purchasing a level 80 character, no?
As for whether you will be purchasing already-leveled characters from Blizzard, the answer is most likely no. However, I could see Blizzard setting up something like Diablo III's character sales on the Auction House. Who knows? Maybe one day, you could buy new characters with your Blizzard wallet from other players. The bottom line is that I think Blizzard likes the idea of player-on-player transactions for game/power-related items, which I'm fine with.
Grovinofdarkhour asked:
Do you think Blizzard will ever let us "downshift" our gear? I'd like to be able to push a button and make old raids/zones challenging again.
No, I do not believe that this feature is coming any time soon. Personally, the last thing that I want is to have the old instances and raids to be challenging again in any fathomable way. In fact, I like those places because of how easy and fun it is to farm at my heart's content. Sure, the allure of old-school raiding and having to pay attention to Molten Core bosses sounds fun now, but no one in their right minds wants to devalue their power in game. I just don't see the need for the feature.
If you want to complete raids at raid-level-appropriate gear and levels, you can do so by turning off experience and gearing up your characters like it's 2005 all over again. Here's the secret -- no one wants it to be 2005.
Challenge modes, like Cutaia said in the comments, are the closest thing to the type of system you envision. There, players can meet and defeat challenges that will normalize your gear, preventing you from ever outgearing the challenge. Challenge modes will be offering cool cosmetic transmog rewards, titles, and more. The item normalization keeps things fair.
calaf asked:
I'm pretty sure the answer is "NO" but is there a way to remove the authenticator for mobile AH only I like it for game access but its a pain to use when i am logging on with my phone or (gasp) at work.
No, your authenticator is account-wide.
Kadamon asked:
Does anyone know if there's been any thought given to server merges? I'm sitting in Thorium Brotherhood right now and there's only 32 people online in Orgrimmar, one person in TB, no one in UC...
Also, if there is anyone that knows, anything, where can I find this information? Or maybe we could convince Blizz to merge some of the lower pop servers...
Blizzard has explicitly said that it is working on a radical fix to the server population issues that are present on many servers right now. We have no idea what Blizzard is planning, however, so your guess is as good as mine. I think there will be massive server migrations and merges in the future, but we won't see it. It will all happen behind the scenes. We will still log in to our servers, but there will suddenly be a bunch of new people around. It'll be weird, sure, but more people is good people.
The exact quote from Blizzard:
Low-population discussion
Yesterday we discussed low-population and faction-imbalanced realms with our developers. They have some pretty bold and spectacular plans for addressing this in anticipation of implementing some of the features we plan to in Mists. I just don't have a lot of information to share with you at this stage of programming and development.
I realize that this is not what some of you want to hear, that you want something a little more immediate and tangible, but unfortunately there is not much I can say right now to address that. Hopefully you are aware that we are not just ignoring the issue, and that it is a matter that we take quite seriously.
I realize that this is not what some of you want to hear, that you want something a little more immediate and tangible, but unfortunately there is not much I can say right now to address that. Hopefully you are aware that we are not just ignoring the issue, and that it is a matter that we take quite seriously.
@WowExlucis on Twitter asked:
it's early to tell I realize but how effective do you think the new SoR will be at bringing people back? My guild has had a few
Timing is very, very important with the next few World of Warcraft product releases in order to retain the most subscribers and pull in new players. You'll see the success of the Scroll of Resurrection program in the number of old players who will purchase Mists of Pandaria. The setup and timing is thus: You, as a current player, have the incentive to bring old players back because you get rewards. Old players are incentivized to come back because they will receive up to Cataclysm, no matter what version of WoW they had, which puts them in perfect purchasing range for Mists of Pandaria.
It's early to tell, but the initial reaction to the program has been fairly positive. I'm going to be inviting my friend back to the game so that he can check out the stuff he's missed, especially since the game is so casual-friendly these days. Will people stay after a month or so? Who knows? But there is a whole bunch of content for them to check out while they wait for the next expansion.
Now that Blizzard's got these old account holders back, it can offer them the free Diablo III for a year commitment and it's held another player until the expansion drops. For what it's worth, I think you'll see big numbers from the new Scrolls program.
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 7)
zackwbrandon Mar 8th 2012 11:06AM
Over at MMO-Champion, they are reporting on the fact that an internal error tipped Blizzard's hand. Apparently the infrastructure for Beta is internally prepared. Is everyone sticking to their "Beta won't start until May" theory?
In all seriousness though: What are the chances that the Sha will not be linked to the Old Gods; the odds that we will be looking at a novel approach to villainy in this expansion?
Eternauta Mar 8th 2012 11:30AM
I'm actually tired of having all the villains be the creations or minions of the Old Gods/Burning Legion/Scourge.
Let's have some new villains please!
I think MoP will be an excellent oportunity to add new lore to World of Warcraft instead of just finishing what the RTS games started.
Shinae Mar 8th 2012 11:33AM
The odds are rather low that the Sha will not be at all related to the Old Gods, which we've discovered to be intrinsic with Azeroth's existence.
Coco Mar 8th 2012 11:38AM
While the idea of a "new" evil sounds cool, if it doesn't relate to the overall WoW story arc then the whole xpac will feel like a side show. Like that one episode of an action show that introduces some incredible evil that's defeated in 30 mins and never spoken of again.
There's already the Legion and the Old Gods as the primary evil forces, plus a handful of various subsidiaries wreaking havoc. To introduce a third independent evil would just make things more complicated.
Of course there are other, more novel ways to tie a new malevolent force to the overall story plot, Blizzard just has to find them
Pazazu Mar 8th 2012 11:52AM
I don't know what you mean by a "novel approach to villainy", but if you're hoping for something utterly new that isn't derivative of anything, I suspect you'll be disappointed. Imo, evil works best when the audience can mentally cross-reference it with something they already know. You can put a new spin on it, or add unfamiliar aspects to it such as the Aqir with the Old Gods, but to be effective I believe it must hearken to something known.
The Lovecraftian conception of evil is really one of the coolest that there is, anyway. I think WoW players get a little spoiled with it since it comes up so much (or they don't read quest text), but it really taps into something primal: fear of the dark, of the unknown, and of the uncontrollable. H. P. Lovecraft certainly brought an original imagination to this idea, but he hardly invented it. Very similar language appears in Poe before him (e.g. The Masque of the Red Death), and in Hawthorne before that (e.g. Young Goodman Brown). Given that the other main force of evil in WoW is the Burning Legion, a revision of the Abrahamic theological idea of demons, I'll take the Old God stuff every time. It's just more interesting, and so much more EVIL. Where the Burning Legion is dangerous in a military, "they want to conquer you and are super powerful but you can fight them" way, Old Gods are dangerous in an insidious, "they will make you kill your friends and betray those who trust you, just to watch you do it. You might not even be able to fight back" way. This is, of course, a matter of opinion. YMMV.
(cutaia) Mar 8th 2012 11:56AM
"Like that one episode of an action show that introduces some incredible evil that's defeated in 30 mins and never spoken of again."
Better than fighting The Penguin and The Joker over and over and over again, eh?
zackwbrandon Mar 8th 2012 1:56PM
@Pazuzu
Wouldn't it be nice if the Sha were constructs summoned by the Mogu in their effort to retake Pandaria. We know nothing about the lore here, but the Mogu appear to be fallen Titan constructs. Why not allow the Sha to be some sort of construct/curse they created to drive others off of the continent in order to 'keep the peace.' I already fully anticipate 'the Mantids are servants of the Old Gods, oh noes' to be the story of their section of the continent, and it seems that the Zandalari have been swayed that way as well (what else could give Jin-Do the power to enslave Hakkar?).
In Burning Crusade the chief villain was Illidan, who was supplanted by Kael and his mad alliance with Kil'Jaeden. The Old Gods were mentioned in the Arcatraz - and it was implied there that even the Legion is their creation (or at best pretenders to their throne... you know... of evil). In Lich King, a Demon made construct (the disembodied Ner'Zhul) claimed his independence by becoming the erstwhile God of Death, and Ulduar made it seem that he might also have been pondering a crazy alliance with the Old Gods - or at least Yogg Saron. Then in Cataclysm we know that the primary foe has been N'Zoth manipulating Deathwing - who in turn was commanding Cho'Gall, Nefarian, Sinestra, Ragnaros, and Al'Akir - and Ashzara - who now possesses Neptulon and possibly control over the domain of water.
What I am getting at here is that the Old Gods are implied everywhere - in the Twisting Nether (BC), in Northrend (WotLK), and the Twilights Hammer (Cata) - yet put in only token appearances. I guess what I am after is a storyline that might not be influenced so directly by them. I accept that they will always be a presence and be an ultimate big bad down the road, but Pandaria seems to be giving them plenty of space to do dire things. Couldn't we get something not Old God related with the Sha?
I would also accept a story in which they ACTUALLY DO THINGS aside from whispering. It might be nice to learn more of their secrets rather than killing the things that do and have gone mad before we can learn anything at all. WoW's halflife is probably coming (if it has not already passed), and while seven years has been great it might be nice to get some answers now instead of more riddles. Otherwise I hope they take a back seat for a while and let us get some new experiences under our belt for the next round.
Matthew Mar 8th 2012 2:34PM
I think a better question is this: Can the Villain PLEASE be someone who was not once good and is now corrupted.
How about someone who is just plain evil and always was?
zackwbrandon Mar 8th 2012 2:36PM
I agree with Matthew about that too. However, we already know the Mogu are fallen Titan constructs...
Noyou Mar 8th 2012 3:09PM
"Is everyone sticking to their "Beta won't start until May" theory?"
Nope. I had Beta pegged for April 3rd. ;)
jfofla Mar 8th 2012 3:14PM
Beta starts next week with MOP released in early June.
TAKE IT TO THE BANK!
murmaiderxx Mar 8th 2012 3:51PM
Tinfoil theory: The Sha are the force in the universe, good and bad. So while recognized as an evil force by the Naaru, and the Sha refer to the Naaru as evil, maybe the conflict comes from this...?
Galdwynn Mar 8th 2012 4:03PM
I like the idea of a new villainous faction with a different agenda than the Burning Legion. I know we won't be seeing a big bad this expansion, but Deathwing, Lich King, Arthas, Illidan have been around lore-wise for years and years. At least have the Burning Legion create a new monstrosity. Their tactics are getting a bit old.
Perhaps we glean some inspiration from the brand spanking new race, Pandarians. What would be the worst threat to Pandas? Bamboo devouring nanites. /shrug Worked for Stargate SG-1.
Elmo Mar 8th 2012 4:04PM
I'm with Coco here, The main boss of the expansion should be henchman and the story expanded upon in X5
zackwbrandon Mar 8th 2012 4:56PM
@Galdwynn
According to Blizzcon there will be multiple big bads in this game. Apparently we can expect multiple story archs with multiple ultimate ends ala Vanilla: C'Thun in Silithus, Ragnaros in southern EK, Naxx in EP, etc... What they meant was there will be no big bad on the box art, instead the big bads will emerge from the stories (the Mogu, the Sha, the Mantid, the Zandalari).
@Elmo
I wish I could agree, but the last expansion was exactly that and it has been somewhat anticlimactic. Deathwing's defeat seems like less than a setback given that the Twilight Hammer, Zandalari, Ashzara, and N'Zoth still lurk out there somewhere. In fact, by one argument, Cataclysm was nothing but a middling expansion because no story was wrapped up: only temporarily stalled.
Skarn Mar 8th 2012 6:28PM
@matthew
Warcraft villains that were always evil?
Gul'dan. BAM.
That's all I've got and he's already dead anyway. At least there was one!
Thal Mar 8th 2012 11:09AM
I'm also feeling the low-population-disease on my server. Well, on Hordeside atleast. Only 5% of our realm is Horde. (and half of those are Hungarian, yay.) Anyway, I was wondering if anyone knew a 'good' server, Horde side?
With 'good' I mean active, lots of pugs, even some RP now and then, server-wide events, great guilds, ... I know I'm describing utopia (for me atleast) but if it has more activity than I'm experiencing on my server, I'm more than happy!
Jonagoo Mar 8th 2012 1:44PM
Shadow Council has quite quick pug time, the guilds are nice, a bit of RP, and population-wise it's about 50/50 with about medium world population. As a hordie, I'm quite content.
Shinae Mar 8th 2012 11:35AM
Hungarians? Does that mean that you are an EU player? If so, I hear that Argent Dawn-EU is an active RP realm.
Thal Mar 8th 2012 11:48AM
Yeah, sorry, forgot to mention. I'm an EU-player.