The Queue: RIP Moebius
by Michael Sacco 
Mar 11th 2012 at 3:00PM
Moebius, the legendary French artist behind some of the coolest fantasy and sci-fi designs in film and print, died yesterday at 73. Do yourself a favor and check out some of his work.
robsmith77 asked:
If you were to travel east from Eastern Kingdoms, would you eventually hit Kalimdor is there another landmass out there that's not in the game but for which there is some lore?
Unless we're dealing with another "titan cloaking device," then no, there's nothing between the two continents. Nothing larger than an island, anyway. Bear in mind that Blizzard can do pretty much whatever the hell it wants, though.
Velutina asked:
Does the change to daylight savings time effect the world in WoW in any way? (E.g., will the change from night sky to daylight animations be adjusted so they happen at the same time, or will they be off by an hour until October?) Do daily quest locks, raid locks, etc also shift an hour? I guess, basically this is asking if the server clocks adjust to daylight savings time.
Yes, all US servers observe daylight saving time, and as such, they sprang ahead last night while we slept.
uncletouchy asked:
Where do theorycrafters find out spell coefficients, how stats are effected by diminishing returns etc.? I understand the math behind it, but I don't know how to find out the base crit, spell power coefficient etc. for a given spell. Does Blizzard release this information somewhere?
Well, you used to be able to calculate a spell's spellpower coefficient simply by looking at its cast time or duration. The longer the cast time, the higher the coefficient. I'm not sure this is the case any longer as of Cataclysm, though. Theorycrafters in the room are free to chime in on this one.
Morimoto asked:
Any word on a new Dungeon Companion book from Brady Games?
None yet. Blizzard has been making decisions about a lot of its licensed goods, as evidenced by the disappearance of SwagDog, WoW action figures, etc., so it could be that there just won't be another Dungeon Companion. Honestly, I'm not sure that a physical companion guide for a game that's constantly changing its content is a great idea anyway.
DarkSpade asked:
Think blizzard will use the Darkmoon faire's zoo to do some sneaky previews of MoP mobs?
I think the MoP beta will be all the zoo the million-plus people who signed up for the annual pass need.
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 4)
Pyromelter Mar 11th 2012 3:02PM
Dalaran Brilliance: 5 Reasons to Roll a Mage Now
Virtually every week, Arcane Brilliance shows up to your doorstep, like a boomerang from the previous week. Occasionally (meaning about once a month), the great Archmage Pants Christian Belt, the regular writer of Arcane Brilliance, gets a real life crit and is unable to write the column. Pyromelter, a die-hard mage, has taken it upon himself to fill in this gap, assuming the editors don't mind a little ninja-blogging attached to another blog post. Because seriously, any week that goes by without extolling the virtues of a Pyroblast! to the face of a warlock, is just a week of unfulfilled promise. And we leave the unfulfilled promise to Blood Pact (I bet most of you didn't even know that's what the Warlock column is called). Since Pyro feels that no one can really maintain the mantle of "Arcane Brilliance," his replacement post will have a slightly different name. Let's hope the editors don't mind a bit of artistic commenting.
Greetings fellow mages, and soon to be mages. For my first attempt at a blog column, I'm going to keep it simple, a fun little list. This won't be your usual list though, because we are going to focus on 5 reasons why mages are awesome in ways beyond being amazing dps'ers with the most reliable cc in the game, while looking the most sexy in cloth.
5 - Amazing soloing capabilities
Ever want to solo-chain run a few non cataclysm heroics for fun, profit, and cool transmog gear? Ever want to pretend like you're a blood death knight, pull 30 mobs, and sit there and AoE them down? Then you've come to the right place. Lost in all the hype and chatter about raid finders and pandas, is good old frost mage grinding. Unfortunately, you won't be able to solo old raid bosses like a blood DK, but then again they are kind of like warlocks in plate, which makes them filthy stinky cheaters. Actually I have a death knight that I enjoy messing with, but the whole cloth and no defensive stats thing makes tanking any raid from BC on either challenging or impossible. Still, mages are absolutely beastly for AoE'ing down massive groups of trash mobs. Fire mages might be quicker, but for more dangerous mobs or higher packs, you're going to want to go frost, put up your shields, and even let your blue buddy do a little tanking from time to time, and you can grind through instances with blazing speed (or just farm for frostweave). The only thing that will slow you down is right-clicking to loot, over and over.
4 - Awesome Tier Options
Ever want to dress up like Kel-Thuzad? Or a resident of Dalaran? Or look like Ragnaros? Or clothe yourself like a vampire? Or pretend like you're a big starship, castle, thingy? Maybe you're one of these newfangled steampunk types? It's a known fact that mages have the more awesome tier sets than any other class. We even have a tier with pants. Pants!
3 - Pyroblast!
I can't speak for everyone else on the planet, only for me, but one of the great things about this great game are the procs (that's "programmed random occurrances," in case anyone ever wondered that). Is there anything more fun than firing off a massive fiery boulder of flaming death right to face of your enemy? Why yes, there is - firing off a massive fiery boluder of flaming death that is instant and free of mana. Just in case that warlock didn't realize it was just a normal flaming boulder to the face, Blizzard was kind enough to add an exclamation mark to ensure that it is super effective!
2 - Blizzard loves us
One of the best reasons to be a mage is that no matter what, Blizzard makes sure that mages have at least one spec that is at or near the top of PvE dps, and at least one that is at or near the top of PvP effectiveness. Someone (or multiple someones) on the development team must be really love their mage, because it's been a very long time since mages have been in a bad place in either pvp or pve. Myself, as a Wrath baby, I have no recollection of mages ever being weak - except that one time Paragon got the world first on heroic Lich King, and what did Blizz do? Significant buff to mages. Yes, someone at Blizzard likes us - so come on over, Ret Pallies, if you're tired of being nerfed, the archmages of Dalaran are always accepting new applicants.
1 - Polymorph: Everything
Here's a little secret about us mages I'm about to let everyone else in on: We love animals. Love them. Love them so much, that we love making our enemies into cute, fluffy, furry, sometimes a little slimy, animals. No other class can customize any one spell in the way that mages can with Polymorph. Sheep, penguin, pig, turtle, black cat (forcing it to pussyfoot), 5 different ways to turn all of your enemies from growling drooling maniacs into a little pet that Haris Pilton would pick up for her own personal Gigantique bag.
So mages, what other reasons would you give to a friend to roll a mage right now?
Orrine Mar 11th 2012 3:19PM
That's actually great reading. And you're wrong at one thing: it seems that Archmage gets his real life crit twice a month. If only I was so lucky...
DonSerrot Mar 11th 2012 3:22PM
Judging from the thick dark smoky color on your post your idea burned up on you, probably too much Pyroblast.
Arrohon Mar 11th 2012 3:34PM
Haters gonna hate.
Arrohon Mar 11th 2012 3:41PM
I'm gonna guess that the haters are mostly hating on number two. In my opinion, posts like these are what really shows off the WoW community. It's nice to be reminded that not everyone is Racist Tank, or Pull-the-Whole-Dungeon-and-Feign-Death Hunter.
Noyou Mar 11th 2012 4:14PM
Nice write up Pyro. My only critique would be not to make it the first post ;) Other than that it was fun and had I not have a max level mage yet, I would want to roll one. Of course I made a mage bank toon and am leveling her to 85 just because it's THAT fun.
Totally agree with #2, I also am a wrath baby, so I only know mages as you do.
6. Porting? If you want to make a toon for profit, might as well get there fast ;)
RogueJedi86 Mar 11th 2012 4:43PM
If I took anything from that, I learned what PROC means. Thanks Pyro!
Andre Mar 11th 2012 5:30PM
I've only ever played an Arcane Mage and I'm leveling a new Mage right now thanks to your post. Do you think Fire is worth trying out?
Pyromelter Mar 11th 2012 7:11PM
Andre, you can really level as any spec for mages these days. Frost is still going to be the safest in any situation where there is a large density of enemies. What a lot of mages do is have a frost spec for times like that (and for pvp in battlegrounds), and then they'll have a fire spec or an arcane spec for 5-man dungeons or less dense open-world areas.
As far as whether I recommend you try out fire for leveling, I definitely think you should try that, especially if you're like me and enjoy sending huge hurtling flames at your enemies. Make sure you keep frostbolt on your action bars until level 56, at which point switch to frostfire bolt (for the 40% snare, you can use it to open on a mob to slow them).
Steffan Mar 11th 2012 7:11PM
"procs (that's "programmed random occurrances," in case anyone ever wondered that"
Holy crap. I always thought "proc" was just a word made up for the concept. But it actually is shorthand for something? Damn. Learn something new every day, I guess.
Skarn Mar 11th 2012 7:22PM
@Andre
I'm told Fire is crazy fun to play with. So yes. Try out fire. It has the Pyroblast! that Pyro is so keen on. (For good reason!)
Cephas Mar 11th 2012 7:54PM
I don't think anyone is 100% sure about the exact origins, but to me the most convincing argument is that "Proc" is short for "procedure" via the MUD term "spec_proc" meaning "special procedure". The explanation Pyro gave is probably a backronym.
http://www.nerfbat.com/2006/04/15/what-is-a-proc/
cursedmonk87 Mar 11th 2012 8:13PM
I love mages. I had a mage as my first alt (my main being a Paladin) and made my first ventures into PvP with him. Those were good times. But he never made it to level 30. I sadly couldn't bring him with me when I transferred my main to the server I currently play on. I lost track of space and don't have room for a Mage right now.
Alas, but a time is coming when anthropomorphic Panda bears will represent us in this virtual world. The All-Knowing-Crab of Irvine will (supposedly) lift the ban on a company of 10, and my wizardly old friend will be reborn; this time fatter and fluffier.
Bogoradwee Mar 11th 2012 8:46PM
Thanks for that write-up! Despite having played a mage as my main since ToC, I really enjoyed reading it, and I even learned something! Granted, it's not archmage pants-- not quite. Also, you left out polymorph: rabbit! Again, thank you so much for this great arcane-filled comment, as I have been lacking in my magical literature lately.
Noyou Mar 11th 2012 9:10PM
I always thought Proc was short for procure.
Prelimar Mar 11th 2012 9:31PM
i'm a mage, and i approve this post.
Mondi Mar 12th 2012 12:33AM
While Mr. Belt will always be the first that comes to mind when I think of a mage columnist, Pyro does make for a very solid understudy.
P.S. My polymorph of choice is rabbit.
Pyromelter Mar 12th 2012 4:26AM
Son of a... I did miss Polymorph: Rabbit. Well if this was a real blog post I could go back and edit it. My personal favorite is turtle, or I'll go black cat if someone else is using turtle. Neat thing about Polymorph is if you need multiple cc's, and you have multiple mages, each mage can have their own critter, keeps your CC a bit more organized.
________________
I'd like to thank the editorial staff at wowinsider for allowing my comment to stay up. This honestly wasn't some kind of protest or griping for Arcane Brilliance not being here this Saturday. It's just that I love maging and everything about it, and I love taking about mages, and I kind of miss it when there's no Saturday mage post. I don't have any interest in actually blogging, mostly because I prefer to comment anonymously - the whole real first and last name thing is something I hide as much as I can.
Also, writing that post was a bit tougher than I thought it was going to be. I've got a new respect for the class writers here on wowinsider. Hope most of you like it, and lets hope we can talk about mages on the real mage column next week.
John Robinson Mar 12th 2012 10:20AM
Pyromelter, you say this isn't a gripe for a lack of Arcane Brilliance, so let me make that gripe for you. Although, based on the last... I dunno, all months of Arcane Brilliance, maybe there not being one is a bonus. Let's look at the content of your post.
Someone who still plays the game: Check.
Someone interested in the mage class: Check.
Original content that isn't just a rehash of some patch notes: Check.
I'm not sure I understand what's going on here. This says it's a mage blog entry, but if recent AB posts have taught me anything it's that those 3 things cannot possibly exist in an Arcane Brilliance post.
Throck Mar 12th 2012 10:24AM
Cephas, I suspect a few people who are familiar enough with Diku and EQ's derivation are 100% sure that what you mentioned is the exact origin. Also, there's no reason for the clunkily acronymed phrase to exist, except for entertainment value, which is probably the reason for most backronyms.