The Queue: I went Alliance again. Shhh.
by Mathew McCurley 
Mar 18th 2012 at 2:00PM
Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mathew McCurley (@gomatgo) will be your host today.
"King Varian, totally-not-an-orc -- your new best friend, Corporal ... uh ... Brag ...Brund ... Burr ...?
...
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... Corporal Human reporting for duty!"
Revynn asked:
I'm just hoping that the removal of Spell Resistances doesn't affect tank trinkets too heavily. Items like mirror of Broken images are still really, really good, regardless of what Blizzard thinks of Spell resist as a whole. Maybe turn them into "Reduce magic damage taken by 30%" trinkets".
I agree with you, but in the new paradigm, a trinket like the Mirror of Broken Images would never have existed, much less be any kind of useful. Basically, that item was a mistake. Any trinket that is almost necessary for certain encounters (heroic Nefarian?) and then continues to be ridiculously powerful into the next tiers is an oversight.
If you've noticed, Blizzard has been very good about those types of items in Cataclysm. While the Mirror did stay relevant, not much else did besides some Sinestra loot. That's a relief, if you ask me -- one more design issue to not deal with again and balance around is OK in my book.
cloudhopper013 asked:
When the NDA lifts, will you guys instantaneously post everything you know, or at least a bunch of it, in the form of neat little prepared articles on the website? Like a breaking dam of information? Or, rather, will you simply go about posting them at more regular intervals or over a span of time? I want to know if staying up late despite having small tests and whatnot is worth it.
We know that you guys want this information, and there is a lot of it. Seriously. A lot. You'll be taking your time getting through it all and parsing your own personal excitements, so we're giving up the goods the moment we can. You'll have access to the full range of announcements, the live show will discuss your questions and speculation in real time, and we'll spend the day getting very excited about Mists of Pandaria.
Spend Mists Monday with your WoW Insider family. We love you like a cousin. Well, maybe a second cousin. See what I did there? Branding. #mistsmonday
Noyou asked:
Is there any lore reason Southshore was taken over by the forsaken, or was it just balancing out territories type of deal? I miss the FP over there. That area is still the best for mining/herbing/skinning at the appropriate levels.
Southshore wasn't so much taken over by the Forsaken but more "obliterated with plague from far away." You're in the wreckage of Southshore, not an occupied settlement. They bombed it into oblivion and didn't look back.
Nightwill asked:
Why not have 'hardmode' pvp matches? More difficult goals and the like you can sign up for?
I don't think PvP's popularity and the general WoW community would react well to hardcore matches. What would be different about a hardcore match, exactly? Permanent character alteration of some kind? I don't think many people go for things like that. Take a look at Blizzard's reactions to two different types of Ironman challenges.
Diablo III is shipping with a fully featured, super-hard setting that permanently deletes your character if you die. That's a setting that is part of the Diablo culture. The game is supposed to be a grueling slog if you want it to be, and by God, Blizzard will let you do it.
In contrast, WoW is more about making your own choices rather than have them made for you. Getting killed and permanently deleted is a choice that's made for you by the other team. WoW is a different atmosphere, and there are different expectations from the communities. While I think Blizzard can do more to make ranked PvP more accessible, I don't think that should be making PvP more grueling for WoW players that are already fairly uninterested in it.
However (and I know I'm rambling at this point), I would love the idea of objectives during PvP matches, much like League of Legend's companion game mode Dominion. During Dominion matches, the game will tell you to secure a certain node or point for extra bonuses and score. Seems like it would be pretty cool on Arathi Basin, hm? That kind of "hardcore" harder challenge-type thing, I would very much enjoy in WoW PvP.
Abbadon asked:
Is it Monday yet?!
So, so soon. So soon. Will you be joining us for the live Q&A, discussion, and fun on the WoW Insider Show live? You should.
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)
Pugs 'R Us Mar 18th 2012 2:11PM
Monday is my favourite time of year :)
Noyou Mar 18th 2012 2:10PM
Ty Mat for the answer. I guess what I was looking for was a yes/no more for a retaking. If there was a lore reason for the way things are now, then they probably wouldn't "undo" it. But if not, maybe the alliance can take it back. And OMG, I probably won't sleep tonight if you guys are releasing ALL that info at once. I better nap :p
Mathew McCurley Mar 18th 2012 2:17PM
The gameplay begat the lore. Southshore was taken because it was in the way of the new Forsaken leveling experience.
Vaniya Mar 20th 2012 8:34PM
I believe that nobody will be living in Southshore for a long time. In one of the quests I did on my baby forsaken, when you bring back the readings for the plague amount, the quest giver is surprised you are still in a solid form. So unless we get the Druids to clean it, it will take years, maybe decades for it to clear up.
Philster043 Mar 18th 2012 2:28PM
Well, if you look around there, there's still a LOT of blight. Even the Forsaken are staying clear, because of all the nasty things that's emerged (slimes, etc.) but they are trying to clean up things over there right now (the whole point of questing around there right now for the Horde).
However, the Alliance IS taking action. Orkus' questline led to discovery of a meeting of Alliance leaders deciding on what to do. They were more focused on trying to take over Tarren Hill - and they certainly had the means to do it, with Stormpike troops all over the four nazes (whatever these are) of Hillsbrad. Where did the word "naze" come from anyway?
ravyncat Mar 18th 2012 3:43PM
But it is only taking action if you are Horde.
The thing that makes me so annoyed about Southshore is that for an Alliance player there is no recognition by any NPCs at all that the city was bombed into slime. It is like the Alliance doesn't care at all.
Killik Mar 18th 2012 6:19PM
But what kind of acknowledgement is appropriate?
You can easily foresee the consequences of putting a permanent memorial in one faction's capital saying "Your enemy destroyed this zone. RIP". Essentially it's saying "Hey level 85 d-bags, why not pop over and grief level 20 players of the other faction? And you can justify it as roleplaying!" Note that this would be the case with either Alliance or Horde.
It's a weird and rather unsatisfying storytelling decision, but makes sense in gameplay terms of wanting to keep high-level Alliance players out of a levelling zone for the Horde.
Noyou Mar 18th 2012 8:55PM
@Killik
Whether intentional or not, you brought up a great point. Now with phasing, they should make certain zones phase out higher level characters so the level appropriate ones can PvP. Halaa and HP come to mind. Really annoying when you are 60-61 trying to take a tower and some 80-85 comes and one shots you. Perhaps if they ever bring back Southshore they can phase in something for level 20somethings to PvP without the fear of being snuffed out so easily. Maybe somewhere in Arathi in the east, since that area needs some love.
Surgeon Mar 19th 2012 12:34AM
It's a disappointment that Alexstrasza didn't just rush over there and breathe fire all over the place like she did at The Wrathgate.
James Mar 18th 2012 2:12PM
That's MR! Corporal Hugh Man to you, private!
Hob Mar 18th 2012 2:44PM
Hugh Mann? Now that's a name I can trust.
robsmith77 Mar 18th 2012 3:50PM
@Hob It's more trustworthy than Mr E Mann :P
Al Mar 18th 2012 5:31PM
"Um, Lord Varian, there's something about that recruit.."
"There certainly is, Jes-Tereth, he's gunning for your job. And just may get it, at this rate."
"......Uggh"
Mathew McCurley Mar 18th 2012 6:15PM
I sort of envision Corporal Human as the best at his job unwittingly, while mostly forgetting he's undercover because he's so good at it.
StClair Mar 19th 2012 12:22PM
(Beat me to the joke. :p)
Thal Mar 18th 2012 2:13PM
AAAARHGHOGOMOMGOMG *geekgasm* *faints*
Thiron Mar 18th 2012 2:17PM
Faction bias! wait, which faction...
viciouspen Mar 18th 2012 2:18PM
Corporal human.....
*eyebrow twitch*
Well this is what you get with Garrosh in charge!
Sbao Mar 18th 2012 10:10PM
Aaaagghmagad is it a Zoidberg reference? :D :D Zapp: "what's your name, soldier?" Zoidberg (dressed as a human soldier): "Hu-MAN" Zapp: "Now that's a name I can trust!"
Davio Mar 20th 2012 4:41PM
Wasn't it Lee-la... Man. Lee Lemon!
ALthough there may be a Zoidberg one, haven't seen the latest series yet