The Queue: Plate Armor

Plate armor as we think of it really only existed for 300 or so years, from the early 1400’s to the end of the 1600’s. There were earlier experiments in armor like the lorica segmentata and some ancient Greek cuirass that were sculpted to look like idealized male chests, but for the most part the idea of head to toe metal armor was too impractical, too hot in many places (the fertile crescent area where Sumeria and Assyria lay, for example, or ancient Egypt) or too metal scarce (a full set of bronze armor like that would have been fairly expensive) to really produce. It wasn’t until very late in the Medieval period that suits of chain mail began to be superseded by suits where mail backing was worn with some plate over it, and just the cost of that was fairly onerous – you only see full plate armor rising when the medieval system of feudalism had produced rich enough landowners to bear the cost of so extravagant a set of armor. This is why some of the best preserved examples of plate armor we have today were the suits worn by kings and emperors, such as the header image, which was a suit belonging to King Henry VIII of England.

I realize that WoW is a fantasy game, and not a ‘real historically accurate simulation’ game, but I still find it interesting to compare the real thing to our fantasy version of it.

Anyway, questions and answers.

Yes.

Look, let’s be honest. Everyone thinks the way they play the game is the right way, and as a result, since most people play a bunch of classes on their alts and enjoy that, everyone thinks I’m wrong or crazy to play warriors. But warriors are the only ones who match what I like aesthetically and in gameplay. There’s a reason most of my Diablo III characters are barbarians, that all of my Dragon Age characters are warriors, that I played Kingdoms of Amalur focusing primarily on might abilities, that all of my D&D characters have been either fighters or melee focused rangers. I like what I like.

Monks aren’t what I like. The class isn’t bad, it’s just not what I enjoy. I mean, it’s funny to hit things in the face with a keg, but it’s not that funny. But I know there are monk players out there who love their class, and I would never want them to feel like they’re wrong to do so – it just isn’t fun for me.

Well, I don’t know why they do this, but I know I’ve commented on them doing it a lot. And I’d have to admit I think at least a part of it is how passionate they are at Blizzard – when they try to solve a problem, they really try and solve it. Sometimes that works out great – dual specialization, the talent revamp, things of that nature. But I also think there’s an element of player communication at fault here. One example is the way they’ve retreated from daily quests this expansion.

I think the players who hated the way daily quests were implemented in Mists of Pandaria really hated them vociferously, so much so that they obscured the players who didn’t mind them so much but who just felt like they were overused. When dealing with a fanbase as large and as deafeningly outspoken as World of Warcraft‘s can be, it can be hard to filter out the noise – and in the case of daily quests, for example, I think the overcorrection was because of that.

Basically, there’s no one reason for it – it happens due to many factors.

Guys, I can’t reprint my ‘Cult of the Mechanical’ idea here. But trust me, I’m on board with the idea of gnomes getting some story focus.

I mean, imagine if the gnomes get really serious about dimensional travel. These are potentially the smartest people on Azeroth. (At least the smartest ones not drinking bits of Old God – yes, I’m looking at you, Kaja-swilling goblins) And they’ve demonstrated a certain lack of restraint when it comes to applies thaumaturgechnology. (Yes, I made that word up.) So just imagine if some gnome or another creates nothing so simple as a mere portal, but rather, a portal network linking Azeroth to all possible worlds, all possible times. A nexus, if you will.

I think Archimonde is a pretty big deal. He’s one of two big bosses of the Legion in the absence of Sargeras, after all, and he’s taken over with Kil’jaeden’s more subtle plan has failed. If you mean ‘why isn’t he Gul’dan or Grom’ well, I wouldn’t expect Grom to go fel willingly, and as for Gul’dan – I’ll just say I expect to see Gul’dan for at least one more expansion. Y’see, I think they’ve learned their lesson on killing dudes too soon. Keeping Gul’dan around means he can do more horribly evil stuff. I’m not promising you more Gul’dan, but I wouldn’t be surprised, either.

Anything hunter. Or monk. Or paladin. Or…

Okay, let’s just admit up front I mostly just like warriors and occasionally shaman and be done with it.

Short answer – Grom singlehandedly killed a pit lord in two different timelines. Yes, he’s a threat, he’s always a threat.

Longer answer – The Iron Horde seems to become the Fel Iron Horde in 6.2, so all that stuff you’re saying about Gul’dan we see in 6.2, the whole ‘demons working for him’ thing. Will Grom be a threat or an ally? Hard to say. He’s at least honorable, and he doesn’t want his people to end up ruined and destroyed. He was mostly misled by Garrosh, who wanted revenge on Azeroth for daring to defy him.

Angels were created by the Crystal Arch, which is the last remnant of the Diamond Warrior Anu that battled Tathemet before Heaven, Hell and Pandemonium were created. They fight demons and Hell because they’re antithetical to the angelic nature – it’s not their purpose to fight evil, it’s their purpose to be beings of light and harmony embodying positive aspects of existence. If Hell was defeated, they’d go on being that, but without evil to provide a counterpoint.

Now, one can make the old argument that without shadow, one can’t distinguish light – hundreds of philosophies have made similar arguments from Kabbala to Platonism. Whether or not that’s true, the fact remains that the angels don’t fight evil or demons because they’re somehow forced to – they fight them because their natures are so antagonistic. (Also, because the demons find the angels just as antagonistic.)

We’ve even seen angels and demons stop fighting on at least two occasions – Inarius and Lilith led a mixed group of angels and demons to create Sanctuary and those angels and demons even interbred, creating humanity, and after that group stole the Worldstone (or the Eye of Anu, if you prefer) from Pandemonium Fortress, the angels and demons lost a great deal of their reason for fighting for a while.

Angels and demons are strange and complicated in Diablo.

Enhancement shaman says hello.

Honestly, I don’t know if I’d say WoW is ‘missing’ any classes. There are quite a few classes now. Some of their specs almost count as sub-classes by this point. I’d personally love to see a pure DPS plate wearing, two handed weapon using class. But can I really argue that WoW needs such a class? I cannot.

Okay, that’s the Queue for today. And I didn’t mention Epicyon at all.