The Queue: Alpha Prime

I’m really sad that they killed Alpha Prime (Ralaar Fangfire) off in the Curse of the Worgen comic, because I think he’d make a great Alliance-centric end of tier raid boss. One of the things we got in original World of Warcraft that we haven’t seen as much in expansions was that the raids often had nothing at all to do with each other – each was a menace to Azeroth that needed to be stopped, but they weren’t necessarily related at all (although Molten Core did lead into Blackwing Lair).

So I’d love to see Alpha Prime come back and start up the Wolf Cult again. Maybe we could get playable Night Elf Worgen – that would be a pretty sweet customization option for worgen players. And with some worgen bosses, we could get cool new worgen forms, like enormous Epicyon–inspired forms that ran around on all fours and crunched bones with one huge bite and an updated level 100+ Son of Arugal.

Okay, let’s look at some questions.

Here’s the thing, I’m pretty sure I’m the biggest offender in the ‘Ask for Questions on Twitter’ category. And as such, let me just say that I do my best to go through the Queue for questions, but sometimes there are hundreds of comments, and many of them are pictures, discussions of non-Blizzard games topics, jokes, non sequitur statements and all the other stuff that makes the Queue a lively place to be. I want to use your questions, but I do feel like having the ability to ask on twitter helps me do that.

Also keep in mind, each of us who writes the Queue is a unique individual. I, for instance, talk about prehistoric animals way, way too much.

But I hear what you’re saying. And I can relate to your frustration, which is why I do try and look through the whole comments. I don’t go back more than a day, though – there can be hundreds of comments on a Queue, and it feels like a rabbit hole that I’ll never climb out of. But I will say this – feel free to ask me a question on twitter (@matthewwrossi) at any time, day or night. If you want it to be considered for the Queue, it’s best to put it as close to my Queue days as possible, and tell me it’s for the Queue, but it doesn’t have to be just when I ask for it – I’ll always read your question and if I think I can give it a good answer, I’ll do my best to include it.

I’m going to do exactly as you suggested and not belabor you with condolences. Instead, here are my suggestions.

Old content. It’s very accessible now – you can pretty reliably farm all the way through Cataclysm and even a couple of Mists of Pandaria bosses, depending on your class. You can blow stuff up, make some gold, gets some transmog gear. I find it very diverting.

Brawler’s Guild. I don’t do this myself, but it’s designed to be single player content. Just you against the fights, figuring out how to beat them.

Leveling an alt. I often lose myself in levels 1-30 as a warrior, playing around on my own, just doing whatever. It’s fun for me and I get to see starting zones I’d otherwise be unfamiliar with. You probably aren’t the kind of player who just plays the same class over and over again, but that might make it more diverting for you.

Rare hunting. There are a lot of rares in Warlords, some drop neat items. Wowhead has a solid guide to them.

I hope these suggestions are in any way, no matter how small, useful to you.

The reason people got mad about Theramore (frankly, coming from the Horde, aka the ultimate crybaby faction – and I know this from playing Horde throughout all of Cataclysm – calling the reaction to Theramore ‘crying’ is hilarious) is because, from a story perspective, the following happened.

We get back from beating the Lich King. Horde immediately goes on a conquest bender, conquering Azshara, setting Astranaar on fire and rolling tanks deep into Ashenvale, sending offers of alliance to hostile trolls in Darkshore, attacking Gilneas, using the plague on Southshore, rolling deep into Arathi, and the Alliance response in game is tepid at best. That’s the whole of Cataclysm – a series of Horde military victories and the Alliance doing nothing to respond to them. At one point my tauren paladin landed at the former Silverwind Refuge only to find myself standing on the corpses of the night elves that once stood there.

Meanwhile, the Alliance took out Camp Taurajo. Wow. Well, clearly, after such a stunning military upset, the Horde needed a win – I mean, they’d only done everything I just listed (and I left out Gilneas), so obviously if they didn’t come roaring back with a victory they’d look soft. And the fact is, The Horde couldn’t beat the Alliance at Theramore without the mana bomb. Garrosh knew this – he was, in fact, counting on it. The more pressure he put on Theramore, the more the Alliance would fight to defend it, and that’s what he wanted – to decapitate the leadership of the Alliance in one stroke, kill all their generals and military leaders. I mean, Shandris Feathermoon was there. Just her death alone would have set the night elves back on their heels, costs the night elves their greatest war leader.

Taking out Theramore was always going to tick off Alliance players, and it was always going to upset Alliance leaders. That was the reason, in both a metagame and in game perspective, for the destruction of the island in the first place. Blizzard wouldn’t have done it if it wasn’t going to get players invested, and the Horde wouldn’t have bothered trying to do it with conventional forces in the first place – they knew they couldn’t.

To keep you from swimming places they don’t want you to go? That’s my guess, anyway.

Deathwing would likely have attacked while we were in the middle of destroying all life on Azeroth, based on the timing of the Ruby Sanctum raid, since Arthas and his army of murderers (us) would have softened everyone up nicely for the end. After all, under Arthas, the world would be an unchanging hell of ageless, undying murder corpses, and Deathwing wanted to destroy it, not leave it a zombie planet.

And if Deathwing destroyed Azeroth, the Old Gods would likely be free, and they’d probably start going around connecting up with the rest of their kind. As Harbinger Skyriss always said, “It is a small matter to control the mind of the weak… for I bear allegiance to powers untouched by time, unmoved by fate. No force on this world or beyond harbors the strength to bend our knee… not even the mighty Legion!”

Yes, that would mean the Old Gods taking on the Legion. With Sargeras trapped in the Nether, my money’s on the Old Gods.

That’s the Queue for today. I’m back tomorrow. I probably won’t talk about Epicyon again. I’m rapidly turning into the Dread Pirate Roberts of talking about Epicyon.