The Queue: How many Pepes does it take…

Okay. I know what you’re thinking. You’re staring at that header image and wondering how this came to be. And possibly why this came to be.

For the how, the answer is Rades and for the why… well, come on, do we really need a reason? But if you want to see the story behind the above Pepe, well, read on.

Our own Matticus, who isn’t exactly a fan of WoW‘s eponymous feathered companion, seemed a bit put out that we neglected to answer his Queue question which puts Pepe in the role of a raid boss. So let’s consider this question with the utmost seriousness it deserves.

Presumably a Pepe-sized Archimonde would have a notably reduced health pool. Could you one-shot him? Could you simply run and step on him to crush him under your epic boots? The idea of a whole arena full of tiny Archimondes is… actually kind of adorable. I mean, sure, all of the Archimondes still have to die, but look at how cute they are! But Archimonde has a fearsome set of abilities, and if his smaller self had even a fraction of that magic it would be a real problem. Not to mention the trouble with Archimonde swarms. With a thousand Archimondes, would you even be able to see your screen? Your fellow raiders? Chaos would certainly ensue, much to the joy of the Burning Legion.

A giant Pepe, on the other hand, seems likely to be nearly as adorable as a thousand tiny Archimondes. And while we don’t know for certain just what skillset Pepe has, if he plays his usual role of sitting on players’ heads, a giant Pepe could be a real health hazard. Being squished under a massive pile of feathers — no matter how adorable that pile of feathers may be — doesn’t seem like a great way to go.

All things considered, my vote is for 1,000 Pepe-sized Archimondes. Despite the potential danger a thousand Archimondes could cause, I think running around playing Archimonde whack-a-mole would be incredibly entertaining — and isn’t that worth a little risk?

We got a bunch of questions today about Overwatch‘s lack of a Mac version, but this was the first one I saw, so I’m going to try to answer everyone’s Mac Overwatch questions here.

Tucked away towards the bottom of Blizzard’s beta announcement post, they mentioned there’s no Overwatch beta for Mac because they aren’t developing a client for Mac. Yes, apparently the Battle.net launcher screen on the Mac with its Overwatch icon is just one big tease. Why did it get added to the Mac launcher if it’s not going to be playable on the Mac? That’s the question — but there’s no way to customize or remove icons from the launcher, so it’s there until Blizzard changes it.

The fact that Blizzard has long supported both Mac and Windows, releasing for both platforms at the same time in an era in which Mac game support was a rare thing, makes Overwatch seem quite an oddity. Games for Mac are growing increasingly common — you can just look at the Mac section of Steam to see how common Mac support is for both major titles and indies. Between Blizzard’s history of support of the platform and the growth of Mac gaming in general, I’d simply assumed that Overwatch would, like their other games, be released for the Mac as well.

I assumed wrong. (And, well, you know what they say about assuming things.) It would have been great to know this up-front so I could have set my expectations for Overwatch accordingly… but instead Blizzard tucked it away at the bottom of a post about a different subject entirely, where it was easily overlooked. It was communicated very late in the game and very poorly on top of that.

Though we don’t yet know why Overwatch, I have two theories — though whether either is true I can’t say. On one hand, we know Microsoft is going to have a presence at BlizzCon. Could this perhaps be their influence, and might we wind up seeing Overwatch as an Xbox exclusive on top of this? We’ll find out at BlizzCon. And whether that happens or not, cutting Mac support would certainly shorten development time by getting the client ready for Windows users more quickly. Even though this is at the expense of getting it ready for Mac users never, Blizzard may just be trying to get this game to players as quickly as possible.

Finally, Mac users, don’t despair — just yet — about support for other games. Though I’ve already seen some people fretting about the future of WoW or other Blizzard titles for Mac, Blizzard has at least confirmed that WoW 7.0 (Legion) will be Mac-compatible.

Though something like this seems exceedingly unlikely to happen, my answer is yes, please, absolutely.

Of course that is an answer that I will regret if he ever actually writes one, because Joss Whedon has that awful habit of crushing everything you love. But in so doing, he makes you feel something (even if that something is awful), and that’s what a good story — and good art — is all about.

I do wonder about this. My very first World of Warcraft character was a Gnome Mage. My Vanilla raiding character was a Gnome Warlock. My current character is a Gnome Monk. Sure, I’ve flirted with playing other races — and did spend a long stint with the Horde as a Blood Elf — but I keep coming back to Gnomes. They’re tiny and adorable and they jump ridiculously high. There’s something lighthearted to them that I just don’t get from other races, and I’m always drawn to playing a Gnome when I can.

But their lore has always disappointed. While a lost homeland seems like it offers interesting story options, Gnomes often seem used for comic relief in World of Warcraft. And, yes, they are comic… but isn’t there anything else to do with them besides make them a running joke? I’m not going to stop playing my Gnomes, but it makes me a little sad nevertheless.

That’s all for today’s Pepe-themed Queue. Come back tomorrow when Mr. Matthew Rossi will answer your questions. And, please, leave questions that aren’t just about Pepe.