The Queue: This is not a placeholder

This is not a placeholder. This is a Queue. And this is me not setting any of my co-workers on fire or throwing them into bodies of water. Can you all imagine how much restraint that takes? Let me tell you, it’s a lot.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about then I’ve clearly made just enough inside jokes. Now let’s get on to the Queue.

Mitch: I’ll be honest, I haven’t quested through all the beta zones yet. I had time to do a lot Stormheim and all of Highmountain back in alpha, but beta has been kinda unreliable and frankly I’ve just been very busy. That being said, I like Stormheim because it involves Forsaken (<3 Sylvanas).  Stormheim is also kind of like Howling Fjord, which is still one of my favorite zones to this day so.. who knows. Also it has Helheim which is an entire subzone and that’s amazing.

Liz: I hate Stormheim because Mitch loves it. Well that and the fact that I constantly manage to break the intro scenario so I’ve done it approximately a million times.

Mitch: Highmountain may actually top it just because it reminds me a lot of Grizzly Hills and it has a beautiful night sky.

Liz: The skies everywhere are ridiculously beautiful. Blizz has really upped the ante on skies.

Mitch: That they have.

Liz: I think I like the Arcway dungeon most so far. That library. And the purple stuff. And that one boss we are not going to talk about because I am trying to remain your friend.

Mitch: THIS UNHOLY SPAWN OF EVIL.

Liz: Yes, that unholy spawn of evil. Which I would like noted I did not bring up because we are friends. Unholy spawn of evil inside, the design and detail is incredible.

Mitch: The environment team in WoW does amazing work.

Mitch: I’d res Garrosh. Boy did he get the rough end of the stick. …Okay, not really. I’d resurrect Arthas because I’m terrible want to watch what happens when I do.

Liz: BOTH of those are terrible.

Mitch: Well, I’m a terrible person ¯_(ツ)_/¯

Liz: We know! Do you have to keep selling it?!

Mitch: As long as people want answers, yes!

Liz: I’d res Bolvar. Guy didn’t deserve that garbage at Wrathgate. Or, you know, the garbage after Wrathgate.

Mitch: Really though, imagine Arthas confronting Sylvanas now after all she’s done. She’s slowly turning into him and having a confrontation at this point in time could actually be interesting storytelling. I’m not a fan of “just kidding, this person is alive again” storytelling but if I Arthas were to get resurrected by my Valkyr-on-loan, it wouldn’t be the worst thing.

Mitch: I don’t think you’d ever find me trying to argue that Sylvanas isn’t evil. I definitely think her story (needing a way to keep her people “alive”) has nuance and is a legitimate issue for her, but she has absolutely crossed lines in that struggle to survive that maybe didn’t need to be crossed. But you know what? I love that. I love the evil moments and devilish cunning that she does. I love the don’t-give-a-damn attitude the Forsaken have to using the Plague. Sometimes, being evil (in video games) is fun and I don’t want the Forsaken to change in any way.

Liz: Being dead can twist your moral compass a bit. But I think that’s interesting. There’s a tendency to woobify evil characters, but there’s so many interesting stories to tell with characters who exist in the shades of gray between right and wrong. Or feel they have good reasons for doing the wrong things.

Mitch: For her, being dead is just like.. the next step. War Crimes spoilers! She was totally willing to kill her sister to bring the two of them together. It wasn’t a question for her. It was just, “If we’re gonna be together, it’ll be in undeath.”

Liz: There’s a potential for tremendous pathos in the Forsaken (including Sylvanas), who have been rejected by their former races, former families (if they still have them). They’ve lost everything and they have to find a way to come to terms with it.

Mitch: Lilian Voss is a perfect example of this, too. She fought against Forsaken in life and then her father totally turned his back on her when he found out what she was (if I’m remembering correctly).

Liz: I feel like Blizzard often neglects the pathos in favor of more black and white evil.

Mitch: The Forsaken and Garrosh are both evil. But there was never grey with Garrosh. It was always black and white.

Liz: We’re talking about shades of evil here. But couldn’t there be good Forsaken? The Death Knights aren’t in such a different position and they were taken back into the fold. While the Forsaken remain outcasts.

Mitch: Oh, there totally can. And this is why I wish they’d do more Forsaken storytelling.

Liz: I’d love to see a story about a Forsaken trying to live up to the ideals of their former life, while everyone from it has rejected them. Could you succeed in those circumstances? Or would you become just like every other Forsaken?

Mitch: There’s a huge well of story Blizzard can use from the Forsaken.

Liz: Blizzard, hear our pleas!

Liz: I answered this in the comments but wanted to put it here, too, so anyone wondering could see it. If you want to get your news by newsletter — and some people prefer a weekly email to checking the website every day or keeping up with us on Twitter — then by all means subscribe. It’s mostly helpful to us in that it brings people to the website to read things they might have otherwise missed. So subscribe if you think it would be useful and ignore if it isn’t. We’re still discussing the best way to display the signup so it might change.

That’s all for today, folks, but check back tomorrow when Mitch and I will be filling in for the esteemed Mr. Rossi — unless, of course, he has come to throw Mitch into a pool by then.