The Queue: There’s a dragon at the end

Mitch suggested today’s title, to which I immediately responded “spoilers omg.” But maybe Mitch is lying about the dragon. Maybe I’m lying about the spoiler. Anything could be at the end of the Queue.

And even if it is a dragon, who’s to say which dragon? Life is full of surprises!

Liz: Honestly, I had completely forgotten about Genn’s son. I had to Google it after the cutscene because I had no idea what the revenge narrative here was (beyond Varian) — because Cataclysm was six years ago. I don’t remember what I ate for breakfast this morning, much less a story element about a character I don’t like that’s entirely contained in a starting zone for a race I don’t play. So, yes, that was a thread that… maybe could have been resolved sooner.

Mitch: While I understand the need to weave narratives in and out depending on expansion, I definitely would have liked to see this storyline sooner… but that’s mostly because I <3 Sylvanas. I, too, forgot what the deal with his son was, but I think that could have been fixed if Blizz had actually made the Sylvanas/Greymane conflict a bigger part of the zone, tossing in a reminder of past events somewhere. BUT, I assume you were talking about Trial of Valor and what we’ll do there. Considering Sylvanas had a deal with Helya, I imagine the fight with her will tie into that as well as Odyn being…Odyn-y.

Liz: Ugh, Odyn.

Liz: Definitely the Corrupted Blood plague. If you aren’t aware, after Zul’Gurub was released in Ye Olden Dayes of 2005, Hakkar cast a debuff called Corrupted Blood which did serious health damage and also jumped to nearby players. The bug was that the debuff stayed on you if you left Zul’Gurub with it on. So you could get Corrupted Blood, hearth to Ironforge, run to the auction house, infect a hundred people, and then watch the bodies drop. There was no escaping it. It was hilarious. I mean, it was a pain at the time, but in hindsight it was hilarious.

Mitch: I used to explore all the time in Vanilla, thanks to the wall-walking glitch that used to exist. Patch 1.9 took it out, but that was my all-time favorite glitch because of where I could go — original Hyjal, dancing troll village, behind AQ before it was open, etc. — and I probably spent days of playtime having fun and seeing where I could take myself. A similar glitch appeared during, uhh… I wanna say Wrath, where if you caught an “edge” and then got Levitated by a Priest, you would just ascend vertically up pretty much any surface. That, too, was a lot of fun.

Liz: Last BlizzCon Alex (or maybe Anne) bought a Chromecast so we could livestream on the hotel room TV. Highly recommended if you don’t have any other way to toss it up on the big screen. (Also Chromecasts are mega cheap.) We, of course, are all going to be at BlizzCon and covering everything always makes for a ridiculous schedule. Plus we’re going to have Blizzard Watch Thanksgiving, which isn’t even on the schedule! (See below.)

Mitch: This is the first year I’m going to BlizzCon and, while I am going to help with coverage here and there, I’m actually going to do my best to enjoy it primarily as a fan. I’ve wanted to go for so many years and for it to finally be happening is unreal. I’m really excited to just be there and do whatever the hell looks fun!

Liz: ENJOY IT AS A FAN, YOU ARE HILARIOUS

Mitch: <333 Thanks, Liz

Mitch: I don’t have a great answer except that it really comes down to business. Blizzard is giving virtual ticket holders access to the main/panel stages if they don’t want to watch esports, is giving attention to the esports themselves because it’s a baby franchise and has huge investment/sponsorship opportunities, and is giving in-person attendees perks (and incentives) to go in the form of smaller stages like the art/sound/engineering panels.

Liz: Well, it’s not all going to be esports… though I’m definitely getting the feeling we won’t be getting a big announcement this year. And that’s pretty disappointing. You want a big headliner, but there’s no empty space in the schedule that they might put extra panels about a big headliner in — which is how they’ve done big, secretive announcements in the past. They used to only hold a BlizzCon when they had a big announcement, but now it’s turned into an annual thing, which means there’s going to be the occasional disappointment. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to watch. I always find the developer and behind the scenes stuff to be fascinating. It’s a shame the voice actor stage isn’t streamed (or hasn’t been in the past). That’s always gold no matter who’s there.

Mitch: It is a bit odd to not have a major announcement at BlizzCon. I mean, it’s happened in past years, but with so many games, you’d think one could have timed something major. Unless Sombra is a new IP. Then maybe the build-up would have been worth it.

Liz: Do not get me started on Sombra. This Queue will be 10,000 words of angry keysmashing.

Mitch: Oh my god, I think you’ve won 2 Bosses Enter with this question. Maximillian, of course, would never stand down when confronted with a dragon. Plus, I’m sure there are plenty of Nightborne damsels in need of rescue from Su’esh’s terrifying rampage. So Maximillian does what he does and… recruits an army of squires! With their aid and bodies as his shield, he charges forth, leading the cavalry from the waaaaaay back. After several squires meet their untimely end thanks to their poor combat skills and definitely not Maximillian’s “battle plan,” he thinks of an ingenious idea: distract the dragon with stuffed animal dragons from the local shops. Surely the creature will think them its children. While distracted, Maximillian’s greatest squire must chain the dragon in a cave. Thus, Su’esh’s backstory was born.

Liz: I really have nothing to add to this.

That’s it for today’s Queue, everyone! (Hopefully we didn’t completely spoil the ending.) As always, please leave your questions in the comments — Rossi will be here to answer them tomorrow.