The Queue: Teamwork

Today’s Queue answers have been brought to you by the power of teamwork. Remember, there’s no “I” in team, but there is an “I” in guild, so… actually I have no idea where I was going with that. Let’s just pretend it’s a roundabout way of saying we called in some backup for today’s Queue and we should move on before I start mixing more metaphors.

Mitch: As someone who, er.. well, hasn’t been as good about Shadow articles as he should be, I’ll say part of that is self-imposed pressure of writing a “good” article. Free-form stuff like The Queue? Less stressful, because I can just talk about how I feel. Which is all a way of saying I’d be on board with this sort of thing. However, willingness and logistics are quite different. For example, how would this differentiate itself from the podcast, outside of the obvious medium being used? Two, and probably more importantly, would it actually have an audience. There are a lot of things that people “want” but don’t end up being a hit. It’s not a matter of people not wanting it as much as they said, rather, it’s a niche topic with high, yet specific appeal. Personally, I used to love the WRUP articles because it was a lot of writers, speaking freely about, well, whatever.

Liz: Group columns are fun, but more challenging to coordinate than you might think. Podcasts and livestreams are easy because we’re all in one place at the same time and can just talk. Getting this Queue done takes some work to get us in one place at one time, like how I sent questions to Mitch at around 3PM and had to bother him at 10PM because I hadn’t heard anything from that slacker lovable Shadow Priest. There are some answers here that others chimed in on below, but it’s based entirely on who was around at the time rather than any coordination. Something to think about, though we’re not axing class columns outright… we’re just not replacing columnists who have drifted away from WoW right now.

Mitch: Heck, the live stream happens in the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday… because that’s what works for five people. The old “Heroes rotation” posts also had a bit of a group-writing feel but (and Liz will attest), it was hard to get more than a few to respond, even with multiple email prods.

Liz: Yeah, that finally died out entirely because I’d send five emails and no one would have anything to say.

Mitch: To be fair, it became harder and harder to have new things to say.

Liz: Almost seems more likely to do another podcast than try to coordinate group posts. Not that I’m sure we have the time for that. (For those who have been asking, I’ve been trying to drum up interest in an Andromeda cast, but there are only so many hours in the day.)

Ted: We don’t know. These will probably be similar to the four role based challenges from the August Celestials at the end of the MoP. We know there are only seven challenges. While they might have some tech that lets them modify each of those seven based upon your spec, I think it might be difficult to require a spec specific button to complete it. The more skilled you are, the better chance you’ll have of completing it in the wrong spec, much like the “Doing It Wrong” achievement from Proving Grounds.

Mitch: Yeah, what Ted said. Maybe you’ll be able to overpower them, but it’ll likely require certain aspects of a spec to really do. I know that at 70, getting Benediction was still tough. So I’m sure it’ll be similar. Basically, if you want a spec’s appearance, you should learn that spec.

Mitch: Sorry to get political, but if anything but a Human from WoW transferred into the real world, it would be shot and/or captured for study immediately. Granted, Mitch would probably do something stupid and get himself killed in Azeroth by some Kobolds, but hey, at least that Mitch got to die doing what he loved: pretending to be a badass.

Liz: It depends on what level everything here is. If it’s level 70, our Azerothian alter-egos have nothing to fear. If I went to Azeroth, I’d need to crash somewhere quiet, like Pandaria. Being two expansions in the past has to be pretty peaceful, right?

Liz: Patch 7.3 was Ion Hazzikostas’ mic drop moment at BlizzCon last year. (I still think he should have literally dropped the mic and walked off stage at that point. Missed opportunity.) As best we know Argus is patch 7.3 — though you’re right, it would be a good stopping point for Legion.

Mitch: This has been asked a lot, Liz, stop making me answer it. 7.3 will be the last major patch. We might get 7.3.5, 7.3.6, etc. But no 7.4. I SAY THIS BECAUSE I HAVE CONFIDENCE IN PATTERNS.

Liz: I WAS NOT EVEN STARTING THAT ARGUMENT, MITCH, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BRING THIS UP AGAIN.

Mitch: BECAUSE I’M RIGHT.

Ted: The initial wait felt really long. So far the card reveals have focused more on the new mechanics like (Elemental synergy), or Adapt, and highlighting how the various classes quests work. I think the pace thus far has been good, though I don’t know if they can keep up the 6+ cards per day.

Liz: The hype train has left the station. Choo choo!

Matticus: Personally, I think the rate of card reveal is just right. There’s always going to be a few boring cards (like Discover a Murloc), so they have to include them in a batch with more awesome cards (like Kalimos). But there’s only so many awesome cards that can be included in a set. I expect the rate of reveal to continue for the next week or two before they do another card dump on the official Hearthstone Facebook page and we’ll know all the cards in the whole expansion. Anyway, I hate Murlocs and I hope that helps answer your question.

Ted: I did like the Paladin Murloc “Discover a secret” but Paladins and murlocs still feel weird to me.

Liz: Paladins and Murlocs are a hilarious combo, though, so I’m all for it.

Matticus: No. Just no.

Ted: Was your hatred of Murlocs before or after they printed Anyfin Can Happen?

Liz: Matticus has always hated cute things.

Mitch: Need more info. What Garrosh are we talking here? Outland? Mists? Mists + Sha? Draenor?

Jay: Yes.

Liz: Mopey Garrosh always loses.

Mitch: Samuro wins because he’s a samurai and he’s Samwise and screw Garrosh.

Liz: We can end on a note of agreement there.

Mitch: :D

Liz: :D