The Queue: Droomba

Welcome back to The Queue, our daily Q&A feature for all of Blizzard’s games! Have a question for the Blizzard Watch staff? Leave it in the comments!

I’m at that really annoying point in most legendary chains where you have to farm things for several weeks. Of course, the upside to this is that I’m basically vacuuming fire from the corpses of my slain enemies. I’m not sure if this is what the Guardians of Hyjal meant by “cleaning up the Firelands,” but I’ll take it.

I almost think it’d be kind of fun to have the original RTS games released as JRPG titles, now that you mention it. The story is already laid out, there are plenty of compelling characters involved, and it’d be a new way to present all those old storylines that might be more appealing to a wider audience. Don’t get me wrong, the RTS games are classics — but I think the RTS genre isn’t quite as wildly popular as it used to be.

Or heck, take some of the older novels and make those JRPG games. Day of the Dragon would make a pretty neat title — or even the War of the Ancients trilogy for that matter.

If you’re talking about unlocking Allied Races, for right now it appears that progress on those achievements is account-wide. In other words, I have a Blood Elf character who has exalted reputation with everyone, and has completed all Argus quests. In theory, this means I should be able to unlock both Alliance Allied Race options once they become available, despite having all those achievements solely on Horde.

Now keep in mind this is based off of what Wowhead has already datamined in terms of requirements from the 7.3.2 PTR. This isn’t confirmed information, it’s datamined information — which means it could change at any point between now and when the Allied Races are made available. But for now, it seems like those achievements are going to be account-wide, so you don’t need to worry about it.

Okay this question is kind of out of left field, and we don’t necessarily have all relevant information to answer it correctly. But we have sort of an example already in the Worgen. Worgen that have children do not have Worgen babies — the kids are Human. The Worgen curse is just that — a curse — it’s not something passed down genetically.

In theory, the idea of a Void Elf is an Elf that has control over the Void. They haven’t been genetically altered in any way, from what little we know. Going by that reasoning, any race could potentially be a “Void” something — Void Human, Void Troll, etc. It’s not a racial designation so much as it is a descriptor. So a Void Elf that has a baby is going to have an Elf kid. That kid may or may not have power over the Void, or be influenced by the Void — but they aren’t born as some sort of weirdo Void-compromised half-breed or something. It’s just an Elf.

This might be wrong, Void Elves might be genetically altered, but if they are…well we don’t know that yet. So that’s about as much of an answer as I can give you at present time.

I haven’t seen this myself on any alts — however, this is exactly the kind of thing you want to file a bug report for if you stumble across it. It definitely doesn’t sound like it’s working as intended, so giving Blizzard a heads up on it will let them know there’s an issue that needs to be addressed. Pointing out the name of the quest and the zone you’re in as well as your current level should help them pinpoint the issue. That’s definitely a little weird though!

I actually really like the method of unlocking — it makes sense that if you’re going to convince an ally to join your side, you need to be on good terms with them. And I’m okay with the choices as they stand right now, from a faction standpoint.

I also think there’s a litany of potential allied races to add in the future, just based on all those years and years worth of factions we’ve been diligently unlocking every expansion. But I think some of those might require further justification — either add them as a neutral allied race that can join either side, or give them some really good reason for choosing one faction over the other.

I think what I appreciate here is that we’re being given more visual options for races, and we’re being given a little story to go along with each of them, rather than just having them slapped in the Barber Shop or something. I like that we’re getting a little content to go with it, you know?

See, and this is the down side about the Allied Race thing. I’ve said it before — I wish they’d offered the Nightborne to both sides. However, I can see Thalyssra’s reasoning. The Nightborne are essentially the last vestiges of Highborne society. Night Elves have a long-standing reason for why they don’t care for the Highborne. We’re standing on it — if the Highborne hadn’t struck up a deal with the Burning Legion, the Sundering never would have happened.

Now wait, you might say — Tyrande was fine with letting former Highborne come teach the Night Elves how to be Mages, right? Well…yes. The Shen’dralar were once Azshara’s prized arcanists. But the events of the War of the Ancients didn’t leave them unscathed — they had to defend Eldre’Thalas against the Burning Legion, just like everyone everywhere was trying to protect themselves. Afterwards, Tortheldrin went a little cuckoo and started dealing with demons himself.

The Shen’dralar that approached Darnassus were remnants — and they weren’t about to start trucking with demons at any given moment. They were mostly concerned with the future of Azeroth, and making sure the world was well-guarded.

But the Nightborne aren’t…that. The Nightborne were formerly loyal to Azshara, then locked themselves away in a bubble, removed from the rest of the world. They built what was essentially a different kind of Well of Eternity for themselves with the Nightwell. They practice arcane magic almost exclusively. And when given a choice, their leader chose to ally with the Burning Legion, for better or worse.

Sure, the Nightwell is gone, as well as the bubble. But if the Nightborne were swayed to the Legion so easily, who’s to say it wouldn’t happen again? So Tyrande’s suspicions here aren’t exactly misplaced. It’s understandable that she has them. Why should she trust these guys? They didn’t show up offering help like the Shen’dralar — they showed up asking for it.

All of this leaves the Nightborne in a place where they’re essentially outcasts — the last remnants of a mighty civilization, struggling to establish themselves in the world. And that is pretty much right up the Horde’s alley. Keep in mind too that as former Highborne once upon a time, they share more kinship with the Blood Elves, who were once Highborne themselves. The Blood Elves are also outcasts, to a degree. So there’s another reason for that connection. I mean…if one side is pushing you away, and the other is welcoming you with open arms, then you’d go to that welcoming side, right?

I’m not saying it’s the right decision, but it’s understandable when you think about it. I can see why Alliance players would feel a little betrayed, though, given all the time spent helping the Nightfallen take back Suramar and find a cure for their dependency on the Nightwell. It’s like that whole section of endgame was almost a waste of time, in retrospect.

That’s it for today’s Queue — if you have any questions you’d like to see answered, be sure to leave them in the comments below!