The Queue: Scenic painterly vistas

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!

One of those weird little things I look forward to in every expansion is the artwork. Not like, the game design artwork of the world around me, I mean the paintings and scrolls and other artistic objects kicking around said world. Every expansion tends to add something new, and every expansion tends to remind me how much I’d like prints of these things. Really, Blizzard, can we get some fancy art prints of Azeroth’s fancy art? Pretty please?

I kind of want to see what’s going on in Velen’s noggin, now that Argus and the Burning Legion have been taken care of. That was his life’s work — and he’s lived a very, very long life. So where do the Draenei go from here? I’m also curious about Saurfang, Baine, and the other Horde leaders. How do they feel about Sylvanas’ leadership? Are they cool with the direction the Horde is headed?

And of course I have to add Wrathion to that list because I’m still annoyed we didn’t see him at all this expansion, save for one curious appearance in the Chromie scenario. I mean…this was what his vision in Mists was all about. Why didn’t he show up? Is he going to show up now? Are we just writing off one of the most (in my opinion) compelling characters they’ve come up with? He’s a fascinating concept that’s been shoved to the side for…a bunch of old Orcs we murdered with a fair amount of expediency, an old wizard, and Illidan Stormrage. Don’t get me wrong, I like Khadgar and I liked how Illidan finally got a story this time around. But when it’s at the expense of a character that was built up over the course of a couple of expansions and then left in the dust…well, I get disappointed.

Jaina is…I want to say thirty-five-ish or thereabouts in present day, give or take a year or two. According to the novel Arthas, she arrived in Lordaeron and met Arthas for the first time at age 10 — she’s a year younger than him, and he was 11 in that scene, I think. And it was mentioned that she was on her way to Dalaran in that scene. So that’s a good twenty-five years she’s been gone, unless she had a few visits home in between. It’s never been mentioned if she went home for the holidays or anything. Essentially, she’s spent far more time away from Kul Tiras than in it, at this point in the narrative.

Karazhan is supposedly a hotbed of leyline activity. I’m not actually sure about Hyjal — the original Well of Eternity was definitely one of those, but Hyjal was artificially created. It was just a pond until Illidan dumped the vials in it. Leylines might have been drawn to the location afterward, but it wouldn’t have been a naturally occurring thing, I don’t think.

The location of the Sunwell was specifically chosen because of leyline activity, so it’s safe to say that’s another one. As for Pandaria….maybe? Probably? Those waters in Pandaria are identical to the waters of the Well of Eternity, so it’s highly likely.

Keep in mind that the ley lines got all gummed up during Wrath. Malygos was basically trying to rip all the leylines northward and keep them constrained to the Nexus, and out of mortal hands. After his death, I’m sure they started to settle back in place, but we don’t really have a map of existing ley lines or anything for reference.

A hell of a lot of introspection? Searching for her own internal redemption? Actually getting around to coping with the grief of her father’s loss, however many years after the fact? Dealing with the enormous idea that all that idyllic pushing for peace and diplomacy she’d done in her years as a leader was potentially exactly the wrong thing she should have been doing? Possibly wondering if everything that happened to Arthas, to Theramore, to the Alliance in general was pretty much her fault? Being quietly crushed under the weight of the sheer number of lives that were sacrificed because of her apparently foolish, idealistic views of the world?

Visiting mum? Let’s go with that one.

There isn’t really a canon explanation for language barriers. It’s more of a game mechanic thing than a thing that’s reflected in lore. Those language barriers were put in place so players couldn’t verbally harass the heck out of each other across faction lines.

Of course, people promptly found a way around doing that, but what can you do. Personally, I think at this point in the game, when it’s easy enough to pop someone on your Battletag list and talk cross-faction, the language barrier is a little outdated. I suppose it keeps cross-faction conversations kind of private, but when there are so many ways around the language barrier, is it really necessary anymore?

As far as lore is concerned, people can talk to each other regardless of faction. Racial languages are mentioned here and there, but everyone seems largely capable of speaking some kind of commonly understood tongue. Heck, even when the Draenei landed — and they were aliens from another world, mind you — they were immediately able to speak to and understand other races.

I’m quietly pinning my hopes on Ny’alotha, the sleeping city mentioned in several different references over the years. I think the Puzzle Box of Yogg-Saron was the first, but it’s also been mentioned by Xal’atoh, Ill’gynoth, and Xal’atath.

Basically the expansion isn’t directly a “hey, we’re fighting Old Gods” expansion, but given the number of hints we’ve had dropped in Legion, I feel like we’re bound to end up there. I mean, Azeroth’s in danger of dying, the Old Gods are probably closing in, we’re going to have to stop all that mess somehow, right?

There’s nothing like the abrupt appearance of a crazy Lovecraftian-esque nightmare town full of unspeakable horrors to bring two warring factions to a sudden ceasefire, you know?

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!