The Queue: It’s just that kind of Wednesday

Some days you can really empathize with these skeletons is all I’m saying.

You’re assuming I plan this way more than I do. Really I usually just show up. Sometimes on time, even!

So TLDR, I didn’t realize it was Wednesday, otherwise known as my day to write the Queue, until around 3am. You’re kind of lucky you have a Queue at all today, people.

It’s for the foreseeable future, for the scheduling convenience of all involved.

Yep, this little bit of creepiness is audio only, and that’s kind of the point of it. It doesn’t show up in the chat box or anywhere else except your ears.

Or does it? Maybe you’re hearing voices. I don’t see anything printed in chat, after all.

In fairness, Rossi spelled out our doom via Xal’atath months ago now. But insofar as recent events, in which we (maybe?) accidentally help our favorite (least-favorite?) sentient knife cheerfully turn us over to N’zoth…

Well, didn’t we all kind of work with Xal’atath on that? While Blizzard didn’t exactly give us a choice in the matter — beyond “do the quest” or “don’t do the quest” — we picked up the quest, followed the chain, and were ensnared by N’zoth because of it.

Considering Xal’atath’s honeyed words managed to persuade literally all of Azeroth to help it, I have two conclusions:

1. Maybe Shadow Priests aren’t at fault here. We walked straight into Xal’atath’s trap without any help from them. (Plus Xal’atath doesn’t sound like big fans of its former Priest buddy.)
2. To heck with N’zoth, Yogg Saron, and C’thun: Xal’atath may be the most dangerous being in Azeroth. It was able to convince literally all of us to do its bidding with nothing but a few whispered words.

In short: I agree with Rossi. This knife is going to kill us all.

Gnomes count on their technological ingenuity to improve the world around them, and they tackle problems with an unflappable can-do spirit. Whatever the problem, there’s an answer, and with enough time and plenty of cogwheels, they’ll solve it.

I’ve talked before about how we need a World of Warcraft expansion that’s focused on building the world up rather than burning it down, and I think Gnomes could play a large part in that. They are a whole race of builders and inventors who want to help others. If their attentions weren’t, by circumstance, constantly focused towards war, who knows what technological advances might be made?

Perhaps Gnomes aren’t our saviors, but they would dang well give it a good try.

Anyway, everyone else has had a turn at ruining Azeroth — why not let the Gnomes have a try, too? How much damage could we realistically do? It would take a ton of mechanical mishaps to do as much harm to Azeroth as we’ve done simply through the regular course of business in recent expansions. I know that Gnomish technology isn’t always perfect, but it’s definitely not that bad.

Gnomes 2020! We can’t do worse than everyone else already has! Yeah!

Blizzard Watch staff… roll for initiative.

And that’s Wednesday, people! Please leave your most shadowy questions below for Mitch to answer tomorrow.