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The QueueAug 29, 2019 12:00 pm CT

The Queue: Sike? Psych? Psyche?

In yesterday’s comments, ValenceMagi mentioned “psyche” in terms of faking people out. I’ve never been quite sure what the best way to spell that word is, often opting for “sike.” But it got me curious about how YOU spell that word. So, there’s my question for y’all today. You think on that for a bit. In the meantime…

Let’s Queue.


VALENCEMAGI ASKS A QUESTION THAT KICKED OFF THIS WHOLE THING:

So we’re expecting them to announce 9.0: “WoW: Psyche! Azshara Canonically Won the Fight And She’s In Charge Now Also There Are Playable Dryads”, this fall, right?

Yes, absolutely!

Although I guess that depends on your definition of “we” and “expecting” and “right?”…


SHIALAWOOF HAS A RELATED QUESTION BUT ALL I CAN FOCUS ON IS THE AMAZING NAME:

QFTQ: What are the chances that Sylvanas is playing the long game by pretending to work for N’Zoth before betraying him (it?) and the whole Baine thing was allowed to happen so that the future leaders of the Horde would be safe and hiding in Thunder Bluff when her (likely suicidal) betrayal goes down?

Essentially, do you think that Sylvanas is trying to do something of lasting good, and that whoever chose her to be watching knew that only she would have the strength to do the horrible things that need to happen in order to finally end the old god threat?

I can see Sylvans trying to play N’Zoth (not necessarily betray him, but siding with him out of convenience) — but I can’t see her doing it for the good of Azeroth or the factions. Sylvanas is in this for herself. Sure, she’s looking for ways to keep the Forsaken going, but at this point, I think she’s doing it for herself (even if she doesn’t necessarily realize that). There’s a bigger game going on here, and Sylvanas may be a pawn in that — but I don’t know how soon it’ll be before we’re far away enough to see the the forest for the World Trees.


TERRADON TALKS ABOUT A RACE THAT DIDN’T EXIST IN CLASSIC:

What is your favorite Worgen class combo and why?

I really like Worgen Death Knights. I’m not sure I have a great reason for it, but I’ve always found them pretty cool, especially compared to other Alliance DKs. Maybe it’s because they’re a lot less “pretty” than most Alliance races, and that seems to mesh well with DKs’ whole “we’re evil-ish” thing. I also think Worgen Druids are pretty dang fitting, for hopefully obvious reasons, but if I’m playing a Druid on the Alliance now, I’m going Kul Tiran.


ARTHONOS HAS A QUESTION ABOUT MY ALTERNATE-REALITY GAME:

Q4tQ: Played a bit of No Man’s Sky the other night, landed on a planet that had super heated rain storms that would damage me if I stayed outside. That got me thinking, would you want weather to have more of an impact in WoW?

Assuming next expansion has us traveling to some place more exotic, like off planet, you could introduce some wild weather effects. Maybe an Arcane Storm that boosts damage and also alters gravity allowing you to jump super high, like the gravity lapse brawl. Frigid zones with snow storms so intense it becomes hard to see. Could even have random acid rain that deals damaged when outside, but the zone has lots of outcroppings and caves to provide safe havens to run between.

I do like the idea of more dynamic weather and that weather having some sort of effect, but I think Blizz would go about it a different way. My guess would be that specific areas would have “weather” constantly happening. For instance, the little domes in Netherstorm — imagine each one of those had different weather, with effects like you described. It would help things feel dynamic, but it wouldn’t mess with balance in an unpredictable way.

Mind you, I’m not saying that’s my preferred implementation — I’m fine with randomness in open-world content. But it certainly feels more “modern WoW” to me.


HUSSKIES, FULFILLED BRINGS FORWARD SOMETHING THAT HAS PLAGUED EDITORS WORLDWIDE:

I just want to state that I don’t care that people have taken to calling it classic and retail, I will still call it vanilla and live until I die.

Man, the nomenclature for this has been a bit of a nightmare, and it’s legitimately something we had to discuss and come to a solution to for this website. IMO, the best way to differentiate is to call the game released on Monday by its official name, “WoW Classic.” Anything from the original game (i.e., the one before Burning Crusade was even a thing) is either “original WoW” or “vanilla WoW”… “classic WoW” would work in a pinch, but is frankly too confusing. BFA and the ongoing game are either “modern WoW,” “retail WoW,” or “live WoW.”

Regardless, there are effectively three versions of the game that people can be referring to now, and it’s a bit of a headache.


ANDREIOS • 6 HOURS AGO

Q4tQ: Since I didn’t start playing till the end of Wrath, I haven’t been able to quite figure out: when did Varian come back? During BC, or not till Wrath? Or is he in the culmination of that Onyxia story I keep hearing about?

Funny enough, while trying to find the answer here, I found an old KYL from That Other Site. Turns out, Varian’s first in-game appearance came during the pre-launch events for Wrath. However, he had a lot of story that happened in print which canonically took place before his in-game appearance.

Fun fact: He was hidden in a prison under Alcaz Island up until patch 1.9, during which he was replaced. There was a quest chain called The Missing Diplomat in which you have to find a missing diplomat who is eventually revealed to be Varian — but it never really had an ending. It just sort of…stopped. And then Blizz didn’t finish it up.


AZVOLRIEN TAKES US AWAY FROM CLASSIC FOR A MOMENT:

Just out of general interest, what do people think is the ‘best’ of the six levelling zones in BfA? I’ve levelled a couple of alts on each side of the faction divide so far, and personally I’ve found Drustvar had the most replay value.

Surprising no one who knows me even a little, I feel Drustvar is the best. I’m not necessarily sure I’d say it’s because the zone tells a great story from start to finish — Nazmir probably does that best — although, don’t get me wrong, it totally DOES tell a very good story. More so, it’s because the zone feels like it was built around a theme and every aspect of that zone supports that theme. From the music to the enemy design to the look of the zone in general, it’s hard to find a zone as solidly confident in itself as Drustvar. It’s a fantastic zone all around, and it’s honestly become one of my favorite zones in the entire game. I’m very happy for its existence.


KALCHEUS CLOSES US OUT WITH WHAT ARE ESSENTIALLY TWO 2BES:

2BE: Who would win in a fight for coastal supremacy, Tuskarr or Tortollans?

Q4tQ: Would you rather have an Intellect Cloth Bard or an Agility Mail Bard?

Why are they fighting? Tortollans aren’t really fighters, but they are good with scrolls and magic. However, Tuskarr are hunters who know how to survive any climate and also I love them. So they win.

I’ve always pictured Bards as wearing Leather, but the game needs another Mail user, regardless of what its primary stat is. (I swear, if Tinkerers aren’t Mail users, so help me Yogg…)

Anyhow, that’s all for today! I hope you guys are enjoying Classic and life in general, and be sure to take advantage of the long weekend to do… whatever the heck you want!

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