The Queue: By fire be unnerved

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!

Number one, I’m very excited that Deathwing has finally made it to Heroes of the Storm. Number two, can we just talk about those flame-engulfed wings? I feel like if that had come flying at me in Cataclysm, I would’ve been a little more terrified. I mean, he set the zone on fire when he did his flyby and that was terrifying enough, but if it’d been accompanied by literal beating flame that would’ve been really cool.

Or, well, not cool. Hot. You know what I mean. I know what you mean, because I’m here to answer your questions. Let’s get to that!

Honestly? I much prefer that kind of a system than one where a player is expected to utilize said system if they want to get an edge in dungeons or raids. I’m sure someone out there will min/max the heck out of Corrupted gear, and that’s fine — but this is really just left up to the player to decide if the risk is worth the reward involved. I’m sure there will be raid leaders out there weighing out the pros and cons and whether the boosts are worth the extra stress on healers or tanks.

Point is, I like the fact that this system really just puts that choice in the hands of the player. Do you want to play with Corruption? Go ahead. Would you rather avoid the whole thing? Go ahead. Nobody’s holding it against you. I’d rather have the option to opt out of a system I’m not fond of, than be forced to use it whether I like it or not, you know? More options and choices aren’t necessarily the world’s worst thing.

I’d say definitely wait until the holidays, because Blizzard usually puts all those really cool mounts on sale — with the exception of any brand new shiny ones that get thrown out there. Having said that, personally I’m a big fan of the Vulpine Familiar and the Sylverian Dreamer mounts. I like the white and blue color palette, what can I say? I also really dig Hogrus, but that’s just because I love the idea of a flying pig. And I know people might not care for them for whatever reason, but I find the 15th Anniversary Alabaster Mounts really visually pleasing. They look like living stone, and I really like that look.

It’s a possibility — I wouldn’t rule it out entirely. I keep saying I think there’s an undiscovered Old God under Hyjal, although we don’t really have any evidence or proof beyond some pretty shady looking tentacles and minions popping up in Darkshore and Ashenvale. But I do kind of wonder if the torches aren’t the Aspects — that’s the other common theory that’s been bantered about, and I tend to lean on that one. There were five dragonflights originally, each with its own Aspect. At the end of Cataclysm, we killed one of those Aspects for good, and expended all the power the other four had in the process. I still maintain that there was something really fishy about that whole Hour of Twilight thing — I don’t think we were actually witnessing or preventing the real Hour of Twilight. N’Zoth is way too clever to be so easily outwitted.

I mean…they aren’t too similar, are they? Yes, Anduin would like to do the right thing, and Arthas wanted to do the right thing badly enough that he was willing to sacrifice anything and everything to accomplish it. Yes, they were both blonde princes in line to be king — Anduin took one throne, Arthas took a very different throne entirely. Yes, Anduin is very passionate about the causes he believes in, and so was Arthas.

But Arthas faltered, and Arthas fell. I don’t think Anduin is really lined up to have the same kind of fate. He’s seen what comes of reckless behavior and actions — heck, his own father gave him a pretty clear visual of that line of thinking — and I don’t think he’s apt to falter down the same path.

Plus, I think Jaina would rightly smack him upside the head the second he showed any signs of turning out like Arthas did. She saw this all happen once before, I’m pretty sure she’d recognize it if it started happening again.

Part of me does wonder if that has any part of Sylvanas’ problems with Anduin, however. I mean, she was murdered in cold blood by a blonde prince who thought he knew best. Anduin might strike a deeper chord in her heart than any of us are really aware of.

I think this is absolutely the time for an Overwatch 2, depending on what it actually is. If it is a PVE title, then there are a whole host of players out there who aren’t really into the idea of competitive PVP, but they’ve been captivated by the glimpses of narrative we’ve gotten in Overwatch since day one. That’s your target audience right there. It’s the people who still, several years after the game’s release, aren’t playing — but they’ll watch any animated short and happily gobble down any stories/comics/extended lore that Blizzard chooses to throw at them.

Give them a PVE title with a narrative they can sink their teeth into, and you’ve got a killer hit on your hands. The people that are playing Overwatch and enjoying that competitive PVP aspect already have a game that’s pretty amazing in and of itself. If they also play a PVE version, that’s great. If they stick to the PVP aspect, that’s also great. Point is, they’re still playing — and if Blizzard plays their cards right, they can keep those people and add a whole heap of other people to that pile.

I’d say that given everything we know about 8.3 currently, I wouldn’t expect to see it before the holiday break. Blizzard likes to give people time to go home and enjoy their holidays. Dropping a major content patch just before said holidays isn’t exactly advisable when you’ve got so many players that are likely not going to be anywhere near their computers during the holiday season. I’d say the earliest we’ll see it is December 3rd. If we don’t see it on December 3rd, I wouldn’t expect it to arrive until January — either the 7th or the 14th.

But that’s just me making vague guesses based on past content patches, so take that with a grain of salt, and don’t consider that a guarantee. I know, it’s not the best answer in the world. But we haven’t really gotten any information in regards to 8.3’s release, so speculation and predictions are the best we can do right now!

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!