The Queue: What is a Queue?

As time has ceased to have any meaning in the world, so to has the Queue ceased to have any meaning.

Maybe. Maybe?

We’ll answer some questions anyway.

My impression so far is that it’s making classes a little more well-rounded, because picking a spec is less limiting. Tanks and healers get a little more damage and utility from their DPS focused specs. DPS get a little more survivability or variety. My Mistweaver has a total of two new buttons, which I admittedly haven’t gotten good at slotting into a rotation, but it’s not overwhelming, either.

Obviously, not every spec is the same, and I feel like Mistweaver has gotten a pretty limited number of changes in Shadowlands so far. But the spells Blizzard chose to add to the class are really good picks, which will both increase damage and add to survivability without massively overhauling the spec.

Blizzard does seem to swing back and forth on this — one expansion they add, the next they prune — so it’s really about striking the right balance. I think it’s possible to hit that balance, but we’re going to have to see how the alpha shakes out to see what happens. I would recommend offering feedback on how you feel your spec looks, because things are still in flux right now. Alpha and beta testing are when big changes will happen — once the expansion launches, the skills you have are very probably the skills you’ll have all expansion long. So speak up now!

I felt that crafting really had some good options in BFA: all crafting professions could make raid-level gear (with enough effort), and it was fantastic that my leatherworker could craft something I would use for more than just leveling. But the secondary stats on these items were completely random, and on more than one occasion I simply scrapped the item I’d crafted and gathered more materials to try again, because the stats on it weren’t good.

One of the things these optional crafting materials offer is the ability to control which secondary stats are on an item, and I love it. It takes the often frustrating RNG out of the equation and lets you make decisions about the gear you want to wear.

But this system — read about it on Wowhead — goes well beyond that. You could add an optional material that increases the duration of the Well Fed buff. You could add another optional material to increase your damage to Undead. The whole system really puts you in control of what your gear does, so you can make choices about how you want to play.

But does it “fix” professions? So far we have an incomplete list of optional materials, so we can’t judge whether all professions get equally powerful options. We also don’t know what will be required to craft these items — will it be rare drops, raid drops, or even other crafted items? If it is too difficult or too expensive to craft these, it may not change things much at all.

I’m intrigued by the system and definitely think it could change things — but it depends on how it shakes out by launch. It’s possible these will be too hard to craft for the average player, and it’s just as possible that they’ll be significantly weakened before they hit live. It’s too early to tell how it will play out.

I think if you’re doing higher level content like that, you should at least know the basics — but there’s a lot of variation there. A +2 Mythic is different than a +10 Mythic, and LFR is different than a heroic raid. Does someone going into LFR need to know what they’re heading into? Nah. Does someone going into a heroic raid need to know what they’re heading into? Yeah.

That higher level content is very difficult to do without the whole party knowing what they’re getting into — some level of knowledge is required for success. If you’re interested in starting to push higher level Mythic dungeons, you should really tell your group, “Hey, I’ve never done a +10 before” so that everyone understands the group’s capabilities.

Unfortunately, that’s where you’re going to run face-first into a pretty big problem, because most groups are just going to kick you at that point. Or they’ll chew you out for being a newb and then kick you. Or at the first wipe they’ll blame your inexperience and then kick you.

Most players just want to run through their weekly key, and there’s no environment for learning, except having patient and knowledgable friends who are willing to help you along the way. A lot of people don’t have that, and may try to eke out what they can in random groups. But because anyone who’s played for more than five minutes knows how likely they are to be kicked if they admit less than perfect knowledge, they’re probably not going to speak up.

This has created a conundrum. You need to have experience to run higher-level content, but (to an extent) you need to get that experience by running higher-level content. You can run lower-level versions and you can read guides, but there’s no substitute for being in the middle of it to learn what it’s really like.

The only answer I have for this problem is both simple and unlikely to happen: just be nice to each other.

Newer players need to feel comfortable asking questions in a group, so they’ll learn what they need to know and the whole group can succeed. And PUGs should be clear about what they’re doing: are you speed-clearing a Mythic+ or are you running alts through a raid? Those require very different skill levels and knowledge levels.

I think in a way the game has trained us all to be bad actors. We want to succeed and we want to do it fast, which leaves no room for mistakes (or newbies).  This is particularly true of timed modes like Mythic+, which leave no room for failure — and so players don’t tolerate failure.

Turning the player base into something kinder would be a real sea change. A good change, but a tough one.

My advice: set expectations for your group, hope players who join meet those expectations, but do your best to help players who are trying, but new to this. (We were all new once!) Some players may be jerks sneaking in and expecting to be carried. But some players are probably doing their best and just need a helping hand.

Swolekin.

It’s something I’ve meant to do — I have a gathering alt I want to finish leveling, and I need a gathering alt on another realm I’m playing on. But leveling, even leveling very fast, just feels like a chore. I don’t have a lot of patience for repetitive content, so once I’ve leveled once… I feel kind of like I don’t need to go back and repeat the experience. Which makes alts pretty tough — I don’t have many of them.

Maybe I’ll get myself enthusiastic enough to try to level up a couple of alts before this is over. With full heirlooms, rested experience (at least on some), and the XP buff, I could really zoom.

That’s all for today, friends. I hope you have a peaceful, cheerful Friday — or as peaceful and cheerful Friday as it is possible to have. We’ve all made it through another week, and that’s a victory to celebrate.