The Queue: Dog

If Mitch posts a picture of a cat, I have to post a picture of a dog. That’s just how this works, okay?

I think it’s Friday, but frankly I’m never sure anymore.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s the two leaders of the races I play most. That would be Mekkatorque and Lor’themar.

Have either of them gotten much done over the history of Warcraft? Well… no. But I at least hold the opinion that they’re both highly competent (which is maybe why they’re usually not in the political spotlight).

I hope to see more of Lor’themar at some point — we haven’t had much Blood Elf story in a long time, and I really wonder what motivates him these days. And I really want to know what happened to Mekkatorque. I have to know.

Blizzard, give me this one thing and I will forgive you for everything else.

Almost everything else. I’m never going to forget that sinking feeling I got when Chris Metzen excitedly told BlizzCon crowds that an entire expansion was a “boy’s trip.”

But really, I’d forgive a lot.

Ysera is responsible for her own actions, as Malfurion is responsible for his.

But Malfurion was certainly foolhardy to run off like that, without taking a moment to ask for help, to make a plan, to think about the consequences of his actions. Of course, it’s true that emotions aren’t logical, and it’s very easy to do stupid things when we’re caught in the heat of them.

But Malfurion is thousands of years old. He’s theoretically in charge of the entire Night Elf faction (despite ceding that power to Tyrande in whole or part). It’s a terribly rash action from someone who ought to have known better.

Because of that, he was used for bait to draw Ysera out. His actions came to devastating consequences.

But in the end, Ysera is responsible for Ysera, as Malfurion is responsible for Malfurion. We make our choices and we live with them.

I don’t think ruling a faction is exactly something you can retire from. These aren’t CEOs of a company who step down when they’re tired of running things — they’re hereditary monarchies where you have power by virtue of birth or dictatorships where they’ve gained power by wresting it from anyone else who might take it.

… okay, I’m exaggerating. A little. Gnomish leaders are actually elected (though we haven’t had an election in the game’s history). Lor’themar is technically only Regent Lord of Quel’Thalas, but he’s regent for a dynasty that will never return, but there’s certainly no process to replace him. The Goblins seem have a very corporate structure, but I still can’t see Gallywix turning aside power.

Basically, the only people who are in power right now are:

1. People who were granted it by birth (i.e. Anduin)
2. People who have clawed their way to the top and aren’t going to give it up now (i.e. Sylvanas, at least until recently)
3. People who feel it’s their responsibility (i.e. Thrall, Lor’themar)

Save for the last category, these aren’t people who are likely to retire even if they had the option. Thrall even tried to retire and it didn’t take. I just don’t think retirement is on the cards for anyone here.

I’m not sure I understand the question. Yes? I mean, I have elves on both sides of the faction divide. Is there an elf controversy I’m not aware of??

This category of classes is really dominated by one that doesn’t exist anymore: the Cataclysm-era Holy Paladin. I’d been playing Paladin since Burning Crusade, and the Cataclysm changes were just too much. The class was redesigned to the point it was unrecognizable.

Healing spells had been seriously shaken up and rather homogenized across the board, so Holydins no longer felt like they had a “niche.” Up to that point we’d been strong, durable single-target healers who never ran out of mana. But in Cataclysm, we seemed to become just another healer… and with worse gear options than the rest because there was little spell plate. (Because the ability to swap specs had been added, spell plate options seemed to vanish from quest gear. At the time, gear didn’t swap stats when you swapped specs, so this meant I was wearing a mix of mail and leather gear.) And they added Holy Power, a secondary resource that I really had no idea how to manage.

The class I’d been playing for years was turned upside down overnight and I could never get good at it.

Holydins today feel closer to their Wrath-era counterparts than they’ve been in a long time, which I like. And with Glimmer changing from an Azerite Trait to a talent, we’ll still have this great Holy Shock build, where you get to be more of a Shockadin than you ever could be before.

Of course, Blizzard is adding Holy Power again… but hopefully I’ll be able to manage it this time around.

Are we sure there’s actually a cat?

All we have is a photo which could be any cat. It could be a stock photo of a cat. (I mean look at that beautiful cat. How could it not be a stock photo of a cat?)

When Mitch says “cat,” maybe he’s really talking about a void-creature that haunts his dreams, but he knows it’s more socially acceptable to say “cat.”

What I’m saying is trust no one. 

That’s all for now, folks. Everyone have a good weekend, hug your dogs and hug your cats (if they’ll let you) — or at least wave at them through a window.

Really, life’s too short not to hang out with your pets at every opportunity. (Sorry, Mitch.)

I’ll see you back here next week.