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The QueueDec 3, 2020 12:00 pm CT

The Queue: Zero Point

I’ve said it before — if not here, somewhere — but no game does in-game events like Fortnite does. This week, we got the Devourer of Worlds event, which put players up against Galactus, who could probably fit the entire Battle Royale island in the palm of his hand. It put players in the driver’s seat of the Battle Bus (the thing you drop from at the start of the match) for the first time ever, and it felt like a mix of Star Fox and Star Wars (Fox Wars? Star Star? It’s hard to make this portmanteau work…).

In any case, it was fantastic and the post-event cinematic confirmed that the game is a simulation of some kind, which is always fun. I wish more gaming companies would do events like Fortnite does.

But enough about that. We’re here to Queue.


ROXXII THE BELOVED MAY NOT BE BELOVED AFTER THIS ONE:

Q4TQ: Why is Maldraxxus the best zone and why is everyone so wrong about it?

Just diving right in here today, huh? Anyhow, Maldraxxus is objectively the best because it’s basically the only one of the four zones where you can just be who you were in your mortal life if you want — memories, body, and all. Bastion wants to brainwash you and make you a Smurf, while Ardenweald puts you in an egg and says, “Eh, we might have to sacrifice so-and-so forever. No afterlife for them I guess!” And even if you don’t get sacrificed, you have to deal with a less exciting version of the Happy Tree Friends telling you how to have fun.

Revendreth, meanwhile, is basically an extended torture that either ends with your soul damned for all eternity or you joining a society that’s clearly serving the upper-class. I mean, it looks really cool. But it’s technically the “last stop before Hell!” zone.

So yeah, even though Maldraxxus may not be everyone’s aesthetic — it’s totally mine, though, for the record — it legit feels like the best afterlife in a set of only-kind-of-okay afterlives. (And yes, I’m aware it basically turns you into a soldier, but at this point, our characters have murdered so many things, it’s kind of like shifting into a new job with the same responsibilities but better pay and benefits.)


HUSSKIES CONTINUES THE CONTROVERSY TRAIN:

Queue-unpopular comment:

Since when are Legendaries supposed to be easily available to anyone? Blizz has already watered them down so much that I don’t even know why they are called “Legendary” and now it looks like people would want them to drop as World Quest rewards? Or you want them to go back to RNG drops like the mess that was Legion?

You know Rossi’s article called “It’s okay if you are not level 60 yet”, well I’d write one saying “It’s okay if you don’t have a legendary yet”.

I’ll admit, the legendary system in Shadowlands doesn’t feel nearly as frustrating as legendary systems of the past — but I still do miss the days of Thunderfury and Atiesh. Sure, they’re legendaries I would never get when current, but there aren’t too many things in the game nowadays that make me stop and stare at another character the way tier armor and legendaries did in vanilla.

At this point, legendaries have a certain association with them, though, and it’s a much more casual one. That’s fine! I need to adjust my perceptions of what Blizzard wants legendaries to be and what I expect them to be.

That said, the easy solution is to add the infamous “Artifact” quality — the pre-Legion one — to the game and just make them like ye olde legendarys. It won’t happen, and if it did, it would upset people — but I’d still like something in the game to have that level of rarity.


MOVEWOW ASKS ABOUT DEATH AND KNIGHTS:

Q4tQ: With all of the hype for DKs leading up to Shadowlands, did anyone else feel that there would be more for DK players once the expansion lunched? All I’ve really seen so far is the big bald guy who is now out of a job and is looking for employment?

I didn’t expect more in the expansion itself than what we’ve gotten — small bits of dialog that acknowledge what’s been done in the past (like the attack on Light’s Hope). I would have loved more for DKs, don’t get me wrong — but Blizz never really advertised this as an expansion for DKs. It’s DK-adjacent, but not really about DKs.

I will say, however, that I expected the Allied Race Death Knights to get a new starter intro. Like, you basically get a quick monologue from Bolvar and then you’re sent to your capital. That’s it. I thought we’d have a revamped experience, and I’m kind of sad we didn’t.


DOMEHAMMER BRINGS ME BACK TO THE HORRIBLE AFTERLIFE OF WOW:

Are there any worgen in the shadowlands? I can’t remember if I’ve seen a single worgen in the shadowlands.

Technically, any of those blue folks in Bastion could be a Worgen. That’s kind of the terrifying thing about Bastion. I mean, canonically, yes, there are Worgen in the Shadowlands. But if you’re talking about visible NPCs, I don’t think I’ve run into any yet — but I absolutely wouldn’t be surprised if we did.


SIBYLLE, I HAD TO CUT YOUR Q DOWN A LITTLE, BUT THE MAIN POINT IS STILL THERE:

Q4tQ: About the four levelling zones (and I do hope this isn’t considered a spoiler any longer).

Which one’s your favourite, *not* in terms of which covenant, abilities, min/maxing, but simply the zone itself, it’s design, story, denizens…

Bonus question, were there any surprises? Zones you expected to love but disliked or the other way around?

I know I’ve talked about zones a lot, so I’ll try to be quick:

  • I liked Bastion less than I expected.
  • Maldraxxus is great, and I expected it to be great.
  • Ardenweald underwhelmed me the first time through, but was better the second time around. Both times were less enjoyable than I’d hoped for.
  • Revendreth was as enjoyable, if not more so, than I expected.

All of that said, I genuinely do enjoy all the zones. None of them feel boring or give me that “Ugh, this zone” feeling like past expansions have. I suppose that’s a side effect of having only four zones, but it works, I think.


FALRINN DIDN’T ASK A QUESTION BUT DID SAY THIS:

There’s actually a couple of random Forsaken ghost NPCs you can see at any time around the early areas of Bastion.

Overall I’m relatively confident that pretty much all of the “if X happens to a person, they go straight to the Maw” theories are false. Prior to the Arbiter going silent, the only way for someone to go to the Maw without being judged fundamentally irredeemable was likely if someone intentionally intervened to direct them to it (ie Arthas and likely Sylvanas).

For what it’s worth, my take is that almost — almost — every soul is given a chance before going to the Maw. In the Bastion Afterlives short, Uther “intercepts” Arthas to make sure he goes to the Maw. That, to me, says that Arthas would’ve gone to Revendreth and had a chance at redemption, despite all the horrible things he did in life. I’m not really sure what it takes to get sent directly to the Maw, but it’s gotta be a lot.

I mean, if you think about it, there are entities out there trying to destroy whole worlds and galaxies. Not all of them may head to the Shadowlands — looking at you, demons — but on a cosmic scale, Arthas and Garrosh are small-fry jerks. In that sense, it seems logical they’d go to Revendreth first. Worse souls may not be so lucky.


MAALIN WANTS TO KNOW ABOUT LOOT:

Q4tQ: Are legendary recipes, particularly the ones in Torghast, a 100% drop?

They are not! I mean, I think the drop chance is high — I’ve seen a lot of folks (myself included) — who got them on their first runs, in multiple wings. But there are also folks who haven’t gotten them. This kind of goes back to Husskies’ question — the drop chance on the memories is a lot higher than I’d expected (which feels nice), but the materials needed to craft can be an investment (which makes them feel more satisfying in the end).


RED REMINDS ME OF MY SHAME:

Q4TQ: what do you do when you’re too lazy to exercise on a given day?

I tend to eat food I shouldn’t, hate myself afterward, say I’ll do better tomorrow, and then repeat.

So, y’know. Womp womp.

On that note, we’re done for today! Leave lots of questions for whomever is writing tomorrow’s Queue, and enjoy your continued time in the afterlife!

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