The Queue: Somehow, Friday

Another week has come and gone and I’m really not sure how that keeps happening. But here we are. It’s Friday. Let’s Queue.

I think the ActiBlizz earnings call was pretty clear — or as clear as it could be without putting a date in stone — that Overwatch 2 and Diablo 4 are both set for 2022. Basically they said we’re working really hard on OW2 and D4 and 2022 is going to be a really good year! so they didn’t exactly say it but they kind of said it.

I think Overwatch 2, in particular, is an oddity. It’s hard to call it delayed because Blizzard never suggested a release date… but the project they described on announcement felt kind of small. It felt a lot like an expansion pack. It felt like something that would be out soon. So we all assumed it was just around the corner, which is apparently not the case.

And to be honest, I don’t know what to expect of it at this point. We’ve heard nothing new about the game and I still think it sounds more like an expansion pack than a sequel. That wouldn’t be a bad thing, but it changes the expectations. And the expectations for Overwatch 2 are kind of vague

I think it’s been over for a while now. Shadowlands has tons of systems to learn and play through, but for the most part they don’t seem interesting enough or rewarding enough to invest time in them. Most Covenant features seem to fall into this space: they provide few rewards and often cost precious Anima. Adventure Table? Costs Anima, difficult to win, few rewards. Path of Ascension? Extremely time-consuming, lots of materials together, and I genuinely can’t figure out how to win (plus a lack of rewards). Torghast? Once you have a Legendary, there’s not much reason to keep going. I’ve noped out on participating in a lot of these end-game systems, which has left max level pretty empty. I’m running Nathria and working on a couple of alts, but I’ve felt “done” with Shadowlands for weeks now. And I’m not the only one in my circle of friends who feels this way.

Shadowlands, strangely, feels like it’s packed with systems and also like there’s nothing interesting to do.

So, yes, I feel like the honeymoon period is over. I’m sure Blizzard has something exciting to announce when BlizzConline shows up, but for the moment… I’m really just bored.

There isn’t exactly any tangible evidence to say one way or another… but I’m going to say yes. Yes she can.

I don’t think someone should run Torghast after they have enough Soul Ash for their needs. It is, I grant, a bit fun, but it’s also time consuming and offers no other rewards. No gold, no anima, no nothing. I suppose you could run it for achievements or random spawn Adventure Table companions, but once you have your Soul Ash there’s not really a good reason to keep doing it.

Honestly, that just makes sense. Why would the Barbarian look like anyone else?

The worst world quest in Shadowlands is Flight School: Up and Away! with its stupid flowers that you fall right through.

I will give an honorable mention to the game’s elite world quests, which sometimes require you to cut through crowds of mobs (including elites) to get to the elites you need to kill. It’s no big deal on my ilvl 204 main, but my ilvl 140 alt can’t even get to these quests in order to find a group to do them in the first place. (At least not without a fair amount of luck.)

And that’s all for now, friends. Have a great weekend, have fun playing some games, take the time to pet a dog, and remember to tell your loved ones that you love them.

I’ll see you back here next week.