The Queue: In the distance, sirens

The new UI sure is something, huh? I figured the talent system would be the biggest headache to come with the prepatch but boy was I wrong. There were a lot of UI-related questions yesterday but as I am someone who can’t move a picture in Word without destroying the entire document I don’t think I’ll be able to effectively tackle them.

My name is Kalcheus and I’m filling in for Mitch today — let’s answer some questions while wondering where the heck the Pet Bar disappeared to.

Now that Mages, Priests, and Rogues are available to all races it’s fair to wonder when the same treatment will occur with the other classes. I feel Warlocks will require the least additional customization to become available, so I’d be shocked when the next batch rolls out if they’re not included. You don’t even need to worry about the lore with Tauren Warlocks either — the Feltotem/Bloodtotem have rejoined their Highmountain brethren, and I’m sure they’d be willing to teach their cousins all the tricks of the trade.

The big question is when the next wave of combo opening will occur. Will the World of Warcraft team roll them out as they finish them, or are they going to save them for expansions?

There are not, they will not be coming until Dragonflight. Per the known issues blog:

I like footnotes, especially when done by Terry Pratchett, so I’m going to go with the Chicago style.

Yeah, I was surprised to find that out as well. Based on what I’m seeing on Reddit and elsewhere, it’ll be turned on with the second prepatch in three weeks. It’s still faster to level now due to the Winds of Wisdom buff, but if you’re tired of the Shadowlands I can see wanting to wait.

Also want to note that when Shadowlands ends up in Chromie Time you will no longer be able to use the Threads of Fate to level. Which makes sense, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

I have not, although I have been tempted to level a new priest. Mostly it’s about finding the time to do it, and I still have enough to do in-game that I want to get done that free time to level isn’t really there — I’m even thinking about deleting rather than leveling some under-60 characters.

Of course, ask me again next week and I may tell you I have three level 15s working their way through Loch Modan or Highmountain.

Caffeine. Lots and lots of caffeine.

We all know Odyn is a jerk — just ask Helya — but I believe Odyn’s intentions aren’t necessarily nefarious here. He wants to bring Order to Azeroth, and that means squelching dissent — again, ask Helya — and ensuring that when mortals look for powers to emulate they cast their eyes upon the Titans and no one else.

The Black Empire was a civilization and as such they had accomplishments. Granted, most of them were probably of the tentacle-y and torture-y kind, but they built cities, they had a stratified society, they had their own power source. That doesn’t necessarily mean they were good or beneficial, mind you, it just means they had something that mortals might want to emulate besides the Titans. Odyn didn’t want the mortal races to break down into a simulacrum of Titan vs Old God, so he made sure to besmirch the latter as much as possible.

Hiding the First Ones was done for similar reasons. Every kid knows that when a parent isn’t giving you something you want, appealing to your grandparents can be an effective remedy. Even if the First Ones are completely absent from Azeroth, knowledge of their existence undermines the Titans’ authority. It also leads to questions about other descendants of the First Ones — to continue with the familial example, is there a cool Aunt or fun Uncle out there that mortals will turn to instead of the Titans? That’s what Odyn was concerned with, and why he took those steps.

Alrighty, that’s all the time we have for questions today. Be sure to ask plenty for Liz, and she may even be brave enough to answer UI questions and — wait a second, why are my quests now showing backwards?!?