The Queue: Ob la di, Diablo

It just occurred to me that Ob La Di is an anagram of Diablo so I’m really wondering if there’s some secret meaning behind the song. Could Desmond actually be a rework of “D[iablo] Demons”? Could the “barrow in the marketplace” actually be a reference to the Gauntlet of the Wastes? It wouldn’t surprise me to learn that McCartney put references in all his works — after all, canonically the walrus was Paul.

While I consider whether Penny Lane is a road in New Tristram and download the Diablo 4 beta (85 gigs!) let’s answer some questions!

I’m going to answer in reverse order because the Warcraft spell one is easier for me: Ascendance. I don’t often play Shaman but there’s just something I love about transforming into a Flame Ascendant and spamming Lava Beam.

As for a weapon, that’s tough because I have to consider every weapon in the game since they’re all Hunter weapons. That said my favorite weapon in the game is probably Arathar, the Eye of Flame because I got it on my first ever World of Warcraft final raid boss kill. Thanks, Ragnaros, for being iconic.

Second place probably goes to the different colorations of the Blunderbuss of Khaz Modan. Who says Hunters can’t wield maces?

My favorite current raid fight is easy: the Primal Council. Why? Because you’re supposed to stand in the fire! I love fights that contravene conventional wisdom.

Worst fight is a little tougher as I find all the encounters interesting in Vault of the Incarnates. It’s either Kurog because one wrong move by the tank can kill half the raid, or Sennarth because I dislike having to deal with the tiny spiders.

As for making the vault experience better that’s easy: Personal Loot.

Moonkin economics is a thorny issue for researchers to uncover, but years of intense study found that the original basis of the economy was Light Feather sales to NPC Priests and Mages. The current basis is unknown, but it’s predicted to be a mix of tourism and raiding other nearby humanoid tribes.

While I’ll likely have a Dracthyr Hunter (because Hunter), what I’m really hoping we get are Dracthyr Shaman. Besides having cool Dragon Totems, there’s something subversive about a Dracthyr Shaman with all the anti-elementalist propaganda being passed around in Valdrakken. My character will surely utter It’s not a phase, Alexstrasza! many times.

Regular Dwarf wins this easily because the anvil shoulders on the Dark Iron just look silly. Plus unlocking the Dwarf heritage armor may have brought tears to my eyes.

That said, we may be getting new Ironforge Guard armor, tabard and weapons and I AM PUMPED.

I mean, what else is there to say? He’s a cutie-patootie. He likes hanging out with us on the couch, but he also loves going for walks. He has started chasing after squirrels in the yard, but you can sorta tell that he has no intention to catch them, just wants them to stay away from the treats he leaves around outside.

Oh, and even though we thought he was a Poodle, he’s actually a Bichon Frise!

I am a fundamentally optimistic person, so I have to think so. Plus like Paul sang it’s getting better all the time

… and like John sang, it can’t get no worse. We hope.

A Cavern of Time instance where the goal is to make sure Neltharion still gets corrupt is hilarious in principle. While a little similar to the Black Morass — where we protected Medivh so he could bring the Orcs to Azeroth — the idea of the Infinite Dragonflight trying to keep Neltharion on the straight and narrow and where we’re all like “you should turn to the Old Gods, all the cool kids are doing it” would be choice.

As for the other two, my dream is still for a War of Three Hammers-related dungeon where we have to ensure Ragnaros gets summoned. The third one should be something lighter, like preventing the Infinite Dragonflight from stealing Donna‘s doll Betsy.

That’s it for today’s queue. I hope everyone has a great weekend and gets a chance to try out the Diablo 4 beta if they are eligible to. Be sure to ask questions for Cory, who I’m sure will now subconsciously choose Live and Let Die as his next earworm.