The Queue: Nine Days until BlizzCon edition
@Kalcheus
Can you believe we’re less than 10 days away from BlizzCon 2023? Can you believe that English doesn’t have a word for a 10-day period (although “decade” has been used for that in the past, it’d be confusing to use nowadays)? Can you believe we still don’t have a schedule for BlizzCon yet*? Can you believe I started off four sentences in a row with “can you believe”?
Anyways, nine days until information overload and my body is ready. And I still think the amount of space dedicated to Overwatch 2 on the BlizzCon map is exorbitant. Could the Upcoming Survival Game be hiding in there? We’ll find out soon enough!
We’re also deep into leak season and even World of Warcraft is getting into the mix posting images that may or may not be meaningful. I personally agree with Wowhead that it’s likely props for the Corridor of Time section, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy speculating.
Anyway, that’s enough text in the intro, let’s answer some questions!
*I’m praying this reverse jinx works
Is Mitch OK?
Mitch is perfectly fine! He’s just superbusy with work lately so Red and I are helping him out until things calm down.
Question for the Kal Queue: since you asked about HOTS coming back, what would you do to change the game if you could bring it back?
I’d add in a story mode. You pick your favorite character, then play through a sequence that pits your character against a randomly-selected variant from the various HOTS characters, so you could get some really weird rivalries, like Kerrigan having a serious beef with alt-universe Brightwing. Playing matches against computer opponents would ensure that your rival was on the enemy team. The story itself would involve a bunch of shenanigans with known hero variants, as opposed to the story we once got, which was just about the Nexus’s own people.
I actually really like that idea! If they do bring Heroes of the Storm back I’m going to leverage my industry contacts to make that happen … right after I get some industry contacts.
To be honest I don’t have any ideas outside of “actually support the game”; while it’s possible the MOBA ship has sailed, no longer treating the game like it’s an orphan living in the crawlspace should reap some benefits.
Plus they should give Sergeant Hammer a Dwarf skin. I’m not saying giving her a Horde theme doomed the franchise, but it sure didn’t help!
Semi-related: I still think Qhira is supposed to be from the Upcoming Survival Game. I thought I’d just add it here so that my prediction/hypothesis is in print.
Q4tQ: If you were going trick-or-treating in WoW, what route would be the most lucrative? Would you prioritize quantity and just go for the most densely populated city, or do you feel like one city might give out better candy then another? Or is there a location I’m not even thinking of that is more remote, but gives out the good stuff, king sized candy bars, just to entice / reward those that make the long journey?
The answer has to be Suramar City. Lots of residences close together, lots of wealthy people, and a population used to treats. It’s the perfect spot.
Q4tQ: if a toon has looted Inn pumpkins in previous Hallows’ Ends can that same toon go loot this time around to get enough Tricky Treats for this year’s new toy?
The pumpkins are supposed to be reset each year so you can repeat them. There have been a few times I remember in the past when they forgot to do so and had to do a hotfix reset, but it’s all good this year.
Important thing to note: the Dragon Isles now have pumpkins in their inns, and you can get a good 100+ tricky treats just from visiting them all to get the new achievement.
What are the odds they killed Anduin off screen and he’s never coming back?
0%. No chance. None.
Because if they kill Anduin off screen then he’s definitely coming back. Would he be a Nathrezim? Some form of automata? A marriage prospect for Calia Menethil? It could be any of these!
All that said, they’re not going to do that with Anduin because they’ve pretty much already did the whole disappearing act with his father. Of course, even if Anduin is Anduin it doesn’t mean his return would necessarily be without strife.
This whole scenario is yet another reason they should strip the title of High King from him.
QftQ: I’ve heard buzz about professions in WoW being mostly a hobby in Dragonflight, so what is the future of profs?
Some people might disagree with the use of the word “hobby” but I think it’s actually a great way to put it. It’s like gaming miniatures — you can buy prepainted miniatures, but the quality isn’t always going to be great; you can paint your own miniatures but how they turn out is going to depend on how much time and effort you put into learning how to paint miniatures; or you can even get yourself a 3D printer and make your own miniatures from scratch.
In other words, you can get what you need from professions in Dragonflight without too much effort, but if you have the time and wherewithal you can really get a lot of good stuff from crafting.
As for the future, I do think they went overboard with the system revamp. I like the idea of being able to improve an item with components, but they should get rid of quality especially in raw materials if only for the sake of our reagent bag space. If they want crafted gear to have incremental power then just add them to the upgrade system and put in restrictions to prevent players from maxing out their gear via crafting the first week of the season.
This is where my question would be. IF I HAD ONE
The answer is either blowing in the wind, or it’s 42. Depends on your interests.
What do you do when you want to catch up with WoW but also play Diablo 4 season 2 and the other games in your backlog, like Sea of Stars, while also making room for upcoming games, like Persona 5 Tactica?
You didn’t even mention Hearthstone! But this is easy, Shen Comix answered this a long time ago:
In all seriousness sometimes you have to recognize the difference between a game you’re enjoying and a game you’re simply playing. I’ve done very little with Diablo 4 after finishing the campaign because I don’t find the gameplay enjoyable enough to hit the gear treadmill. There’s a lot of busywork I can do in World of Warcraft but I’ve been trying to adjust my mindset as to whether it’s worth farming every toy or mount in the game. This doesn’t mean I don’t want anything, but I’m trying to make sure it’s something I really want before I dedicate time to it.
Azshara and Elisande in a ring, who wins?
Do you know how you can go into Nighthold on a level 70 character and spend more time listening to the Elisandre RP than actually fighting her? That’s what Azshara’s experience would be, mostly tapping her tentacles waiting to unleash a maelstrom of pain on the Grand Magistrix. It wouldn’t be pretty.
That’s all for this Wednesday. I hope you have a great day and are staying hydrated. Be good, be kind, and ask plenty of questions for Matt tomorrow!
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