The Queue: ’twas the hour before BlizzCon…

The time is nearly upon us. Let us Queue before it arrives.

Follow the transmog: I’m going to say gloves. There are tons of cloak appearances in the game and there’s always one you can substitute for another, but gloves are usually an integral part of a set look, and can be more difficult to replace. But in the end, pick what looks good.

After all, World of Warcraft is really just an elaborate game of dress-up, and we should always go for the best looks.

Absolutely. But you may want to dramatize it a little bit. World of Warcraft is an epic fantasy universe in which we have vanquished literal gods, and lots of them. Describe the epic brawl for Opening Ceremony seating (a random drawing) in all its gory detail. Lay bare the horrors the three-hour lines for merch.

Sure, sometimes Azeroth manages to kill us with elevators, but I think you’ll still want to play it up to fit the theme.

The sad thing about BlizzCon is that it has, by and large, become fairly predictable. It’s the time to announce expansions — which I expect from almost every Blizzard Game — or major content patches — which I expect from every other Blizzard game. And every game has developed its own cadence over the years. It seems practically impossible that Blizzard won’t announce new expansions (or expansion-sized content) for WoW, WoW Classic, and Diablo 4, even if we don’t know exactly what they’ll be. In this predictable cadence, we’ve lost much of the element of surprise.

And I’d love to be surprised this year. I really hope Blizzard pulls up the curtain and behind it there’s a new StarCraft game… or something equally unimaginable. Let’s hear more about the survival game Blizzard has been keeping quiet on. Let’s hear about the future of the RTS genre.   Let’s hear about something so out-of-left-field that I can’t even imagine what it could be. I crave the delight that follows a pleasant surprise, and I hope Blizzard has something, anything, to throw us all for a loop.

But if I knew what it was well enough to guess, it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore and thus wouldn’t be quite as delightful. Come on, Blizzard, surprise me!

The foam sword rack has been in the game for an age, but I can’t recall ever having seen one in the game. They’re just that rare.

Has being that rare made the item more special? Sure, it’s something not everyone has. But has being that rare made the item more fun? Definitely not.

Fun is a rack of foam swords you can use all the time. A rack of foam swords everybody can use all the time.

And putting this toy on the Trading Post gives us that. Take a minute or two to feel sad that this rare item you had collected is now available to everyone… and then just get out there and enjoy the new coming foam sword wars. They’re gonna be great, I just know it.

Absolutely.

I don’t know what Blizzard is going to announce today, not exactly, but I am content with whatever comes. Maybe Blizzard will announce my heart’s desire, like armor dye or player housing. I’ll be thrilled, over the moon, can’t wait to play. Maybe Blizzard will go down the rote series of expansions with the rote series of features — new continent with ten new levels and four new factions to meet! also a raid tier! — that’s good too. Dragonflight has been great, and if Blizzard keeps on keeping on, that will be a good expansion.

Then it’s also possible that Blizzard announces something that I really don’t like. A feature that isn’t for me, or a story direction that I don’t care for. And… that’s okay too. I’ll watch it warily, fearing the worst and hoping for the best. And no matter how it turns out, I’ll get to play it alongside my friends… and hanging out with them is what will make it fun, even if the game itself doesn’t thrill me. Raid night is always a good time, no matter the content except Sludgefist progression.

No matter what Blizzard announces, things will be pretty good.

… still, I’m keeping my fingers crossed for armor dyes. (I am not holding my breath, however. That would be foolish.)

And that’s all for now, friends. I’ll see you (virtually!) at the opening ceremonies. Bye!