The Queue: These combos aren’t (yet) real

How much longer must we wait until we can roll a Forsaken Paladin, or a Worgen Demon Hunter? Sadly, I don’t have the answer. But I might have other answers. This is The Queue, and you get a complimentary pair of sunglasses and a roasted chicken for reading.*

*disclaimer: you do not actually get a complimentary pair of sunglasses or a roasted chicken for reading The Queue.

It would be nice; Talanji is indeed a compelling character. And there might actually be a connection of sorts to bring her back: our (probable) next antagonist, Xal’atath, has something of a story with the Zandalari.

You see… Xal’atath is kind of responsible for the splitting of the mighty Troll empire that once ruled over all of Azeroth into several smaller (and weaker) tribes, thousands of years ago. She corrupted a troll witch doctor named Zan’do, who wanted revenge, and had him awaken the body of Kith’ix, a slumbering servant of the Old Gods. Poor Zan’do and his allies were slaughtered, and Kith’ix proceeded to use Xal’atath’s power to rally the other minions of the Old Gods. Thus began the “Aqir and Troll War,” a bloody battle where the Old Gods sought to destroy the troll civilization.

Eventually, the trolls emerged victorious — but at great cost. The different troll tribes were scattered all across the world, far from Zandalar. No longer unified, they would eventually be overshadowed by other forces — chiefly among those the Night Elves — and lose their hegemony. In addition, Xal’atath’s darkness lingered, haunting the survivors of the war, and they still tell stories about the nefarious Black Blade to this day.

So perhaps Talanji feels it’s her obligation to warn Azeroth about what Xal’atath once did to her people — about how she had the power to call upon the forces of the Old Gods and launch a campaign to destroy the world. She calls herself the Harbinger now — so perhaps there’s something in all of those ancient Zandalari stories about how, exactly, Xal’atath can herald the Void, and what — if anything — can be done to stop her.

Here are the most common reasons I can think of; see if any of them fits for you:

1) You really like Earthen lore and always wanted to play one. Or you can’t get enough of Dwarves, and Earthen are close enough.

2) You’ve always wanted to play a Dwarf Horde-side.

3) You’ve always wanted to roll a bearded lady.

4) You’re an altoholic who must have a character of each race, because you want to play around with them, see their animations and racial abilities, etc.

5) All the cool kids are rolling an Earthen, and you don’t wanna be stuck with the lame-os.

If none of the above reasons apply, flip a coin. Heads you roll an Earthen, tails you roll a Mechagnome.

I absolutely agree with you. The original Wind Rider model for the Horde looks atrocious, so I was really happy when Blizzard finally added a fancy new version of that model to the game… except they didn’t bother replacing the Wind Riders from most old world flight paths! So those old atrocities are still in the game. Ugh.

However, I feel like Blizzard will only update those old racial mounts when they have a reason to — and that reason will mostly be related to new content being added to the game that features the races those mounts belong to. For instance, we know that the Midnight expansion will take place in Quel’thalas — so we could realistically expect for Blizzard to create some HD Hawkstriders or Dragonhawks as part of their efforts of building new assets for those Blood Elf zones. At least, that’s how they’ve been usually doing it.

So if you want them to update the old Elekk models… better pray the Draenei become really relevant in some upcoming lore, I guess.

I have to say, although you didn’t like the Emerald Dream, I’m in the opposite camp — the zone is not without its flaws, but I really enjoyed it overall. I should mention that I jumped into it after taking a long break from the game, but what caused that break was that I hated the 10.0 endgame content taking place in the four original Dragonflight zones. I tuned out of it really quickly; I felt absolutely overwhelmed and directionless.

…yet I read many comments praising that content, and I watched content creators claim that “WoW was back.” How could they be enjoying that content that I was hating?!

That’s kind of the crux of playing a game continually, as many of us play MMOs: it’s impossible to make everyone like all the content. I know players who loved the Timeless Isle back in Mists of Pandaria, and others that hated it. A lot of people loathed Korthia and Zereth Mortis in Shadowlands, while I couldn’t get enough of those zones! However, I couldn’t stand the Molten Front in Cataclysm — yet there are people who consider it one of the best outdoor experiences ever put in WoW.

In the end of the day, opinions about a zone are subjective; lots of factors will determine whether you end up liking it or not. We can’t objectively determine that a zone is “good” or “bad,” as each of us will experience it differently. All I can say is: sorry you’re not enjoying it, and hopefully whatever comes next is more to your taste!

Ms. Maven Whitemountain, obviously.

This Queue is over, and I still don’t have the ability to command my Gnome Paladin to ride their Light-Infused Mechanostrider, nor can I capture a flag in Warsong Gulch on a Dwarf Demon Hunter.

Regardless, we wait for the glorious day when World of Warcraft will allow us to delve into the stories of those heroic individuals. And while we wait, we make sure to ask lots of questions (seriously, guys, one of these days you’ll actually do it), take care, and have fun!