The Queue: Next week will not be quiet

Dragonflight patch 10.2.6 did not arrive this week despite the eight-hour downtime yesterday, which means next week is a prime candidate for its arrival. Which wouldn’t normally be a problem, except this is the list of everything else happening in the video game world next week:

• Hearthstone is releasing their next expansion Whizbang’s Workshop
• Hi-Fi Rush and Rise of the Ronin are arriving on the PS5
• Princess Peach: Showtime! is arriving for the Nintendo Switch
• Horizon Forbidden West: Complete Edition is releasing for PC
• Alone in the Dark and Dragon’s Dogma 2 are coming out on all next-gen platforms (sorry, Switch owners) and PC
• And for sports fans it’s time for MLB The Show ’24 on all consoles

That’s an insane number of major titles to come out in the same week, especially in March. Perhaps everyone is afraid to release against South Park: Snow Day the following week?

While I ponder whether these game releases are the true March Madness, let’s answer some questions!

This is in reference to yesterday’s Season 4 Dungeon Preview, which contains the following awkwardly-phrased paragraph regarding Mythic difficulty:

One of the most notable changes players can look forward to is the removal of the timer for Mythic Keystone dungeons for what are currently 0 and 10. Players can run through these dungeons at their own pace without the need to watch the clock while still honing their skills.

This does not mean that in Season 4 you’ll be able to run Mythic 0 through +10 without a timer. Instead, what they’re trying to say is that Heroic and Mythic 0 in Season 4 will be equivalent in difficulty to Season 3’s Mythic 0 and +10 so you’ll be able to experience those current difficulties without a timer.

Frankly the entire article reads oddly, like you normally wouldn’t expect difficulty and rewards to go up for a new season. That said, if Heroic dungeons are actually more of a challenge going forward that would be fantastic.

I dunno about giggle for the silly, but I know the perfect D&D monster to cause horror to players:

Rust Monster

In the context of WoW I imagine the effect would be an interruptible melee AOE that “damages” armor and weapons, with each hit doing 50% durability penalty to one piece. May actually help more players learn how to use their interrupts!

As I alluded to in the intro I believe it’s coming next week. Falrinn made a great point in the Queue comments yesterday that Thursday’s Developer Update will probably announce its imminent release in addition to discussing the forthcoming Season 4.

Unfortunately I think the odds are low. While transmog restrictions have loosened the past couple years I suspect some of the more egregious holiday pieces will remain limited to their respective celebration. Which is a shame, because I’d love to wear the Garland of Grain all year long.

It does look like they’ve added some new appearances for Noblegarden (or the Trading Post) which while not bunny ears are still very Spring-like.

Ok, so “favorite” is always a subjective word. For gameplay is it a game like World of Warcraft that I’ve enjoyed playing for over 15 years? Or a franchise like Civilization that I’ve dedicated over 30 years too? For story is it the game that resonated most with me, the one I thought was most clever, or the one I think about it constantly?

I think I’m going to approach the question from a different direction. My favorite games for the two categories are Metroid Dread and Life is Strange: True Colors respectively. The reason they’re my “favorite” is because they radically reconfigured my expectations of what video games could be in my life. Before them I was content to play only a few games a year (one of which was World of Warcraft for a ton of hours) and while I challenged myself within those games they were in many ways “comfortable” games for me.

I played Metroid Dread because when younger I was a fan of metroidvanias but I’ve never been good at them or come close to beating them. But Dread was so much fun and while difficult I was able to complete it and it felt so wonderful to do so. It basically awakened me to the fact that I had gotten too comfortable with the games I was playing, and that not only could I spend time in genres I hadn’t played in forever I could actually become more than competent in them.

While Dread got me thinking about technical skill, Life is Strange: True Colors really opened my eyes as to what the video game industry was doing with story. It was probably the first game I ever played where the story was so important — while also not neglecting gameplay (like virtual novels do). It wasn’t a perfect story — I have some criticisms, and my understanding is that the other games in the series are generally considered better — but it was revelatory.

So yeah, that’s my answer for now.

Sticking to traditional Disney animation (i.e. no Pixar), here are the films I’ve seen this millennium and how I would rank them from worst to first:

• Planes,  Planes: Fire & Rescue (while spun off from Cars, these are standard studio Disney films) — these were about as forgettable as you’d expect. Although I have to admit the animation of the forest fire in the second film was really well done.
• Raya & the Last Dragon — I expected to like this a lot more. Didn’t really resonate with me though.
• Tangled — I don’t dislike Tangled, but if given a choice I’d watch one of the following films before I’d watch it again. “I’ve Got a Dream” is really good though.
• Wreck-It-Ralph — Pretty funny, but I’ve never felt compelled to see it again.
• Ralph Breaks the Internet — Not as good as the original in terms of plot, but the references were top notch (especially the Princesses).

Now it gets really tough …

• Zootopia — The lack of songs to sing along with prevent it from getting higher on this list. Still enjoy it.
• Frozen — Still a great film, still belt out “Let It Go!” at the top of my lungs, but I feel this is a case of seeing it too many times by now.
• Encanto — Fantastic film, fantastic songs, and just generally a great experience.
• Frozen 2 — The story/mythology expanded in Frozen 2 is what really elevates it for me. The one real negative of the film — Hans’ plot — is redeemed by a banger of a song.
• Moana — My second favorite Disney film (after Mulan). I love it so much, and I’m terrified that they’re planning a sequel. I am looking forward to the live action version though.

That’s all the time we have for questions today. Leave plenty for Matt to answer tomorrow, and good luck getting the Hearthstone event collectibles despite its inherent RNG ridiculousness.