The Queue: Presents!

We’re still so early into December and I think I have almost all of my Christmas shopping done! This has to be a record.

I’ve even gotten fresh wrapping paper covered in sharks in Santa hats. Everything is coming Milhouse!

While I check my shopping list again, it’s time for — The Queue!

I don’t think it should be all at once. That’d have you dealing with wildly different amounts of mechanics and design philosophies from across Warcraft’s lifespan. The whiplash of going from a Vanilla dungeon to a Legion one could leave so many tanks in the hospital.

What I would like to see is a new event or two to be added to the weekly rotation, while the Timewalking is split off into its own weekly rotation. Keep Timewalking always active, but cycle each week between the different expansions. There are enough different Timewalking options that it would still take almost two months before we see a repeat, which feels like enough cushion between Burning Crusade dungeons.

It’s definitely gotta be the strange concurrence between beaver-based city-builders. Timberborn and Against the Storm both came out so close to each other! It makes sense for beavers to build things, they’re a very industrious animal who builds things in real life. It was just weird for both to happen at the same time!

I think that Bioware can have a couple of days. December 4 for Dragon Age is a stretch, but not the biggest one. Both Mass Effect and Dragon Age are popular enough that it makes sense for some dedicated appreciation days for them. It’s not like they’re busy trying to make June 3 into Jade Empire Day or anything.

I do wish that we’d gotten more about Mass Effect this past N7 day even with their release of Veilguard happening right before it. I also wonder how much more we’re going to see on Dec 4 for Dragon Age in the coming years with the big focus shift to Mass Effect. 

I can’t point to what about Rumble got its hooks in me so deeply, but I think that it’s just a really solid game to play for a few minutes when nothing else is happening. It’s got all of the Blizzard charm on display in the unit designs which goes a long way. The pool of units makes sense and is deep enough to have had a few different playstyles as I have progressed through the content.

I hope that with the PC version launching very soon more people give it another shot. Especially if it means the difference between running circles in the capital city of your choice, or throwing spear-throwing Murlocs at a problem until it isn’t a problem anymore. I know it’s not for everyone, and since its a free-to-play game that means that you’re in for a long grind, but I’m still having fun!

I feel like we’d see something similar to what happened with Mephisto’s soulstone in Vessel of Hatred. The power of Diablo would leech out of the stone and poison the surrounding areas more and more until he broke free again. The Diablo soulstone had been damaged by the Archbishop which is what helped to kick off the events of Diablo 1 and thus the human prison option was the only thing that would even keep that much of him contained. It worked better with Tal Rasha and Ba’al since the Horadrim were able to build the prison around him afterward.

So we’ve got a leaky soulstone being carried by a person who has no idea of what to do with it. They’d cause almost as much havoc unintentionally as Diablo would’ve if he’d been piloting the body. I could see them still trying to get to Kurast with it. The holy order there could be trusted with the stone. It’d just be a long way to go all by themselves. Neyrelle had a firm destination in mind, and even then she couldn’t make it without help.

So likely Diablo corrupts the desert entirely and he makes his base of power there. Eventually, he’d manifest in some way again and bring Hell to Sanctuary. Along the way, he’d be able to find Ba’al imprisoned in Tal Rasha take the fight to the Barbarians at Arreat and corrupt the Worldstone entirely. Maybe Mephisto would be there, but if the Barbarians could barely hold out against one Prime Evil, I doubt they’d be able to handle two.

Game over for humanity!

I think that the more contained Diablo probably was our saving grace after seeing how an improper/damaged soulstone can’t be trusted to hold a Prime Evil.

Some cat treats and a new toy or two probably! I might have to find a really good one for him still. Certainly, a nice warm lap to nap in, with very few interruptions.

Today’s Bacardi is ready for his ultra closeup! I got a new phone and thus my camera is better, which means better pictures of him for you! You’re all so lucky. Maybe that luck will even carry over to your vaults!

Today’s Anna Earworm™: HOT TO GO

We’re running out of time for more shopping and I just remembered another thing I should try and get, I’ll see you here next week and maybe I’ll be done for real this time. In the meantime, make sure Anna has lots of questions for tomorrow so she can focus on getting other Christmas stuff ready.