The Queue: Oh no

This is not what I expected, but when is anything what we expect it to be? At least I didn’t become a smudge on the streets of Undermine (again), but Goblin technology could stand to have a couple more creature comforts.

But where here for the Queue, so the Queue we shall have. Let’s get to some questions.

1. I am unfortunately unfamiliar with the state of takeout food in Undermine. I just haven’t been there long enough to get the foodie scene down, and not all of the Goblins are friendly so I’m sort of scared to ask.
2. …but I can tell you, as others have, that yes, Goblins came from Kezan and that’s their starting zone and where they do their heritage armor quest, though we haven’t been there as an ordinary zone. So we’ve seen Kezan, but we haven’t quite been to Kezan. Matt and Joe did a whole Lore Watch on Goblin history recently if you want to know more about their history, though I’m not sure exactly how much it went into Kezan.

Such a shame that Blizzard spoiled their own expansion announcement by announcing it in advance. But I’m sure BlizzCon will find some way to surprise us.

But surprises or no, if BlizzCon had live tavern music I would sit there all day and listen to it. Sure, it could be billed as a quiet escape from the BlizzCon crowds, but who needs the BlizzCon lines if you can sit in a Warcraft-themed tavern listening to live music for the duration? They’re probably going to have screens showing news wherever you are in the convention center, so it’s not like I need to be in front of a stage to know what’s happening.

I’ve been listening to the tavern music Blizzard dropped on YouTube yesterday, and it’s just so good. Warcraft has had plenty of music over the years, and it’s all evocative of different in-game places (some more memorable than others), but these tracks of tavern songs from vanilla zones? Boy do they take you back to your first time leveling, like an audio time capsule.

So, yes, definitely, live tavern music. (For whatever my vote is worth on the matter.)

That just goes to show that you ought to read the fine print on the warning label. Sure, it’s in 2 point font on the bottom of the device, which may be covered with a dozen stickers of increasingly adorable kittens that the bioprinter is supposedly replicating to your supposed surprise and supposed delight. But that’s no excuse for your negligence in operating definitely perfectly safe technology without reading the instructions, which clearly state you may (will, sometimes) accidentally end up with an extra Brann.

Frankly, you’re lucky you only have one extra. What if it were three, or four? Five? That’s every Warcraft player’s nightmare. Having one Brann Bronzebeard is already enough, and yet players keep equipping the bioprinter without reading the instructions.

(The hat thing is just weird though. The bioprinter must just know that Brann and the hat were meant to be.)

This does seem to be the way of it: as soon as you really commit to a piece of gear, you get a new upgrade. Personally, I tend to get upgrades as soon as I put a three-star enchant on what I’m using now. (Much like when you complain to tech support about a problem it starts working.) But you’ve gotta commit sometime or you’re stuck being undergeared forever.

The good news is that after upgrading your Champion level piece you won’t spend as many crests getting the early upgrades of the Hero level piece, but sometimes Valorstones feel just as rare as Crests. The two-currency upgrade system is a bit clunky, but it would feel very bad if you had to keep spending Crests every time. (Though it would be better if you could at least get a Valorstone discount. That 2000 Valorstone cap does not take you far after a raid night or delve day of upgrades.)

Nothing to do but embrace it. You’ve got a new weapon, and that’s not the most terrible problem to have.

I’m going to make it worse and tell you that the Lunar Festival Elder in Thunder Bluff is now Ezra Wheathoof, in honor of Ezra (and the NPC, Ahab Wheathoof, that he created). You can visit Ezra during the Lunar Festival even if you’re Alliance, as he’s on the outer edge of one of Thunder Bluff’s plateaus, you just have to stay along the outer edge to avoid guards. (I’ve never seen players fight while visiting Ezra, but at this point the knowledge of who he represents is old news, and you could find some PVP opportunists.) But you’ve missed him for the year, and I didn’t make the rounds myself when the event was live. We will all have to wait to pay our respects next year.

But better to be glad that Ezra was with us for a while, and he had the chance to be a video game designer, just like he wanted. He got the Ashes of A’lar, which is more than a lot of us can say even all these years later. And every time you stroll through Mulgore, he’s there, gone but not forgotten. A sort of strange digital magic.

And it is with that little story I leave you. To bring the mood back up, here’s that tavern music soundtrack:

I hope you are all having a good afternoon, and have a relaxing weekend to come. (At least as relaxing as they can be.) Take care everybody and I’ll see you again next week.