The Queue: People die and Valeera collects pieces of gear from their corpses

Valeera won’t stop collecting. Not until the map is 100% explored.

This is The Queue, where I make it a habit of turning certain questions into silly vignettes. It’s good creative exercise, I tell you!

It has to be someone who’s action-oriented, quick and nimble, lethal, and with the potential to keep improving themselves by acquiring upgrades (which in a Warcraft contest, could be pieces of gear).

I’m gonna go with Valeera Sanguinar! She’s one of the few characters who freely transits between Alliance and Horde, adding even more potential to a story featuring her. No place on Azeroth is off-limits, and she can take the missions no one else is suited for.

I’m gonna be super honest… I think I dislike them all!

For some reason, BFA just didn’t have any raids I enjoyed. The themes were disjointed — the story in that expansion was very disjointed in general, with the single worst premise for a WoW expansion ever in my opinion, followed by some very questionable story moments (forced faction conflict having lore figures “break character” for the sake of the dual narrative), weird bosses that feature an aesthetic I don’t dig at all (i.e., Mythrax et al), and major lore characters (like Azshara and N’Zoth) being sort of “wasted” by being used in ways that didn’t pay enough respect to their full potential.

So my answer is that they’re all my least favorite. But Battle for Dazar’alor is my most least favorite. And I guess Ul’dir is my least least favorite.

1) I like capys a lot. But I’m so busy these past few days that I can’t even find time to play WoW, let alone celebrate large, adorable, super chill water-based rodents. 🥺

2) I don’t think they have any big surprises left for us, no. Player Housing is a thing that they’re being smart to hype players about, and we already know the basic story beats. I wouldn’t expect anything major to truly surprise us, but I do expect some lesser surprises — every expansion has some of those. Some feature that flew under the radar but ended up being super cool, a minor NPC or lore moment that became unexpectedly beloved by the community, etc. Just nothing deliberate, I guess. But I’d love to be proven wrong on this!

3) Gilneas for sure. Stomrsong Valley. Drustvar. (See, I don’t hate all of BFA.) Nagrand. Spires of Arak! Highmountain!

So many places, to be honest.

4) Fighting games! Whichever one I’m playing at the moment (right now, it’s Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves, though I haven’t launched it in quite a while. Busy busy busy!)

I never left! I’ve been on Duolingo for 13 years.

13 years.

I got my mom and dad to start, and it became something we bond over. I think it’s great for them to get the daily brain exercise.

I actually learned enough French that I’d be able to get around in a French-speaking place, understanding the gist of what’s going on. I’d be able to order food, take transportation, ask for directions (probably), etc.

I’ve learned some Japanese to have a slightly better grasp of those videogames and anime I enjoy, and to order some neat artbooks from Japan. Sure, I’m very, very far from actually comprehending the Japanese language, but just this very basic level knowledge is already something that has made a positive impact.

So even though I perfectly understand the concerns everyone has about AI — don’t get me wrong, I think it’s really crappy too — I’m not gonna throw all of that away over it. We have to make choices. As Sonic the Hedgehog teaches us, if I wanted to live a fully ethical life, I probably couldn’t order anything from Amazon or get any products from Nike or Zara or Nestle either, or even purchase a lot of over the counter medicine. It’s tough. It’s the world we live in, and unlike what the extremely dumb kid in the well (who thinks he’s very smart) says, we can wish (and work) to improve society while still taking part in it.

If Duolingo ever becomes something truly egregious, if the quality vastly drops, etc., I might consider leaving. But for now, I just sigh, weep for lost friends, and keep going. On to 14 years!

I was more surprised that Moo Deng is just one year old! I really thought she was two or three at this point. But no, sadly I was unable to get her anything (other than my distant but undying platonic love, of course).

This has been The Queue, and Valeera has just gotten the Toxic Blades upgrade for her daggers. I’d watch out if I were you. Take care, friends!