The Queue: A Wednesday of getting into the holiday spirit
@faience
It’s the holiday season, which means it’s cold and dark and I would rather hibernate until spring. But it also means holiday lights, festive packages, the Steam Winter Sale (soon) and more festivity. We can’t have one without the other.
But for now, while the sun is up, let’s do the Queue.
Seeing some people assuming that Blizz has multiple new announcements to make at Blizzcon simply because there’s a Blizzcon and I’m slightly irritated that people like… hyping yourself up is fine as long as you’re aware they haven’t actually promised anything, but actively insisting that “they wouldn’t be doing a Blizzcon if they weren’t going to announce new games” is a bit silly IMO
I do think it’s a fair assumption that Blizzard wouldn’t hold a BlizzCon without something exciting to show off. Blizzard hasn’t always kept a consistent annual schedule of BlizzCons, and years in which there wasn’t a big announcement didn’t necessarily have one. And because we haven’t had a BlizzCon in a few years, I think there’s extra pressure on Blizzard to have something exciting at this one.
Unfortunately, I just don’t know what that could be. BlizzCon is scheduled for September 2026, and the content cadence just doesn’t fit any big announcements for existing games.
Midnight comes out in March, and by September patch 12.1 will likely just have gone live or be about to go live. It feels a little early even to talk about patch 12.2, much less anything larger like the next expansion. Diablo 4’s Lord of Hatred expansion launches in April, and by September we’ll likely be in the middle of Season 13, but it’s too early to announce a new expansion and a new season typically isn’t major news. Overwatch 2 and Hearthstone both have their consistent cadence of content, with seasons (and, for Hearthstone, cards) rolling out on a pretty fixed schedule, so we’ll certainly hear about the expected new content launches from them.
But if that’s all there is, it’s not much of a BlizzCon if it just announces minor patches and new seasons.
That, I think, is why some people expect something new… because if there isn’t something new, this $300 convention ticket could have been an email, and a short one at that. And that’s not the expectation Blizzard has set in the past, which has been this is where you come to see the newest Blizzard games before anyone else.
Whether that’s the right expectation or the wrong one, it’s the expectation that has been set, and Blizzard hasn’t tried to temper it (which certainly wouldn’t help with ticket sales).
So Blizzard hasn’t promised anything, but the event is a Blizzard-built hype factory and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect major new releases to be announced there. And without any release schedules lining up with the event date, the next assumption is that maybe we’re getting something new.
I’ve done the math myself. There’s nothing obvious for Blizzard to talk about in September 2026, except for WoW patch 12.1.5 or Diablo 4’s mid Season 13 update. Neither of those makes a BlizzCon.
If I start the timeways timewalking thing now can I still get the mount voucher? I forgot about it last week.
It’s fortunately not too late, because I haven’t done it either. The Turbulent Timeways event has gotten longer every time it’s been available, and you only need to do five weeks of Timewalking. So you still have plenty of time to earn the Master of the Turbulent Timeways IV achievement and get your new Shadowlands-themed mount, but don’t sleep on this one too long, because when it’s gone it’s gone.
Ha, Plumber added a click to the house editor, so you can actual know what time it is, and it also tracks and tells you how long you’ve been editing your housing in your current game session
I don’t want this information and neither does anyone else. BEGONE!!
Q4tQ: if you have already purchased everything you could want from Legion Remix, how would you spend an extra 100,000 bronze: buy a single yet very rare mount you will never use, or buy 5 mounts you will never use to pad you mount collection higher and closer to the next “Collect X number of mounts” achievement?
Absolutely pad your mount collection. It’s the only sensible thing to do as Remix winds down and the rewards run dry.
Share your fave Christmas album with me and I will listen and give an honest opinion of it! I love hearing new things.
And if you like, you can request an album from me!
’tis the season to play “Merry Christmas from the Family” on repeat. I like this recording because it has a twangy little riff of “Jingle Bells” on the guitar before going into the song, which is a nice little add. But one song does not an album make, and I think this song is actually only on a single live recording album. It’s not exactly themed.
My holiday go-to is also not exactly a holiday album, because I lean into Vince Guaraldi for the holidays. He’s best known for doing music for Charlie Brown cartoons, so you could go to A Charlie Brown Christmas for the classic holiday vibes. I actually like the George Winston piano album covering Guaraldi, which is more than just Christmas but includes this nice version of “Skating.” It’s a good soundtrack for tree decorating, cookie making, or to fill quiet spaces in the background.
Every one of you is now required to provide a holiday song for the rest of us.
That’s all for today, everyone. Take care and I’ll see you in the comments!
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