The Queue: No raccoons here (probably)

What’s going on with all the raccoon talk in the last Queue? I asked Cory, and he told me “It’s a total mystery and nothing I did for sure.” So I have to take him at his word for it and assume it’s everyone else who is being weird. Why would a raccoon wear an eye patch, anyway? So I’m watching all of you is what I’m saying.

This the Queue, our daily Q&A column which I am currently using as an excuse to post this picture of Moo Deng, which is going to make all of our days better. Let’s get to it.

There was definitely an episode of Critical Role campaign 4 for which I was not going to forgive Brennan Lee Mulligan.

It’s okay. It’s fine. I’m fine. I’m over it. The television can’t respond to me, so there’s no point in yelling at it, or throwing things at it, or sending it strongly worded letters about its content choices. It’s just a TV. It’s fine.

I think there’s too many variables to break it down to just location and season. Certainly in the winter I’m more likely to play games, because days are short and it’s often miserably cold. But I’m also likely to play games in the summer, because it’s hot and there are bugs and the sun is constantly trying to kill me. Spring I’m indeterminate on. Fall, however, I’m most likely to have things I want to do out of the house as the weather is just starting to get a chill and all the trees turn beautiful colors, and there are all sorts of fall and spooky season activities.

So maybe you are right, and there’s a seasonal correlation. But it probably varies person to person, and depending on the types of activities they enjoy. If you love long walks on the beach, you may like the nice weather and be more likely to stay away from your computer, but the last time I walked on a beach it was winter and the beach was covered in snow and blissfully quiet except for the waves. Perfection.

But for WoW in particular, content cadence plays a big role in how much most people play. A new patch is a rush of excitement in which everyone is more likely to log in. But the excitement fades, and people wander off to other things. An expansion release or a major patch has more to do than a smaller x.0.5 or x.0.7 patch, and you’ll find more people logging in and for longer periods. Personally, even with the last patch I’m not playing a ton because my guild finished out the raid tier and is all geared up so 12.0.7 doesn’t have a lot that I felt eager to dive into. I’ve done a little questing, but none of it feels urgent, so I’m spending less time in WoW than usual.

So maybe you’re on to something, and the weather plays a part in how much we log in. But there are lots of reasons to sit at our computers that go beyond the season, so I suspect this oversimplifies it.

Freeze it! You can drag one item to the bottom of the shop interface to save it for future months, so you can buy it next month. You can only hold a single item, though, but if there’s just one thing you really need, it’s a perfect solution.

Also, definitely double check to see if there are more tenders on offer this month. If this was all you wanted, you should have had a thousand tenders you could earn in July. Hit shift-J and then go to the trading post tab to see if you’ve filled the bar, and check the chest at the trading post to see if you have tenders there that you just haven’t picked up. It’s worth double-checking, at least!

I think the town is marketing itself all wrong by aiming to be the next Martha’s Vineyard. New England is full of quaint little seaside towns that feel the weight of their years. But not every quaint little seaside village is also haunted, and I think this is a massive tourism market to exploit. Don’t stress about the inn being haunted — put it in the brochure! Haunted tourism is huge. Be the quaint little town during the day, and play up the hauntings during the night and you have covered all your potential tourism angles. Everybody wins! Even the ghosts, who get all of that extra attention and more potential victims.

I haven’t finished the series yet, but I’m sure it’s fine. It’s probably fine. Tom has at least a 50% shot of surviving this.

But that’s all for today, friends. Our TV recommendation this week is apparently Widow’s Bay, the story of a quaint island town in which nothing bad ever happens to anybody. Probably.

Take care, have a good afternoon, and I’ll see you in the comments section.