The Queue: Mythological creatures, BlizzCon betting pools, and another week on cursed snake island

I’m trying to improve my perspective on the latest WoW patch, and looking for the positive side of cursed snake island. There has to be something good about this place, something to appreciate. I found this pleasant waterfall, which might be a nice place to sit with a picnic blanket. I don’t see a single snake.

But I do see giants, and there are some unfriendly beasties in the water, as well as insects flying around. Even without the snakes, this is hard to recommend as a vacation spot. I’ll keep trying to look on the bright side, but I haven’t found it yet.

So let’s get to the Queue, our daily Q&A column where I do my best to answer your questions. Let’s get to the comments.

This is going to depend on a lot of factors, like the size of the average Warlock’s home and what kind of energy needs they have. Is their lighting and heating system powered by souls or is it candles and fireplaces? The latter is free of soul consumption (save for specialized fireplace systems) and thus a more efficient option for the budget-conscious Warlock.

I would say for a modestly sized home, perhaps a soul a week. For something extravagant like Dreadscar Rift which has portals and other magical devices to maintain, an isolated island to shield and climate control as it floats in empty space? Hundreds a week, at least.

Certainly the unicorn, a beautiful creature with a horn appropriate for goring anyone who doesn’t treat it with respect, much like its modern cousin the rhinoceros.

I’d go with still water to make some tranquil pools. A koi pool or a reflecting pool or a swimming pool.

But then you kind of also need flowing water to feed into your majestic pool. Having one type of water  naturally leads to needing the other. But I still think I’d start with still water because I want a koi pond.

We’re living in a very different digital world than we did when we started writing the Queue during the Wrath of the Lich King beta. Back then the comments section was the primary way to interact with the site, and every post had dozens or hundreds of comments.

Today, the primary way people interact with content on the site is social media or Discord, where articles get shared and discussed, sometimes just based on the headlines. A high comment post might have two or three comments, because discussion just doesn’t happen on the website anymore — and where the Queue is concerned, that means there are fewer people browsing posts on the site and even finding the Queue. The number of potential newcomers is low because of the nature of how we talk online and share things online today. An open comment thread like this may work for us, but it’s a little archaic. It’s outside the social media AI-driven algorithm world where most online discussion exists.

And the posts themselves are so random that if someone does run across them, they may not understand what they are to click them. That’s why we started adding a line in the intro about the Queue being a Q&A column, so people scrolling past it on the homepage have an idea what they’re getting into.

In the next version of the website (coming some time after BlizzCon), it will also automatically hit social media, which we don’t consistently do. Posting it to social media doesn’t typically seem to bring in new commenters either — the headlines and header images and introductions are a little too random and unfocused to grab the social media zeitgeist — but it raises awareness of the Queue’s existence, and that doesn’t hurt.

So while I think there may be something to this being an insular community that is hard for newcomers to work their way into, I don’t think it’s unwelcoming, and it’s more that fewer people are spending time in website comment sections.

But if you want more people to talk to, we need to be friendly and say hello to new people when we see them. I know the old stranger danger thinking, but a stranger is also a friend you haven’t just met yet. (A stranger could also be an enemy you haven’t met yet, but you won’t know until you try.)

It’s not hopium if it’s real, Moose. It’s gonna happen. Heroes of the Storm is coming back. I can feel it in my bones.

The betting pool is also pretty hot for StarCraft, which is included in this year’s BlizzCon key art despite not having a game in active dev. We are down on Diablo 5 because I am not allowing anyone to bet on it. No. Just no. No.

It sure is a Thursday. I’m ready to go back to bed.

That’s all for today my friends. Take care and I’ll see you in the comments section.