The Queue

I’m pretty sure it was Caesar or something, but today I’d like a refund. And a nap.

This is The Queue, our daily column where you ask us questions and we’ll get around to answering them after we finish with this paperwork (because there’s always paperwork on Tuesdays).

This is the first time I’ve gotten into the endgame of Diablo 4 and I think I’ve gotten the hang of it mostly. I’m still a little squishy, and a few levels short of 100, but things are going well! I’ve finished the battle pass, and am most of the way through the seasonal challenges. I think what I like so much about the Diablo endgame is that it’s a great game to listen to podcasts with. I can let the podcast wash over me while I slay the myriad baddies of Sanctuary.

While I get my next episode queued up, it’s time for — The Queue!

I know that’s a picture of a panda and a turtle, but just use your imagination, okay? Today is all about pandas, but you have to bring your own cats.

Some people come back to Skyrim or Oblivion over and over again, but for my money, the best computer RPG to return to is Kingdoms of Amalur. The Re-Reckoning version released by THQNordic, complete with the Fatesworn DLC, has been my game of choice lately after I finished a pretty fraught playthrough of Baldur’s Gate 3. Partially because of the balancing changes and partly because I wanted to actually get to see Fatesworn, I was interested in getting to play it again.

Anyway, I think it still holds up pretty well. It’s my favorite fantasy RPG and the conceit of playing a character who can change the fates of others because their own fate was removed reminds me a bit of the old David Eddings books I like, the Sparhawk series.

I picked up the very chill game Spirit City: Lofi Sessions this week and I’ve been enjoying having it in the background while I play World of Warcraft and write articles for BlizzardWatch. It’s good to relax, especially since the rest of this month is giving us:

• New Hearthstone Battlegrounds season on April 16
• World of Warcraft Season 4 on April 23
• Cataclysm Classic pre-patch on April 30
• Patch 10.2.7 PTR Soon™
• The War Within Alpha Soon-ish Maybe?

And that doesn’t even include Tales of Kenzera: ZAU releasing on April 23 and Taylor Swift’s new album Tortured Poets Department arriving on April 19.

So while I try to figure out how to double the length of days so I have time for all of this, let’s answer some questions.

I hope everyone had a rousing good time staring at the sun yesterday. I know eye sure did!

This is The Queue, where you ask us questions and if we squint at the screen we can probably get through answering.

After staying up too late the last week and a half, I’m now forced to go to work first thing in the morning and do actual work! So rude!!

I’m not quite sure how to be a functioning person that early anymore though, I’m sure it’ll be fine…

While I pack my extra large coffee mug for tomorrow, it’s time for — The Queue!

How definitive are we? Well, that’s up to debate, but I’m pretty sure we’re pretty definitive.

In case you were unaware that I am as ancient and hoary as a sinister black sword that drinks souls, let me introduce y’all to White Plume Mountain, the module that contains throwaway references to stuff that ended up becoming iconic Dungeons and Dragons villains and items. I mean, it’s heavily implied by the art in this module that Elric’s famous black sword Stormbringer ended up in this mountain under the name Blackrazor.

When I was a wee sprog of around 10, my fighter got his hands on that thing, and let me tell you, it was as bad an idea to let me have a sentient evil soul devouring greatsword as it would be for, say, the Prince of Lordaeron. But man, I can still remember the chant we all came up with for places we wanted to go after we were done inside the volcano of weird giant crabs and evil Efreets. Dragotha Dragotha Dragotha.

This is the Queue. We never actually did get to fight Dragotha.

“Why won’t she stop dancing?” wonders A. F. Kay amidst her studies, before taking a bite of her sandwich and a sip of her coffee. A study-appropriate version of Daughter of the Sea begins to play on her [Gnomish Ear-Covering Ensmallened Soundblasters 7000-X]. “Why?”