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Queuenanigans

The Queue: Where are the Elders of Pandaria?

The Lunar Festival has begun so it’s time for my annual gripe: where the heck are the Elders of Pandaria? The Pandaren literally have spirits of their ancestors as regular residents on the island and yet none of them give us lucky red envelopes. This oversight still bugs me, and seeing that Khaz Algar was getting Elders kinda angered me.

Fortunately they did a fantastic job with the new Elders. They recognized the fact that actual spirit Elders of the three NPC races made no sense and instead turned it into a way of instructing residents of the past — one of the Earthen Archivists was even pretending to be an Elder for immersion. Kudos to the development team for not just mindlessly adding spirit Elders to the zones but finding a way to expand on the holiday. Now if they could just turn their attention to the southern continent …

While I cruise around everywhere but Pandaria collecting Coins of Ancestry for the cool new mount let’s answer some questions!


The Queue: TS Eliot was wrong

January is the cruelest month, at least for those of us who follow gaming. Relatively few titles get released as many studios made sure to get them out before Christmas or are waiting until February and there also tends not to be many events where news could happen.

This year may be a huge exception though. Microsoft announced there will be an Xbox Direct next Thursday showcasing South of Midnight, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and DOOM: The Dark Ages — and a secret fourth title rumored to be from a “legendary” Japanese IP with decades of history. The rumor mill is in full swing over what this title might be with guesses ranging from Persona 6 to a new Final Fantasy title to even a new entry in the Ecco the Dolphin series.

The even bigger rumor that’s resounding throughout gamingdom is that we’ll finally be getting the Switch 2 announcement tomorrow. As of this moment there is no confirmation, but the report is credible and major outlets are treating it as highly likely. By this time on Friday we may be have all the details on Nintendo’s next generation console.

While we patiently look forward to jubilation or disappointment, let’s answer some questions!


The Queue: New Year, Old Me

2025 has arrived and while I’m not one to eschew resolutions for personal improvement (see below for more specific answers), I feel like sometimes the focus on “New Year, New Me” detracts from current version of you. While most of us have aspects of ourselves that we’d love to change or improve, suggesting a radical transformation assumes there’s not a lot already worthwhile in a person and I don’t think that’s true at all. So yes, make plans to exercise more or be more attentive to family/friends or to finish watching Season 2 of Arcane (we’re up to Episode 8!) but don’t forget to take the time to reflect on what’s already good and beautiful about yourself. It may be hard to see, but I’m sure it’s there.

While we all pledge to make 2025 the best year so far, let’s start it off well by answering some questions!


The Queue: Merry Happy!

Whoa! What’s that sound? Is that the tippy-tapping of secular boots on the roof? Oh, well, it must be yet another sign that it ’tis the season, because rumor has it that non-denominational Mr. Winter is on his way!

Hopefully everyone that is celebrating a holiday this week is having a joyous and relaxing one, and hopefully both Mister and Greatfather Winter delivered plenty of delightful items for you to play with.

While we wait to see whether we can get people to move their giant mounts out of the way to grab presents in Orgrimmar and Ironforge, let’s answer some questions!


The Queue: Trinity Fusion

Trinity Fusion is the most recent game I’ve played to completion, and it’s quite the fun one. A metroidvania more akin to Metroid than to the (Castle)vania, it’s about sci-fi worlds that need to be merged in order to be saved — and you’re one of the few with avatars on all four of the worlds and therefore you get to play the hero. The main deviation from the standard formula is that it also embraces the rogue-lite formula popularized by games like Hades. Explore, die, repeat — but with the opportunity to play as different a person each time.

The story is a little light and sometimes it felt like the game did a poor choice of explaining what your current task was, but the gameplay, graphics and sound are amazing. I struggled with it more than typical because of its rogue-lite nature — having to reset each time I died ran counter to my standard metroidvania tactic of banging my head against a boss until I finally got it down — but eventually I was able to defeat the big bads and save the worlds. I’m looking forward to revisiting it when more free DLC is released (there have been two so far), but now I’m content to play something else for a bit.

While I download Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA Mega Mix+ let’s answer some questions!


The Queue: You are likely to be eaten by a Grue

It’s dark out when I get home after work now, so when we walk Marshmallow we’re sure to wear reflective vests, pay attention to cars that aren’t likely paying attention to us, and being sure to keep light around us at all times so that the Grue doesn’t get us. We’ve been lucky so far, but I’m starting to run low on torches and the Solstice is still more than a month away. Some might say I should walk Marshmallow at lunch instead of after work; others might point out there’s no such thing as a Grue.

Still, I’m not taking any chances.

So while I break off chair legs and douse them in gasoline for easy ignition, let’s answer some questions!


The Queue: Not just a sword

The newest weekly quest from High Speaker Brinthe to collect 100 titan disc fragments had a very interesting revelation that I’m not going to get into because it wouldn’t be fair as many people haven’t had a chance to complete it yet. But I recommend doing so as they’re dropping some ginormous hints about what the ultimate culmination plot of the Worldsoul Saga will be.

What I particularly like is that while the gears in my head were turning they were turning in Dagran’s head too. All too often we see major NPCs hold tight to the idiot stick when there’s a lore reveal that holds major implications, but it seems at least one major character won’t be dumbfounded when this new tidbit pays off in The Last Titan.

Of course, that’s two expansions and a few years from now, but there may be a quiz in a fortnight so pay attention! While we all sharpen our #2 pencils, let’s answer some questions about the here and now!


The Queue: We’re supposed to save princesses, not slay them

Tomorrow sees the release of Slay the Princess — Pristine Cut, an updated version of the game (included for free if you already own it!) that expands the original with both “new” princesses and more fleshed-out paths for other princesses. It will also be releasing on consoles for the first time, now available on Switch, PS4/5, and Xbox. This was my “Game of the Year” for 2023 and I’m super-excited to have a chance to Slay — or Save — the Princess again.

It’s kind of hard to really describe the game without getting into spoilers but if you’re a fan of spooky games that tend to be on the psychological side then Slay the Princess is most likely right up your alley. There are numerous choices you can make that can radically alter the game, and once you finish you’ll want to play it again (and again) to see what other fates there are to experience.

While we spend hours agonizing over whether we should bring the knife down with us to the basement, let’s answer some questions!


The Queue: Born to be a Spirit

Diablo 4 Vessel of Hatred is out and while the release was just a tad bumpy the game is playable now! Mostly!

I got a chance to preview the expansion before it released and of course I spent my time playing around with the new Spiritborn class and it’s pretty fun! For the record I went Gorilla since I tend to die to stupid things and the Gorilla spirit is the most tanky, but one of the key passives is based on swapping between the spirits by using different abilities in the rotation and I think I’m going to see if I can get that to work. I will say I enjoy Spiritborn more than Rogue — my previous main — so I’m thinking I stick with it. At least until we get Amazons in the next expansion.

While I try to find Neyrelle again, let’s answer some questions!


The Queue: Still waiting on Autumn

Hello friends! Cory was unable to write today’s queue so I’ve stepped in to answer all your questions! I’m also here to gripe about the weather, which has remained decidedly un-autumnlike in my area. The next few weeks may be a little cooler, but I’m still seeing way too many 80°F/27°C days in the near future.  I shouldn’t complain about the weather too much though as I was very fortunate that Hurricane Helene didn’t wreak damage near me — there are some areas in Western NC that are just gone (here’s a list of ways to help if you’re inclined to). Fortunately the death toll wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been but a lot of areas are still recovering. Here’s hoping it won’t be much longer for needed relief out there.

Sorry, didn’t mean to turn this intro into a downer. Let’s answer some weather-free questions on this October eve.


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