Queuenanigans

Dragonflight patch 10.2.6 did not arrive this week despite the eight-hour downtime yesterday, which means next week is a prime candidate for its arrival. Which wouldn’t normally be a problem, except this is the list of everything else happening in the video game world next week:

• Hearthstone is releasing their next expansion Whizbang’s Workshop
• Hi-Fi Rush and Rise of the Ronin are arriving on the PS5
• Princess Peach: Showtime! is arriving for the Nintendo Switch
• Horizon Forbidden West: Complete Edition is releasing for PC
• Alone in the Dark and Dragon’s Dogma 2 are coming out on all next-gen platforms (sorry, Switch owners) and PC
• And for sports fans it’s time for MLB The Show ’24 on all consoles

That’s an insane number of major titles to come out in the same week, especially in March. Perhaps everyone is afraid to release against South Park: Snow Day the following week?

While I ponder whether these game releases are the true March Madness, let’s answer some questions!

Tomorrow is February 29 aka Leap Day. It feels like it should be notable in some way, but it really isn’t (unless you were born that day). Heck, “Leap” feels wrong too — it’s more of a Padding Day to keep the calendar aligned with the seasons. Maybe if February 29 was the norm and every four years we skipped it we could use the term Leap Year, but it’s honestly more a step back than a jump forward.

Julius Caesar is given credit for implementing Leap Day and frankly he does deserve it even if the math behind it wasn’t his own. What a lot of people don’t know is that 46 BC was actually 445 days to get the calendar fixed first — the Romans were off by almost three months in their festival timing before this was done. Forget being born on February 29 — can you imagine being born on one of those extra days? You’d never celebrate your birthday again!

In any case February gets an extra day this year so be sure to spend it with your loved ones.

If video games are to be believed, in Japan the tradition on Valentine’s Day is for girls to give a boy they like some chocolate. However, it’s generally considered a good idea not to have all the girls you’re interested in show up at the same time. Hoo boy.

While I try to remember what I’m supposed to do on this special day, let’s answer some questions!

I’m not one to put in a C-C-C-Combo Breaker when it comes to The Princess Bride, but I’m also not averse to doing a redirect either. So while the title is a quote from that amazing movie, the header image is of someone who would definitely want a peanut: Anya from Spy x Family. If you haven’t seen the show or read the manga yet I highly recommend it as it’s clever and adorable. There’s even a game coming to the West later this year, although I’m concerned it won’t be dubbed (fingers crossed it will be).

Speaking of games coming out, Persona 3 Reload is out on Friday! I’ve been heavily addicted to the Persona series this past year so it’ll be nice to have a new group of virtual friends to hunt shadows with. While I impatiently wait for my next obsession, let’s answer some questions!

I very rarely follow a Cory queue, so I don’t often get an earworm. I did switch with Anna this week — but I’m still not following a Cory queue because the divine Liz P was up yesterday. Fortunately(?) she replicated Cory’s earworm formula and so I’ll be writing this queue by a crystal blue Italian stream. Unfortunately the weather forecast is:

Look around
Leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Oh wait, that’s a different Bangles song. Fun facts: Manic Monday was written by Prince, and A Hazy Shade of Winter was originally a Paul Simon song performed by Simon & Garfunkel. If I had to pick just one Bangles song, though, it would be In Your Room which while a top 5 at the time is largely ignored now. Probably because Walk Like an Egyptian is just as iconic of the band as Manic Monday so those two get all the airtime.

Long story short, they should be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside the Go-Go’s and Pat Benatar. Hopefully they’ll be 2024 nominees.

Anyway, while I clearly have an eternal flame for the Bangles, let’s actually answer some questions!

Despite the week being shorter due to the New Year’s holiday it feels like it’s been twice as long as a normal work week. I’m pretty dang tired — but when Liz asks for a sub, I’ll always find the energy to help!

No ramble in my preamble, let’s just answer questions.

… if I had one!

So the whole family got matching pajamas to wear for Christmas, and Marshmallow got a bandanna that also matched. He looked super-cute in it too.

And then it disappeared. We have no idea what happened to it. At some point it was no longer around his neck, and we haven’t found it anywhere. As near as we can guess it fell off while he was outside and then blew away, but that’s just a guess. I suspect it’ll turn up in four months.

While we lament the cute picture that could’ve been, let’s answer some questions!

The 2024 World of Warcraft development roadmap was released yesterday for Retail and for Classic and I love how forthcoming the development team has gotten in the past year with these and other updates. That said, I want to talk about something more important: the term “roadmap.”

We all pretty much know what a roadmap is, but speaking as someone of an advanced age they used to be ubiquitous and necessary just for normal everyday driving in your neighborhood. But in this era of in-car navigation and GPS applications on your phones they’re kind of a relic from a bygone time. While not completely obsolete I’m certain that the number sold annually has plummeted dramatically in the past twenty years. Pretty soon a “roadmap” will only exist as a curiosity, and like the Save File icon the term will be a reference to something that’s no longer around.

Well enough of that, let me navigate out of this intro and answer some questions!

Having finished Persona 5 Tactica I’m now playing A Highland Song which came out yesterday and it’s a really gorgeous game. The artwork and music are both perfect, and the “chasing a deer” rhythm mini-game is delightful. It’s possible I’ll get frustrated at some point trying to puzzle out the right path, but for now I’m having a lot of fun.

While I take a break from scrambling over Scottish peaks, let’s answer some questions!

Well the patch 10.2 maintenance finally ended so we’re all having fun in the Emerald Dream now I reckon. The one thing I dislike is the faction name “Dream Warden”. I get it, it’s supposed to sound like you’re guarding the Dream, but “Warden” always feels like to me you’re keeping bad stuff in as a jailor, not preventing things from getting inside. Dream Warriors would’ve been a better name, and not just because it’s the theme song to a horror movie.

I’m Kalcheus, and Mitch is still not available to answer questions so I’ll do it! Let’s go.