The Queue: Keeping it classy

Welcome back to The Queue, WoW.com’s daily Q&A column where the WoW.com team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.

We haven’t kicked off The Queue with reading music in awhile, so let’s change that. Once upon a time I posted some Rhett and Link for you, an internet-based musical comedy duo, and people seemed to enjoy it. So here’s more! Behold, the T-Shirt War. T-Shirt War was actually my second choice behind the far more hilarious Butt Drugs, but perhaps Butt Drugs aren’t as safe for work. Still, funny stuff. Butt Drugs.

The Queue is actually a bit short today, since a majority of the questions we’ve been receiving require rolling bones and gazing into a crystal ball to answer. If you have a non-Cataclysm question for us, please ask in the comments below!

busuan asked…

“Why is there almost no sound effect for a warrior’s shouts? In Diablo II, the similar shouts come with awesome sound effects. But in WoW, warrior shouts merely generate a visual cue. If Blizzard though effect were annoying to other people, they could have restricted the effects as self-only.”

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The Queue: Keeping it classy originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: visual cue, rolling bones, funny stuff, rhett and link, musical comedy duo

Reader UI of the Week: Narayá’s UI


Each week WoW.com brings you a fresh look at reader submitted UIs. Have a screenshot of your UI you want to submit? Send your screenshots, along with info on what mods you’re using, to readerui@wow.com.

This week on Reader UI of the Week, you, my adoring fanbase, get to indulge my minimalist side for one more week before I get to some quirky user interfaces. Narayá of Proudmoore sent in this fantastic mage user interface that blew my mind, so I thought I would share. Sweet Baby Titans, is that ONE action bar? Let’s find out.

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Reader UI of the Week: Narayá’s UI originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: user interfaces, sweet baby, mage, user interface, fresh look
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WoW Moviewatch: Raid Eats 2: Cake!

Bullworth is now following up the hit machinima Raid Eats with Raid Eats 2: Cake! He’s certainly tipping his hat to other games (and maybe the recent announcement about Portal 2) with his subject matter, as he assures his loyal viewers that the cake is absolutely not a lie.

I actually think the sequel is better than the original Raid Eats. The camera work and storyline seems to flow a little more naturally, and the voice acting feels like it’s stepped up a notch. The video is short and fun, and pleasant to watch. It’s certainly not high-end story based machinima, but Raid Eats 2: Cake! is a lot of fun.

I like the segmentation and pop-in work Bullworth is doing. He does a lot to add meta-commentary by dragging in recipes from the side of the viewing screen, and I appreciate that extra little emphasis it places on his plot.


Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an e-mail at machinima AT wow DOT com.


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WoW Moviewatch: Raid Eats 2: Cake! originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: e mail, machinima, loyal viewers, camera work, segmentation
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Sometimes you’d like to know that there are other MMOs out there, right? It’s not all WoW, all the time! Our sister site Massively can provide you with everything you need to know about all of the other MMOs around, past, present and future. Check out this roundup of the latest news from the wider MMO world, including previews of Aion’s patch 1.9 (as well as their 2.0 update), 10 reasons why you should be playing Lord of the Rings Online, the story of the EVE playing Olympic medalist, and much more.

10 reasons why LotRO is worth picking up over newer MMOs
With all of the more recent MMOs around, why should you try Lord of the Rings Online? Or how can you convince your friends to try a three year old MMO? Check out these ten reasons why the game is worth playing.
Will farmers finally be the death of WoW?
Activision-Blizzard’s annual 10k report, filed on March 1, is chock full of worrisome anecdotes about the future of their massively multiplayer behemoth as well as some interesting tidbits regarding payment models. Mobile games like iPhone apps and social networking games such as Farmville are cited as a potential risk for the company.
Massively Speaking episode 91
Massively Speaking, Massively’s MMO podcast, is back this week with episode 91 as Shawn Schuster and Rubi Bayer discuss the week’s MMO news. Topics include Dungeons and Dragons Online’s success with their new business model, LotRO’s Vol III Book 1 update, the latest Guild Wars skill balance uproar and much more.
EVE player wins silver medal at the Winter Olympics
It’s not every day you run across an Olympic Medalist in your favourite MMO, much less gank them and take their stuff. For some EVE Online players, that opportunity may be closer than they think. With the conclusion of the recent Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, it came to light that one of the medal winners is not just an EVE player but also an avid PvP junkie. Casting off the stereotype of MMO gamers as unfit and demotivated, Kjetil Jansrud is a professional alpine skier at the peak of physical fitness.

Continue reading MMO Roundup: Olympic medalists, Warhammer 40k, and more

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MMO Roundup: Olympic medalists, Warhammer 40k, and more originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: olympic medalist, networking games, mmo world, payment models, vancouver 2010

Around Azeroth: Dragons in the mist

Deadlylupine of <Face Rollers> on Balnazzar snapped this shot of her drake rising through the mist in Terokkar Forest. “I happened to be flying in lovely Terokkar, and my Nether Drake was just so overwhelmed with light, he had to have a celebratory roar,” she wrote.

Do you have any unusual, beautiful or interesting World of Warcraft images that are just collecting dust in your screenshots folder? We’d love to see them on Around Azeroth! Sharing your screenshot is as simple as e-mailing aroundazeroth@wow.com with a copy of your shot and a brief explanation of the scene. You could be featured here next!

Remember to include your player name, server and/or guild if you want it mentioned. Please include the word “Azeroth” in your post so it does not get swept into the spam bin. We strongly prefer full screen shots without the UI showing — use alt-Z to remove it. Please, no more battleground scoreboards, Val’kyr on mounts, or pictures of the Ninja Turtles in Dalaran. Older screenshots can be found here.

Gallery: Around Azeroth

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Around Azeroth: Dragons in the mist originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: kyr, world of warcraft images, collecting dust, azeroth, ninja turtles

Welcome to another edition of the WoW.com Weekly Comic — Byron the Tauren Rogue!

Our bovine hero has managed to make a getaway — those poor cows are going to miss oggling that strapping young bull…oh well. Stormwind awaits its unexpected plundering!

Check out the full version right here, and tune in next Tuesday morning for a new page! You can also check out all the previous pages in the gallery below.

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WoW.com’s Weekly Comic: Byron, the Tauren Rogue! originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: hero, poor cows, comic, getaway, tuesday morning
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Ask a Faction Leader: Master Mathias Shaw


WoW.com’s prestige in the community has afforded us the opportunity to speak with major Azerothian leadership figures on any subject, and we’re letting you, the reader, Ask a Faction Leader!

We recently spoke to Sylvanas Windrunner, Banshee Queen of the forsaken, and she shed light on several key issues, including undieting, hunter training, building this city, and bouncing idly. In this installment of Ask a Faction Leader, we’ll be sitting with Master Mathias Shaw, leader of Stormwind’s SI:7, covert agents of the crown.

Our first reader question

Hello Mathias,

Can you describe the feeling you got when you found out that you couldn’t beat your granny?

Verenor, Warlock – Defias Brotherhood

Mathias responds:

Gahaha, that’s what I like to see! Pullin’ no punches, right from the get-go. Hard-hittin’ questions.

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Ask a Faction Leader: Master Mathias Shaw originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: covert agents, stormwind, reader question, hunter training, faction leader

Breakfast Topic: Favorite names

Our very own Gregg Reece is a new father, which got me thinking about names for babies. Some names are just plain awful, like my poor father-in-law named Hubert. Some names are passed down in families, with varying degrees of suitability — naming my sister after our great-grandfather probably wouldn’t have worked if he hadn’t been named Hillary. There are names that leave you with pity for the poor kid saddled such bizarre parents that would inflict such names upon their kids: Kal-el Cage, Apple Paltrow. And then there are names which are just plain awesome: Magnus Magnussen, Harold Bluetooth, Rip Torn.

The Warcraft universe is full of names, some strange, some familiar. We have the parody names: Vana Grey, Xiggs Fuselighter (above), Linken. There are the homages to literature: Morgan Stern, the putative author of The Princess Bride, and Commander Falstaav, a joke on Shakespeare’s Falstaff. There appear to be family names like Anduin. There are the cultural patterns that allow for easy guessing of an NPC’s race — who’s the gnome? Bloodhoof or Mechatorque?

So what names from the World of Warcraft would you a) be proud to name your own children, or b) refuse to inflict upon an innocent child? Calia or Jaina wouldn’t sound too far out of place in the real world, but I can’t imagine meeting a Garrosh or Brann. (Especially, God forbid, a Brann Muffin.) Leave your thoughts! Warning: This is not a raffle to name Gregg’s baby, as Lyssa Rhiannon has a name.

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Breakfast Topic: Favorite names originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: magnus magnussen, apple paltrow, warcraft universe, princess bride, names for babies

Happy Tuesday morning, everyone! I name this week’s post not in a negative sense, but in a sense that it does seem like we’ve officially started winding down Wrath. Specifically, we recently saw the addition of the first edition of the Icecrown Citadel raid buff. It has started at 5%, but will eventually rise to 30%, allowing more and more people to power through the dungeon and see Arthas fall at their feet. It’s the end of an era, but I feel the start of a much better one.

Of course, that’s not to say we’re completely out of Wrath yet. We have at least 2 more patches to go, and Patch 3.3.3 PTR news keeps rolling in, as does tons of other news. You’ll have the usual maintenance break from WoW this morning, 5 AM to 11 AM pacific, so you have time to get caught up. As usual, here’s our list of some of the major stuff from the past 7 days or so:

Continue reading Tuesday Morning Post: Beginning of the end edition

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Tuesday Morning Post: Beginning of the end edition originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: negative sense, beginning of the end, happy tuesday, tuesday morning, realm status

Patch 3.3.3 background downloader active

The background downloader has gone active tonight with a 77.5 MB partial file for the Patch 3.3.3 patching process. Don’t expect the patch to go live tomorrow, of course (if nothing else, scheduled maintenance isn’t long enough), but it looks like we may be within a few weeks of some nice new patch goodness, including the rise of DK frost dual wielding, Frozen Orbs, and the abolishment of battleground marks.

For a round up of all of the changes, big and small, coming with the patch, be sure to check our Patch 3.3.3 Info page.


Patch 3.3.3 brings about small but noteworthy changes to the World of Warcraft. From a faster CoT, to putting those old Frozen Orbs to better use, to changes to the auction house — there’s several things all WoW players need to know. WoW.com’s Guide to Patch 3.3.3 will keep you up to date!

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Patch 3.3.3 background downloader active originally appeared on WoW.com on Tue, 09 Mar 2010 00:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tags: auction house, noteworthy changes, live tomorrow, abolishment, world of warcraft