Episode 11 – Up All Night

Solo Queue - A World of Warcraft Podcast

Episode 11 – Up All Night

Show Notes

Welcome to Episode 11! – 3:25 (10:00 pm)

The goal of this episode was to throw age to the wind and unwisely pull an all-nighter enjoying the final days of Dragonflight and recording an episode. The segments of the show are broken up by hours in the all-nighter! Stick around to find out how it goes.

July News – 7:43 (11:00 pm)

1. Midsummer Fire Festival – I did lots of levelling and proved that the new bad luck protection system works perfectly fine by getting the Fire Festival Drake armor on my very first attempt. Sorry Jason from the Starting Zone. Thanks Blizz, but remember me again at Brewfest.
2. Pre-patch for The War Within, the tenth expansion, launches this Tuesday (today)! Long maintenance is a guarantee. Be patient. Remember two things.
   1. First, the pre-patch event for 11.0 is called the Radiant Echoes and it DOES NOT LAUNCH on Tuesday.
   2. Second, Warbands launch when you log in and creating yours will take time on your first login.
3. Preview of pre-patch – Really, the only other news worth mentioning at this moment is the rest of the pre-patch. Wowhead article: https://www.wowhead.com/guide/the-war-within/pre-patch-overview

1. 1. All DF raids and world bosses become awakened
   2. Skyriding is available
   3. Cross-realm guilds are available
   4. Leveling requirements reduced, especially from 60 to 70

End of Dragonflight – 31:32 (12:00 am)

1. End of expac checklist. What’s yours? Mine is being pieced together as we chat
2. Thoughts on Renown - felt like a big burden and tell me how it is different from reputations, Derek Zoolander. If I make a Blue Steel joke in the show notes, does it ever get read?
3. WoD and DF similarities based on comments by Denathar on his podcast Azeroth United – 2 expansions when developers were looking ahead to a game-changing next expansion, one more successful than the other
4. Follower dungeons – all benefit, no downside, which means…wait for it…#giveusFollowerRaids

TWW Topics – 52:40 (1:00 am)

Really just a rant about Pathfinder and support for “Steady Flying”

Delve Testing and Preview 1:01:54 (2:00 am)

1. Playing beta characters is tough
2. Hanging with Brann as your support
3. Delves are a bit of a puzzle, a series of quests, objectives, etc. as we have seen in instanced scenarios/activities before, but maybe the best version of its predecessors
4. Has some Torghast like power-ups here and there.
5. Brann suggests pausing to sit by the fire after combat to hear and get you well fed.
6. There are boxes and chests with helpful gear and respawn points.
7. Boss at the end with a treasure room full of rewards

Hearing voices and then a Remix update – 1:12:01 (3:00 am)

Wait, did we make it?

Man, it felt good to buy out the mount vendor! Also, I didn’t mind running groups in MoP Remix because there is literally no interactions with others and no challenge to the content, virtually at any level.

Raid of the Month: Mogu-Shan Vaults – 1:22:12 (4:00 am)

The primary drop is the Astral Cloud Serpent mount, one of my faves and a previous target of mine. Lorewalker Cho and some slow to come to life bosses make this a slow farm, but the mount is great if you didn’t get it in MoP Remix. And in Remix, there is an amazing golden version called the Astral Emperor’s Serpent. Go get it!

Final thoughts on Dragon Flight and the direction of WoW – 1:34:10 (5:00 am – close to dawn of a different day)

DF saved WoW as Blizzard pulled itself out of a terrible place; Blizzcon 2023 ended my debate over whether to continue with the game and it resurrected Solo Queue because of the three pillars: Delves, Warbands, and Follower Dungeons.

Dragon Flight brought the story of WoW back to Azeroth and the familiar after the Shadowlands.

Follower Dungeons might be one of the few features launched in WoW to have no real negative reaction, benefits for solo players, and even benefits for group players.

Extend that Follower Dungeon tech to a Raid setting.

Coming solo features remind me of Mage Tower in Legion, my single proudest moment (beating the Feral Druid challenge).

Idea of adding a small level of challenge to old dungeon/raid farming, but not before Follower Raids!

Lastly, Warbands, the big change that arrives with pre-patch. Denathar of Azeroth United said this is the shift from a game that recognizes what the character accomplishes to a game that recognizes what the player accomplishes. 61 characters will be in my Warband soon, all sharing their loot.

DF brought WoW back and the future looks great!

Outro – 1:48:20 (Sunrise!)

• Thanks to Blizzard and OGRE for audio, my lovely wife, and you for listening.
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“I will see you out there."