Solo Queue - A World of Warcraft Podcast

Episode 15 - Princes and Paupers

Episode 15 – Princes and Paupers

Show Notes 

Welcome to Episode 15!

Anniversary Trivia returns, it is good to be in game and behind microphone again, hanging at the 20^th Anniversary event, and so much going on!

 

November News at the 20^th Anniversary Celebration – 13:50

• 07 is coming, including Siren Isle zone.
• Classic News – Cata Classic gets the Firelands raid and SoD Season 6 is coming https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24148556/.
• Trading Post is overflowing this month; check it all out here: https://www.wowhead.com/news/november-2024-trading-post-full-list-of-rewards-class-themed-armor-and-weapons-349409.
• Plunderstorm makes its return in early 2025, but still in the Arathi Highlands and too soon?
• Warcraft 30th Anniversary Direct is coming Wed., November 13 – tune in live or later for all the new Warcraft game news.

 

Drink of the Month – 28:15   

Mannoroth’s Blood Red Ale

 

Mount Segment that doesn’t yet have a name – 29:16

My thoughts on store mounts (and pets) including

• Reven the fundraiser for Cure Duchenne, the form of muscular dystrophy that eventually took the life of WoW player Ibelin, subject of a recent Netflix documentary. $20 – yes.
• 30^th Anniversary Warcraft 3 faction mounts. $30 – yes.
• Grizzley Hills Packmaster with vendors. $20 – yes.
• Trader’s Gilded Brutosaur with vendors and the ensuing craziness. - $90 – no.
• Store mounts and mogs help fund the game, just hope they steer clear of selling player power.

 

Couple extra topics not in the plan – 51:06

• The exact moment I stopped caring about keeping this episode short – I hope you are okay with that.
• Mog collection rules mean any character can collect all appearances – gamechanger.

 

My gameplay this month with commentary – 58:00

• Hallow's End trick-or-treating took a level 70 to 76!
• Anniversary and using trivia to level 20+ characters with Hallow’s End, Darkmoon Faire, and Anniversary buffs all while collecting Rested XP and until January 5!
• Forgetting which inn your hearthstone is set to
• Titan disc system – great story delivery system
• Review of Story mode – unimpressed and still awaiting #followerraids, c’mon!

 

Main Topic:  Princes and Paupers – 1:38:50

A discussion of those who have plenty of time to play and how they differ from those of us who have limited time in game, how players can approach this, and possible help Blizzard could provide. #clippy

 

(re)Raid of the Month:  Crucible of Storms (BfA) – 2:06:02

I found the pre-raid questline that actually gives the Xal’atath story that I sought last month; still not a good raid to farm.

 

Addon Recommendation:  Saved Instances – 2:14:00

A great addon to track quests, dungeons, raids, currencies, and much more across many characters.

 

Solo Queue Mailbox – 2:17:50

The first review on Apple Podcasts is from Unique Exemplar and it is glowing - #grateful.

 

Outro – 2:20:24

• Thanks to Blizzard and OGRE for audio, my lovely wife, and you for listening.
• If you want to support the show, SoloQueueWoW at Patreon.com
• Thank you to current patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, and ThatSkyGuy! And welcome free patrons Max, Eddie, and Tim!
• Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest.
• Sounds from Blizzard and OGRE #dontplaymuted
• You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram,Threads, and Threads.

“I will see you out there."

Episode 14 - Losing the War Within My Schedule

Episode 14 – Losing the War Within My Schedule

Show Notes 

Welcome to Episode 14!

Getting the episode started, an apology for how I got it started, and can I mention my busy schedule any more times?  Hold my Thunder 45…

 

September News – Where better to do the news than at Brewfest! 15:13

1. RWF is over. Nuf said.
2. Getting into Raid Story Mode and Max Level Campaign https://www.icy-veins.com/wow/news/unlock-story-mode-for-queen-ansurek-in-the-war-within-full-guide-to-rewards-access/
3. Delves and how to get Restored Coffer Keys https://youtu.be/NcwQ36Iq6BE?si=GBEX81n_YMrhhje3

And the Weekly Delves Event is coming Oct. 1 to Oct. 8

4. Preview of patch 11.0.5 - general
   • Drakthyr getting more classes
   • Dark Irons getting more mole machine destinations
5. Preview of patch 11.0.5 – 20^th Anniversary Celebration

https://www.wowhead.com/guide/world-events/20th-anniversary-event

• • New World Bosses
  • New Blackrock Depths Raid
  • New Gates of Ahn’Qiraj world event
  • Expanded Caverns of Time events
  • Lots of old items, transmog, toys
  • And more!

6. Warband Map to Everywhere All At Once toy
7. Grizzly Hills Packmaster mount – smash or pass?
8. Upcoming holidays – Hallow’s End, GGreat Gnomeregan Race, Brewfest!

 

My Impressions of TWW – 36:18

My thoughts on XP, leveling, the quality of the storylines, getting the pacing of leveling right (if possible), the music (stunning as always), zone design, why my druid is walking, riding ground mounts, and not shapeshifting, and what is the name of dynamic flying this month?

 

The Rookery as a Follower Dungeon – 1:10:35

Smoothly integrated in the flow of the campaign – can we do that with all of them?

 

Couple of Quality of Life Improvements 1:16:45

The small things do add to immersion.

 

Raid of the Month:  Crucible of Storms (BfA) – 1:22:56

Hunting for some 5 year old traces of Xal’Atath that I missed in current raid content – will it pay off?

 

Opinion on the Trading Post – 1:34:20

Adding my small opinion onto the bonfire that is Trading Post feedback – mine is not filled with anger, I promise.

 

Outro – 1:45:01

• Thanks to Blizzard and OGRE for audio, my lovely wife, and you for listening.
• If you want to support the show, SoloQueueWoW at Patreon.com
• Thank you to current patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, and ThatSkyGuy! And welcome free patrons Max, Eddie, and Tim!
• Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest.
• Sounds from Blizzard and OGRE #dontplaymuted
• You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and Threads.

“I will see you out there."

Episode 13 - Early or Not, Here It Comes

Episode 13 - Early or Not, Here it Comes

The War Within launches

Full episode notes to come after I get a little sleep and get bored during a meeting at work.

Dave

Episode 12 - You Still Want to Start WoW NoW? Part 2

Episode 12 - You Still Want to Start WoW NoW? Part 2

Show Notes

Opening Bit

• Official Apology letter from Solo Queue HQ for the delay of Part 2

 

A Few More Words on the WoW Map

• The whole screen map, zooming in and out
• The quest log and small map, explanation of different types of quests and all the new symbols added to the map legend

 

A Few More Words on Gear and Gear Upgrades

• Gear is the heart of WoW, but it can be very confusing
• Soulbound and Bind on Equip gear historically
• Transmog and learning appearances to change your character’s look
• The addition of the Warbank and Warbound gear in TWW, sharing with all your characters
• End game gear and the complicated upgrade track system. A good visual and explanation of the upgrade system here:  https://epiccarry.com/blogs/wow-war-within-gear-upgrade-guide/

 

Modification and Customization Inside the Game

• Settings, suggestions
  • Use mouse for movement – 2 buttons and steer
  • Set autoloot – first thing I do on all new characters
  • Going through Menu items
• UI/addons
  • WoW edit mode
  • UI replacements – I use ElvUI, one of many
  • Source for add-ons – Curseforge, other sites
  • Advice for new playera: just start with the custom UI in the game; perhaps a future episode segment on solo Add-ons
• Keybinds – Setting what you keyboard keys do
• Macros – Shortcut buttons that simplify tasks, but I'm not the one to ask

 

The Many Ways to Play WoW

• Getting to current content, important or not?
• Dungeons/Raids and “end game”
  • Grouping
  • Levels of content
  • What solo players can expect and missing out on content
  • Follower Dungeons now, raids next?
• PvP the other end game
  • I am not the expert
  • Rankings, seasonal rewards
  • War mode
  • Podcasts for more info, Technically PVP
• Great Vault from various play; will add Delves (solo play) to vault in TWW
• Bnet friends, social, guilds (who am I to talk about that?)
• Warbands, after talking about guilds
• Solo content, including out-leveling old content
• Collections
  • Types of mounts including utility mounts
  • Transmog
• Lore/history
  • Loremaster path
  • Know that much of the story is not in-game
  • Books, comics, etc. outside of game
  • Content creation community for lore
  • Podcasts - Live, Laugh, Lore Ep. 101, Nobbel87
  • Chronicle I-IV
• RP – role-playing in WoW
• Professions, primary and secondary, gathering and crafting, playing the auction house

 

Where to get help?

• YouTube videos
  • Lore: Platinum WoW for quick lore; Nobbel87 for in-depth lore
  • News channels: Taliesin & Evitel among the most popular, Hazelnutty, SoulSoBreezy, Bellular
• Websites: Wowhead, MMOChampion, BlizzardWatch, IcyVeins, Petopia for Hunter pets
• PODCASTS ARE THE GREATEST!!! The Starting Zone a great resource; Live, Laugh, Lore; Unshackled Fury; Girls Gone WoW; Thrall’s Balls
• Discord groups
• Twitch streamer communities
• WoW Forums

 

Outro

Thanks to Blizzard and OGRE for audio, my lovely wife, and you for listening.

If you want to support the show, SoloQueueWoW at Patreon.com

Thank you to current supporting patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, and ThatSkyGuy! 

Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest. 

You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

Good luck diving into TWW launch this week or next.

“I'll see you out there."

Episode 11 – Up All Night

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.
• If you want to support the show, SoloQueueWoW at Patreon.com
• Thank you to current patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, and ThatSkyGuy! And welcome free patrons Max and Eddie!
• Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest.
• Sounds from Blizzard and OGRE #dontplaymuted
• You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

“I will see you out there."

Episode 10 – How Do You Solo? Interview with Gin!

Episode 10 – How Do You Solo Interview with Gin!

Show Notes 

 

Welcome to Episode 10! – 3:25

Introducing…Gin! – 4:37

1. Finding WoW
2. Warcraft II music holds up  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwWh1xy6gvU 
3. History as a raider and social aspects of WoW – 15:30
4. How does Gin solo?  Story or single-player challenges, like Delves – 28:30
5. Delves as the evolution of WoW’s single-player experience and the Great Vault
6. Content creation, introverts, milkshakes, and a love of history/lore – 37:20
7. What it takes to buy into the lore – 46:10
8. Kyndi!  By the way, Dave apologizes for the mistake.  Kyndi is a gnome, not a goblin.
9. What it takes to be a successful content creator (asking for a friend…) – 54:10
10. A little love for Ali! – 56:06
11. Future of WoW podcasting and content creation and the Gin’s Joint channel – 59:45
12. The challenge of…distance running, Boston, and the marathon nerf bat – 1:07:50  https://www.baa.org/races/boston-marathon/qualify
13. Lightning Round! – 1:16:08
14. Final Thoughts:  TWW outlook, WoW moving in a good story direction – 1:22:28

Outro

• Thanks to Blizzard and OGRE for audio, my lovely wife, and you for listening.
• If you want to support the show, SoloQueueWoW at Patreon.com
• Thank you to current patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, and ThatSkyGuy! And welcome free patrons Max and Eddie!
• Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest.
• Sounds from Blizzard and OGRE – the laughter was for me rocking the OGRE shirt on camera. #dontplaymuted
• You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. (I know, for the first time, I misspelled “soloqueuewow” leaving out the extra “ue”.  Bully for you if you caught that, super-listener.)
• Follow Gin on Twitter/X @ginsjoint and check out his work on the podcast Live, Laugh, Lore or at his YouTube channel Gin’s Joint (not Rick’s Café, ifykyk)

“We will see you out there."

See you real soon for Episode 11, the July monthly episode!

Episode 9 - First Raid Clear of…Dazar'alor?

Episode 9 – First Raid Clear of…Dazar'alor?

Show Notes 

Welcome to Episode 9! – 3:27

• Sound issues lately - I think I have them resolved.
• Goodpods listed Solo Queue was as a Top 50 video game podcast last month!
• Upcoming episodes: 10 will be an HDYS interview with Gin of Live, Laugh, Lore podcast.  Ep. 11 will be just the second half of the introduction to playing WoW.  Sorry to leave you hanging, ThatSkyGuy!

 

News – 8:37

1. TWW launches Aug. 26 - I was only one day off!  Early access on Aug. 22, Season 1 activities on Sept. 1. 
2. I broke down and went all in on the 20th anniversary collector's edition.
3. TWW beta access was June 5, with codes for collector’s edition people arriving June 12.  I am holding out against spoiling the Day 1 experience for myself, so no beta coverage here.
4. Mid-Summer Fire Festival begins today, June 21!
   1. You can travel from zone to zone, city to city, and lighting your factions’ bonfires and extinguishing those of the rival faction.  Do this to collect Burning Blossoms, the currency for the Fire Festival.  There are buffs you can get and vendors to spend your blossoms on.  In addition, there are festival related quests and achievements to check out.
   2. Holiday boss is Frost Lord Ahune
   3. This also brings in a big change to how holidays work in general.  Now, you can only get one of these premier rare drops on the first attempt of the day per Bnet account. 
   4. To balance out the reduced availability, Blizzard have introduced bad luck protection, with chances rising after every failed attempt. 
   5. Once per day per account, Ahune will drop the Satchel of Chilled Goods - chance at the new Cliffside Wylderdrake armor, along with blossoms, Ahune's staff, and other items. 
   6. Festival runs until July 5, so 14 attempts.
5. 10.2.7 patch was released May 7 with various small story questlines, content.
   1. Dranei HA
   2. Troll HA
   3. Harbinger questline - setting up the TWW, good stuff.
   4. Sins of the sister - difficult to remember or find, is in Bel'Ameth. 
   5. Be Yourself Visage Day - issues with not finding the NPCs is due to you not having done the questing related to those NPCs.  Frustrating, but understandable, but frustrating.
   6. All DF quests previously locked behind Renown levels are now available to all level 70 characters.
6. WoW Remix - MoP of course is live!  59 days left and counting.  Once 70, I hear it is quicker for any Timerunner alts that you make AFTER achieving 70.
7. BfA Raids now soloable
8. Is the first TWW raid soloable?  Not quite.  Blizzard announced Story Mode as a new Raid difficulty.  Neru'bar Palace, first TWW raid, will feature a new difficulty called "Story”.  It is not Follower Raids.  Party of 1-10 for a pared down battle with only the final boss.

 

Popping in to a tavern or inn for a local drink – 40:01

Pandaren Plum Wine at The Lazy Turnip.  We are drinking the local this month.

 

Question of the month – 40:56

After giving the news and drama of Remix, have I been paying too much attention to headlines and nerf news and not enough time just playing and enjoying?  What is your opinion on MoP Remix?  Do you like this different style of content in this period leading up to a new expansion?   

 

Introducing the Raid of the Month! – 42:55

One big part of many solo players game is waiting literal years for Blizzard to open up old end-game content to solo players.  With the news that BfA raids are now soloable, I chose Battle of Dazaralor for my first Raid of the Month on my Night Elf Feral Druid main, ilvl 484, 499 weapon.

Dazaralor is a 12-boss raid and was the second raid of BFA.  It launched in January of 2019, so I waited five and a half years to be able to solo it.  That is too long.  I chose it because it has two rare mounts that can drop on Mythic, both are pretty cool.  The GMOD is a massive robot mech suit mount, the Goblin Machine of Death.  It can drop in Normal, Heroic, or Mythic difficult.  The Glacial Tidestorm, a very cool elemental off Jaina, only drops on Mythic.

First 9 bosses gave little trouble.  A 3% wipe after 5 minutes on Mekkatorque, but second time was fine.  No GMOD.  Stormwall Blockade was very difficult and took some research and four deaths.  Jaina was easier, but no Glacial Tidestorm.

 

Final tally

11 new appearances, no mounts, bunch of five-year-old achievements, 2,471 in gold, minus 250 in repair costs.  Profit of 2,221 gold for roughly an hour of time, maybe less.  I did eat dinner in the middle.  Difficulty was a satisfying level, but I want this in less than five year.  #FollowerRaidsWoW

 

Outro

Thanks to Blizzard and OGRE for audio, my lovely wife, and you for listening.

If you want to support the show, SoloQueueWoW at Patreon.com

Thank you to current patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, and ThatSkyGuy! 

Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest. 

You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

Good luck with your own old raid farming!

“I'll see you out there."

 

Episode 8 – So You Want to Start WoW NoW?

 

Episode 8 – So You Want to Start WoW NoW?

Show Notes

The Basics of WoW

• What is an MMORPG (and why is this a solo podcast?)
• What is WoW?
  • Scene - Azeroth, Draenor, Argus and other planets in the universe
  • High-fantasy world of physical combat, magic, cosmic forces, politics, conflict, and the lives of various everyday characters of many races
  • Timeline of WoW
  • Predecessors RTS I, II, III
• Retail vs. classics
  • Retail since 2004, expansions 2 years or so; next in late summer, trilogy, so great time to begin!
  • Classic flavors
    • Classic
    • Advancing classic flavors, now WotLK, soon Cata
    • Hardcore mode
    • SoD

 

Into Azeroth for the First Time

• Server types and populations and choosing
  • Character creation screen
  • Factions
  • Races, classes, specs, roles, armor classes
  • Customizations
• Talents - points every level that enable choice of new spells, abilities
• Who are you playing with and how do you want to play?
• Exile’s Reach vs. starting zones – both have their benefits
• How to level
  • Chromie time after first character. Will be leveling right now through BfA for first time.  Can also start in WoW Remix MoP.
  • Expansion summaries and history
  • Suggestion for leveling
  • This is a good place to list all of the expansions and give a brief rundown.
  • Quests, XP, gold, reading text or not
  • Gear – levels, BoE, BoP, Soulbound, Warbound, Account-bound

 

End of Part I of Starting WoW NoW - but more to come!

 

Outro

Thanks to Blizzard and OGRE for audio, my lovely wife, and you for listening.

If you want to support the show, SoloQueueWoW at Patreon.com

Thank you to current patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, and ThatSkyGuy! 

Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest. 

You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

Good luck choosing which version of WoW to immerse yourself in.

“I'll see you out there."