11.Who Cares, It's Almost Midnight! - Episode 28

Show Notes

Welcome to Episode 28! – 1:45

There is so much to discuss as we are on the cusp of the eleventh expansion of World of Warcraft. Naturally, I suggestions for Blizzard for improving the game as the main topic

“What have you done lately?” – 6:09

Holy crap, there is so much I have done. Buckle up. It all seems to revolve around stories this episode. Some piled up unlearned recipes leads three of my characters onto huge tangents in Northrend, I discover a flight school in Hallowfall with a weak, indecisive headmaster, and I reach an account-wide leveling milestone (only to learn later this episode that I am actually still 2 levels shy)

11.2 Reactions – 55:21

The final major content patch for The War Within is live; Tazavesh is a cool city; comparing K’aresh to Argus, the (one) new Delve is solid; Bliz nailed it with optional depth of storytelling in the campaign questing.

Drink of the Month – 1:27:18

Sneaking some Badlands Bourbon north into Farstrider Retreat.

News – 1:32:08

• Legion Remix announced in a post and video here: https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24224370
• My thoughts on it
• 2 is in full swing, including RTWF
• LFR Wing 2 and “Story” Mode raids launch today, August 19
• LFR Wing 3 comes August 26
• One more thing in the news…?

Main Topic: Midnight Expansion Announcement – 1:45:02

Tuesday, August 19 (the day I FINALLY get this episode out), Blizzard will officially announce and introduce to us the Midnight expansion at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. 2:00 PM at SQ HQ, 11:00 AM on the West Coast at Blizzard HQ, and I believe 3:00 on August 20 for my friend the Snek of Vol’dun!

My Midnight Wish List – 1:49:47

My list of 10 requests, the 10 great ideas I have for improving WoW for everyone, but certainly solo players. Free of charge, Bliz, free of charge.

SQ Mailbag – 2:08:11

One negative rating has me upset, but maybe not in the way you would expect. But that is balanced by a new Patreon supporter who also likes my Solo Crew Refuge proposal for a player housing neighborhood. And, if you have the time and interest in entering your own ratings or reviews of the show in your podcast app, that would make me feel good and further balance out that negative.

Outro – 2:38:30

• Thanks to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, and you for listening.
• Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/soloqueuewow
• Thank you to patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, ThatSkyGuy, Cyn, Snek of Vol’dun, Jon, Scott and newest patron Jeru! And thanks to all the free supporters as well!
• Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest. Leave a 5-star rating and a written review to help grow Solo Queue.
• You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

“I will see you out there."

Episode 27 – Gotta Collect Them All

Show Notes

Welcome to Episode 27! – 2:59

A celebration in three parts, the first of which is celebrating my return to WoW and the SQ mic after an unforeseen absence. Big thanks to Ali for coming on for Episode 24 and to Ali and Gin for having me on Live, Laugh, Lore to talk starting zones!

SQ Book Club – 8:11

A review of Dungeon Crawler Carl, the first book in a fantasy series by Matt Dinniman. It gets the official SQ book recommendation for portraying the immersive MMORPG experience through an involuntary live-action global dungeon crawl with Carl and Princess Donut.

News – 13:14

• March of the Sethrak 2 on July 20 a success: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ABnqfS8YeKs
• Greedy Emissary event ends July 29 – collect them all!
• Winds of Mysterious Fortune event is live until Aug. 12
• Horrific Visions will continue into S3 but at S2 difficulty levels.
• Collector’s Bounty event ends July 29 as well – more collect them all!
• MoP launch event for the mount ends July 30
• “Doom of K’aresh” short story just released to give us backstory on the world we will be adventuring in, written by Adam Christopher and voiced by Ray Porter as Locus Walker: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSw8rW7fZ5c&t=2s
• The passing of Ozzy Osborne; will there be a WoW NPC in-game, or at least one everyone can reach?
• Housing update – types of neighborhoods and the endeavors
• Midnight expansion announcement at Gamescom on August 19!
• Changes to your bank tabs – level 80s need not worry

Drink of the Month – 58:57

A wild goose chase for an adult beverage all over the southern tip of Kalimdor.

“What have you done lately?” – 1:04:29

The lull before 11.2 is about as busy as could be with MoP Classic Pandaren starting zone, Lorewalking, One Button Rotation, Turbulent Timeways all kept me busy, until I hit…

Main Topic: Collector’s Bounty Event – 1:52:07

Discussion of the monthlong event, including my farming tips, and a list of my haul for this month, including getting a new mount live in the show!

Outro – 2:38:30

• Thanks to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, and you for listening. OGRE’s “King of the Wood” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7iErMhstlY
• Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/soloqueuewow
• Thank you to patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, ThatSkyGuy, Cyn, Snek of Vol’dun, Jon and Scott! And thanks to all the free supporters as well!
• Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest. Leave a 5-star rating and a written review to help grow Solo Queue.
• You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

“I will see you out there."

Episode 26 – HDYS Interview with Matt Rossi!

Show Notes

Welcome to Episode 26! – 2:03

A wide-ranging interview with games journalist and fiction writer Matt Rossi! I’m not even going to pretend to make a list of topics, but we talk about starting hit WoW career with his wife, how to approach WoW when your job demands that you spoil all new content as soon as it hits test servers, and his need to dive into lore in any game.

Plenty of talk about lore and storytelling in WoW throughout the years and how the Wrathgate was a turning point in how the stories are delivered to us, the players. We even get into the true purpose of any fiction in our human existence.

We also discuss Matt’s ongoing visual disability, a form of blindness that he explains in more detail. July is the celebration month for Disability Pride, and in hopes of sharing awareness of disability and accommodations in video games, he explains how his severe visual impairment affects his play of Warcraft and other types of games. It turns out that flexible difficulty and voice acting are two great accessibility options. Developers take notice.

Lightning Round! – 1:19:53

This round of 8 questions is not quick, but it takes the form of “Two Lizzes and a Joe (and a Cory)”.

Outro – 1:31:13

• Thanks to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, and you for listening.
• Big thank you to Matt! BlizzardWatch puts out podcasts weekly and you can find Matt as a regular host on BlizzardWatch and LoreWatch. He also writes a column and other videogame coverage for the news site. You can also check out Matt’s published fiction at the Goodreads and Amazon links!

• https://blizzardwatch.com/author/matt/
• https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B01M6BQ5SF
• https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/308134.Matthew_Rossi

• You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
• Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest. Leave a 5-star rating and a written review to help grow Solo Queue.
• Support the show at Patreon.com/SoloQueueWoW
• Thank you to contributing patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, ThatSkyGuy, Cyn, Snek of Vol’dun, Jon, and Scott! And thanks to all the free supporters as well!

“We will see you out there."

Episode 25 – Celebration! Warcraft 30, Down Time, and the Best NPC is…

Show Notes

Welcome to Episode 25! – 1:54

A celebration in three parts, the first of which is celebrating my return to WoW and the SQ mic after an unforeseen absence. Big thanks to Ali for coming on for Episode 24 and to Ali and Gin for having me on Live, Laugh, Lore to talk starting zones!

Warcraft 30th Anniversary Event in Boston – 16:22

The second celebration was 90 minutes south of SQ headquarters in the fair city of Boston. While my plan to get news and good audio for the podcast was thwarted, I did spend quality time with an old friend, make a new friend, and get away from my normal routine for a night. Afterwards, I connected with WoW community members Stromgarde Enjoyer (https://bsky.app/profile/nilocor.bsky.social) and meggoart (https://bsky.app/profile/meggoart.bsky.social) to get their reactions to the Boston event.

News – 48:24

• Player Housing update from May – looking good!
• Mists of Pandaria Classic on July 21, pre-patch July 1
• Legion arrives as a Remix late this year or early 2026
• World of Warcraft: Blood Ties is the new novel from Christie Golden that arrives Nov. 18, 2025 as the lead-in to the Midnight expansion, pre-order now!
• “Faith and Flame” short story continues the journey of Faerin Lothar, written by L.L. McKinney and voiced by Paris Blu, the voice of Faerin herself - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJtigy8U-_8&t=3s

Drink of the Month – 52:15

Stopping into the Snug Harbor Inn in Boralus for a Hook Point Porter and some Tiragarde Sharp cheese.

11.1.7 Launches June 17! – 1:00:28

Patch 11.1.7 launches with the Legacy of Arathor storyline, Lorewalking, Turbulent Timeways, Overcharged Delves, the Lightning-Blessed Spire and Sea-Blessed Shrine toys to transform you into a Sethrak or K’Thir, and new features including the rotation helping technology of Single-Button Assistant and Assisted Highlight.

“What have you done lately?” – 1:24:03

It was Horrific Visions that eventually grabbed my interest and got me back into the game. Nightfall and Dastardly Duos haven’t quite had the same effect.

Professions Pre-Planning? – 1:30:46

The other exciting project that returned me to the game was establishing a roster to cover all the professions and getting them all to 80. This is the beginning of the prep for an eventual episode on professions, a system that I think borders on being too complicated.

Main Topic: Best WoW NPC Tournament Coverage Rounds 4, 5, and 6 – 1:42:28

Probably not really the main topic, but this is the exciting culmination of a process that took far too long.

Outro – 1:54:57

• Thanks to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, and you for listening.
• Support the show at Patreon.com/SoloQueueWoW
• Thank you to patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, ThatSkyGuy, Cyn, Snek of Vol’dun, Jon and Scott (welcome Scott)! And thanks to all the free supporters as well!
• Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest. Leave a 5-star rating and a written review to help grow Solo Queue.
• You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
• Next episode will arrive in less than two months, light willing.

“I will see you out there."

Episode 24 – HDYS Interview with Ali!

Show Notes

Welcome to Episode 24! – 1:45

An interview with the creator of the now-retired Dungeon Fables podcast and the current co-host of Live, Laugh, Lore, Ali Andras! A variety of topics listed below but beginning with the current game in Undermine, DRIVE, and 11.5.

Talking some WoD – 28:35

How Does Ali Solo? – 39:44

Player Housing – 49:00

No Mo FOMO? – 54:11

Books and Libraries – 59:21

Why the lore? – 1:02:46

Why content creation? – 1:05:54

Lightning Round! – 1:17:51

Outro – 1:31:00

• Thanks to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, and you for listening.
• Big thank you to Ali! Find the weekly episodes of Live, Laugh, Lore (I hear the next one will be amazing…) wherever you get your podcasts and reach out to Ali on Twitter @aliandrask or on Bluesky @aliandras
• You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
• Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest. Leave a 5-star rating and a written review to help grow Solo Queue.
• Support the show at Patreon.com/SoloQueueWoW
• Thank you to contributing patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, ThatSkyGuy, Cyn, Snek of Vol’dun and Jon! And thanks to all the free supporters as well!
• Remember to watch socials and r/wow on Reddit for the next 3 rounds to crown the best WoW NPC!

“I will see you out there."

Episode 23 – The 10 Years Ago Thing

Show Notes

Welcome to Episode 23! – 4:42

Another full episode as we dive into three areas!

Best WoW NPC Tournament Coverage Rounds 1, 2, and 3 – 6:43

The upsets, the lopsided victories, and the first three rounds of this grueling six round tournament. Coverage by region. We end the segment with 8 NPCs left to fight for the (someday) famous title of Solo Queue Tournament of 64 Champion and Best WoW NPC!

News – 49:26

• Season of Discovery Phase 8 – some new content in the old WoW? Is this the next phase of a test drive for Classic+? https://www.wowhead.com/classic/news/season-of-discovery-phase-8-patch-notes-new-avalon-scarlet-enclave-raid-and-376282
• Use your Sparks of Fortunes to upgrade gear, but look at this article because it is still a mystery to me. https://www.wowhead.com/news/fourth-spark-of-fortunes-available-for-crafting-this-week-in-the-war-within-376283
• The C.H.E.T.T. system demystified. Turns out you need Renown 13 to interact with the system. https://blizzardwatch.com/2025/03/26/wow-undermine-chett-list-cartel-reputation/#google_vignette
• And…

11.1.5 Launches April 22! – 54:32

Patch 11.1.5 rolls out in 3 phases beginning on April 22 with the Nightfall scenario, the Winds of Mysterious Fortune experience and reputation buff, and the new Cooldown Manager feature. Listen for more details and the details in the blue post here: https://www.wowhead.com/news/patch-11-1-5-release-date-is-april-22nd-376279

“What have you done lately?” – 1:09:34

Interesting interview about the disappearing role of Vulpera in WoW, but I need to build a story around this. Stay tuned. Also an interview with Ali from Live, Laugh, Lore coming in Episode 24! A few Delves. And lots of leveling in Draenor of all places which leads to the main topic!

Main Topic: Revisiting Warlords of Draenor – 1:12:34

A walkthrough of the lore setup for WoD, a playthrough of the excellent WoD intro questline, talking about the questing in the Horde zone of Frostwall, how the graphics hold up, building a Garrison, not flying (but then getting weak and flying), hitting the Bloodmaul Slagmines dungeon, and wrapping up with the first of three raid tiers from WoW’s most maligned expansion.

Drink of the Month – 2:09:11

Couldn’t find a tavern, so knocking back bottles of Ogre Moonshine on the steps of the raid entrance to get acclimated to battling ogres.

Raid of the Month: Highmaul – 2:11:48

And, on to battling said ogres (but not OGRE, of course).

Verdict on Mythic Highmaul – 2:27:29

You have to listen to find out, but let’s just say you probably aren’t going to be camping on the steps where we drank the moonshine each week.

Solo Queue Mailbox – 2:29:52

Kind words on Apple Podcasts and the first SQ episode on YouTube!

Outro – 2:33:08

• Thanks to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, and you for listening.
• Support the show at Patreon.com/SoloQueueWoW
• Thank you to patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, ThatSkyGuy, Cyn, Snek of Vol’dun and Jon! And thanks to all the free supporters as well!
• Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest. Leave a 5-star rating and a written review to help grow Solo Queue.
• You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.
• Next episode is Ali from Live, Laugh, Lore!
• Remember to watch socials and r/wow on Reddit for the next 3 rounds to crown the best WoW NPC!

“I will see you out there."

Episode 21 – Undermine, You Get My Drift?

Show Notes

Welcome to Episode 21! – 8:58

Busy world in life, in game, and in podcast. Lots of 11.1 going on!

“What have you done lately?” – 16:17

• Love is in the Air recap
• Library in our Player Housing when?
• Barely hitting the 2000 points for the Trading Post
• An unexpected and difficult adventure to earn the Troll Heritage Armor

Main Topic: First Laps Around Undermine and Patch 11.1 – 36:03

• First thoughts of Undermine and connections to the OG Goblin starting zone of Kezan
• First playthrough NOT on my Night Elf Druid main, Human Paladin instead on a whim
• Opening cinematic and Orweyna do tie Undermine to TWW storyline
• Missing voice lines for Renzik the Shiv? https://gamerant.com/world-of-warcraft-patch-11-1-renzik-voice-acting-missing/
• Also, run, don’t walk to check out the new audio short story, Tipping Point! https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/media/audio/Warcraft%20Short%20Story
• Undermine the city – too much straight story; incredible detail; DRIVE is tricky at first but growing on me; SCRAP piles are fine; doing the jobs in DRIVE is a bit of a time sink; reached 2/6 storylines; one Delve down, one to go; skybox is hilarious; Bilge Rat Swabbie’s Brush mop transmog acquired; what is CHETT and how do I get the amazing double rocket-pack?

Drink of the Month – 1:13:30

Is this a dry town? Went with an IRL Old Fashioned instead.

Question of the Month – 1:16:18

Results - What should the next playable race be?

15 races suggested, but the top three vote getters were Naga, Arakkoa, and, by a landslide, Sethrak!

New question: What has you excited about WoW? For me, it is story and story delivery.

News – 1:24:52

• Warband camp scenes and ability to create new camps now available
• 30th Anniversary event in London looked good; hoping to get to it in Boston AND hopefully land an dev interview of some sort
• Welcome back podcast Realm Maintenance and congrats to Ease and family on birth of their first child!
• Twitch drop is Tock the Clocker Spaniel – a must get
• WoW services and other stuff sale – might have bought some realm transfers
• Why Kalimdor Cup as 11.1 launches?
• Map adds the Events tab to track Ongoing and Timed events
• 1 introduces 2 new Delves, Dungeon
• Raid schedule and Story Mode only comes week 2 (#followerraids when?)

Raid of the Month: Firelands (Cataclysm) – 1:39:57

One of the most loved raids in the game? When you add raid achievements, there are three solid mounts to chase here. I have the rare ground mount, I do not yet have the super rare flying mount, and I am one achievement away from the third one. In this episode, I bring you along as I try to sew up that last achievement. Do I get it? Does Charlie Brown ever kick the football?

Verdict on Firelands– 2:05:00

Yes. This is a simple verdict. Park a toon or two or many in Hyjal.

SQ Mailbox – 2:08:07

Voila and comments show up on Spotify! Some praise and one former listener who seemed to take issue with a single sentence from a single episode. I have a response to that.

Outro – 2:16:37

• Thanks to Blizzard and OGRE for audio, my lovely and supportive wife, and you for listening.
• Hoping OGRE will write the song “Mai'Zoth the Unkillable” for me
• Support the show at Patreon.com/SoloQueueWoW
• Thank you to patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, ThatSkyGuy, Cyn, and Snek of Vol’dun!
• Thanks to free patrons Max, Eddie, Bear, Jon, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Lavie, Curro, Aronaar, Aedan, Guardian Sandy, and Alice!
• Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest. Leave a 5-star rating and a written review to help grow Solo Queue.
• You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

“I will see you out there."