Episode 3 - Are the Seeds of Renewal Worth Planting?

Episode 3 is up and focused on the breadth of features in 10.2.5. Are you liking the breadth or wishing for more depth? Ever completed a Superbloom but forgot to pick up the quest first? Comments, answers & help for all of it, along with an expansion announcement! (SQ, not WoW) SQ Ep. 3 is on your podcast platform of choice. I'll see you out there!

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Episode 3 Show Notes:

Opening:

Tyrande and Shandris talking about the future of the Night Elves in a Bel'Ameth in-game cinematic.

Welcome to episode:

Welcome to January, to 2024, and to Episode 3 of Solo Queue!

Starting in Bel'ameth to celebrate the drop of 10.2.5 and the opening of the new Night Elf capital city.

• Big news of the week is the arrival of 10.2.5. My first content update as a content creator. A fair amount of early online reactions seemed to be on the negative side, and I do not want to get drawn into that.
• I will look for the positives because I think there are positives in 10.2.5 and I think there are realistic limits to what we can expect from a .5 patch, from an MMORPG in terms of story, and from a development team that I do believe is trying to turn a very large ship towards a better future.
• In the show, we are going to talk about the big activities of 10.2.5:
  • The arrival or return of two capitals for two Alliance races
  • Some Azerothian Archives
  • A little bit on the Follower dungeons
  • My adventures in the Season of Discovery
  • The news
  • A video for advice on gearing as a solo player
  • And my mostly positive thoughts on 10.2.5 overall, despite some of the negative feedback that may be out there.
• Some extra big thanks.
  • Big thanks to the Thrall's Balls podcast for support of Solo Queue on their own show. Check out their recent episode #124 on Spotify, Apple, or your own podcast feed or say hello @Thrallsballspod on Twitter
  • Thanks to my first two Patreon subscribers! Andrew and Righteous Bandy have taken the leap and are supporting the show with actual money! Some firm Patreon goals and rewards, including extra episodes, are coming.
  • And, thanks to you! Yeah you. I see you listening and reading these show notes! I want to hear from you with feedback and suggestions. soloqueuewow on socials, at gmail, and even at the Patreon.
• I will be recording occasional interview episodes entitled "How Do You Solo?" I am going to be reaching out to players and content creators alike to hear how they play the game. There just might be another episode in your podcast feed before the February episode scheduled for the 21st.

News and updates:

• 10.2.5 is out. Remember that dynamic flying is now available anywhere normal flying is offered in the Warcraft universe. That includes Outland, and the Outland Cup. The event ends on February 1st.
• 10.2.6 is on the PTR, as was reported in December, but it is fully-encrypted, so there has been no data-mining and still, no one knows that that mysterious black pirate flag hanging off the 2024 roadmap actually means. Visually, it sits between winter and spring, so possibly March? We will see. Looks like it may be followed shortly by The War Within Alpha. And season 4 looks to be spring, so likely April at the earliest.
• On the Classic side, the next phase of Season of Discovery arrives February 8. The level cap will rise to 40 and a fresh slate of runes will be waiting to be found. And the Gnomeregon raid will be the end-game content for level 40 characters. If you are of the PvP persuasion, Stranglethorn Vale will once again be the most dangerous place to take a casual walk in Azeroth!

Side quests:

On being bad at video games, SoD, and HC Self-found mode

• I am not very good at video games. Have played games for decades. Now I find myself still alone at a desk playing games, but there are potentially millions of other players running by and "watching". Not quite as alone as before.
• Because of not wanting to either actively compete or passively be judged, I work to play alone. In SoD, I am trying to be self-reliant by creating more characters that can help outfit and supply the first character. That becomes the game within the game.
• Self-Found mode is interesting to me. It is how I tend to play, although HSF takes away the support of alt characters. SF has my interest piqued.

Popping in to a tavern or inn for a local drink:

I don't think the Night Elves are big drinkers, but if you head to the Silver Feather, the inn at Bel'ameth, you can grab an Azure Leywine that refresh, but still leave you clear-headed to help get the city set up.

Today I Learned:

You can accept all of those pesky weekly quests from the Adventure Guide (Shift-J, second tab after Traveler's ...