Solo Queue - A World of Warcraft Podcast

Midnight Oil Definitely Got Burned - Episode 29 Show Notes  Welcome to Episode 29! – 3:27          Could there be a few more roadblocks set to getting this episode out in an already busy part of my calendar?  Ep. 28 saw great numbers and a huge contribution to the recent surge was Denethar graciously interviewing me on Azeroth United and I am very grateful.  Also, I’m darn tired and dying to upload this episode, so notes may be a bit short this episode   “What have you done lately?” – 9:43 The IRL boss certainly got its licks in over the past 30 days, with school starting up, a sick relative, moving my entire WoW and recording setup and stuff and bookcases and books up to a new location in our house.  But, it was the confusion around the Midnight launch announcement that really was the biggest roadblock for me diving into this episode.    “What ELSE have you done lately?” – 21:38 First I checked out completely and leveled my Earthen monk in MoP (not even Classic).  When I returned to K’arech, I did a small pile of Delves, finally hit Story Mode and the Follower Dungeon, but perhaps most exciting was earning the P.O.S.T. Master's Express Hearthstone from Katy Stampwhistle and her impromptu mailroom in Tazavesh.  And if you ever wondered if you lose a Great Vault if the week passes and you earn another one, you don’t.  I tested it for you.  Your welcome.   Drink of the Month – 58:42 For a break from collecting bees and honey in Stormsong Valley for Ecological Succession, I head over to The Golden Flagon in Brennadam.  “Nasty” Buck serves up a Mildenhall Mead.   Nostalgia Moment – 1:02:17 A new segment for WoW moments that take me back.  In the inaugural segment,  remember one retired podcast, Azeroth Public Radio and one mostly retired podcast, the Goblin Goldcast after hearing Mac on Lion’s Pride Tavern!  Go check out LPT!  Both are SQ’s forefathers.   News – 1:14:56             Legion Remix coming on Oct. 7 and bits of the Midnight features come in 11.2.7, like character cap of 70. Apple’s iOS 26 will have a feature that can boost voices in its Podcast listening app by suppressing background music and noise. DON’T USE IT or I will be sad with you.   Main Topic:  Midnight Announcement Kerfuffle – 1:24:13 The Gamescom announcement was a bit of a mess that took a couple of weeks to sort out, and this seems like a strange mistake for Blizzard.  Second mistake was the timing that saw the Midnight cinematic spoil the Manaforge Omega raid for anyone planning on LFR and Story Mode people unless you did it immediately after weekly reset.  This launch featured less mystery as well  All combined for much lower hype levels for me.   Midnight features of interest to me with my thoughts: Level cap to 90 New or renovated zones of Eversong Woods, Zul’Aman, Harandar, and Voidstorm Character news: Haranir allied race, Void Elves as DHs, and a 3rd DH spec End game: 8 Dungeons, 3 Raids with 9 total bosses (but only 2 with Story Mode – WTF Blizz?), 10 Delves plus a Nemesis Delve Prey system is a neat idea for optional challenge Community Events return with some variety and in all zones Experiences for new and returning players getting needed updates and options UI improvements continue by targeting damage meters, encounter assistance, and name plate info; the beginning of Blizz bringing some add-on functions into the game The janky launch made it difficult to be positive about Midnight.  Looking forward to that feeling fading into the past.   SQ Mailbag – 2:08:11 You all responded!  Many new ratings on Apple Podcasts returned SQ to a 4.8/5.0 and we have multiple new reviews on Apple and Spotify.  So grateful for the support!   Outro – 2:20:56 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 contributing patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, ThatSkyGuy, Cyn, Snek of Voldun, Jon, Scott, Jeru and the newest members of the Solo Crew, Raven and Greybeard.  And thanks to free members Max, Eddie, Bear, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Curro, Aronaar, AedinNahkriin, Guardian Sandy, Alice, Don,  Kamil, and Case! 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."

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 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 22 – Bookending Gallywix, Best NPC Tournament, and Putting Light into the World Show Notes  Welcome to Episode 22! – 3:06         Big thanks to Ease, the host of Realm Maintenance, for interviewing me for that podcast a couple weeks ago; great conversation about WoW, 11.1, and Solo Queue; check it out on your podcast feed of choice or (hopefully) it will hit YouTube in video form A trimmed down episode for “early” March Goblin starting zone revision 1 discussion Brief news segment The Main Event – Tournament of 64 launch! But first, indulge me for a few minutes…   Special Topic:  Podcasthon, Watts of Love, and Raising Awareness of the Power of Charitable Giving, All Through Podcasts Like This One – 7:30 Podcasthon is a global effort running this week on more than 1,000 podcasts worldwide in which podcasts are choosing a charity of their choice to highlight.  This is part of a wider effort to raise awareness for the continued need for altruism and charitable giving in the world. I chose to have Solo Queue to participate because I agree with that message of doing something in your power to help in your own way. Solo Queue is highlighting Watts of Love, a non-profit dedicated to giving solar lamps to households and communities that lack electrical power all over the world.  Watts of Love also helps reinvest the money saved my not purchasing kerosene or other power sources.  Solo Queue and my family are donating $100 to Watts of Love because I am impressed with their mission and their reputation as a charity. My call to action for you, the Solo Crew of listeners, is to find a way for you to lend assistance to those in need in a way that is meaningful to you.  If it is also donating to Watts of Love, great!  Go for it!  If it is donating to a charity of your choice, be it local or one with a wider mission, also great!  Maybe it is volunteering.  You may have skills that can benefit a charity just as much, if not more, than money.  Please do what you can.  That is my request.  Drop me a message or email and let me know what you did.  Thanks.   Watts of Love:  https://www.wattsoflove.org/ Podcasthon:  https://podcasthon.org/             “What have you done lately?” – 18:17 Revisiting the Goblin starting zone storyline in Kezan and the Lost Isles by starting my 65th character (yes, that is the cap); similarities to Undermine; story line is long and interesting; why does Thrall choose to put Gallywix back in charge and how does he have that power? My thoughts on the full story of 11.1 [THERE WILL BE STORY SPOILERS], including the Delves, Operation Floodgate dungeon (on Follower mode), Liberation of Undermine raid (NOT on Follower mode, just Story Mode - #followerraids), and the final storyline, Homecoming Delve gearing video on Icy Veins: https://www.icy-veins.com/wow/news/get-item-level-639-649-gear-every-week-fast-optimal-delve-gearing-strategy/ My idea for Blizzard – Solo Questing Mode for an immersive experience!    News – 1:04:34          Video from Blizzard: Building Azeroth: The Liberation of Undermine.  Check it out!  Lots of visual effects creation talk and that audio and sound creation, a topic near to my podcasting heart! Another Video from Blizz: 11 Solo Activities in Undermine.  Hosted by HazelNuttyGames.  She walks through activities solo players can tackle.  Huge housing update. The WoWhead article is here:  https://www.wowhead.com/news/how-decorating-your-house-will-work-in-player-housing-new-dye-feature-375821.  Focused on interior decoration, the level of detail and customization exceeds what most of us were expecting. And BlizzCon will return! Well, in 18 months or so.  Mark your calendars for September 12-13, 2026.  You might even see me there for my first BlizzCon.   Main Topic:  The First Annual Solo Queue Tournament of 64 to Determine the Best NPC in WoW – 1:18:02 64 NPCs square off against each other in a bracket-style tournament to determine who is “the best.”  That can mean whatever you want.  Voting determines who advances to the next round.  Here are the directions: Each round will be live on social media (Bluesky, Twitter/X, Insta, Facebook, Threads) for 3 days. Reply to a post or DM or email me at soloqueuewow@gmail.com with your votes for who wins each matchup in each round. List names or even just the numbers of your choices. First round only – can send a full bracket of predictions for all rounds up to the champion in addition to your votes. After 3 days, I will tally votes, update the bracket, and post the next round matchups If you want to hear about the NPCs participating, I walk through the matchups by region: East – 1:28:41 North – 1:40:06 South – 1:50:49 West – 2:06:27   Outro – 2:21:07 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, Darkblade Cyn, Snek of Vol’dun and Jon! That said, my sincere hope is that you find a way to support a charity of your choice this month, be it with your money or time or expertise.  I am proud to be participating in Podcasthon this year and donating to Watts of Love! 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. Remember to watch socials and get your votes in and we will talk about the first 3 rounds of the tournament in the regular March episode coming soon! “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."

Episode 20 – The 1st Annual State of the Warcraft World Conversation with Gershom! Show Notes  Welcome to Episode 20! – 3:10         Solo Queue welcomes back Gershom, co-host of the Thrall’s Balls podcast and a big early supporter of me and this show one year after being the first How Do You Solo? Interview guest. We are here to talk about the state of World of Warcraft just before the 11.1 content release.  We look back a little, forward a little, but mostly talk about what we are liking and looking forward to in the World of Warcraft.  Delves Follower Dungeons The shortcomings of Story Mode (#followerraids) Warbands The occasional lack of patience of some WoW players The flexible delivery of story in WoW The pace of the current trilogy expansions What the heck is Beledar (Sargeras’s sword?) Which big characters are not going to survive the trilogy (I call my shot – Arator) Potential for new racial starting zones Player Housing Is there more story to come on the demise of Dalaran? Enjoy!             Outro – 1:43:43 Thanks to Blizzard and OGRE for audio, my lovely wife, and you for listening. Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest.  Leave a 5-star rating and a review to help grow Solo Queue. Support the show at Patreon.com/SoloQueueWoW Thank you to patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, ThatSkyGuy, Cyn, and Snek of Vol’dun!   You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Thanks Gershom!  Find her at X/Twitter and Bluesky @huntergershom, Instagram @huntergeRRshom (that extra r tho!), thrallsballs.com to join the Thrall’s Ball Discord, and find Thrall’s Ball podcast on your feed of choice. “WE will see you out there."

Episode 19 – Three Drinks in on Lunar Love, Confucianism, Socrates, 11.1, and a Meh Castle Show Notes  Welcome to Episode 19! – 8:04 A few words from me on the guiding principles of Solo Queue and why consistent publishing is not really one of them.  Sorry to miss the two episodes a month pattern on the very first month.  I am okay with that and hopefully you are as well.  Still hoping to get you 24 episodes this year.   And a big thank you to Snek of Vol’dun for the fantastic interview last month, the most downloaded episode in a first week of release!             “What have you done lately?” – 13:00 Anniversary Trivia Recap – 942 total levels and now 40 characters are level 70 or above Fix for losing in-game dialog audio Nelf Druid main finally in all epic gear and Circlet maxxed to 658 Kirin Tor questline is good story-telling Plunderstorm – I already bought out the vendor!   News – 45:37 SoD Phase 7 Cata Classic XP buff Anniversary Classic Phase 2 To Retail news, Turbulent Timeways trick Can search for characters in the select screen   11.1 News and Previews – 56:55 List of selected features coming in 11.1 at an unknown date, likely Feb. 25?   Love is in the Air and Lunar Festival – 1:11:25 New stuff in Love is in the Air and I encourage you to hit respect your elders, if for no other reason than achievements and a new mount for Lunar Festival, which traces its roots to Confucianist ideas honoring your ancestors and the Chinese celebration of Lunar New Year.   Drink #1 – 1:22:50 Moonglow, a special Lunar Festival drink to tide me over to the Drink of the Month   Drink #2 – 1:23:45 Yup, a second drink.  Must be big stuff afoot.  To steel the nerves for Raid of the Month, a Shadeskin Brandy from a dude named Slabchop.  “It burns like sin,” as they say in Revendreth.   Question of the Month – 1:25:33 What should the next playable race be? Sethrak, ogres, jinyu, hozen, valkyr, naga, or something else?   Raid of the Month:  Castle Nathria (Shadowlands) – 1:27:35 It has been four years and that means the raids of Shadowlands should be available to be soloed by mere mortals.  I tackle Castle Nathria for the first time, and of course, I do not remember all the story bits going into it.  #followerraids   Drink #3 – 1:40:06      All that raiding has me thirsty for a second Shadeskin Brandy.   Verdict on Castle Nathria – 1:40:29 The first raid of Shadowlands has no mount?  And it has large swaths of RP dialog and slow-walking NPCs?  And it took much longer than an hour?  And it yielded only 500 gold?  What do you think my recommendation is?   Main Topic:  Did You Hear What Denathar Said About Me and Fellow Podcasters Unite! – 1:47:17 A passing comment by Denathar on Azeroth United has me fired up to defend my honor and reputation as a podcaster!  My defense includes comparing myself to Socrates.  What ego?  What are you talking about?  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Socrates   Then I long for a tighter community of podcasters and celebrate the growing Solo Crew community, even though I tend to steer clear of groups and communities in WoW and life.  #wowpodcastersinBoston?   Outro – 1:59:23 Thanks to Blizzard and OGRE for audio, my lovely wife, and you for listening. 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, and Guardian Sandy! Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest.  Leave a 5-star rating and a 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 18 – How Do You Solo? Interview with The Snek of Vol’dun! Show Notes  Welcome to Episode 18! First episode of 2025 and Season 2 of Solo Queue is an interview with The Snek of Vol’dun, a vocal proponent of making the Sethrak a playable race.  A chance social media encounter turned into a great conversation with a fellow solo player. Still planning for a regular episode in January as part of the twice-monthly plan for this new year.   Interview with The Snek of Vol’dun – 8:52 Why the Sethrak? A connection with the many snakes in Australia? Lore of the Sethrak A role to play fightinh Xal’atath? A Sethrak in a Delve? “Enough to get you hooked.” What classes could Sethrak play? Give us a Sethrak monk! All the pieces are there: starting zone, back story, models, more WoW 30th Anniversary Tour headed to Sydney How did you start playing WoW, especially as a younger player? Obligatory crapping on the writing during Shadowlands Obligatory praising of Chris Metzen and his return Snek as a solo player Time zones are strange Bits of Sethrak info in the Exploring Azeroth: Islands and Isles book Should Sethrak be available to Horde or Alliance or both? Predictions for what’s to come in the WoW story? Updating “old” world zones for graphics and story could be easier with story progress and the presence of so many “Classic” versions Blizzard, heed the command of The Snek of Vol’dun, the Sethrak’s strongest soldier!   Closing comments – 1:34:48 My thanks to The Snek of Vol’dun for coming on the show.   Outro – 1:36:30 Thanks to Blizzard and OGRE for audio, my lovely wife, and you for listening. Support the show at https://www.patreon.com/c/soloqueuewow  Thank you to contributing patrons Andrew, Righteous Bandy, ThatSkyGuy, Cyn, TheSnekofVol’dun, and Friends of Wumpus!  Thanks to free patrons Max, Eddie, Tim, Bear, and Jon. Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest. The Snek of Vol’dun is on BlueSky at bsky.app/profile/snekofvoldun.bsky.social, on Twitter at x.com/TheSnekofVoldun and has a YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/@TheSnekofVoldun You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. January episode coming soon… “We will see you out there."

Episode 17 – The Real Anniversary Episode Show Notes  Welcome to Episode 17! First year of Solo Queue in the books and stumbling into some creative WoW-adjacent media got me thinking about all the value added to WoW by content creators outside of Blizzard.             Four Tanks and a Healer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A47d3fjDNSQ             Stormwind University:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sgpgEy-UW8             Karazhan Library:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkDNwkGDS84         “What have you done lately?” – 16:52 Trivia is now 42 characters every day – the end is in sight, January 7 For max leveling efficiency, that meant getting 5 characters to 80 I made my 2 Earthen characters Monthly inventory for first time in 3 months Sporadically getting weekly meta quests done to keep gearing the 5 level 80s   Addon Recommendation:  Altoholic – 25:39 Tracks gold, levels, achievements, time played, and many more bits of individual character info account-wide, server by server, faction by faction.    …and Siren Isle – 27:03 Yes, it feels a lot like 10.0.7, but it is kind of different Gameplay is…fine; better than the alternative of nothing until 11.1 Story is hard to take in, maybe just for me?   News – 46:34 Still 2 story questlines to come in 11.0.7, Dalaran epilogue and Lingering Shadows Turbulent Timeways coming January 7 – 5 weeks of timewalking New game modes coming to the Character select screen? Might it be… Plunderstorm returns January 14 with less demanding reward system, new rewards, same battlefield And two holidays are wrapping up next week, Anniversary event January 7 and Winter Veil January 5!   Winter Veil in your Garrison! – 56:36 The second-best place to celebrate Winter Veil is in your WoD Garrison, which naturally gets decorations and there are WV dailies to add more decorations.  If you haven’t done it, why not now?  I did, during the recording.   And, I’ve been thinking about WoD lately, which had its 10th anniversary in November.  2025 is my 10th anniversary in WoW.  Throughout the coming year, I am going to go through some of the highlights of this much-maligned expansion to show what is still enjoyable, including featuring the 3 WoD raids in Raid of the Month throughout the year.   Raid of the Month:  Antorus (Legion) – 1:12:02 Speaking of RotM, we visit the final raid of Legion, Antorus, the Burning Throne and see where that giant sword came from.  Is it worth it?  Lots of running around, Eonar a slow encounter, but if you want the 2 mounts and various transmog, then yes, get in there, at least a few times.  Did I get any mounts?  Listen to find out – no spoilers!   Also a plug for the website simplearmory.com – check it out to see all of your collectable items, along with a planner to go hunt them all down!   Drink of the Month – 1:30:20            All that raiding has me thirsty for Dwarven Mead and Greatfather’s Winter Ale at the Stonefire Tavern in Ironforge, in sight of Greatfather Winter himself!   Main Topic:  Yep, more Winter Veil, including *SPOILERS* presents opened! – 1:31:50 We head across the molten channel in Ironforge to check out Winter Veil activities, including a ride out to kill the Greench, unwrapping the 2024 presents live, and sharing my Winter Veil wish list, now for 2025.   Plans for 2025 and gratitude for the influences that led me to SQ – 1:41:18 SQ plans for the coming year, a Season 2, if you will.  Biggest is the goal of two episodes each month, a traditional (and shorter) episode, and a second episode of various formats, including interviews, single topic deep dives, or overflow topics for the month.   I want to close this episode with gratitude for my sources of inspiration for Solo Queue including traditional radio, some Blizzard podcasts no longer with us, and many that are.  Thank you, fellow podcasters!  Honored to be among your ranks.   Solo Queue Mailbox – 2:04:16 The second and third reviews on Apple Podcasts from Mr Rascolwitz and Cyn (psmst1). #grateful   Truly, thanks for a great first year of Solo Queue!  I hope you keep listening and sharing it with friends.   Outro – 2:08:47 Thanks to Blizzard and OGRE for audio, my lovely wife, and you for listening. Support the show at Patreon.com/SoloQueueWoW Thank you to patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, ThatSkyGuy, and welcome Cyn!  Thanks to free patrons Max, Eddie, Tim, and Jon. 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, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. “I will see you out there."

Episode 16 – How Do You Solo? Interview with Josh Allen Show Notes  Welcome to Episode 16! Not a lot in the way of show notes for this episode.  There is an intro with me trying to dream up the perfect person to talk about the past, present, and future of the Warcraft universe in the wake of Warcraft Direct.  Then…   Interview with Josh Allen, aka Lore, aka devolore – 3:13 An awesome, informative, insightful, and wide-ranging interview with Josh getting to know him as a content creator and his experiences work at Blizzard as a Community Manager, a look into the creation process of WoW, his experience and perspective on the employment harassment and discrimination problems that were exposed beginning in 2021, and a look into the future of WoW, Classic, Remixes, player housing and much more.  Buckle up and listen!   Interview with Josh Allen, aka Lore, aka devolore – 1:13:35 Perhaps the slowest moving Lightning Round, with blamed laid equally on both of us!   Outro – 1:26:05 •A ton of thanks to Josh for coming on to share his knowledge and experiences! •Thanks to Blizzard and OGRE for audio, #dontplaymuted, 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, Tim and Jon! •Also, big thanks to ThatSkyGuy for the base logo artwork on the show image today! •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,Threads, and Threads. “We will see you out there."

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 20th Anniversary event, and so much going on!   November News at the 20th 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. •30th 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 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 – 20th 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 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 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 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.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! 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? 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."