Solo Queue - A World of Warcraft Podcast Dave Gagne

 
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."
 

Episode 7 - The Just Barely Not April April Episode (Oops I…)
 
Welcome to episode 7:
I started with good intentions of hitting the main topic of how to start playing WoW in 2024.
Well, news swallowed up most of our time, so that topic is coming to a special episode soon!
  
The all-new “I Was Wrong” segment
A healthy mea culpa for various incorrections in previous months
 
Location:
Stormwind, the human capital and heart of the Alliance
 
Popping in to a tavern or inn for a local drink:
Pig & Whistle in Stormwind
First the tavern, then the podcast – check it out!
Bourbon.  In-game and out.
 
News updates
2024 Roadmap update.
Lots of 10.2.7.
Blizzard and WoW return to China this summer.
A strange series of layoffs – Christie Golden? Really?  And Blizzcon?
Alpha testing for TWW going on now – do you care about spoilers?
Blizzard Math: 60 character slots + 5 character slots – 5 character slots = 60 character slots.
The War Within 20th Anniversary Collector’s Edition – are you in?
Preview of the WoW Remix: Mists of Pandaria!
Why I like all the innovative flavors of WoW
 
Main topic:  Will arrive in Episode 8, pinky swear
  
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! 
Sorry to bump your main topic, SkyGuy.
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."

Episode 6 - The Just Barely Not March March Episode
Welcome to episode:
Odd time in WoW for me, vacation, time away, busy, end of expansion
Back to some basics.  We are in one of my favorite Horde starting zones, Mulgore
What did I accomplish in WoW last month?
Vacation stuff
No SoD
Did rip out the Hearthstone event
Did my March Trading Post and 1000 tenders
To do so, started leveling a 17 Tauren Paladin
Started into the Plunderfest stuff, that gets us to news
News updates
2.6 – let’s talk about the Plunderverse
SoD ramps up again April 4
Nobelgarden - April 1 to 8
My opinion on holidays - meh
Special Location with description:
You must do the Ahab Wheathoof quest in Bloodhoof Village once in your life to honor a young WoW player who was taken too early by cancer.
https://wowpedia.fandom.com/wiki/Ezra_Chatterton 
Popping in to a tavern or inn for a local drink:
Not any alcohol, but there is cheese!
Location #2:  Thunder Bluff tavern music rest of way out
Walking around Thunder Bluff - unique capital city
Had a brief role in BfA - some Nzoth nightmare vision thing?
Otherwise unused, like so many of them
Layout is different, bit confusing - 3 lobe, double-ring
Central spiral to all 3 inner locations, but can walk outside to access all 3
Then each lobe has a separate mesa called a rise. 
Some interesting little places to find
Main topic:  Back to what to do during WoW slowdowns
Take a vacation, literally take time away from the game
Read WoW novels and books and comics.  Chronicles 1-3, 4 on the way.
Also, the warcraft website https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/story  Lots of short stories and cinematics. 
Not up for reading?  Check out some of the many content creators who focus on the history and lore of Azeroth.  One of the more popular is the YouTube channel of Nobbel87. 
RIP Warcraft Less Traveled (2010 to 2015
Play Warcraft I, II, and III
Collect all the grey, basic racial weapon appearances and armor appearances. 
Get a water mount; the one I recommend is the Subdued Seahorse, available from killing the rare spawn Poseidus in the underwater zone of Vashj'ir.  Others like the Sea Turtle from Northrend fishing.
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 getting to Renown 40 on the Plunderbus.
I'll see you out there."
 

Episode 5 - What to Expect When You're Expecting (a WoW expansion)
 
Show Notes
 
Welcome back for episode 5 of Solo Queue and welcome to you if this is your first time listening.
 
Opening thoughts
Coming to you from the westernmost island of Pandaria, in the Townlong Steppes and looking for any sign of a land mass that could host The War Within.
 
I am predicting a TWW launch of Tuesday, August 27, 2024.  I dare you to disagree.
 
Absolutely enjoyed my conversation with longtime WoW player and podcaster Gershom in the first interview episode a few weeks ago.  Freeform conversation was a fun change of pace!  Thanks Gershom!  @huntergershom on the Twitter.
 
News and updates
Hearthstone's 10th anniversary, yet another exhibit in a growing mountain of evidence that I am getting old.
Warcraft 1 and 2 now available in the Bnet launcher. My kingdom for the time to jump into them.
SoD phase 2 is off and running with new runes, level 40, and the Gnomergon raid. If you want to preserve some of the Discovery in SoD, but don't want to wander blindly around Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms looking, head over to Preach Gaming to make use of their riddles to hint your way to the location of your class runes.  It's kind of a fun middle ground for SoD round 2.  https://preachgaming.com/2024/02/09/sod-p2-rune-riddles/
The Love is in the Air holiday wrapped up, with everyone somehow hating pink and angry they can't get one of the uglier mounts in WoW. There, I said it.  And not out of bitterness.  Not sure I have even attempted it, and certainly not more than three times.  Everyone needs to chill around the season of love.
 
2024 Roadmap Update
2.6 is still a mystery, but it is coming soon
Launch of alpha coming? Roadmap has it in early spring just after 10.2.6.  
Hard Mode Self-Found mode goes live on Feb. 29 - TOMORROW! No mail with other players, no AH, no trading of any sort, and only one death!  I am looking forward to trying this, though time might be limited for me.
 
Main Topic - What is there to do in retail WoW with TWW still many months out?  Some suggestions from me.
Leveling alts - Go and enjoy leveling. Don't treat it as a chore.  Lots of story to find, memories to chase, and each toon is another in your stable of alts!
Heritage Armors - There are now 20 races with a heritage armor available, some based on level and rep, but plenty with quest chains. Quality might vary, but if you have a favorite class or want to dive into some lore of a new class, get in there!
Legion Class Order Halls - Similar to Heritage Armors, they provide an opportunity to explore the denizens of Azeroth, but through the 12 classes available in Legion. These are a good way to level new characters and dive into some details of a specific class.  Can be a long haul with some reputation obstacles (Exalted with Nightfallen), but maybe repeatability will ease with Warbands in TWW?  Mounts and class sets on offer.
How about the small group, instanced content of:
BfA Warfronts
BfA Island Expeditions
Shadowlands Torghast
Again, mog and mounts on offer with all three.  Sure they each had their issues, but you are a big, tough level 70 champion now.  What are you afraid of?
Dip your top into mog and mount farming, and what better way to start than here in Pandaria with the four main World Bosses: Galleon, Nalak, Ondasta, and the Sha of Anger?  Each drops a mount, most of them highly sought after.  Here is my tip: get toons on a low-population RP server, and it is rare to ever see anyone else farming them.  Why is that good?  No waiting around for the 15-20 minute spawn timer.  With rare visits, the bosses are often just up twiddling their thumbs.  My further advice:  camp a few toons at Isle of Thunder to farm Nalak.  Camp a few toons on the big part Pandaria, hitting Galleon, Sha, and Ondasta, then hearthing back to the start.  By the time you do that loop and log into the next character, your first boss is nearly or possib

Show Notes for Episode 4:
I hope you enjoy this first attempt to interview members of the World of Warcraft community about how they play, the role WoW plays in their lives, and issues around the game.
For a first interview subject, the choice was obvious.  As co-host of the Thrall's Balls podcast, Gershom was the first WoW content creator to reach out to me and to talk up this podcast on that show. 
In this first bonus episode, Gershom and I have less of an interview.  Instead, this is a wide-ranging conversation about life, WoW, family, podcasts, our excitement for the new focus on solo content, the need for Follower Raids (we agree), favorite zones, talking to NPCs, and what fans of this show should be called.  Spoilers there - her name is way better than mine!
It is more than an hour, but I promise this conversation is lively and interesting.  Enjoy and be sure to check out Thrall's Balls on your podcast feed a dose of colorful language, inventive WoW-themed drinks, not-very-good jokes (sorry guys) along with WoW news and opinions!  Get over there to hear Gershom, Wooly, and Bentolas do their thing!
My huge thanks to Gershom for getting this new type of episode off the ground and for all her help and friendship!  This episode was immensely fun!
 
Outro:
Music credits: all in-show audio from Blizzard, #playwithaudioon; intro and outro music by my real friends in the doom metal band OGRE.  Check them out at ogrereal.bandcamp.com. 
Thanks to my lovely, supportive wife and to Podbean, the host for Solo Queue.
Huge thanks to Andrew and Righteous Bandy for their support at Patreon.com! You can support Solo Queue there as well and help make bonus episodes like this happen.
Subscribe at any of the podcast feeds. Please leave reviews and 5-star reviews when possible, as they will help grow this little podcast adventure. 
Solo Queue is at soloqueuewow on all the socials, Gmail, and Patreon.  Send me feedback on the show, as well as your solo play tips and stories.  I want to feature them on the show.
Gershom is @huntergershom on Twitter and @thrallsballspod at Gmail and the socials.  Find Thrall's Balls on your podcast app of choice.
She didn't lie, there is a Solo Queue Discord server (temper your expectations).
Back in the Solo Queue soon for the February episode!
We’ll see you out there!

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! 
Don't mind this:  SKmW1OYni0tWQd9S8iYc
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. I