Episodes

  • Episode 17 – The Real Anniversary Episode

    Episode 17 – The Real Anniversary Episode
    Dec 30 2024
    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 7For max leveling efficiency, that meant getting 5 characters to 80I made my 2 Earthen charactersMonthly inventory for first time in 3 monthsSporadically 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 differentGameplay is…fine; better than the alternative of nothing until 11.1Story 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 ShadowsTurbulent Timeways coming January 7 – 5 weeks of timewalkingNew game modes coming to the Character select screen? Might it be…Plunderstorm returns January 14 with less demanding reward system, new rewards, same battlefieldAnd 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/SoloQueueWoWThank 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."
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    2 hrs and 12 mins
  • Episode 16 - How Do You Solo? Interview with Josh Allen!

    Episode 16 - How Do You Solo? Interview with Josh Allen!
    Nov 22 2024
    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."
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    1 hr and 30 mins
  • Episode 15 - Princes and Paupers

    Episode 15 - Princes and Paupers
    Nov 13 2024
    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."
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    2 hrs and 26 mins
  • Episode 14 - Losing the War Within My Schedule

    Episode 14 - Losing the War Within My Schedule
    Oct 5 2024
    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."
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    1 hr and 50 mins
  • Episode 13 - Early or Not, Here It Comes

    Episode 13 - Early or Not, Here It Comes
    Aug 26 2024
    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
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    1 hr and 33 mins
  • Episode 12 - You Still Want to Start WoW NoW? Part 2

    Episode 12 - You Still Want to Start WoW NoW? Part 2
    Aug 20 2024
    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."
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    1 hr and 34 mins
  • Episode 11 – Up All Night

    Episode 11 – Up All Night
    Jul 23 2024
    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 ...
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    1 hr and 52 mins
  • Episode 10 – How Do You Solo? Interview with Gin!

    Episode 10 – How Do You Solo? Interview with Gin!
    Jul 16 2024
    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!
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    1 hr and 31 mins