Solo Queue - A World of Warcraft Podcast

Going to California With a Blizzcon in My Heart - Ep 44 SOLO QUEUE DISCORD available at: https://discord.gg/nXQVqERcSU Show Notes Welcome to Episode 44! – 5:23 Summer is at a close. There is a buzz in the land. The fog of the Coiled Isle has lifted. The Blizzcon stage is set. The Race to World First is reaching its crescendo. And I managed to kill my first Delve Nemesis. Also, sorry to Spotify listeners who got two versions of Episode 43 or was missing the episode altogether. On the other side of the ledger, Solo Queue hit an all-time high ranking of #79 on the Apple videogame podcast charts! News – 20:52 1 content and Season 2 are live, including beloved Story Mode Race to World First update, followed by numerous updates throughout the episode (be sure to listen through the end credits) 1.5 is on the PTR, but no official news yet, which I find nice Blizzcon 2026 is coming! “What Have You Done Lately?” – 33:36 I actually killed Nullaeus in the final day of Season 1! Add-on troubles at 12.1 launch. And the first thing I did? Take a level 44 Undead Warlock to 55 because. In the Barber Shop, I saw the Azure Somnowl druid flight form and immediately headed to Amirdrassil to hunt it down! Neighborhood activities are a bit of a chore. Not awful, but… Playing 12.1 – 54:45 I am digging the storytelling methods employed in 12.1, including the flashbacks used with Nek’zali and Valeera. One suggestion from the SQ Developer Bench for identifying the abilities when playing as a different NPC in game. Zone music is great. The Vaults are dangerous. I appreciate the lore connections being established on the Cursed Isle. Side Quest – Boss Encounter Design – 1:33:24 YouTube channel of @Candlesan is Wyatt Cheng, Senior Design Director at Second Dinner and former Blizzard game designer. The video “How I Designed Patchwerk the Naxxramas Boss” is the one that caught my eye. He has others on WoW design and other game design as well. Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/b2Jw4rsbnpk Main Topic – Blizzcon 2026! – 1:38:02 September 12-13 is the height of hype in the Warcraft and Blizzard world! My thoughts on possible announcements, things I’m hoping for, what I would like to see in Classic+ (and why I cannot wait to stop calling it that), and a bold prediction of a brand new IP. I will be there and will post updates of my trip to the Solo Queue Discord. If you want to meet up, reach out by socials or Discord or email or something. I hope to literally see you out there…in Anaheim! Outro – 2:24:51 Thanks to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, Podbean for hosting the show, 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, Metacognition, Jeru, Raven, Greybeard, Pasta Matt, Luch, and Rak! And thanks to free members Max, Eddie, Bear, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Curro, AehanNahkriin, Guardian Sandy, Alice, Don, Kamil, Eric, Wednesday, Case, TJ, Denethar, TheChampz, Michelle, Donald, AggroManagement, Brian, William, and Uihu! ONE FINAL RtWF UPDATE CRAMMED IN HERE! DON’T MISS IT! 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 am @sweeperdave on Discord where you can join the Solo Queue Discord channel. If you are attending Blizzcon, reach out. I would love to say hi to you. “I will see you out there (maybe even in Anaheim)."

Shieldwalled Off Cooldown, Part 2 with Jason Lucas! - Ep 43 SOLO QUEUE DISCORD available at: https://discord.gg/nXQVqERcSU Show Notes Welcome to Episode 43! – 1:22 A few news updates and then back into the conversation with Jason Lucas. News – 3:48 We got word that Décor Duals will get some feature changes, but only until it gets removed when 12.1 arrives spurring my own speculation of the fate of other possible game systems with a similar style of name. The M+ cheating scandal gives Blizzard a funny opportunity next April. “Legacy of Rage” comic has been released; check it and all sorts of other media out here at the WoW media page: https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/media . Dungeons & Dragons has embraced Azeroth with a ruleset for WoW coming in November. 1 launches on Tuesday with all its new content, though Season 2 begins arriving one week later on Aug. 18. What Have You Done Lately? – 22:18 I did earn the Spawn of Vyranoth mount for Timewalking and the Sporefall raid mount! Finally got a second character to level 90. Pandaren Heritage Armor questing completed, with a brief review here. Good story and story presentation. SQ Development Bench – 34:05 An idea for Blizzard: characters who have something new or updated in their text dialogue box should get a visual indicator such as a yellow outline across all questing, like they did for the end of the Pandaren HA questing. Main Topic – Part 2 with Jason Lucas – 36:30 The rest are topics and questions posed in the second half of the conversation. 10 Years Hosting TSZ – 38:11 The most consistent weekly Warcraft podcast out there, through the ups and downs. A Solo Player Asks About Raiding – 54:25 I share my observations about raiding from a non-participant perspective and ask some whys and why nots. Value of the Race to World First – 55:31 What is the value of the RtWF to the game? Who benefits? Raid Difficulty Levels and Nerfing – 1:09:49 Why is there so much nerfing over the course of a season? Social Responsibilities of a Raid Leader – 1:21:23 Leading a productive group requires some firm decisions and conversations (also known as why I don’t do group content). Variance in Encounter Design? (He says no) – 1:29:58 Why does the boss do the same thing every time? Why not add some variance in abilities? Oh, that’s why. Current State and Future of WoW and Azeroth – 1:37:06 Lightning Round! – 1:56:29 Closing Thoughts – 2:10:08 Outro – 2:15:11 Big thank you to Jason Lucas for joining me for a monster conversation! Thanks to you, to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, my family, 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, Metacognition, Jeru, Raven, Greybeard, Pasta Matt, Luch, and Rak! 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. Find me at sweeperdave on Discord and at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Find Jason on Twitter as @shieldwalled, on Bluesky as jlucas.bluesky.social, on Twitch.tv/shieldwalled, and on Youtube.com/shieldwalled, and of course weekly on The Starting Zone podcast. Behold, the Cursed Isle arrives on Tuesday (or rather, we arrive at it). “We will see you out there."

How Do You Not Solo Interview, Part 1 with Jason Lucas! - Ep 42 SOLO QUEUE DISCORD available at: https://discord.gg/nXQVqERcSU Show Notes Welcome to Episode 42! – 1:00 Pardon the ripoff of The Starting Zone intro, but welcome Jason Lucas to the Solo Queue Zone. Talking Tanking – 4:13 Sure, as a solo player, I have little need for tanking, which means I don’t know much about it. Who better to ask than @Shieldwalled? What is tanking, how has it changed through the expansions, how to learn the art of tanking, and other questions. The Move Towards Solo WoW – 42:42 Asking the commensurate group leader about the addition of features for solo play in recent years. WoW Game Design – 50:12 More general discussion of recent features and the 8-week patch cycle. All Things Blizzcon – 1:11:27 What we can expect at Blizzcon 2026? Will we see any mention of The Last Titan? Any advice for a first-time attendee? What will Classic+ Be? – 1:24:26 It seems likely that whatever Classic+ is it will be front and center at Blizzcon. What will it be? Jason’s First Blizzon – 1:37:24 Memories from Blizzcon 2015. Intermission – 1:48:31 There is more Warcraft conversation including talking about the state of raiding, Jason’s experience co-hosting The Starting Zone for ten years, and a Lightning Round! Outro – 1:49:47 Big thank you to Jason Lucas for joining me for a monster conversation! Thanks to you, to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, my family, 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, Metacognition, Jeru, Raven, Greybeard, Pasta Matt, Luch, and Rak! 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. Find me at sweeperdave on Discord and at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Find Jason on Twitter as @shieldwalled, on Bluesky as jlucas.bluesky.social, on Twitch.tv/shieldwalled, and on Youtube.com/shieldwalled, and of course weekly on The Starting Zone podcast. See you soon for part two! “We will see you out there." Jason Lucas will return in “Part 2: Shieldwalled Off Cooldown”

Revelations: WoW Storytelling and a Midsummer Resurrection - Ep 41 SOLO QUEUE DISCORD available at: https://discord.gg/nXQVqERcSU Show Notes Welcome to Episode 41! – 4:22 I’m finding more time in game, a bit of a resurrection! Update on my keybinds change and a preview of the episode. Also, sorry speakers of Finnish for my appropriation of your language in the intro bit! News – 15:45 Sticking to my prediction that 12.1 will arrive on August 11 at the end of TT and right on the 8 week cadence List of 12.1 features, courtesy of Blizzard Watch Discord integration coming for WoW Guild/Community Chat – look for it in the SQ Discord site Short story “The Bitter Truth” now available as PDF and 21 minutes of lightly animated audio narrations on YouTube; good flavor for the Amani-Blood Elf rivalry, but nothing you need to succeed in game “What Have You Done Lately?” – 32:18 The Fire Festival brings all the boys to the yard, apparently. I’ve been taking some of my own advice and running Dragon Soul, celebrating the Fire Festival, and doing both Timewalking dungeons for the cool mount and running the Sporefall raid four times for that mount. Go me hitting the group content! Drink of the Month – 43:30 Fiery Festival Brew is the Drink of the Month celebrating Midsummer Fire Festival! Main Topic – Quality of Storytelling in WoW – 1:03:07 The 12.1 announcement spoiled some of the 12.0.7 story even before it hit the live game. Why is it difficult to tell the story of Warcraft in an MMO? Discussion of those issues and a breakdown of the YouTube video “The Inherent Problems With World of Warcraft's Storytelling (And How To Enjoy It Anyway)” from Discordian Kitty. Check it out at: http://youtu.be/B1USxjQUO4U Side Quest – Are You Hiding in WoW or Healing In It? – 1:54:28 YouTube creator Saltynips posted a video discussing the nature of the solo experience in WoW. It is thoughtful, though differs from why I play solo. Check it out at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4f5Q0heiD0&t=54s Closing Thoughts – 2:00:41 I haven’t been hiding in WoW, but am working on healing in it. Thanks for all of you for supporting me and the show even in some slow WoW times for me. Outro – 2:04:04 Big thank you to Spencer and JASON at The Starting Zone, the folks at Blizzard Watch, Discordian Kitty, and Saltynips for making great content that I used or commented on in this episode! Thanks to you, to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, my family, 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, Raven, Greybeard, Pasta Matt, Luch, and Rak! And thanks to free members Max, Eddie, Bear, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Curro, AehanNahkriin, Guardian Sandy, Alice, Don, Kamil, Eric, Wednesday, Case, TJ, Denethar, TheChampz, Michelle, Donald, AggroManagement, Brian, William, and Uihu! 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 (it’s true). See you soon for a monsterously long interview coming next! “I will see you out there."

School’s Out! Report Card Time - Ep 40 SOLO QUEUE DISCORD available at: https://discord.gg/nXQVqERcSU Show Notes Welcome to Episode 40! – 2:13 40 episodes! Happy 25th birthday to my Alex! Big thanks to Rak and Kael for inviting me to celebrate episode 20 of The Ready Check! Good to finally claw some time out to get this show out to you all! Corrections – 9:44 Ep. 39 had a few stinkers. Sorry. SQ Mailbag – 16:43 Rak’s review, Cyn checks in, Vantacor writes once more, Wooley, Jerzey, and Sorchaduin have comments on Spotify brewin’ News – 26:17 Another Grrgle housing décor item as a Twitch drop from June 16-July 14 0.7 arrives today with extended maintenance, along with extended extended maintenance Story portion of 12.0.7 drops July 7 Turbulent Timeways will run from June 30 until August 11 I’m calling it, 12.1 will arrive on August 11 at the end of TT and right on the 8 week cadence Drink of the Month – 32:29 In Pandaria and I have to sadly settle for a Flagon of Dwarven Mead - oof SQ Development Bench – 34:52 Free ideas for Blizzard - A stable of NPCs that can gain experience and power available for Follower Dungeons and #FollowerRaids “What Have You Done Lately?” – 42:53 Testing out Midnight features and systems, but most recently, IRL boss has wiped me day after day from playing Guiding Principles for Time-Crunched Players – 56:09 How to navigate not having enough time in Azeroth, not getting overwhelmed, and staying productive – all advice I need to take myself Top 10 List – My Favorite WoW Activities – 1:06:59 These are my go-tos Main Topic – Midnight report card – 1:22:28 I posed the question to the SQ of how long are your breaks from WoW? Times varied, but it is becoming clear to me that it is okay to take some time away. Closing Thoughts – 2:12:04 Overall grade for Midnight so far and wondering what it is I can’t put my finger on that isn’t pulling me into Midnight as heavily as other expansions Outro – 2:16:35 Thanks to you, to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, my family, and YOU for listening. OGRE’s May 15, 2026 show video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uto-Zlk3Z1Q 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, Raven, Greybeard, , Pasta Matt, Luch, and Rak! And thanks to free members Max, Eddie, Bear, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Curro, AehanNahkriin, Guardian Sandy, Alice, Don, Kamil, Eric, Wednesday, Case, TJ, Denethar, TheChampz, Michelle, Donald, AggroManagement, Brian, William, and Uihu! 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. Enjoy the 12.0.7 content or wherever you are in Azeroth! “I will see you out there."

The Keys That Bind Us - Ep 39 SOLO QUEUE DISCORD available at: https://discord.gg/nXQVqERcSU Show Notes Welcome to Episode 39! – 2:13 Feeling lots of gratitude and a little sadness which we will talk about. Big thank you to you for supporting long-form audio content! Gratitude for the recent wave of growth of SQ, which has been downloaded in 57 countries, including a small wave in Vietnam. And, my wife and I have a strange, yet predictable real-life WoW interaction at a car dealership, of all places. Listen on, my friend! News – 6:37 Race to World First update, really? Don’t look here for final scores, but I love the surprise secret phase which generated excitement in WoW and even in the wider gaming community – WoW in the wider culture! And then they released 12.0.5 which launched many features and many more bugs to fix. What is going on at Blizzard that this gets released in this state? I suggest the 8-week patch cycle be returned to the 11-week model of the Legion era. A Farewell to Bricco – 34:57 April saw the loss of former WoW podcaster and bright light in the WoW community Bricco. What started as sad news went deeper for me the more I looked into his WoW life. Husband, father, friend, and so much more, he will be missed by many, especially for his unending positivity. The Third Faction podcast’s tribute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-v6QITm9Mo Drink of the Month – 49:51 This real glass of Jack Daniels Single Barrel Barrel-Strength Rye checks in at 130.1 proof. I tip the glass in honor of Bricco. More Than a Quest Giver – The Chronicle of Lesser Known Azerothians – 51:35 The first of hopefully many short introductions to below top-tier NPCs beginning with the badass orc Ritssyn Flamescowl! Emergency Bonus News – 56:34 0.7 gets announced chock full of features, but will it be another 8-week patch cycle fiasco? Bellular 12.0.7 preview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzQuzJtQfqk&t=180s I invent the Running of the Kul Tirans community event with a sweet customization as a reward – make it so, Blizz! TurtleWoW gets shut down and I get a content creator invite to a brand new “private” server – I call them illegal servers. Main Topic: Changing Keybinds After 11 Years – 1:13:57 One-button rotation breaks the logjam of not wanting to change my keyboard commands and keybindings. The images will appear in the SQ Discord. I claim no expertise on this topic, but hope you enjoy me explaining my process that took nearly as long as this segment. “What Have You Done Lately?” – 2:00:11 Crickets. Busy time of year. Getting alts to work on side questing. The debate about getting time in game led me to actually say the b-word out loud, burn out. Question Queue – 02:09:27 I posed the question to the SQ of how long are your breaks from WoW? Times varied, but it is becoming clear to me that it is okay to take some time away. Closing Thoughts – 2:15:26 But, I am still loving making this show, even when it’s difficult. BlizzCon is in 4 months! One last thanks to Bricco… Outro – 2:18:25 Thanks to you, to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, my family, 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, Raven, Greybeard, , Pasta Matt, Luch, and Rak! And thanks to free members Max, Eddie, Bear, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Curro, AehanNahkriin, Guardian Sandy, Alice, Don, Kamil, Eric, Wednesday, Case, TJ, Denethar, TheChampz, Michelle, Donald, AggroManagement, Brian, and William! 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. Take time for yourself, whether in the game or out. “I will see you out there."

Midnight Meanderings - Ep 38 SOLO QUEUE DISCORD now available: https://discord.gg/nXQVqERcSU Show Notes Welcome to Episode 38! – 2:13 Time to pin you down and force you to listen to what I think of Midnight so far. Or maybe just entertain you while you work or commute or mow the lawn or whatever it is you are doing. Thanks for bringing Solo Queue along! By the way, the countdown checklist idea on a podcast on the day that the U.S. launched four astronauts towards the Moon is sheer coincidence. In fact, my intro preview came out to Patreon supporters days ago. Serendipity, baby! News – 6:37 SQ Socials news Horde neighborhood – Desolate Collective – finally figured out how to add members beyond those on the original charter; not great for momentum, but the key was, as I suspected, strip down to no add-ons and the invite button on the roster actually functioned properly! The test was Gershom and she is the first new member; reach out in game or out if you want to move your Horde house to the Desolate Collective The SQ Guild Solo Together is strong and growing. You can find it in the Alliance Guild Finder, but it is open to both factions. We have an Alliance side Guild Neighborhood that is open to members of the guild. If you want to join, just reach out and we will get you an invite, Horde or Alliance. It is a bunch of cool people of many different backgrounds hanging out, checking in on each other, all very casual. New Discord link: https://discord.gg/N86fhRkDem If you are good people, come check it out. I am @sweeperdave on Discord and of course, soloqueuewow on everything else out there. GT change/delay – yeah, life finds a way into all of my plans; GT on hold, but will return; also quietly on hold is this year’s 64-competitor single-elimination tournament among Warcraft characters will take a year off. Rufus is available, Habitat for Humanity; through May 12; The mini war hammer in the mouth is amazing. Music video/marketing from WoW and the musician Aurora is fantastic S1 – what is open, what is left? A lot of S1 is now open with the arrival of M+ keystones last week and the Darkway delve. For raids, the Voidspire and the Dreamrift both opened on Mythic difficulty. All other diff of the Dreamrift, the one-boss raid, opened the previous week. For the Voidspire, LFR wing 2 is available, as is the as-yet-unimproved Story Mode version. Coming this week with the March 31 reset is wing 3 of LFR for VS along with the Normal, Heroic, and Mythic versions of the 3rd raid of Midnight, March on Quel’Danas. This is a 2-boss raid. The Raid Finder/LFR and SM versions arrive the following week on April 7. And the final delve, the Parhelion Plaza opens this week as well. New nemesis for the season is Nullaeus, and Valeera Sanguinar is here to help you through all of the Delves. A Race to World First update? On Solo Queue? 9 bosses from all 3 of the raids, with of course the final 2 bosses taking the stage on Tuesday with the launch of the March on Quel’Danas. As of the time of recording, there are three familiar names that have cleared the first two raids and are awaiting the penultimate boss: Liquid, Echo, and Method. Six more teams are trying to take down the final boss, identified as the Crown of the Cosmos in the Adventure Guide. Spring sale on Bnet – pets and mounts and packs of stuff, along with certain game services Twitch drop is the Cuddly Void Grrgle; before April 23; watch 4 hours of WoW on Twitch 0.5 preview of what is interesting No release date yet, but an 8 week cycle would be April 28, so there is still plenty of time. The Voidforge will help to upgrade gear. That said, the Nebulous Voidcores that you will need to upgrade gear come from M+ d, raids, Bountiful Delves, and Nightmare level Prey Hunts. More open-world activities launch with 12.0.5 with Void Assaults comprised of Void Strkes and Void Incursions. Another activity is Ritual Sites, a tiered scenario that can be tackled solo or with a party of up to five players. Add the underwater fishing activity called Abyss Anglers and it seems like there will be a lot of options to freshen up your routine midway through Season 1 of Midnight. Class Identity Challenge – 27:45 On Azeroth Morning Radio, Jibbs described his connection to the Paladin class to his own life and that got me thinking about why I identify with my favorite class, Druid of course. Hero’s Call Co-Opted – 36:33 And continuing with AMR-adjacent content, I low-key (as my 9th grade students say) stole the Hero’s Call Board segment from them for a good reason, to highlight someone awesome in the WoW community. “What Have You Done Lately?” – 53:56 Honestly, not enough Warcraft, but both Haranir characters have been created bringing the active roster to 69. My oldest active character, and possibly my first character, is the first Horde character to start an expansion for me, and he has hit 90 and already wiped once in the “Story” Mode raid. Oof. Main Topic: My Midnight Experience – 1:29:19 Walking through the leveling campaign going through my thoughts on the zones, storylines, music, graphics, and selected systems in Midnight. Silvermoon City – 1:39:22 Eversong Woods – 1:45:20 Arator’s Journey – 1:55:22 Zul’Aman – 1:59:48 Harandar – 2:07:41 Voidstorm – 2:17:40 Closing Thoughts – 2:25:26 Wrapping it all up, including my brief thoughts on the so-called “Story” Mode raid for the Voidspire and a potential reveal of the final boss… Outro – 2:37:10 Thanks to all of you for your patience in waiting for this episode, Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, my family, 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, Raven, Greybeard, Case, Pasta Matt, Luch, and Rak! And thanks to free members Max, Eddie, Bear, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Curro, Aronaar, AedinNahkriin, Guardian Sandy, Alice, Don, Kamil, Wednesday, Eric, and TJ! 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. Race to World First is…still a thing. Go team. “I will see you out there."

State of Warcraft with Gershom 2, This Time It’s Midnight - Ep 37 SOLO QUEUE DISCORD now available: https://discord.gg/N86fhRkDem Show Notes Welcome to Episode 37! – 3:13 Gershom is back for our second annual State of Warcraft conversation! Here are some of the topics we get into: Looking back at TWW – 9:06 Midnight First Impressions – 16:18 Revamp of Zones – 39:42 Troll Talk – 48:48 Arator's Journey – 57:44 Looking Ahead – 1:06:34 Housing – 1:14:58 Overall State of Warcraft – 1:42:04 Outro – 1:53:12 Thanks to Gershom for joining me once again, to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, to my lovely and supportive and healing wife, my PodBean for hosting the show, and to 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, Raven, Greybeard, Case, Pasta Matt, Luch, and Rak! And thanks to free members Max, Eddie, Bear, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Curro, Aronaar, AedinNahkriin, Guardian Sandy, Alice, Don, Kamil, Wednesday, Eric, TJ, Denethar, TheChampZ, Michelle, Donald, and AggroManagement! 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. You can contact Gershom on Twitter @huntergershom or on Instagram @huntergerrshom. You can check out Thrall’s Balls at thrallsball.com for links to socials and the Discord, and the show comes out every Tuesday with WoW news and opinions. “We will see you out there."

Seeking Acceptance - Ep 36 SOLO QUEUE DISCORD now available: https://discord.gg/nXQVqERcSU Show Notes Welcome to Episode 36! – 2:49 Who knew it was so hard to get four player signatures to start a guild? A sign from the universe, perhaps? Too late, we started a guild! News – 13:05 Solo Together Guild open – Yes! But, RANT #1 INCOMING – the long road to 4 signatures Loner’s Run, the ST Guild neighborhood open Solo Together Community up and running Community neighborhood for Horde side houses? Desolate Collective needs only 1 more signature! Discord is alive and running at https://discord.gg/N86fhRkDem Mini-Mailbag Johnnietips from TB Jibbs from AMR Rak nice comment; R not just a fan, not just a member of that SQ Discord, R and Kael have started up… Welcome Ready Check podcast to the community; Weekly show of 2 friends talking WoW and tackling what is going on in game Meggoart – 4th Interlude is out at https://interludecomicanthology.carrd.co/ and her WoWKEA YouTube channel is going strong at https://www.youtube.com/@meggoart The Jan. 29 WoW Showcase event with the 2026 roadmap “What Have You Done Lately?” – 32:51 RANT #2 INCOMING. Short version is yes, I lost all 800,000+ bronze that I collected when Blizz shut down the Remix event earlier than two of the three times is announced. Me not happy, for sure. Pre-patch event nearly done and maybe not the best of these events Void Elf DH unlock relatively brief; Devourer DH seems cool, but only doing 1-button rotation Catchup experience not useful after a level 70 boost Main Topic: Grand Tour Actually Announced – 1:05:19 This will be a recurring segment exploring the dungeons and raids of each expansion Grand Tour: Classic Kalimdor – 1:16:14 The ten dungeons and two raids of Classic on Kalimdor discussed in an overview Raid(s) of the Month – 1:33:33 The Temple and Ruins of Ahn’Qiraj are the two raids in Classic Kalimdor. Are they worth farming? SQ Book Club warm-up: The Void Between – 1:39:13 The recently published short story written by Alex Acks is a great little story before Midnight arrives SQ Book Club: Blood Ties – 1:47:24 The latest novel by Christie Golden is a great read, but one you do not have to finish before the launch of Midnight. Read it now or read it later, but read it. Outro – 2:37:10 Thanks to all of you for your patience in waiting for this episode, Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, my family, 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, Raven, Greybeard, Case, Pasta Matt, Maccus, Luch, and Rak! And thanks to free members Max, Eddie, Bear, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Curro, Aronaar, AedinNahkriin, Guardian Sandy, Alice, Don, Kamil, Wednesday, Eric, and TJ! 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. Gershom is up next in the Queue. Enjoy early access for those who celebrate! “I will see you out there."

Kicking off 2026 with Denethar! - Ep 35 SOLO QUEUE DISCORD now available: https://discord.gg/nXQVqERcSU Show Notes Welcome to Episode 35! – 1:24 Welcome to the Solo Queue to Denethar, host of Azeroth United, another fantastic podcast started in 2023 “What Have You Done Lately?” and a bit of news – 14:57 Projects and spreadsheets and Housing and Remix Grand Tour Kind of Announced – 18:29 Over the course of 2026, I will be diving into every dungeon and raid in World of Warcraft. Each month another expansion’s worth of end game to report on. Stay tuned. News – 38:16 Pre-patch is nigh. Blizzard video explains it all: https://youtu.be/fp8Ngxzrwxg?si=isQBdEBmsZSiTf7U Legion Remix ends January 19 at 1:00 (this turns out to be utter bullshit – tune in next time, rant incoming) Haranir introduction video from Blizzard: “Everything You Need to Know, featuring Fiamma” https://youtu.be/Jk1t4FhXyyc Customization of races imbalance Burning Crusade Anniversary pre-patch rollout Solo Queue Discord site now open to fans of the show; here is the invite code: https://discord.gg/nXQVqERcSU Twitch drop now available is the Cuddly Green Grrgle Housing Décor Item, from Jan. 20 to Feb. 17. Sad news that podcast Live, Laugh, Lore will be stopping its run next month as it hits episode 200; Gin and Ali, you will be missed by many! Drink of the Month – 1:24:53 Without prompting, Denethar created the first original drink for the Solo Queue, the Nightwatcher! Try it. 2 oz. Bourbon 1 oz. Chambord or other blackberry liqueur ¼ oz. simple syrup ¼ oz. lemon juice 2-3 dashes of bitters (experiment, the world’s your oyster) Top with ginger beer Main Topic: Denethar – 1:28:06 A conversation about WoW, Classic, names, life, podcasting, and so much more. Lightning Round! – 2:18:38 Will Denethar survive the relentless assault of my inquisition? Outro – 2:37:46 Thanks to Denethar for this long overdue conversation, Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, my family, 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, Raven, Greybeard, Case, Pasta Matt, Maccus, and Luch! And thanks to free members Max, Eddie, Bear, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Curro, Aronaar, AedinNahkriin, Guardian Sandy, Alice, Don, Kamil, Wednesday, Eric, and TJ! 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. Find Denethar on Twitter @denethar Find the Azeroth United website at azerothunitedpod.com and on Twitter @azupodcast You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Enjoy the pre-patch everyone, it’s going to be a 12.0 world. “Take care. We love you all. And we will see you out there."

We had some technical difficulties at Solo Queue Headquarters as the year came to a close. Fortunately, lost data was recovered and the episode is ready! But, given it is New Year's Eve (here), I am skipping the show notes for now. Enjoy and on to 2026! Dave

HDYS Interview with Jibbs and Kash of Azeroth Morning Radio! - Ep 33 Show Notes Welcome to Episode 33! – 2:29 We dodged two goblin toughs for a few moments, but we will need to get the show going before they return. “What Have You Done Lately?” and a bit of news – 3:07 Great response to Episode 32 and in particular the profile of my deceased uncle Did anyone notice the missing intro and outro music in Ep. 32? Had to do a quick fix and re-upload 11.2.7 is out and I have not jumped into Housing Exciting to see all the creativity around Housing Will drive players into a lot of old content Please be patient while it all gets sorted and adjusted – this is a monumental addition to WoW I need to get into the 11.2.7 questline before it gets spoiled all over the place for me Main Topic: Interview with Jibbs and Kash – 14:54 We chat about the success of Azeroth Morning Radio, its inspirations, and all the work behind it. Of course, we mix in plenty of WoW talk along with some 11.2.7, our outlook on WoW in general, possible systems improvements, what they identify with in game, and, yes, Housing (they snuck in before we recorded without me – see if they ever get invited back to this show) Lightning Round with two people! – 1:27:52 This is my chance to pit co-host against co-host and see who know whom better. Will it be quick? No. Will it cause a podcast divorce? Maybe, but if so, we have that covered, too. Outro – 1:43:28 Thanks to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, my family, 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, Raven, Greybeard, Case, and Pasta Matt! And thanks to free members Max, Eddie, Bear, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Curro, Aronaar, AedinNahkriin, Guardian Sandy, Alice, Don, Kamil, Wednesday, Eric, and TJ! 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. Find Kash on Twitter @kashquests; email AMR Find Jibbs on Twitter @jibbsirl Contact Azeroth Morning Radio by email at azerothmorningradio@gmail.com ; visit the website azerothmorningradio.com You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Happy Winterveil and Merry Christmas! “We will see you out there."

My WoW Family (Part 2) and the Story of Norm - Ep 32 Show Notes Welcome to Episode 32! – 1:06 After the first part of My WoW Family dropped, I was sidelined by some horrible throat cold. Hard to record without a voice. Having mostly recovered, it is time to continue the journey. “What Have You Done Lately?” and a bit of news – 6:53 I am going to Blizzcon! Tickets and hotel acquired! Will I see you there? Let me know. Beta access has launched but I don’t have access because unlike when you buy a Blizzcon ticket, your Battle.Net account is not connected to your purchase of the Collector’s Edition. Will I have early access to Housing on December 2? Little progress in Legion Remix; wouldn’t screenshots from the game make for great wall paintings for Housing décor? Surprise! I am NOT actually participating in the 21st anniversary events; stopped after a single trivia question Main Topic: On Final WoW Family Story – 20:44 The most recent member of my WoW family appeared when helping me kill a K’aresh rare and hung out to teach me about Devourer Invasions Raid of the Month: Manaforge Omega? – 29:11 Now a few weeks ago, but the Lion’s Pride Tavern raid team was kind enough to let me run through 6 bosses of Heroic with them! They might not have known it was my first ever current content raid, but they might have guessed from a few of my actions or inactions. Profile of My Uncle Norm – 57:01 My uncle Norm was 9 years older than me and took me under his wing when he didn’t have to. Then we drifted apart, and even stayed apart despite both playing WoW. And then he passed away. This profile dives into his WoW roster to see what I can learn about my uncle in his final years. Thanks for listening along. And thanks to my Aunt Connie for sharing Norm’s story and his account with me. Drink of the Month – 1:46:13 Straight from my uncle’s bank, we crack a couple of Nethergarde Bitters and toast those who we all have lost. SQ Mailbag – 1:47:37 Apple and Spotify and email – we finally catch up in the SQ Mailbag; keep the feedback coming! Big Solo Queue Announcement! – 2:01:36 Why not start a Solo Together Housing Neighborhood and maybe even a guild? Interested? Let me know. Outro – 2:05:33 Thanks to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, my family, 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, Raven, Greybeard, Case, and Pasta Matt! And thanks to free members Max, Eddie, Bear, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Curro, Aronaar, AedinNahkriin, Guardian Sandy, Alice, Don, Kamil, Wednesday, Eric, and TJ! 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. Lots of gratitude as we approach American Thanksgiving. See you in December for an interview episode. “I will see you out there."

My WoW Family (Part 1) - Ep 31 Show Notes Welcome to Episode 31! – 3:13 After playing World of Warcraft alone for many years, it turns out that I have made some listeners, supporters, and friends along the way. This episode (and the second half to follow shortly) aims to introduce you to my WoW family, the people who fit into my somewhat unsolo solo WoW life. “What Have You Done Lately?” – 7:39 Grateful to have guested on Lion’s Pride Tavern, episode 450! Roster changes, now up to 66, but still leveling through Headless Horseman and candy buckets Have jumped into Legion Remix, but not quite to the crazy bronze grabbing level – close Couple of Headless Horseman encounter stories News – 27:52 A second new podcast alert – The Journey – A World of Warcraft Podcast has launched with a couple episodes; Winkari found inspiration for his casual WoW podcast from right here in Solo Queue! 2.7 coming with various features Midnight news includes beta testing on Nov. 11, portal room changes New Xbox will run on Windows, which can run Battle.net, which can run WoW Add-on culling; will I soon have to give up my Elvui? My thoughts on Blizzard’s push to reduce WoW complexity, including my Three Game Analogy where I compare WoW with the board games Scrabble, Risk, and my personal favorite, The Longest Day from Avalon Hill Main Topic: My WoW Family – 54:04 My first WoW friend Kraise Two partitions on a Dell Precision M6800 17” that were my first two WoW computers Solo from 2015 to 2023 for various reasons Birth of Solo Queue Fellow WoW podcasters begin connect with me beginning with Gershom from TB; also Gin, Ali from LLL, Ease from RM, Denathar from AU, briefly Scott Johnson, and Jason from TSZ Snek of Vol’dun is my far away friend! Running M+2 keys with CasualCoo – check him out on Twitch SQ patron Case runs me through some Legion Remix dungeons and raids, including getting my M+30 achievement transmog! Announcement Going to split this big topic into two halves and return shortly with a unique Raid of the Month, my profile of a special WoW player in my life, the SQ mailbag, and a big announcement! Outro – 1:47:51 Thanks to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, my family, 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, Raven, and Greybeard. And thanks to free members Max, Eddie, Bear, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Curro, Aronaar, AedinNahkriin, Guardian Sandy, Alice, Don, Kamil, Case and welcome to Wednesday, Eric, and TJ! 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. Solo Queue will return in My WoW Family (Part 2). “I will see you out there."

Midnight Re-Launch 2.0 Redux - Episode 30 Show Notes Welcome to Episode 30! – 2:25 Could there be a few more roadblocks set to getting this episode out in an already busy part of my calendar? Yes, I left that exact line from the Ep. 29 show notes because, well, same! Couple people close to me needed some medical attention and they are on the mend now! But here we are in a news-filled episode News – 7:43 Some of my fellow podcasts hit some milestones – TSZ hits 700, TB hits 200, AU hits 100 And welcome to Azeroth Morning Radio which posted its second episode this week. Check them out! Busy holiday calendar for October plus includes Brewfest, Harvest Fest, Darkmoon Faire, Great Gnomeregan Race, Hallow’s End, and Day of the Dead Legion Remix Preview – 13:31 What race/class combo should I create for Remix? Oh, I don’t have to level every class to 80 for the class mounts – you can BUY them! Mounts, mog, toys, and even housing décor are all available for a total well over 8 million bronze Spreadsheet to track it all: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1vQ3Y8LmZKuCiINTq8QASJsxTZI4O5LJYTh0brnmV3i4/edit?pli=1&gid=0#gid=0 Or use this website which connects to your actual characters (thanks SoulsoBreezy): https://wowchievement.com/tracker/legion-remix More News Turbo Boost starts Oct. 7, but the rest of it kicks in on Oct 21 2.7 launch on December 2 will include Pandaren heritage armor and Housing for those who pre-purchased the Midnight expansion! Midnight Deep Dive – 36:37 Midnight alpha is now out there; avoid spoilers as best you can Collector’s Edition is available for pre-order after its sneaky announcement The retirement of valorstones was greeted warmly by WoW players Walking through the Midnight Deep Dive and Developer Q&A videos on YouTube Drink of the Month – 1:31:33 My goodness, it is Brewfest! After chugging a Barleybrew Dark, it is time to talk about the new additions to Brewfest, which given my delays, ends minutes after you likely get this podcast in your hot little hands. “What Have You Done Lately?” – 1:34:51 I have played some, but not much Brewfest and done a little leveling And that leveling got me to 80.3% of the maximum possible levels on a 65-character account just as the cap expands to 70 Hoping for more WoW time and less IRL stuff in the coming weeks Outro – 1:40:05 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, Raven, and Greybeard. And thanks to free members Max, Eddie, Bear, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Curro, Aronaar, AedinNahkriin, Guardian Sandy, Alice, Don, Kamil, Case and welcome to Wednesday and Eric! 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."

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 26 – HDYS Interview with Matt Rossi! Show Notes Welcome to Episode 26! – 2:03 A wide-ranging interview with games journalist and fiction writer Matt Rossi! I’m not even going to pretend to make a list of topics, but we talk about starting hit WoW career with his wife, how to approach WoW when your job demands that you spoil all new content as soon as it hits test servers, and his need to dive into lore in any game. Plenty of talk about lore and storytelling in WoW throughout the years and how the Wrathgate was a turning point in how the stories are delivered to us, the players. We even get into the true purpose of any fiction in our human existence. We also discuss Matt’s ongoing visual disability, a form of blindness that he explains in more detail. July is the celebration month for Disability Pride, and in hopes of sharing awareness of disability and accommodations in video games, he explains how his severe visual impairment affects his play of Warcraft and other types of games. It turns out that flexible difficulty and voice acting are two great accessibility options. Developers take notice. Lightning Round! – 1:19:53 This round of 8 questions is not quick, but it takes the form of “Two Lizzes and a Joe (and a Cory)”. Outro – 1:31:13 Thanks to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, and you for listening. Big thank you to Matt! BlizzardWatch puts out podcasts weekly and you can find Matt as a regular host on BlizzardWatch and LoreWatch. He also writes a column and other videogame coverage for the news site. You can also check out Matt’s published fiction at the Goodreads and Amazon links! https://blizzardwatch.com/author/matt/ https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B01M6BQ5SF https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/308134.Matthew_Rossi You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest. Leave a 5-star rating and a written review to help grow Solo Queue. Support the show at Patreon.com/SoloQueueWoW Thank you to contributing patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, ThatSkyGuy, Cyn, Snek of Vol’dun, Jon, and Scott! And thanks to all the free supporters as well! “We will see you out there."

Episode 25 – Celebration! Warcraft 30, Down Time, and the Best NPC is… Show Notes Welcome to Episode 25! – 1:54 A celebration in three parts, the first of which is celebrating my return to WoW and the SQ mic after an unforeseen absence. Big thanks to Ali for coming on for Episode 24 and to Ali and Gin for having me on Live, Laugh, Lore to talk starting zones! Warcraft 30th Anniversary Event in Boston – 16:22 The second celebration was 90 minutes south of SQ headquarters in the fair city of Boston. While my plan to get news and good audio for the podcast was thwarted, I did spend quality time with an old friend, make a new friend, and get away from my normal routine for a night. Afterwards, I connected with WoW community members Stromgarde Enjoyer ( https://bsky.app/profile/nilocor.bsky.social ) and meggoart ( https://bsky.app/profile/meggoart.bsky.social ) to get their reactions to the Boston event. News – 48:24 Player Housing update from May – looking good! Mists of Pandaria Classic on July 21, pre-patch July 1 Legion arrives as a Remix late this year or early 2026 World of Warcraft: Blood Ties is the new novel from Christie Golden that arrives Nov. 18, 2025 as the lead-in to the Midnight expansion, pre-order now! “Faith and Flame” short story continues the journey of Faerin Lothar, written by L.L. McKinney and voiced by Paris Blu, the voice of Faerin herself - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJtigy8U-_8&t=3s Drink of the Month – 52:15 Stopping into the Snug Harbor Inn in Boralus for a Hook Point Porter and some Tiragarde Sharp cheese. 11.1.7 Launches June 17! – 1:00:28 Patch 11.1.7 launches with the Legacy of Arathor storyline, Lorewalking, Turbulent Timeways, Overcharged Delves, the Lightning-Blessed Spire and Sea-Blessed Shrine toys to transform you into a Sethrak or K’Thir, and new features including the rotation helping technology of Single-Button Assistant and Assisted Highlight. “What have you done lately?” – 1:24:03 It was Horrific Visions that eventually grabbed my interest and got me back into the game. Nightfall and Dastardly Duos haven’t quite had the same effect. Professions Pre-Planning? – 1:30:46 The other exciting project that returned me to the game was establishing a roster to cover all the professions and getting them all to 80. This is the beginning of the prep for an eventual episode on professions, a system that I think borders on being too complicated. Main Topic: Best WoW NPC Tournament Coverage Rounds 4, 5, and 6 – 1:42:28 Probably not really the main topic, but this is the exciting culmination of a process that took far too long. Outro – 1:54:57 Thanks to Blizzard for the amazing music and sound, to OGRE for intro/outro music, my lovely and supportive wife, and you for listening. Support the show at Patreon.com/SoloQueueWoW Thank you to patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, ThatSkyGuy, Cyn, Snek of Vol’dun, Jon and Scott (welcome Scott)! And thanks to all the free supporters as well! Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest. Leave a 5-star rating and a written review to help grow Solo Queue. You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads. Next episode will arrive in less than two months, light willing. “I will see you out there."