Episode 19 – Three Drinks in on Lunar Love, Confucianism, Socrates, 11.1, and a Meh Castle

Show Notes

Welcome to Episode 19! – 8:04

A few words from me on the guiding principles of Solo Queue and why consistent publishing is not really one of them. Sorry to miss the two episodes a month pattern on the very first month. I am okay with that and hopefully you are as well. Still hoping to get you 24 episodes this year.

And a big thank you to Snek of Vol’dun for the fantastic interview last month, the most downloaded episode in a first week of release!

“What have you done lately?” – 13:00

• Anniversary Trivia Recap – 942 total levels and now 40 characters are level 70 or above
• Fix for losing in-game dialog audio
• Nelf Druid main finally in all epic gear and Circlet maxxed to 658
• Kirin Tor questline is good story-telling
• Plunderstorm – I already bought out the vendor!

News – 45:37

• SoD Phase 7
• Cata Classic XP buff
• Anniversary Classic Phase 2
• To Retail news, Turbulent Timeways trick
• Can search for characters in the select screen

11.1 News and Previews – 56:55

List of selected features coming in 11.1 at an unknown date, likely Feb. 25?

Love is in the Air and Lunar Festival – 1:11:25

New stuff in Love is in the Air and I encourage you to hit respect your elders, if for no other reason than achievements and a new mount for Lunar Festival, which traces its roots to Confucianist ideas honoring your ancestors and the Chinese celebration of Lunar New Year.

Drink #1 – 1:22:50

Moonglow, a special Lunar Festival drink to tide me over to the Drink of the Month

Drink #2 – 1:23:45

Yup, a second drink. Must be big stuff afoot. To steel the nerves for Raid of the Month, a Shadeskin Brandy from a dude named Slabchop. “It burns like sin,” as they say in Revendreth.

Question of the Month – 1:25:33

What should the next playable race be?

Sethrak, ogres, jinyu, hozen, valkyr, naga, or something else?

Raid of the Month: Castle Nathria (Shadowlands) – 1:27:35

It has been four years and that means the raids of Shadowlands should be available to be soloed by mere mortals. I tackle Castle Nathria for the first time, and of course, I do not remember all the story bits going into it. #followerraids

Drink #3 – 1:40:06

All that raiding has me thirsty for a second Shadeskin Brandy.

Verdict on Castle Nathria – 1:40:29

The first raid of Shadowlands has no mount? And it has large swaths of RP dialog and slow-walking NPCs? And it took much longer than an hour? And it yielded only 500 gold? What do you think my recommendation is?

Main Topic: Did You Hear What Denathar Said About Me and Fellow Podcasters Unite! – 1:47:17

A passing comment by Denathar on Azeroth United has me fired up to defend my honor and reputation as a podcaster! My defense includes comparing myself to Socrates. What ego? What are you talking about? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Death_of_Socrates

Then I long for a tighter community of podcasters and celebrate the growing Solo Crew community, even though I tend to steer clear of groups and communities in WoW and life. #wowpodcastersinBoston?

Outro – 1:59:23

• Thanks to Blizzard and OGRE for audio, my lovely wife, and you for listening.
• Support the show at Patreon.com/SoloQueueWoW
• Thank you to patrons, Andrew, Righteous Bandy, ThatSkyGuy, Cyn, and Snek of Vol’dun!
• Thanks to free patrons Max, Eddie, Bear, Jon, Friends of Wumpus, Sean, Lavie, Curro, Aronaar, Aedan, and Guardian Sandy!
• Subscribe to the podcast at your podcast feed of choice, Apple, Spotify, and all the rest. Leave a 5-star rating and a review to help grow Solo Queue.
• You can contact me at soloqueuewow at gmail.com, Bluesky, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Threads.

“I will see you out there."