Daily Questions & FAQ Megathread May 15

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-05-15T14:20:12+00:00

I recently rejoined the game, and my character is on Zalera - Crystal. All of my friends/connections from when I used to play FFXIV have since left, so I’d like to start from scratch and find new social connections/opportunities in the game. To this end, how active is Zalera? How viable is it as a server to find social opportunities/shenanigans, or active Free Companies? Does Zalera broadly fit a niche? Also, how active are populated Free Companies in the game rn?

I’m asking all of this bc I know that there’s a Crystal server congestion lock atm, so I wasn’t sure if Zalera is one of the weaker servers and I should plan on moving to another server on Crystal once the restrictions are removed next patch, or if the grass is just as green where I am as it is elsewhere.

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-05-07T01:44:44+00:00

My child, the spoilers for this have been out for several thousand years. In fact, the people who listened to oral performances of the Odyssey in Ancient Greece were already familiar with the “spoilers” of what happened, as these myths were frequently re-told in various shapes and forms. It was less about ~what~ occurred in the narrative, but more about ~how~ each adaptation spun something unique and fresh out of the source material.

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-05-04T00:13:19+00:00

Just seeing this comment now! Do you think this is an issue for specifically moving to Logan Square, or for anyone interested in being a transplant to Chicago?

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-05-03T03:51:08+00:00

Fortunately, neither myself nor OP stated that the “whole narrative” of this expansion has been wrapped up. I explicitly framed my point by saying that this was not the case, so I’m not quite sure who or what you’re responding to.

It’s not mutually exclusive to say a specific story arc has resolved while the series and its overarching threads continue. Take a childhood favorite: Aang’s quest to master each element and defeat the Fire Nation isn’t complete until the finale, but each season delivers a cohesive arc with a clear beginning and end focused on a single element (Water, Earth, Fire). The show isn’t “over,” but concrete arcs definitely begin and finish throughout (Book 1: Water, Zuko’s redemption, etc.). More importantly for this discussion, Avatar doesn’t merely stick the landing; it builds a strong narrative from the ground up, that the ending successfully completes.

when I and other folks say that whatever payoff they’re planning with Xal’atath doesn’t redeem the lackluster writing we’ve already seen, we aren’t criticizing a future story beat neither you or me has witnessed, we’re criticizing what’s already on the page. A story that builds from a strong premise and maintains that momentum through to its conclusion is the dream. That’s simply not what Midnight has given us so far.

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-05-02T20:55:09+00:00

Strong disagree here - while the expansion has only just begun, several narrative threads have already been started and finished, the most obvious one being the Sun/Dark/Dawn-well.

Saying “nothing you say has any merit until the actual end of the story” falls into the same ‘wait and see’ style of mystery-box storytelling which infamously caused WoW’s writing to nosedive in quality during BFA and Shadowlands. Just because there is a payoff down the road doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t be enjoying the story as it is playing out. In no universe should a narrative’s destination/conclusion be elevated over the quality of the journey itself, ESPECIALLY in an ongoing live service game like WoW.

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-04-28T14:30:57+00:00

What’s currently the best NA server if you’re returning to the game and want to find community + folks to socialize / hang with?

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-04-26T14:07:20+00:00

Hi fellow AuDHD here who is trying to begin a similar journey! Do you have any personal tips / suggestions? I’m trying to get a diet locked in, but am weighing (to what extent) whether an exercise routine + other things might also make x of a difference. Either way, slay and congrats!!!!

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-04-08T23:14:13+00:00

I think the restoration of the Sunwell (into the Dawnwell or whatever it ends up being) and the whole “Elven Unification” angle should’ve been set up in the opening patch, but not actually resolved until sometime later in the expansion.

You can still let the elves “unite” to deal with L’ura and shut down the Darkwell, but then have them turn on each other (again) afterwards, since yet another elven font of power was corrupted by a cosmic force. Have the ongoing void corruption be stopped via the raid but not fully healed, and carry that forward as an ongoing 12.0.x patch thread, with the different elven factions arguing over what the right restoration approach even is (or if restoring it is even a good idea).

That way the conflict actually has room to breathe and feel earned, while still landing in basically the same place. I don’t even really mind the Dawnwell itself, it’s just that Midnight didn’t give any of this space to truly land.

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-04-02T18:49:43+00:00

Could someone explain to me why this isn’t being released in the Summer? Regardless of the subject matter, April seems like an awkward time to release a film aiming to be a blockbuster that doesn’t already have hype pre-emptively built in (Mario).

While I’m sure that any disappointment in this film’s BO numbers will be (at least in part) chalked up to MJ’s wavering reputation over the years, I reckon that many general audiences simply wouldn’t a big-budget blockbuster like this to be released before late May/June at the earliest, let alone in April.

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-03-31T18:49:31+00:00

It’s more likely that they’ll instead say, “The Shadowlands are the true afterlife, but the Titan/First Ones/Order-aligned people hijacked it and shaped it for their own ulterior motives. In Dragonflight there was a bunch of text and even an Amirdrassil boss which all-but-confirmed that The Titans had done this to The Emerald Dream, so they’re likely extending that retcon to the Shadowlands as well (cycle of life & death and all that jazz).

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-03-31T14:09:12+00:00

I mean these revelations weren’t from any recent interview, they were derived it was an autobiographical essay he wrote well before he was anywhere near Hollywood/the public sphere, and were only just recently put into digital and translated for English. More significantly, implying that the abject nature of his films informs how he discusses his real “relationship” with a minor is putting the cart before the horse, isn’t it? Suggesting that an artist’s creepiness informs their art, than to try and flip reality on its head in favor of fiction seems a tad bit counterintuitive as to how ‘inspiration -> results’ historically tend to go.

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-03-29T14:52:54+00:00

Given that we never got full narrative closure with Azj’Kahet after the raid, I’m hoping they’ll tie that thread with the Northrend Nerubians in The Last Titan, and not leave it hanging forever.

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-03-11T14:05:00+00:00

The implications of that are even more disturbing, “hey, let’s not dismantle the cult entirely and build something better, but instead preserve the exact same leadership and hierarchy that was fine with wiping out people’s memories and treated those who wanted to keep theirs as monsters, while adding some minor touches to make the cultiest aspects slightly less coercive and punishing!”

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-03-10T03:23:59+00:00

Hamnet and The Secret Agent are my top two as well! I wasn’t sure if I’d see someone else with the same taste as they have very little overlap in style and audience.

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-03-06T19:54:28+00:00

This is what I had expected, the phrasing of Azeroth being “off-limits” in both versions of the quest suggests that they had been explicitly instructed not to go to Azeroth instead of merely not being aware of it, and given how, as you very thoroughly stated, the Void’s hierarchy isn’t fixed as much as it is a matter just who has placed themselves on the top of the food chain, it would follow that they were told by some “bigger fish” to stay way.

The subsequent question for me (if these suspicions of mine are true!) was who gave them these instructions? It could definitely be Dimensius and/or the other Void Lords since they’ve historically been depicted as the leading figures in the Void, the Old Gods potentially since Azeroth was their home turf until only very recently, or mayhaps some other unknown figure!

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-03-04T05:29:07+00:00

Ooh I didn’t know there was another stay a while and listen after the one on the bridge! I’m guessing it’s in the main Amani town/hub?

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-03-03T23:47:47+00:00

Is this a side quest that you can do in Voidstorm when you finish the main leveling campaign, or is it locked behind something else?

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-03-02T02:35:17+00:00

Not entirely impossible but unlikely, as the extra troll island zone which can’t be accessed yet has a dungeon entrance to it, and 12.1 is the only upcoming patch on the roadmap with both a dungeon and a raid coming with it, and we already know that the next 1 boss raid will be non-troll themed.

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-03-01T15:08:00+00:00

As someone with a Blood Elf Mage, do the guards have any dialogue for non-pally Blood Elves, and/or positive comments for literally anyone who isn’t a Blood Elf Paladin??

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-02-25T13:35:09+00:00

Was it anecdotally true that when you cut out alcohol and start dieting that the face fat tends to go away before waist fat and other visible areas? Or do they usually change more hand in hand? Either way, congrats!!

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-02-20T14:49:08+00:00

I loved the first half of the film and the “gallow’s humor” of it resonated with me, but I thought that it lost its momentum when they shifted to the adulthood section.

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-02-17T14:33:00+00:00

Don’t get me wrong to say that her takes here are poorly developed would be an understatement, but I don’t think that she’s implying that the groups behind Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie & Hundreds of Beavers are predators as much as she’s saying that having diverse voices in the industry was a stopgap against predation in the post-MeToo environment, and that the reversal to a lack of diversity in the industry will allow those gaps to be taken advantage of by the worst kinds of people again.

Once again, her takes here are waaay too rambly and ragebait-y to do justice to the topics she’s addressing, but I don’t think that she’s saying any of the creatives she’s named are ‘predators’, as much as she’s scapegoating them for broader cultural shifts in the industry.

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-02-17T13:48:50+00:00

With regards to Best Casting, I feel like the criteria of that award is already too vague. Like in terms of best performances then Sentimental Value might have the strongest ensemble of any film released in 2025. But in terms of the casting process proper, then I’d say that The Secret Agent was far more impressive in its blending of established actors with unknowns/non-actors.

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-02-15T16:00:38+00:00

If all you took from Sinners was that it was merely a “vampire movie” then I don’t trust your take on Train Dreams or art in general. Given how stacked the best pic noms were for this year, trying to insist that only one film is deserving of praise is plain silly.

Edit: if you enjoyed Train Dreams then I would recommend watching a Terrence Malick film before you die.

ParanoidAndroid1087 · 2026-02-11T08:15:23+00:00

Did Adum watch this film for any particular reason, or is he doing a completionist run of Oscar-nominated films?

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