It may come as a bit of a shock, since I haven’t really given any indication of dissatisfaction with WoW, but I am thinking about cancelling my subscription. I’m not going to go into the reasons, some of which are personal, but lately I have been feeling that I am at the end of the road, or at the beginning of the end.
In the midst of this inner turmoil, I decided over the weekend to create a troll mage on a PvP server, as a way of being alone for awhile. As if I didn’t have enough alts that could adequately fill the role of allowing me to be alone.
I also thought it might be fun to sort of go back to the beginning, on a server where I had no characters, and try to rediscover the game. Here’s what I discovered: having only three spells as a mage is a royal pain in the ass; having to drink after every kill is a royal pain in the ass; having only my backpack in which to tote items is a royal pain in the ass.
Other than that, I enjoyed myself.
One other incident is worth of note. After completing my level 10 mage quest for my staff, I was back in Sin’Jin village, wrapping up, and I noticed this rather annoying Orc warrior following me around. He had an unpronounceable name made up entirely of consonants. I had noticed him questing earlier, so I don’t think he was a gold seller.
Finally, he /says, “Plz.”
I whispered back, “Yes?”
He /says, “2 silver plz.”
Now, I’m looking at the guy thinking, “God, only in the starter zones…” but since the guy did not strike me as a gold seller, and he wasn’t asking for much, I thought what the hell. Maybe he’s a genuine newbie.
So I opened trade and gave him 2 silver, plus a pair of white bracers I had been planning to vendor, and a brown linen shirt I had just tailored. I watched his character and noted that he put on the brown shirt immediately.
He did a 
emote and went on his way, or so I thought.
Then I noticed he was following me again as I played around with the hexes Dr. Bombay…er, Witch Doctor Bom’bay can cast on you. After a bit, he /says, “50 bronz plszz.”
I have no idea what he wanted. 50 bronze bars? Did he mean 50 copper? I don’t know. I just shook my head no and meanwhile, an Orc rogue who had been standing around, too, challenged him to a duel. The fool accepted, and I was treated to the sight of the beggar being chased around Sen’jin as he tried to escape the fight.
All in all, it was one of those classic experiences common to the starter zones. If the game is coming to an end for me, it rather felt good to return to the beginning, and even to see someone try to start a round of Chuck Norris jokes in General chat…jokes to which no one responded.
