50 bronz plszzz?

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.

You Are Infected!

The scourge invasion has been going on now for about a week, and I have to say it’s been a fun event.  There are new, albeit temporary, bosses in old dungeons, as well as Karazhan.  Suddenly the Argent Dawn have returned to a prominent place among the factions of Azeroth.

And then there are the zombies.  The internet is replete with screenshots of the capital cities overrun with zombies.  There was a point at which it became extremely difficult to even be in a capital city.  I found myself infected simply trying to put some items in the mail.  Some of the outlying areas, such as Southshore, were especially susceptible to being overrun since a few player zombies could infect all the NPCs in town.  On one day when I was in Southshore, I don’t think there was a single non-zombie in the town.

At first, the zombie disease took ten minutes to turn a player into a zombie and become part of a whole new faction, of sorts: a Scourge faction.  A zombie could neither communicate with Horde or Alliance players, or interact with NPCs, but a zombie could kill indiscriminately, Horde and Alliance alike.

Unfortunately, even when one of my 70’s was transformed into a zombie, I did not find that I could survive very long against guards and other players.  About the only thing I could do of any effect was to explode myself, disseminating a plague cloud and bits of flesh and ichor, infecting all those who were attacking me.

Some people have complained that the invasion is merely a replay of the first invasion, back shortly before Naxx was introduced prior to the Burning Crusade.  To them I say, I don’t care.  It’s fun.  Plus, there is a good chance for some good armor, both from drops and from the new Argent Dawn quartermaster.  Although my Shaman isn’t 70 (he’s 68), I ‘ve been taking advantage of this event and buying the couple pieces of armor available to him.  More are available in drops, but actually killing the mobs that drop these pieces is quite difficult.

Every hour or so, the Scourge invades some of the more remote areas of Azeroth.  Floating Ziggurats appear over Azshara, Winterspring, Blasted Lands, Burning Steppes, and Eastern Plaguelands.  Players hurry to the zone and look for the summoning circle where the Scourge is entering Azeroth.  There, we kill scourge until we’ve broken the summoning crystal, at which point the invasion is basically over.

That sounds simple, but the mobs are quite tough for a level 68 Shaman in greens and blues.  Then there are the occasional elites who drop the coveted purple armor pieces not purchasable at the quartermaster.

But worst of all is competing with other players.  There are lots of mobs, but there are lots of players, too, and generally things devolve into a free for all.  Alone, I was lucky to get two or three Necrotic Runes (the Argent Dawn currency dropped by the scourge, which we exchange for items from the quartermaster).  Then I started grouping with guildmates and I did much better.  Still, we haven’t been able to get a proper group with a healer and tank to tackle the elite Shadows of Doom that one can summon at the end (they drop 32 runes, if you can kill them).

But I’ve done well enough.  This morning early, I went to Winterspring and, since it was a workday, I had the place pretty much to myself.  It was a successful morning of killing the non-elites, and I looted around fifty or sixty runes.  That was more than enough for a much-coveted Tabard of the Argent Dawn and two pieces of epic armor.

I can’t wait to get back into the field, now.  And I’m pumped for the expansion.  If that was Blizzard’s intent, they have succeeded.

Getting Better All the Time

Since the patch last week, I’ve been enjoying the game more and more with each passing day.  The Hallow’s Eve festivities add to the enjoyment, although I am not sure how long that will last.  These repeatable holiday quests grow old fast, as I found out during Brewfest, during which all my goals steadily shrank until all I really wanted to do was earn 200 tickets for the Brew of the Month club.  And after reaching that goal, I didn’t care if I ever again heard another polka.

It may be the same with Hallow’s Eve, although the fact that lower level characters can earn XP from hitting all the candy buckets in every inn in the game makes the holiday a little more desirable.  I’ve been using the candy buckets as an easy way to level my Shaman, while at the same time exploring each territory for the World Explorer achievement.

And speaking of Achievements, the Achievements system promises to enhance replayability of this game long-term.  Almost everything possible in the game is an Achievement, even something as simple as catching a fish from a school (which earns you the Achievement “The Old Gnome and the Sea”); however, I actually like that I can be doing almost anything–even falling from the sky–and hear the distinctive ding that indicates I’ve achieved something, however ridiculous.

Besides the holiday Achievements I’ve been working on, I have also earned my first title: Jenkins.  Yes, my warlock now has a last name, Holdwine Jenkins.  Last night, some guildmates and I went into Blackwing Lair, to the infamous Rookery where Leeroy made himself infamous, and we cleared out 50 whelps in 15 seconds, thus earning us all the last name Jenkins.

These titles, or last names, can be turned off, but I kind of like it.  I am especially attached to it because before we completed the achievement, we had our very own Leeroy moment when the DPS stupidly followed the tanks into the rookery instead of letting them round up and drag out the whelps.  Then a healer threw off a heal…and the rest was a disaster.  The whelps attack any healer who actually heals, regardless of threat.

These were all things none of us knew, either having never been in BWL, or having ben there so long ago that strategies were long forgotten.

In a way, it’s kind of a sad commentary on the game that we experience only a fraction of the content available, usually only the newest.  I’ve often thought the best thing the next MMO could do would be to design content that did not become obsolete with each major upgrade.

What little I saw of Blackrock Mountain was spectacular; it’s a shame that once everyone has achieved their Jenkins surname, the mountain will once again sit lonely and unvisited.

Blast from the Past

I played quite a bit over the weekend, but for the most part I spent my time in Azeroth rather than Outlands. I feel like I am at a point where there is little left to do with my Warlock, before WotLK comes out. I am still raiding with him occasionally, but for the most part I am logging him just to do dailies for cash, or to enchant or tailor gear for my alts.

This weekend, I spent most of my playtime with my Gnome Rogue, Tupence, that I haven’t played in ages. I stopped leveling him at around level 20, months ago. 20 seems to be like a wall for me. I can get over that wall, but then have to take a break–sometimes a long break–before I continue playing the character. 30 and 40 are walls to my progress, as well. 50 and 60, not so much.

But anyway, I was bored doing the dailies, and my Shaman has been in a lull since getting his Totem of Impact from the Logistics Officer in Zangarmarsh; thus I dusted off my rogue. Yes, he is another gnome. I know an Undead rogue is way more bad ass, and a female Night Elf rogue is way more sweet to look at, but long ago for reasons lost in the caverns of time, I made a gnome rogue. And I did not feel like leveling up another rogue to 20.

By the end of the weekend, I had leveled him to 28, my goal being to fit him out for Arathi Basin before the weekend was done (it was an AB weekend). I achieved that goal. I upgraded his gear with the best greens from the AH; I sent them to my warlock for enchants; and then I went a-hunting Horde.

Here’s what I learned: Rogues own the battlegrounds. I was really surprised how well I did. I am so used to dying on my Warlock, usually to Rogues, that I was truly surprised to discover that I didn’t die so often. Rogues have the advantage of starting from stealth, so they can pick their battles. That in mind, here’s a tip for you: don’t ever leave a clothie alone to guard a node. More often than not, I found lone casters standing at Mines or Lumber Mill and I picked them off quite easily.

What amazed me–but perhaps it shouldn’t since I play a Rogue-bait Warlock myself–is that when I broke stealth with the Cheapshot, as soon as the stun wore off it was like the other player panicked. I think we clothies have just been so conditioned to fear the Rogue and expect certain death, panic is our only defense, poor as it is. For example, Mages Arcane Explode like mad, after trying to freeze me in place (Gnome Escape Artist racial is a huge PvP bonus). Other classes just run around like the proverbial chicken, hoping I can’t catch them.

And since Rogues can also disappear into stealth in the middle of combat with the talent Vanish, more often than not I could choose my exits as well, disappearing when my health got perilously low. Sometimes it worked, sometimes not, however; usually it did not work because I hit Vanish too late or because a DoT prevented me from stealthing.

Still, it felt good to feel like I had an advantage in PvP. Cheapshotting an Undead mage and then working him over with my maces…god it felt shamefully good.

In the end, I got a decent amount of honor, but few marks (Alliance suck at winning). The highlight, though, was I got not only the knock-off Olympic tabard, but i got the special Chinese Dragon pet, the Spirit of Competition. This is likely to be a very rare non-combat pet, once the Olympics are over with.

Besides my Rogue, I also found myself returning to another character from the misty regions of time, my Blood Elf Warlock Bromion on the PvP server, Lightninghoof. I can’t recall exactly when I created him, but it had to be soon after BC came out in January 2006. Again, I leveled him to 19 and then stopped.

A lot of times when I go back and look at these old characters, I find that I can’t play them because of various mistakes I made in their creation. In the case of a level 30 troll hunter on Lightninghoof, I made the mistake at level 30 of dropping her professions (skinning/leatherworking) for mining/engineering. This left me running around the Barrens trying to farm copper, and at some point I just said fuck it and parked her in the Crossroads and have never looked back. Mining is a bitch of a profession to level, even if you do it concurrent with your own leveling.

My BE Warlock was another story, though. He was a low-level Enchanter/Herbalist, and to give him a little more independent viability, I dropped Enchanting for Alchemy. Then I did a tour of the Ghostlands, leveling him to 21 and starting him on his Succubus quest. After some thought, I respecced to put five points in Improved Corruption and the remaining points in Demonology, just to give him a different spin on leveling from my usual Affliction leveling. Other than that I found him to be a very viable character to continue playing.

I don’t expect him to be anything more than an occasional alt, however, whereas I can see myself playing my rogue pretty often. I did the broken Ravenholt questline and stealthed around Durnholde pickpocketing trinkets from the humans, and overall I just really enjoyed playing a character I’d mostly forgotten about.

What consistently amazes me about World of Warcraft is how just when I think I am bored with it, I can find something that engages my interest again. Tonight I am doing a badge run through Kara on my Warlock, but I expect this weekend to be doing some more ganking in the battlegrounds. It’s just so satisfying.

World of…Pacifism?

Just by chance this morning, I discovered a blog called WoW Pacifist Undead Priest. I am absolutely fascinated by people who try to make a game their own by playing differently, so this blog is now one of my favorites.

I remember someone on Sentinels trying something similar. This was before Burning Crusade and the introduction of Battleground Dailies, which (for a healer) can provide a source of XP that does not require killing anything. This person on Sentinels leveled mostly by discovering new parts of the map and doing whatever delivery quests were available. She kept an RP “journal” of her experiences on the forums.

Now, it seems like Pacifism is catching on and there are quite a few people giving it a try. I think it could be a challenging, fun way to reignite interest in the game for someone who has already done the end game part of the game and has grown bored.

I don’t think I would want to try this on my first toon, however maybe there is someone who is doing just that.

Note Reinisch’s “WoW Oddballs” links on the right. Apparently there are more people trying to play WoW in unusual ways. I am particularly interested in reading about the melee hunter. I would also add that, briefly reading the Pacifist Undead Priest blog and some of these other “oddballs,” they all seem to be literate people with a talent for expressing themselves…always a benefit in a genre that seems overtaken by text messaging shorthand.