Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Miscellaneous Musings

As I close in on Loremaster, I've come to the conclusion that I hate Kalimdor.

Eastern Kingdoms was a cakewalk compared to this.

True, you can use more aggressive quest assist add-ons than QuestHelper, but if the add-on is doing everything except moving your toon, then why bother?  That said, I've been tempted by the lure of easy questing.  Oh, I've been tempted.

Consider where I've been the past week or two for Kalimdor quests only:  Silithus, Moonglade, Feralas/Dire Maul, Tanaris, Dustwallow Marsh, Desolace, Felwood, Winterspring, Mulgore, Durotar/Orgrimmar, Thousand Needles, Eastern Plaguelands, Alterac, Stranglethorn, Swamp of Sorrows, and Hinterlands.  And that's for just two or three quest chains.  I know I've got The Barrens, the Blackrock instances, and various and sundry places in my future as well.

My frequent windrider miles are sure stacking up.

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Maybe it's the state of the game right now, but I don't see that many people out questing when I'm putzing around, doing my thing.  Yes, I'm aware that a lot of people don't get up at 5 AM to get their WoW fix in, but I have been getting online in the late afternoon as well and there have been very few people out and about.  I'm starting to wonder if the LFD tool is finally pulling enough people into leveling that way rather than being out and seeing Azeroth.  I know from the standpoint of an ex-PvP server user, it's infinitely safer than being ganked in Tarren Mill.

Who knows what's going on?  Maybe the lure of that Worgen or Goblin character has some questers on the fence right now until Cataclysm drops.

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There are times when I wish I could clone Quint and send him off to another realm and/or faction.  Yeah, I know, you miss out on the playing, yadda yadda yadda.  Seriously, though, it would be nice to be able to clone a character or be able to get people to join up for a party across servers.  With RealID, Blizz has taken the chat feature and made it non-realm specific (for better or worse), so why not do that for the LFD tool or party creation?  Of course, that makes the cash cow of switching servers go away, but still....

***

I was in an Old Kingdom run today when I was presented with a dilemma.  The tank had pulled a trash mob, but the situation was such that he couldn't pull the mob that far back without causing another group behind us to aggro.  (The position of the mobs in some of those weird angular openings in the Old Kingdom do that.)  However, if Quintalan took up his usual position opposite the tank there was a good chance that I might get a separate trash mob to aggro on me instead.  That would mean I'd have to take up position to one side of the tank, all but guaranteeing that I'd pull aggro unless I reduced myself to auto attack.  The Frostbringers and Eyes of Taladram were bringing it hard, and our caster DPS wasn't that great.

Which was the lesser evil:  take up my normal position and run the risk of having another trash mob aggro on us; stay to the side and auto-attack, hoping that the healer could handle the drawn out fight; or stay to the side and amp up the attacks, risking aggro but figuring that better I get aggro from the mob we have rather than an extra one?

(For the record, I chose the last option, and yes, I did pull aggro, but Hand of Salvation was off cooldown so I was ready.)
***
One last thought:  with Arthas now dead in Cataclysm's timeline, how is Blizz going to reconcile the Northrend questlines with the new reality?

2 comments:

  1. I have definitely noticed a drop in the desire to quest while leveling... but moreso in my chats with guildies as opposed to noticing it in-game.

    With the quicker leveling, people do not need to experience as many zones as they once did. You can often blow from 1-60 visiting much fewer zones than in previous years (heirloom gear might play a part as well as experience increaes). I do see some people out and about in higher level zones, but not many.

    What I really notice is that many of my guildies ask if people want to group to dungeon level. They tend to prefer this, and are under the impression that it is faster. My husband is in this group of people. I am not. I like quest grinding most of the time, and use dungeons to break up the monotony. One day, my husband and I sat side by side on our 78 druids. I quested like a mad woman and occasionally queued for dungeons. He queued non-stop and hung out in Dalaran while he was waiting. Let's just say I beat him by an entire level.

    I do also know a number of people that are itching to play a certain class, but are saving it for their Goblin. I personally decided to just wait and see what happens as far as character slots. I do what is fun now, and come Cata if I need to delete a toon to reroll it Goblin, so be it.


    Sorry for the long comment! And good luck on finishing up Loremaster :)

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  2. @NaturalGamerGirl: I'm not convinced that LFD is the quickest way to level, especially when you get to Northrend. The XP you have to gain to level is pretty steep to make it from 70 to 80.

    Perception is everything, I suppose, because people sure seem to think that LFD leveling is the way to go.

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