A little vay-cay

Day 12 of resub, level 106

I have an excuse for slacking, I swear! It has been bank holiday weekend here in the UK and we took the kiddies out to the seaside (our nearest one is a couple of hours away so a bit of a hike!), visited family and all fell asleep on the sofa early, so not much play time.

Mr B: speak for yourself – I’ve been busy. Leveled my new priest to 26, did 4 levels in one dungeon it’s ridiculous! I decided I didn’t want to play the Shaman or the rogue, so went for a gnome priest instead. It’s good so far!

He has issues – he’s started levelling about 10 alts since I started this little resub series. When I went in earlier, he was on the demon hunter….

Anyway, today I pottered around finishing as questing chapter in Highmountain (yep, still there!) when I realised that it’s children’s week. I got very confused as I thought you could only get 3 pets per character (yes, makes no sense reading it), but figured it out in the end and got cracking with the 6 I have left to collect.

I did almost 3 – I say almost, the Auchindoun quest is bugged so I’ve submitted a report in the hope it’ll be resolved tomorrow – and actually really enjoyed myself. Must have been about 2 years since I was last in Shattrath and Northrend and it’s so pretty! You forget so easily. I also have never been to the High Seat below Ironforge to see what’s-his-face. Didn’t realise it existed. Fabulous!

I also wanted to buy the orphans all the toys, poor little buggers. I did however, check for new toys at the vendor and picked up 6 new ones that I didn’t have for some reason… train sets, footballs and all sorts. Got an achievement too! Woo!

Let’s hope that buggy quest is fixed so I can get on with the next 3 tomorrow. Going to be irritating without portals.

#MageProblems

Day 13 of resub – level 107 (woo!)

Buggy quest fixed. Yay! I tried to log onto Monk to do the last 3 orphans, but being the noob I am, couldn’t figure out how to get to Stormwind from new Dalaran, so gave up.

Did some levelling and mostly spent time finishing Highmountain quests – couldn’t figure out what to do when finished so gave up.

Did a dungeon with the nicest group of PUGs I’ve met in a long time. Said hello, didn’t rage on the tank when he died, said thanks. Was a breath of fresh air. Dungeon was boring though – Nelfarion?

Mr B: got bored of the Priest, so went back to doing World quests on my Demon Hunter… want to crack on with pathfinder. 

Did you expect anything less?!!! 

Community Blog Topic: Is leveling too easy?

I know we’re really late with this – work commitments have been crazy – but I felt it was something we both felt like we should discuss. Be prepared for some difference of opinion!

Mr B

I am a veteran of Warcraft, I am now in my 9th year of playing and safe to say, I know my way around Azeroth. I think levelling IS too easy these days, for the simple fact that there’s no challenge for me anymore. Questing is so streamlined, you don’t have to worry about missing chunks out, or skipping whole zones. You no longer have to scour the internet for answers about how to do your quest and you can quest without even thinking. If you pulled more than one mob, back in the day, you died. End of. Even the extra xp with the heirlooms makes it easier, you level too quickly to replace armour and do enough damage not to worry too much about play-style. This lack of thought and indeed, lack of challenges, makes it boring.

Mrs B

I, for the most part, disagree. Levelling as a new player is hard. The quests are hard, finding your way around is hard, understanding how to level is hard. So much so that new players are intimidated by the amount you must learn in those first weeks of playing and quit. This is not what we, as a Warcraft community, want. Is it? New players bring new ideas and a fresh perspective to the game which we need to modernise.

However, I can recognise that for those who have been playing for years, levelling has become an annoying hurdle to jump through in order to reach the end game on a new character. The new content of MoP has given something new to explore, but in order to get there, you still must revisit the old quests. BUT, there are so many OTHER ways to level – pet battles, PvP, PvE that really, this is a non-issue.

Really, if you think levelling is easy, spend an hour with a new player. Or, try levelling without heirlooms and in a zone you might not have quested in much before. How about the Ironman challenge? There are so many ways to enjoy the whole experience in potentially a new way, perhaps it’s time we stopped focusing on 90 and enjoy the process it takes to get there.

So, what do you think?

Re-roll, Days 26, 27, 28 (the slog to 90)

Day 26

• Level and % of level: 45% through 87
• iLevel: We didn’t note it down.
• Time played so far: Nor this, sorry!
• Area: Kun-Lai
• Favourite moments: I felt really good that we 2 manned a rare in Kun-Lai – Havak. We both have self heals and as long as you move out the crap it’s do-able.
• Least Favourite moments: none really, enjoying it!
• Instances: none, but we did do Sha!!

Day 27

• Level and % of level: 8% through 88
• iLevel: Mrs B: 413, Mr B: 427
• Time played so far: 2days 14hours 40mins
• Area: Kun-Lai Summit
• Favourite moments: barrel rolling the mobs and setting them on fire was good. Smashing things with the big yeti too – you do the quest then you get it as a daily so 150k xp for the actual quest then 178k xp for a really easy daily quest!

• Least favourite moments: we were doing a pug dungeon and we weren’t paying attention to chat (does anyone??). We were at the bit in Shado Pan Monestary where you need to defeat the initiates and we didn’t realise someone was yelling STACK multiple times. By the time we did realise, he had called us “fag pandas”… totally unacceptable for several reasons I promised Mr B not to get on my soap box about. Once again, the general foul manners of some members really put a downer on our play time. We left immediately and made a cuppa.
• Instances: Shado Pan Monestary (we queued again with a friend).

Day 28

• Level and % of level: 82% through 89!!!
• iLvl: Mr B: 442,  Mrs B: 439
• Time played so far: 2 days 17 hours 38mins
• Area(s): Townlong Steppes til 89 then Dread Wastes (upto Soggy Gamble quests)
• Favourite moments: finding the treasures that gave us 500-715k xp each (Amber Encased Moth for example)
• Least favourite moments: finding the Violet Citron and Volatile Orbs for the quest. Small area and lots levelling so lots ninja’ing as you’re killing nearby mobs. I finally have a matching set of gear but the belt makes it look stupid. Hmph. Some horrid tank who tanked Frost Lord ninja’d my 480 cloak. Was NOT happy!
• Instances: Frost Lord (Midsummer event boss), Mogu’shan Palace and Gate of the Setting Sun

We also upgraded the pieces of gear we had left from the gear vendor at Longying Outpost who sells 408 gear. It’s quite expensive at 33g per piece, but worth it as these mobs hit quite hard!

20% to go!!!!!

Dancing around the bonfire together for our 10% xp buff

Re-roll – DING 80! Days 16,17 and 18.

Day 16

• Level: 74
• Area(s): Grizzly Hills
• Favourite quests / moment: The Outhouse at Amberpine Lodge. We had a merry few minutes giggling!

• Least favourite quest/ moment: All the troll quests in this area. I can’t put my finger on why I don’t like them, but I don’t enjoy them at all. Possibly all the back and forth? That said, I quite like this storyline!
• Instance(s): Drak’Tharon Keep – I quite like Drakuru mon!
• Favourite ability: N/A

Day 17

• Level: 77
• Area(s): N/A
• Favourite quests / moment: Meh, dungeons
• Least favourite quest/ moment: Meh, dungeons.
• Instance(s): Violet Hold, Gundrak, Halls of Stone, Halls of Lightning,, Azjol-Nerub
• Favourite ability: I’m starting to get procs and buffs to manage now, which is proving complex!

Day 18

• Level: 80 BABY!
• Area(s): Crystalsong Forest/Dalaran, Icecrown
• Favourite quests / moment: I liked doing most of these quests, as I hadn’t done them before (except a few for Loremaster).
• Least favourite quests/ moment: The back and forth over the structures in Icecrown is irritating. We were with one of those “stop pulling the dragons”/”ffs who’s pulling dragons?”/”NOOBS STOP PULLING DRAGONS!”/”…”/ “don’t take 2 healer dragons ffs” type-tanks in Occulus. I really like this instance but the tank completely spoiled it.
• Instance(s): Utgarde Pinnacle, Occulus
• Total time played to 80: 1 day 20hours (would probably be 20 hours less if we didn’t afk all the time – but we’ll be honest!)

It is really worth  noting a new feature here.

Remember getting to Hyjal and having to scour the AH for gear or each mob would be double your health? Fret no longer! Patch 5.3 bought you “Iris Moondreamer” – a lovely lady who now sells ilvl 232 /level 80 gear for 25g each!! We outfitted ourselves for the Cataclysm for the princely sum of around 400g. /cheer

Level 80 and rocking our new gear

Re-Roll Days 13,14 and 15 (Life in the Freezer)

Levelling is slowing down now, we are doing less percent of a level each time we play, so we’ll combine posts from now on!

Day 13

• Level: 68
• Area(s): N/A – we ran instances instead (we had 2 levels of rested)
• Favourite quests / moment: a DK when running Escape from Durnholde wasn’t attacking anything, so we asked why. He told us he was using his most powerful attack: “Death Siphon”. We – patiently – told him that he’s a melée and that that move is for survivability, and he spent about 10mins arguing with us. Said he was a ranged character, not melée. Hahaha, bless him, he was a new player and we had to convince him that he was melée before he believed us.
• Least favourite quest/ moment: Escape from Durnholde – hate that instance. Everyone starts the next part before you’ve had chance to hand the quest in.
• Instance(s): Mana Tombs, Escape from Durnholde, Shadow Labyrinth, Sethekk Halls, Auchanai Crypts
• Favourite ability: N/A

Day 14

• Level: 70 – yay!
• Area(s): Borean Tundra (one quest)
• Favourite quests / moment: N/A
• Least favourite quest/ moment: N/A
• Instance(s): Utgarde Keep – we had rested so we ran this a couple of times.
• Favourite ability: Healing Spheres saved my bacon a couple of times!

A pretty place to quest in.

Day 15

• Level: 73
• Area(s): Borean Tundra, Dragonblight
• Favourite quests / moment: I like all the quests with the Walrus’ – they’re cute! Oh, I also really liked rescuing the Defenders from the town using the griffins. Made me feel like a hero. There was also a quest later where you had to rescue the soldiers in the Mausoleum, using a gun, that was cool.
• Least favourite quest/ moment: A Horde kept killing the damn quest giver at Death’s Stand, so we were waiting for a long time before they got bored. However, there was loads of us waiting so we had a little party. We also had lots of quests in the mines, where there’s competition for mobs and a low drop rate. It really hacked us both off.
• Instance(s): Azjol Nerub, Ankhanet the Old Kingdom. So many spiders…
• Favourite ability: Chain Lightening. It does soooo much damage. Constantly topping the charts.

Picking the totem from a Walrus corpse. Ew.

Re-Roll Day 12 and 13 (Shrooms and Floating Rocks)

Day 12

• Level: 64
• Gold: No idea! Lot count now.
• Area(s): Terrokar Forest, Zangarmarsh (for about half a level)
• Favourite quests / moment: Ogres, raz smash. I like Zangarmarsh 0 it’s pretty and the supersized mushrooms are awesome.
• Least favourite quest/ moment: Bone Wastes quests… /yawn
• Instance(s): Underbog
• Favourite ability: Healing Spheres are pretty awesome!

Chillin’ with the shrooms…

Day 13

• Level: 65
• Area(s): Nagrand!
• Favourite quests / moment: I love being in Nagrand, the whole zone lifts my spirits. Our favourite quests were the Ring of Blood quests – we did it with some other 60-something’s in the zone. I also like the Corki quests, the little guy gets into so much trouble!
• Least favourite quest/ moment: Obsidian Warbeads are always a dull grind. Especially since I just farmed them for the Kurani rep.
• Instance(s): None – we only played for an hour.
• Favourite ability: N/A

Hiding in Corki’s cage.

Re-Roll Day 10 and 11 (We Believe We Can Fly!)

Day 10

• Level: 60 (almost 61!)
• Gold: 5g (didn’t sell anything!)
• Area(s): Hellfire Penninsula
• Favourite quests / moment: I BELIEVE I CAN FLY!!!! Getting your flight master license after so long having to run feels EPIC!
• Least favourite quest/ moment: I pulled a lot of the ogres collecting the metal, which caused me to die. Wasn’t impressed. Hellfire generally isn’t my favourite… /yawn
• Instance(s): Hellfire Ramparts – we both like this one, it’s short, easy to do and relatively interesting. In one run, with rested and quests, we did almost an entire level.
• Favourite ability: FLYING!

A Panda on a kite looks brilliant!

Day 11

• Level: 63
• Gold: –200g – we bought flying and zen flying. Even in-game she’s spending my cash…
• Area(s): Hellfire Penninsula, Terokkar Forest (at 62)
• Favourite quests / moment: none, Outland is meh.
• Least favourite quest/ moment: By Any Means Necessary: you know the quest with Empoor? The one which is really buggy and he takes ages to spawn along his route? That one… spent ages trying to find him!
• Instance(s): Hellfire Ramparts – multiple times…, Blood Furnace, Slave Pens
• Favourite ability: I love my meditation cloud. I can’t decide whether to fly or zoom on my awesome cloud!

For now, dear readers, Keep Calm and Meditate…

Re-Roll, Days 6 and 7 (How We Survived Deathwing)

Day 6:

• Level: 46
• Gold: 15g
• Area(s): Eastern Plaguelands (til 44) then Badlands
• Favourite moment / quest: Flying on the cannon from Plaguelands to Badlands is always awesome, but also knocking the Billy Goats off the cliff was so fun, even the quest is funny – Ready, Set Goat! There was also a quest reward item called “Wooly Goat Punchers” – gloves. Lol.
  

• Least favourite moment / quest: Neither of us enjoyed finding the eggs and killing the little whelps for Rhea. And I felt guilty about stealing Nyxondra’s eggs
• Instance(s): Dire Maul – the other bit. Meh.
• Favourite ability: SPINNING CRANE KICK!!!

Day 7

• Level: 48
• Gold: 6g
• Area(s): Badlands, Searing Gorge
• Favourite moment / quests: Temple of the Watchers  and the Wardens quests / games are always pretty cool – completely different to killing stuff like usual. I kind of have a love/hate relationship with the quest line with Deathwing – finding the clouds, riding the motorbike, punching him in the face etc. I like the idea, but the clouds take ages to find!

• Least Favourite moment /quest: Waiting for bosses to spawn due to everyone levelling /yawn
• Instance(s): none
• Favourite ability: N/A

Re-roll, Days 4 and 5 (Diseased)

Day 4

• Level: 40
• Gold: 27g 50s
• Areas: Western Plaguelands
• Favourite moment / quest: The quest “Go Fletch!” tickled me…!
• Least favourite moment / quest: I didn’t particularly enjoy running Dire Maul, it’s long and even with a good group can be dull
• Instances: Dire Maul, Uldaman, Maraudon
• Favourite ability: N/A

Empty Inn in Andorhal

In the Inn above, we watched a naked Tauren and an Alliance Paladin RP-ing. We, of course, ran about like children /shake and /moon-ing them. Only in WoW…

Day 5

• Level: 43
• Gold: 20 ish
• Area: Eastern Plaguelands
• Favourite Moment / quest: Riding Fiona’s caravan for me!

… mine was parachuting off Crown Guard Tower…

Weeeeeeee!

• Least favourite moment / quest: We both agreed on this! “Greasing the Wheel” – where you collect Banshee Bells from by the Thondoril River in Western Plaguelands or “Frederik’s Fish Fancy” which is collecting the little fish at the bottom of the lake. There were SO MANY people levelling that doing these quests was really tedious with people stealing your items.

Monday Moan #11

This week it’s Mr B’s choice of moan… flight points.

As I’m sure you know, when power levelling, you skip to the highest level questing area possible to maximise xp. So, with this in mind, we went back to Stormwind from Stranglethorn and picked up the Hero’s Call Board quest for Western Plaguelands.

Oh dear.

The closest we could fly to was in Dun Morogh. We had to run the rest of the way on our 60% mounts.

Seriously?!

I kind of understand why they’ve taken out automatic flight points, but I don’t think Blizz thought through this particular nightmare when taking away flight points that link the Hero’s Call Board quests. Perhaps it’s to slow us down, perhaps it’s to have a chuckle at our 20minute run up Eastern Kingdoms, but whatever the reasoning, we don’t like it!