So the Wrath of the Lich King has been out for a full week now. What have you accomplished?
- 26 Hours after its release, the game gives birth to its first level 80
- 2 Days after launch EU and US get their first level 80 Death Knights
- 3 Days after launch the guild 25thNovember beats all currently available content
- 4 Days after launch a 15yo collapses from playing too much
- 7 Days after launch Aurdon has yet to have a 71.
I spent the first part of the week playing a Death Knight through outland and writing my guide on the outland Death Knight Gear. I thoroughly enjoyed it too. Its fun to wear plate. Our guild message of the day was “10 days 10 levels, DO IT!” as a motivator to get to level 80 and begin our raiding again. Even though we have 5 or so level 80′s in the guild as of today, I have trouble trying to grind out long sessions to reach this goal.
I posted awhile back about playing the game to enjoy it and not to “be the best”. The game is just that, a game. I’ve never thought that speed leveling is an acceptable way to play this game and I for one think it should take more then a few days to “be the best”. This game is about more then just grinding. Its about more then just raiding. Its a MMO. Its about relationships. Believe it or not, its lonely on top. Its fun to be first but what then? What do you do after you beat the marathon? Find another? Who knows when patch 3.1 will be out with new content. I suppose you could keep raiding Naxx and gear up but how do you keep from burning out so quickly when you play a game that “has no end” as if it has one. I’d rather get to that content once its broken in by other trail blazers anyway. Anyone remember 45 min trash respawn timers in SSC? Probably not many. That’s because it was these “world first” guilds who had to fight through brutal instances that gave you one attempt on lurker before you were back to an hour of clearing trash again. This game doesn’t have to feel like work.
I’m not saying that players need to chill out and not have a goal to shoot for. Some people just naturally level fast because that’s their play style. Somebody has to be first after all, just keep everything in moderation.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I definitely agree, i like to quest and see the content and read the story without worrying about how much time its taking. Blizzard have built these huge new worlds and people are just standing grinding mobs over and over again… seems like a bit of a waste.
I feel bad for that fifteen year old kid generating all that publicity by doing something we all did in high school. By all accounts they were just having a weekend WOW marathon, much the way my friends had Star Wars marathons.
I'm feeling a little bit of a rush to level faster, mostly because of the left behind feeling I get from the idea that I'll probably never see half the content that other people have already played and enjoyed. I know it's silly because it means buzzing through content that's new to me now, but I guess I'm just disgruntled at myself for missing out on the game when it was new.
I agree that everyone should take their time if they can, but sometimes there are those of us who level that fast. I've never been one to level slowly, it's the reason I have so many high level toons. World of Warcraft is something I do with my husband, we have a bit of a competitive pace about it, but it keeps it fun and we move along. The result was my hitting 80 early. I read the quests, happily watched all the cinematic cut scenes and took in the story. I don't feel like I missed anything. So, I think it's a matter of personal play style.
I do agree, however, that there are those who go a bit far with it. Real life is still out there and to completely ignore it, not eat, not shower, not spend time with friends and family, it seems a little sad.
I hope you didn't feel I was citing you as someone that is “over the top”. Quite the contrary, I was trying to highlight that there are those who can exceed with speed and that doesn't come as acompromiseto healthy gaming habits. I congratulate you on your achievement and still being able to live a normal life.
Its WoW players who seek these accomplishments like it were the cure to cancer that bothers me. Annihilating content doesn't seem like the game would feel like a game anymore. What fun is there in that. Killing a boss as a “guild first” to me is just as rewarding as a “server first”.
/agree. Im having fun leveling at a steady, social pace!
Not at all, Aurdon! In fact, I agree with what you said. I think there are those who're over the top with it. For instance, 25th November who actually cleared all the content in 2 or 3 days. To me, that's insane and it takes a dig at the rest of us who don't get paid to play the game 24 hours a day. Those guys are a bad example, imo, when they're in a position to be otherwise. I could rant about them, about their set up in Beta to down the content, about how they cycle people in and out 24 hours a day to down that content… I'll stop.
My guild is about to go into Naxx tonight for the first time (maybe) and we're all excited about it. We're not the server first to get in there, there's even another alliance guild who's already gone. We're just going to try to go in and have a good time on Naxx 10 as a group. We just got 80 people and have enough of the right stuff to go. So again, I agree that doing something as a guild first is just as significant as server firsts. My server first was just by happenstance. I did try for it days after the expac when I realized I could, but it wasn't my initial goal.
Great post, Aurdon. I'm sure it's at least a tiny bit of jealousy that has its grip on me, when I want to complain just a little about all the level 80s already. I suppose with the density of quests and the good quest design, it's not all that difficult to get to the top in not too long a time. From what I can tell, there is never any real need to "grind" for levels in Wrath, which is a good thing.
Still, I wonder WHY people feel the need to race to the end when there IS no end. Just the nature of the beat, methinks!