Since I haven’t been playing a whole lot lately, I figured I’d bore you all to death with the immense number of alts and servers I’ve tried before deciding I was a mage. An arcane mage. A arcane draenei mage. Disclaimer: I won’t bore you with every little level 1 alt I created in an insane fit of boredom, just the biggies.
My very first character, when a friend coerced me into the agonizing process of downloading the 10 day trial client on my aged laptop, was a troll rogue named Akaani on the Hyjal server. Sadly, it was not to be, I learned very quickly that it wasn’t a very good idea for someone whose PC didn’t technically meet the minimum system requirements to try sneaking around. Painful lag plus framerates of less than 10 fps make sneaking a very unproductive experience. Akaani was retired at about level 13. I still have her, because I can’t bear the thought of deleting my very first character. I’ve stripped her of all her belongings and even her clothes for my other characters to use, but she’s still there, standing on a red rocky promontory somewhere in Durotar, in her underwear.
My second try became my first main — and my first mage. I’d just picked up the WoW battle chest, and since I was still playing with the friend who first convinced me to try the game, I made another character on Hyjal. Selmarris was a Blood Elf mage, intended to keep me out of close range combat with my terrible lag and framerate, I started her out with no clear idea how to level a character. I played her to level 28 without every figuring out how to select a primary spec — as a result she was some kind of bizarre and ill-planned fire/arcane hybrid. At 28 my aged laptop finally gave up the ghost and I tabled my WoW account for six months or so. During my little hiatus, my friend and instigator left WoW, and when I came back I left Hyjal for good.
My next try was Kel’Thuzad. Aurdon’s wife is a good friend of mine, and she offered me help/company if I’d come try out life on her server. She’d been mocking me for my carebear-ish ways anyway, so she managed to talk me into making a Blood Elf Paladin, Myrhani, to give PvP a go. I didn’t realize that between the demands of having two babies in two years and keeping up with the antics of her WoW-ophile husband, she wouldn’t really have much time to level with me. Despite all this, her rogue leveled faster than my pally because I wasn’t clicking with the class. I play her now and then, when I need a change of pace from long range spell-slinging.
Trying again, I migrated to Blackwater Raiders where I’ve started and abandoned a handful of characters: Jemmarah a troll mage, Kaellani a blood elf hunter, and Alleryx the Night Elf rogue that I’ve really enjoyed as a change of pace. I have some friends who play on BWR that I ought to keep in better touch with, but I was instead dragged away by some good friends from work who were playing Alliance on Aerie Peak. Enter Rhii.
Although she remains, indisputably, my main, my recent period of apathy has made me wonder whether it wouldn’t help to spice things up with a break from the usual. I think I want to play Horde again for a while. With that in mind, earlier this week I logged back onto Hyjal for the first time in almost a year. I reassigned my first mage, Selmarris’s talent points for a straight fire build, a la Euripedes’ helpful guide. My work-comrade from Ring of Scars is also an ex-Blood Elf (a paladin this time) and she’s also feeling the lure of a short vacation playing Horde… We’ve decided we’re going to transfer our old mains (both conveniently the same level) to the same server and indulge ourselves for a while.
Hopefully it’ll break me out of the cycle of levelling blues and get my head back in the game again. 
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I just got back on my blood elf mage, after getting her to level 55 and pretty much abandoning her to play a death knight. I missed a lot of the fun stuff about playing a mage. Im not looking forward to trying to level my herbalism and inscription skills, but Im going for it tonight, after the wife goes to bed. Sometimes with WoW a break from a character can help you get your head back in the game (so to speak.)
Thanks for the history. I'm thinking of writing up my own. I do find it kinda interesting how people got to where they are.
lol just about the same story with me…leveled my main mage to 55 just to make a death knight, been working hard on Poptartz(my DK) but i missed playin my mage and recently started playin him again
its kinda hard not to love mages 
Great to hear this story, and then viola, you are a Hyjal Horde Mage to boot. My Mage has been on Hyjal for over 4 years, of course Horde, and way over 100 days /played (it's almost sad to say that – lol). Maybe, just maybe, I will shoot you an in game mail to say hi. Great little story.
Ohh, Darktown, sad news… I transferred my mage off Hyjal last weekend. The people that I played with there have left WoW for greener pastures and I hate playing alone. I do still have a toon or two on the server though, try Jeymila, troll hunter not-so-extrordinaire.
Thanks for the comment though.