Return To Azeroth

[kaptainvon]

The other day, I turned the Demon Warcraft back on. I also ponied up for a three-month subscription rather than my usual creeping doom of one month at a time. Why did I do this?

Well, there was a convergence of factors. Among them is the impending (well, it's coming out at some point this year) release of the new expansion, Cataclysm, with the attendant raft of endgame content I will probably never see (my interest in any character tends to wane at some point roundabout level 55, although I have high hopes for my Death Knight, for reasons which will be outlined later). That's not what got me back in about it.

I'm all about two things. The first is the impending rebuild of the original World of Warcraft content. There are places I've not been, stuff I've not done - in particular, I've not taken my roleplaytastic Warlock through the area that sort of defines her undead existence, the Plaguelands. If I can get her through them and maybe Scholomance before the expansion hits, I can retire her from active play (we'll come back to that too) safe in the knowledge that her story has come to its natural end: she'll have taken her revenge on the Scourge and seen what happened when the Lich King fell, even if she didn't play a part in the actual slaying of the brute.

The other thing is the new options. Tauren Paladins rather appeal to me (since I've learned that I can sort of tank and heal not-too-badly - I make mistakes but I learn from them rather than ragequitting all over the place, and apparently this is the Secret - and I've also realised how much more fun hybrid classes are), as do Gnome Priests (if I hadn't already given in and rolled a Draenei I'd be all over that nonsense), but the thing I'm really excited about is the Worgen. They're angry hairy dudes in fancy hats who surround themselves with pseudo-Victoriana, and so am I. It's an RP match made in heaven. I'll be rolling at least two: a Druid (for actually playing lots) and probably an RP Warlock because I'm predictable like that.

That's not the only reason I'm back in, though. I'm back in because I finally manned up and joined a guild (I've dabbled, but they scare me a bit, they use terminology and have expectations and suchlike). It's odd because that's what I was originally getting into the game for: keeping up with old mates from Real Life who used to all be in the same gaming groups but have scattered to the four winds and all have lives and such now, but still play the WoW now and again. I just got a bit distracted by Horde characters, which hardly any of them play, and by trying (and failing) to RP properly, and by learning to actually play, and taking the odd month out to do things like move house and finish my Master's and just need the money for something else now and again. Since my interest in playing my original Horde character is at an all-time low for some reason (maybe I should respec her... maybe Affliction's just too routine?), I decided to roll some Alliance characters and join their fun.

I'm glad I did. The game's livened up now that I actually have some people I know to talk to, and it's made me more confident about reaching out to players I don't know and experimenting with the more challenging instance roles and actually doing a bit of RPing. Actually playing the game with an old chum whose character is of similar level makes for an interesting evening of quest grinding - it passes more quickly when there are two of you plugging away and gossiping and thinking about RPing together.

So, my original Experiment continues apace, and I seem to have gotten into the social aspect that's actually the point of the game. That's good... right?

Oh, hello, by the way. This community seems like a Good Idea - I like fannish people a lot and I like the thought of approaching WoW fannishly a lot - but I'm terrible at introducing myself to people and this is more interesting than my usual flailing, surely? Hopefully it will encourage some activity and some fannish conversations about WoW...

ETA: because this sort of information is both crucial and entirely absent from the post I wrote in the caff last night: I play on Earthen Ring (EU) with my Alliance characters (Saviniev, Czandor, Isembard) and Darkmoon Faire (EU) with my Undead Warlock (although she might conceivably be moving to Earthen Ring if I have spare money to throw at Blizzard any time soon).

Comments

[stormy]

What server(s) do you play on?

[kaptainvon]

Ah, yes, mentioning that would have been a good idea, wouldn't it?

Earthen Ring (EU) with all my Alliance dudes. Sybeth, the token surviving Horde character, currently lives on Darkmoon Faire (EU) although I'm thinking of transferring her over to the Ring with the others.

[stormy]

I'm on Llane, Skywall, and now Moon Guard (US) with all mine. I'll send moral leveling support from here!