Site Name

With the new expansion coming out in the (not-so-distant) future, the thing that excites me the most is the new vanilla WoW we are going to enjoy. It really was about time that the old world got some love and I especially can’t wait to see Stormwind and Thunder Bluff from the air.

As WoW turns 5 and starts to show its age somewhat, expansions like Cataclysm inject much-needed content and fuels excitement about the game. Things do tend to get stale quickly in the fickle world that we all raid, quest and love in. (On a side note, I would hate to be a WoW developer in the sense that months of work spent designing and balancing an instance might be completely ignored by the masses in a matter of weeks as players progress towards the new level cap.) While change can be exciting, it can also be sad. Things as we know them are going to change radically, and some things are never coming back. There are a couple of tasks that I wanted to accomplish before the expansion comes out. Call it my WoW bucket list.

This list was compiled some time ago, just after the announcement of the new and (sexier?) Onyxia would be coming out. So the first item on my list has been accomplished.

1. Defeat Onyxia before she got all uber.

This was a lot of fun, and when I posted on my guild forums asking for help with this, I was shocked at the overwhelming response. This actually turned out to be the first “raid” that I conceived, executed and delivered on. She went down fast, even though wearing equipment was optional. This sparked off talk of guild retro-raids on Saturdays before the Ulduar raids. The second on the bucket list is happening as I write this.

2. Roll a Tauren Shammy and explore the starting area/quests

Now I know that there might be quite a few of you out there that are wondering why I would want to do something so mundane as roll a Tauren Shaman. Why a Tauren? I have always played Ally, and quite honestly, I am sick of getting war stomped in BGs. So I am employing the old adage, “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.”

I used to go to the Barrens on my rogue just to gank Horde at Crossroads. Now I am going through the starting areas and learning about Horde. The quests out there are pretty interesting, and even though there is not a whole lot to look at in terms of scenery, it is a nice change from Westfall.

Thinking that I could kill two birds with one stone, I rolled this toon on Stomp and Haf’s server, Staghelm. I figured that since I was the EIC of their website, that I would join their guild. Well I never did put in my application because another idea hit me.

3. Go it alone and level a toon without a Main or a Guild

That’s right, going old school! This is walking-15-miles-to-school-in-the-blinding-snow-uphill-both-ways like old Grandpa Bill used to complain about. Even my first ever toon had some stimulus money come to him in the form of a roommate giving him 5 gold to buy some gear. My roomie at the time was a mage and a tailor so he was able to make me bags. Not this time, I wanted to forgo power-leveling instances, guild banks and extra gold from a main.

This one decision has forced me to change how I play WoW more than any other decision that I have made so far. When you’re prancing around at level 17 with a 6 slot bag and you are still wearing white gear the ripping and running through mobs that I enjoyed in the past is gone. Speaking of gone, that is something that I have been experiencing a lot with this toon. Yup, the old corpse run. I was so happy when I sold a stack of peacebloom on the AH and got 7 gold for it I was so happy that I did a dance and tweeted about it. Crazy huh?

So what are some things that you want to do before the xpac hits? Is there a title that you are going for? Quest lines that you have not gotten to?  Jumping factions has changed my view of WoW for the better, and quite honestly, I am glad that I didn’t pay the $50 to change servers and factions. That is the easy way, and now that WoW is getting easier and easier with every patch, I am glad to be one of the old grumpy players hanging on to things that are hard. Why? Because I can.

NOW YOU KIDS GET OFF OF MY GRASS!!!