Tobold is burnt out on WoW and is quitting the MMORPG genre for the foreseeable future.
Nils is back, having previously rage-deleted all of his characters and vowing never to play again. Joking aside, it’s great to see this blogger back on the scene, who has offered some excellent insights in the past.
As for me I have finally reached the new continent with my monk, a month after the release of the Mists of Pandaria expansion.
It has been an interesting journey that has given me further opportunity to reflect on the Cataclysm content. I had originally intended to give the Cataclysm stories my full attention, as my previous experiences levelling alts had always led me to push for the optimal xp gain/time.
However on this occasion, heirloom-free, I would take my time to smell the roses.
Sadly, this was not to be.
The combination of a fast levelling speed and an end-game that is 90 levels away (Who had the bright idea of not making monks a hero class?) served to drive me from zone to zone without ever completing a story. Indeed it became a relief to discover that I could use the Enlightenment buff which provides monks with 1 hour of double experience gains per day. Or least it should do, if it wasn’t bugged to give you that buff until you die or log out.
Yes, Cataclysm did change the world, but did it go far enough?
Imagine yourself in a cave in Winterspring farming yeti furs, the burning tiredness behind your eyes reminding you that you have been and done this many times before.
It is this feeling, combined with the carrot of ‘new’, which drives the burned-out veteran back to the expansion content rather than enjoy the journey. What Cataclysm needed was fun dailies (perhaps using new vehicle tech?) that were not level-specific or buried behind other chains of quests that involve killing the same mobs repeatedly or hoping for the same rare drops.
Unless I am talking into Recruiting another Friend, this will be the last time I can see myself undertaking the 1->expansion journey.
The Barrens, even with volcanic fissues, will always be The Barrens.
bernardparsnip
Diminishing Returns 