If I Had Started Playing During Cataclysm…

• Mishaweha might have been a Priest instead of a Shaman. (After all, my first character was a Human Priest, shortly before I switched to a Shaman Tauren (as I was immediately enamored with Tauren when we got the game). It’s not to hard to believe that if there were Tauren Priests I would combine the two…)
• Therefore I would read even more Priest blogs than I do.
• A Worgen, Goblin, Blood Elf, or Draenei could’ve been my main!
• I might not have ended up on Ysera with my awesome guildies — we decided to roll on one of the suggested servers, Ysera.
• I would still be a noob. I don’t learn very fast.
• Leveling would have been much, much faster, and possibly much more fun.
• I probably wouldn’t've had to ask The SA for so much help with quests, for example!
• My raiding experience would likely be near zero.
• I’d be clamoring to try out raids now and work them into my schedule instead of sitting on the side lines.
• I’d also be really interested in the ‘old content’ raids and would wonder why everyone seems to be sick of this ‘Ulduar’ and ‘Naxx’.
• ZA & ZG would also not hold as many memories when running them as 5 mans.
• My Roleplaying would either be increased or nonexistent, depending on if I joined an RP server or not!
• I wouldn’t have stopped my subscription because of school.
• “Auction House? What’s that? Sounds like a scary place!”
• AKA I would be lacking in gold reserves as I doubt I would consider touching the Auction House after only a few months.
• I wouldn’t have made so many Priest alts to try out their racial spells.
• … But I still would have a ton of alts.

What about you? How much would be (hypothetically) different if you had joined the game later? Would you have made a different main? Picked a different server? Focused on a different aspect of the game? Or would everything be the same, only shinier? Or if you started playing in a later expansion, what would have been different if you started play sooner? Let me know in the comments!

How’s Your Cataclysm?

Image by SobControllers via Flickr

One of the reasons why posts have been lacking here (and elsewhere) was because Cataclysm came out. I’m sure most of my readers (besides the spambots) were busy with Cataclysm too! Here’s a list of the things I was keeping myself busy with, and of things I still plan to do in Cataclysm. Share your own experiences in the comments!

Things I Have Done

• Made a Worgen — Surprisingly, I like how the male worgen look, even if I don’t care for the human male models. I wasn’t as fond of the female worgen model at first (possibly because of their dance), but it grew on me. I’ve designed 4 more worgen (and have already rolled two of them).
  

  Daw, look at those sad puppy eyes.

• Completed the Worgen starting zone — This is a fairly impressive achievement for me. I usually get a character to 5, reach the next city, and then say ‘well, that’s enough for tonight’. The storytelling in Gilneas compelled me to continue questing. I’d recommend doing it.
• Made a Goblin — The females are super cute, even if it is weird the nose/chin shape change based on their ears. I don’t think I will be rolling a male goblin, though.
• Rolled lots of the new race/class combos – I suppose this really more related to The Shattering, but I’ve made quite a few new race class combos, including…
  • Tauren Paladin
  • Tauren Priest
  • Night Elf Mage
  • Dwarf Shaman
  • Gnome Priest (I don’t think she will be around for long; I have a really hard time playing gnomes)
• Made a lot of money on the AH — My glyph business is doing well, along with selling random things I no longer needed.
• Dug at Dig Sites — I’ve hopped on the archeology band-wagon and have headed to dig sites on Mishaweha.

Things That Need Doing

I’d like to…

• Level a toon to 85 — I’m 84 on Misha, so I’m almost there!
  

  Goblins got bling, baby!

• Finish the Goblin starting zone — I’m nearly done, but I think I may have one or two more quests to finish up in Org. Overall, the zone is much more light-hearted than the Worgen zone. I especially like the rogue and warrior trainers.
• Max a non-gathering profession — It’s expensive to craft these days! Curse you inflation! *fist shake*
• Complete all the new dungeons — I haven’t even unlocked them all yet! It’s a bit of a bother to get to the entrances of them, especially since I’ve only completed the quests of three zones so far.
• Do heroics and/or raids — Which is a given, since I haven’t gotten to 85 yet! And I heard that they were hard.
• Roll some other race/class combos that seem interesting: Such as a…
  • Dwarf Warlock
  • Dwarf Mage
  • Undead Hunter
  • Human Hunter
  • And many, many more!
• Make an artifact — While I’ve dug up some fascinating things out of the ground, I’ve yet to put the fragments together, since I still get skill ups from finding junk! I’m almost there, though.
• Stand in fire — But not just any fire. Where’s Deathwing when you need him?

I think that’s all the major things I’ve done and have yet to do. Are there other things I should do that’s not on the lists? Should I skip out on things I’ve listed? Do you have a Cataclysm to-do list? And have you already done it? Let me know in the comments!

Quote of the Week – Cataclysm Style!

Alas – I say I’m going to post one thing this week, and instead I post something completely different! Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll get some time to sit down and write properly sometime this weekend.

At any rate, I stumbled upon this most excellent tidbit of information from Linedan’s Cataclysm prediction post over at Achtung Panzercow (Cataclysm, for those who don’t know, is WoW’s upcoming expansion):

The shock announcement that the World of Warcraft client will run on the iPad is marred by Steve Jobs’ sudden reversal on the deal.  When pressed for an explanation, he points to a paladin’s toolbar and exclaims that something called “Flash of Light” will never be allowed to run on his platform.

I believe this prediction speaks for itself. (Though you should check out the other ones too. Genius, I say! The next Nostradamus, for sure!)

Quote of the Week

I’ve decided to start a new segment where I bring to you a fine quote that I read or hear throughout the day. It may not be every week, it may be more than once a week, but it will surely be amusing.

Today’s quote is from Pew Pew Lazers!‘s take on the WoW Cataclysm Mage changes that were announced in April.

So in a nutshell, Arcane is getting a neat new “I HAZ MOAR MANA AND MOAR PEW PEW HUUURRRR!!!” mechanic, Frost remains the “meh!” spec of choice and Fire is shaping up to be the spec you choose when you definitely, absolutely have to kill every last mother****** in the room.

And that pretty much sums it up. (The stars are added for your protection).

-Misha