About How & Why I Play WoW: The Song Remains the Same

I am an avid gamer. Not causal, not hardcore. I belong to an online gaming community dedicated to adult, mature gamers. It started around a bunch of HALO2 players that got sick of all the whiny brats, but has evolved into a larger, more diverse group. It's still very XBOX/360 centric, but there are PS3 players and WoW players as well.

One day, after a rather brutal run in Warsong Gulch, I lamented about it, and how I was trying to get better equipped. (As of now, I'm a level 29 Paladin, somewhat equipped - I have no blue/purple stuff, only green) The replies I got were "don't worry about it, just get your ass up to level 80 where the REAL fun begins."

Huh? Come again?

Sorry, but I'm not going to grind away for 1-3 MONTHS just so I can start "playing the good stuff". This is supposed to be fun, NOT a job. Maybe you can get from 1 to 80 in less time, but that's not the point. I want to have FUN getting there. (if I get there at all)

Who be me?

So what is it that I "do do" while I'm playing? Im playing on the Auction House, buying, selling stuff, or farming for stuff to sell. The whole economy aspect of WoW is facinating; the daily/weekly cycles, the lunatic over pricers, the idiot price cutters and everything in between.

I'm running around collecting pets (albeit half-heartedly) or exploring or running all the quests I can find. At some opint I even hope to get into the whole underlying storyline. It's like second life, but with magic, a purpose, and no eye pupils.

More on this later...