Wednesday, December 16, 2009

I Like my Naan with Pickles and Tamarind


Ok, so that's not a song title in my post title, but hey, we all have limitations. There MAY be a song with tamarind ni the title, but I seriously doubt it. (though if there is, I MUST see any video for it. I love Bollywood! lol)

So, what's it all about, eh?

Over on Righteous Orbs, dear Tam(arind) proposed the following:


It’s basically a blog-content gift exchange (and it really needs a catchier title), and here’s how it works. If you’d like to play, leave me a comment and in return I’ll give you a subject, or ask you a question … and then you go away and blog about it.

And lo, I said COUNT ME IN!

I also sent Tam a quick email with a suggested topic for HIM to address. (more on this later)

So, being the spanner that I am, I waited for a return email... (turns out he posted a reply right below my "count me in" comment)

My Topic De Jour?

Okay, here’s my topic for you, taking advantage of your unique perspective at the end of the levelling game, beginning of end game: what do players immersed in endgame forget. I’m going to leave that deliberately broad to allow you to interpret in whatever direction you like – to remind of us lost pleasures or condemn us for disconnection.

So... what would I like the more experienced players to remember?

Basically it comes down to to one thing: remember your confusion. (though the confusion may have been less for folks that levelled up inside a large guild)

So, please remember your confusion about...


- the alphabet soup seen everywhere in /2 trade, lfg and everywhere else. "lf2m dps gs4600 HTOGC abcd eieio."

ToC
ToGC
HoL
HoS
VoA

Um, wha...?


- Learning to play as a raider, instead of levelling, often solo. Spell rotation, abilities, tactics and even equipment needs are significantly different for the levelling player than they are for a raider. Even if a player DID know exactly what the "ideal" specs are for a level 80 raider, I guarantee that an educated solo radier will spec/equip differently. Especially for DPS and healy classes.

Healers will likely opt for for damage producing gear and more survival/duarbility, and DPS players may often look for more armor and more health than is "correct" for end game raiding. The more solo (aka "isolated") a player is, the more likley everything about their gear and playestyle will be homebrewed and the fursther from "ideal" it will be.


- Complete noobishness about the various dungeons & fights. I hinted about this in my last post, but the HUGE number of Lich King raids, combined with 3-5 bosses for each, means there are nearly 70+ fights HEROIC/10/25 man to learn. ( INSTANCES BY LEVEL on wowwiki)

I would hazard to guess that a significant portion of players are not running a lot of instances as they level. So not only are they new to the whole raid environment (ie, very specialized roles) but they/we are COMPLETELY lost our first coule times into each and every fight.


- Respect the crafted items. If we jut hit 80, we likely put a TON of effort into levelling up one skill or another to help us out in late game. Especially blacsksmiths, leatherworkers and tailors (for plate/mail, leather & clothie wearers respectively) Yes, they may only be crafted blues, but if the are 400-450 skill items, they are the result of a lot of effort. We're damned proud of them! :)

- going in to your first raid or pug,proud of the equipment you had, because of all the effort it took to get, but also shame at the same time about that exact same equipment, because you know full well that what you have, is so completely and utterly below whateveryone else in your group/raid/whatever has. An odd feeling, that.


Other more random things... do you remember...

- what it's like to blunder around in pretty much ANY place in old Azeroth, 2-3 shotting everything, just because you can? No matter what level you were at the time, your first steps into a new zone were always terrifying and awesome. The mosters were SO nasty and aggroed if you even looked at them! Now, being able to revisit these places without a worry, because you won't aggro anything and anything you decide to harass, will die in a handful of sceconds. The feeling of "I HAVE ARRIVED" is such a bubbly warm satsifying feeling.

- going into your bank, and looking at the odds & ends you've collectted through the levels. Some are probably quest items that didn't get turned in, or were left over after the quest ended... or maybe you've got a few mementos of tough, challenging or rewarding quests or challenges. They now collect errant electrons, taking up valuable slots, but theystill mean something.

And last but not least is what, in my most humblest opinion is the biggest feeling/thing to try to recall:

HOLY SHIT!!! NOW WHAT?!?!?!?!?

I think many of us actually enjoyed the levelling process, and hitting max level pulled the rug out from under you. Yes, there's raiding, but that's still "yet to come". As of the moment you hit 80, you are DONE!

Satisfaction, uneasiness and a sense of directionlessness seem to be (for me) the complicated stew of emotions that I experienced.




So, dear Tamarind, I hope this answered your question (albeit it in a long winded fashion).

It's been a long road, and the prospect of raiding (and gear harvesting) has become the new obsession, but I have to admit, I get restless hearing about the upcoming cataclysm, because I look forward to more interesting quests, the "oh shit what now" feeling of levelling up.

Cheers!

:)

1 comment:

  1. You know, I'm so used to being Tam that sometimes when I see menu items with "my name" on them I get confused. Why are they serving noodles with Tamarind...oh wait...

    And, yes, you did, you answered wonderfully :)

    I'm not sufficiently far from being newly dinged myself that this doesn't bring all the memories rushing back. I think it's so easy to lose sight of how confusing and how alien things you later take for granted can seem at first.

    This should be required reading for everyone at endgame :)

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