Warcraft: The Shattering

I know I haven't posted on here for awhile, but that has been for numerous reasons. School, work, and a constant hopping from game to game. And not MMO's, just single player games.

So when all the hype for WoW: Cataclysm started, initially I was jaded self. I had played WoW for several years, not really enjoying it or sticking with it since my initial playing of the game where I lasted around 8 months. Nothing since that point had been more than 2. The hype was still there, constantly wearing away my defenses, until I had to resubscribe.

That was two months ago, and I only subbed for one month at the time. During that month, my sole goal was to get my death knight up to level 80, the first time having a main at level cap since my rogue in classic. That rogue was just deleted two months ago, still level 60 having only walked barely into the Outlands, wearing an eclectic mix of quest blues and tiered items. That was the reason I left the game after my initial burst, I got sick of the rogue play style and didn't want to spend the time leveling up another character.

Fast forward to yesterday. The news that the Shattering was going to take place today got me to resubscribe before I could even think otherwise. Last night was spent doing some of the pre-Cataclysm event quest lines and just kind of lounging around Stormwind listening to trade chat. My goal going in to today was to create a gnome priest. I had always wanted to create a healer, liking the support classes, but had never gotten one past level 12 before. I still have nightmares about trying to kill murlocs in Elwynn Forest in classic and having to runaway bubbled as the priest was so weak at the time. Also, I have never really enjoyed the time at level cap in WoW, so I was interested in going 1-85 again to see how Blizzard had learned its lessons on quest design.

So I created my little red-haired gnome and started in Gnomeregan. Thank goodness all those trips to that dungeon weren't for nothing. It had to be my least favorite dungeon of Classic, so it was nice that the gnomes had reclaimed it so I didn't have to anymore. Man oh man has Blizzard improved the questing flow. No longer is it going into a town/camp and picking up 10-15 quests before heading back out. Now it is 2-3 quests in an area before moving on. You are never bombarded with more quests than you know what to do with and are forced to move through the zones at a quick pace. No more being in one spot forever getting sick of it all. Also, adding flight points at Kharanos and the quarry make getting back to trainers and profession work much quicker.

All in all, I spent 5 hours of /played tonight. The longest single block of playing I've done since I created the death knight. I also made it up to level 15, first time I've gained that many levels in a sitting since I first logged in. Oh and no more running away from murlocs, the priest seems to be able to hold its own now. I did not die once, even in situations where I accidentally pulled multiple mobs. Overall, the Shattering is the revamp that Azeroth has needed for years now. Everything seems to flow so naturally and quickly.

Now that I'm level 15, I can't wait to try out the dungeon finder. I hope that the dungeons retained the old charm of actually having to think. No more AoE spam and rushing through. Here's hoping for the return of sapping, sheeping, the skull raid icon and the x raid icon. Even though I need to go to bed, I already can't wait to get back into tomorrow. Never though I'd say that again.