Teh alt train

I don't know if playing a Hunter is like playing on easy mode or what, but I leveled like crazy this weekend. I rolled her on Monday night and got her to 10. Then I got her to 14 in a few hours on Wednesday. Pushed her SIX LEVELS up to 20 over the course of Saturday and then up to level 25 today.

So there are three possibilities here: 1. I have no life. Very possibly true, as all I do are work, hang with my girlfriend or mess around online; 2. The Sunstrider Isle to Eversong Woods to Ghostlands quests are a level-a-thon; or 3. Playing a Hunter is an extremely easy way to level up on WoW.

Naturally I'd prefer it be the latter two.

The starting quests taking new Blood Elves up into their 20s are extremely fun. I hit exalted with Tranquillien very easily and got a pretty nice rare cloak. It was kind of a sad moment when I ran out of those quests and found myself directed to Tarren Mill or Stonetalon Mountains for further duties. Ah well. I did just do a run up to 60 over the last two months, so I know that it can be done if one pushes past the monotony.

And...another alt.

On a lighter note, I did create a new character on another server to join a podcast guild. I always wanted to try that, as I missed the boat on some of the other guilds rooted in WoW podcast fandom. It’s a newer show, and it’s a little outside of my demographic, but I enjoy listening, and they seem like nice people. No details now, as I need to wait and see how the guild goes. I rolled a female Blood Elf hunter (I know, I know…but I *like* hunters, and wanted to replay the Ghostlands quests). Plus, I missed not having a pet or minion out there with me when I was leveling the mage.

I wanted to try something new, so I picked up mining and engineering. I’ve always heard that engineering is a PIA to level, and expensive as hell, but I haven’t hit that yet. I was able to hit 75 in both professions easily by level 10. Plus, if I recall, the hunter is usually the last one alive in a group, as they always fucking feign death. So if I have me some jumper cables, I can make myself useful.

It should be interesting to see if the hunter is quicker to level than the mage. Just soloing before I could tame my first pet, I was kiting and shooting through mobs like butter. High volume of arrows needed, but it’s a small price to pay at this point.

Side note: is it just me, or is the bow stance for Blood Elf women totally bass-ackawards? My toon holds the bow out with her left arm, draws with her right, and yet she keeps her left foot forward. It’s like she’s twisting to shoot. And as she cocks the bow sideways, the arrow hangs BELOW the wood; it doesn’t rest on it, as I generally understand it to work. I kinda miss the bad-ass crossbow flip my Dranei hunter had.

Ah, well, her two-handed sword animation totally makes up for it. Reminds me of Beatrix Kiddo.

EDIT: OK, I'm an idiot of epic proportions. The Blood Elf bow stance is not backwards. She's just right-handed. I'm a lefty.

Motivation

Is it rooted in progression? Is it the thrill of playing with your friends? Is the potential for something new and exciting up ahead?

Strangely enough, I haven’t pushed my mage beyond 60 yet. She did some Hellfire quests, a horrific PUG through Ramparts, and grabbed all of the flightpoints in Hellfire, Terrokar Forest, Zangarmarsh and Nagrand. Her lethargy is certainly not for lack of quests or rewards, ‘cause they run a’plenty in the Oh El. I actually think it’s for lack of friends in the game.

My first push from 60-70 was with my old guild, with whom I leveled to 60 in “Classic WoW,” pre-BC. After 70, though, there was a bit of a falling out, and I’ve yet to find a decent guild since. Not a decent guild; that’s the wrong wording. I’ve yet to find a guild where I’ve fit in, and made friends. I think the most time I’ve ever spent in a guild has been 5 months or so. Most of the time I end up leaving after a month at the most, simply because no one ever talks, or talks to me, and there’s just no socializing to be found. No general conversation, lame guild chat saturated with links to gear people will never have, and a greater sense that you’re just not there. I’ve heard that some of the higher-end raiding guilds will simply regard your character as just another body of the 10 or 25 or 40 total they need to achieve their goals. In my guild experience, it’s been the same situation, only the guilds I’ve joined don’t have any goals.

Post-70, in February 2007, I jumped servers to get out of my classic guild. Four months later, I jumped again. Now, I’m on another server, and still having the same problem – loneliness. I’m searching for friends. The irony is crushing. In a game where a reported 9.5 million people play globally, I’ve yet to find people I can connect with on a social level.

This wasn’t meant to be a QQ post. I’m generally a homebody in RL, and have a few select good friends, but I don’t know anyone else who plays WoW. I can certainly continue my solo style, but I can’t help missing that element of group play just a little. I certainly get nothing but frustration in PUGS. That, or cool professionalism from good players. And in those cases, we get in, get the job done, and get out with little or no conversation.

A nice counterbalance to my WoW solitude has been Team Fortress 2, which is fucking killer.

WoW: low-key, task-oriented, amusing, entertaining.

TF2: Loud, crude, yelling, rocket-to-the-face-as-your-killer-dies-in-Pyro-flames insane. :)