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Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Why the hurry?
Complementary to the previous post about the Burning Crusade distribution is the interesting question of *why* everybody is so eager to start playing the World of Warcraft expansion on the very first day. Given the expected difficulties to get hold of the Burning Crusade on the 16th, and get it up and running on the first day, why don't we just wait a week before starting? But the reasons for wanting to play as early as possible are many.
One is simply a lack of alternatives. Even if you don't buy the Burning Crusade expansion at all, many of the expected server problems will keep you from playing the pre-expansion WoW anyway. If the login server crashes, or the game servers break down under the load, nobody can play World of Warcraft in any form. And then there is the social aspect: if everybody else is playing the new content, and you don't have the expansion yet, you'll be pretty lonely in the old lands. It will be hard to find anyone for lets say a dungeon trip to Scholomance, and there will be no Molten Core raids whatsoever for some time. Even the currently crowded battlegrounds will probably stand near-empty in the first week of the expansion.
Another reason for wanting to start early is people being competitive. Even more than previous MMOGs World of Warcraft has trained people to value others more for their level and gear than for their character. Many players will "race" to level 70. But this isn't a fair race, you can win it by starting earlier than somebody else, and by "running" longer every day than him. While installing the Burning Crusade a week later is probably less stressful and frustrating, it would automatically start you with a disadvantage in that raid.
More importantly is the related reason of keeping up with the Joneses, or in this case mainly your guild. Guilds in World of Warcraft often have only one purpose: raids. And many guilds will try to get back into raiding as fast as possible, which means getting a sufficient number of people to level 70 as fast as possible. As an added complication the size of raids is going down from 40 to 25. As guilds will start raiding as soon as they have 25 players at level 70, rushing to level 70 is a good strategy to get a place in the guilds core raiding team. By the time the slower people reach level 70, you will be more experienced in the raid content, and better equipped, and might thus beat them out in the selection of who will be allowed to participate in the next raid. Sounds kind of Darwinian, but this is something that will happen in many raid guilds, planned or unintentional.
Personally I'll try to grab the expansion on the first day, but if that doesn't work out I won't be terribly sad. I plan to explore the new content to its fullest, and not rush to level 70. But I'd like to keep up if not with the top, but at least with the bulk of my guild, for the simple reason that I'd like to do a lot of 5-man instances. Guild runs are always so much more pleasant than pickup groups. Raids, well I'd like to at least see the level 70 raid dungeons. But I have doubts that these will keep me playing WoW until the next expansion comes out in a year or so. If I feel that the new raids are just like the old ones, and if some good new games come out, I might take a prolonged break from World of Warcraft. But hey, you never know, maybe I get hooked leveling a blood elf mage to 70 instead.
- posted by Tobold @ 1:18 PM Permanent Link
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The rush to Level 70 won't be comparable to the way from 1 to 60, I think. The first days in TBC will be quite awful: Thounsands of players in too little zones doing exactly the same quests. The Hellfire Peninsula will be a gigantic slaughterhouse on PvP-servers.
Nice expectations. I hope I'll be untroubled by this insanity.
Nice expectations. I hope I'll be untroubled by this insanity.
Oddly, the closer we get to the expansion the more I think I won't even bother. Seems like a good time to hang up the character and try some new things. As raids have been cancelled for the holidays, I've quite enjoyed my extra time that I honestly didn't believe I'd been missing. Add in the fact that you can just SEE how bad things will be at release and I'm hard pressed to justify paying for the pending aggravation. It might be a good time to walk away and hear the horror stories from the sidelines.
Hi
I wont be rushing to play the expansion and in fact will be very pleased to have some favourite grinding spots to myself, whilst everyone else and their guilds pile into the starting areas.
I suspect that it will be bedlam on the day,and not a pleasant experience. That's if the servers don't all crash first ;-)
Still, I must admit that I have grown a little bored of the game of late and having something else to play will be very welcome. But I'll be more than happy to wait a week (and longer) and let the madness blow over....
I wont be rushing to play the expansion and in fact will be very pleased to have some favourite grinding spots to myself, whilst everyone else and their guilds pile into the starting areas.
I suspect that it will be bedlam on the day,and not a pleasant experience. That's if the servers don't all crash first ;-)
Still, I must admit that I have grown a little bored of the game of late and having something else to play will be very welcome. But I'll be more than happy to wait a week (and longer) and let the madness blow over....
# posted by 
: 2/1/07 16:23
: 2/1/07 16:23
I plan to take it easy the first week or two as well. I'll keep pvping with one of my 60s while positioning the other to do pve expansion content . . . and then let him sit and get some rest. Once the initial rush is over I can move into the quest areas with full rest and leisurely xp at twice the rate of the people who charged in. Considering the lowered amount of competition, it might even be more than twice as fast. The lack of aggravation alone will be worth it though.
# posted by : 2/1/07 18:23
: 2/1/07 18:23
I don't understand it either. I have my copy of BC reserved at my local EBGames, but it didn't even occur to me to book any time off that week, nevermind the fact that I don't even have any holiday time left. I'll be picking up my copy on my way home from work, and will be extremely surprised if the servers are even up by the time it's installed (which will likely be around 6pm PST).
Then I'm going to go play one of my new horde babies, and relish the emptiness of Durotar and the Barrens, while everyone else is making blood elves and draenei. :)
Then I'm going to go play one of my new horde babies, and relish the emptiness of Durotar and the Barrens, while everyone else is making blood elves and draenei. :)
# posted by : 2/1/07 21:00
: 2/1/07 21:00
I'll probably give it a go, but it'll likely be September at the earliest. I have no guild ties or commitments to the game, so can take as long as I like with it all, and seems like it's going to be a nightmare for the first month or so.
# posted by : 3/1/07 11:26
: 3/1/07 11:26
I rather like the idea of trying to get on as early as possible, not with intention of actually DOING anything constructive for a while.
For solo casual players, this will be a godsend IMHO. If we are to believe that 1-60 is about the same as 60-70, then there will be plenty to keep people occupied.
But I think it is now that guild choice really comes into its own. Being in a guild that is going to level at your pace will be key. If you are already "falling behind" then this will just make matters worse, think quite a few newer smaller guilds will spring up - the new sized dungeons facilitate this for the "not quite so uber but still pretty good" players that can't devote the next month of 20 hour days to get to 70.
Given that most people have STILL not seen the inside of Molten Core (me included) this only increases my interest in WoW. There is still lots to see. And will keep me hapy long after people start complaining that they have run out of things to do !
For solo casual players, this will be a godsend IMHO. If we are to believe that 1-60 is about the same as 60-70, then there will be plenty to keep people occupied.
But I think it is now that guild choice really comes into its own. Being in a guild that is going to level at your pace will be key. If you are already "falling behind" then this will just make matters worse, think quite a few newer smaller guilds will spring up - the new sized dungeons facilitate this for the "not quite so uber but still pretty good" players that can't devote the next month of 20 hour days to get to 70.
Given that most people have STILL not seen the inside of Molten Core (me included) this only increases my interest in WoW. There is still lots to see. And will keep me hapy long after people start complaining that they have run out of things to do !
# posted by : 3/1/07 15:01
: 3/1/07 15:01
I purposely avoided all the Silithus quests on my priest, and 90% of the Plaguelands and Silithus ones on my lock for the purpose of doing the quests for exp come expansion time. Rather than cram into the new zone, and fight other people for the same spawns, I'll be in a near-empty zone =)
I do plan to be in the instances a good bit, and already have a few pre-planned groups.
I do plan to be in the instances a good bit, and already have a few pre-planned groups.
# posted by : 3/1/07 16:21
: 3/1/07 16:21
I'm hoping to get the BC on the day of release, if possible.
Hopefully the load will be spread between those leveling 61-70, those starting new characters, and many people (like me) still in the midst of leveling another character 21-60 and in no rush to see new content. I do have plans to explore the new content, but that doesn't have to start on January 16.
I see several options - as long as I can log on and play without long queues and / or server problems.
Regarding the 21-60 content, while much will be the same, there will probably be at least a few new quests in that range, since there are already new NPC mobs in towns in that level range. And some people will play with instance difficulty settings, too.
Hopefully the load will be spread between those leveling 61-70, those starting new characters, and many people (like me) still in the midst of leveling another character 21-60 and in no rush to see new content. I do have plans to explore the new content, but that doesn't have to start on January 16.
I see several options - as long as I can log on and play without long queues and / or server problems.
Regarding the 21-60 content, while much will be the same, there will probably be at least a few new quests in that range, since there are already new NPC mobs in towns in that level range. And some people will play with instance difficulty settings, too.
Unlike a lot of people who commented above, I plan on getting the expansion on the first day and racing to 70, for the exact reasons Tobold posted. I also plan to turn in all my saved quests for 200k exp, level to 300 jewelcrafting, and begin selling saved ores/bars/gems at the AH inflated prices. Assuming the servers are up. :)
I also plan to turn in all my saved quests for 200k exp, level to 300 jewelcrafting, and begin selling saved ores/bars/gems at the AH inflated prices.
Good plan, except that Blizzard has stated that they plan to put some sort of stop to that "turn in saved quests" plan that everybody is hatching. I'd assume it won't work, or at least give a lot less xp than you'd expect.
Good plan, except that Blizzard has stated that they plan to put some sort of stop to that "turn in saved quests" plan that everybody is hatching. I'd assume it won't work, or at least give a lot less xp than you'd expect.
Turning in the AQ40 rep items stopped giving experience a couple of patches ago. From what I can tell, anything repeatable that gave experience no longer does. As such, you can still turn in 20 quests (assuming you have 20 completed quests in your log) but unless I'm mistaken it won't take you anywhere near 200k.
I guess we'll see what happens when BC finally arrives, whether I've wasted my time or not. :)
I do have over 200k saved up, but some of them are easy chain quests, such as the Moontouched Wildkin series for 19450 total. Some are end-of-series such as General Drakk's Demise for 10900. And I haven't done the AD turn-ins, which I assume will give 6600 each (5 sets of turn-ins via 30 saved items each). Those are repeatable for rep, but I'm hoping they will give exp for the first turn-in, like the troll tribal amulets do in The Hinterlands.
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I do have over 200k saved up, but some of them are easy chain quests, such as the Moontouched Wildkin series for 19450 total. Some are end-of-series such as General Drakk's Demise for 10900. And I haven't done the AD turn-ins, which I assume will give 6600 each (5 sets of turn-ins via 30 saved items each). Those are repeatable for rep, but I'm hoping they will give exp for the first turn-in, like the troll tribal amulets do in The Hinterlands.
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