Jun 14
It’s Strangely Freeing To Be In Chains
This is going to sound like total bullshit after other comments I’ve made about Massive games, narrative, blah, blah … but I’ve been having a lot of fun leveling up a WoW character using a guide. Yes, a WoW character. I spent so much time talking about WoW in the last month or so with people that I finally decided to get back on the horse. SWG and LOTRO are by the wayside at the moment, and I am taking advantage of occasional moments of ‘free time’ to work through Jame’s Alliance Leveling Guide.
It’s an interesting experience, because in many ways using a guide is completely antithetical to what I believe in when it comes to MMOGs. It tells you how to “play”, making the activity into a rote experience rather than a period of searching and enjoyment. It removes the player from the driver’s seat, and makes that character just a conduit for XP on the path to max-level. In a lot of ways, I hate the idea of guides.
Or, at least, I did. You see, the problem I have with WoW, and have always had with WoW, is simple: STV. In the late 30s and low 40s there is this quagmire of quest upon quest, in a giant zone where you mostly don’t have your mount yet. My poor tender head is just not equipped to deal with STV. I try to go around it, I try to avoid it … but nothing doing. Every character in World of Warcraft basically *has* to adventure in STV to get to max-level. I have half a dozen characters sitting at around level 38 or so, each of them virtually cowering in fear of the jungles at the southern tip of the Eastern Kingdoms.
The guide has fixed all of that, and how. With my laptop open and my game running on my main machine, I don’t even have to alt-tab. I just turn my head, reference the guide, and then do what it says to do. By chaining myself to this experience as written down by Jame … I’ve found it to be incredibly freeing. Don’t get me wrong; I completely thing the first time through a Massive game should be a period of exploration. But … I’ve quested in STV with three different characters now. I’ve braved the deserts of Tanaris before; having someone tell me where i should be and what I should be doing is actually exactly what I need right now.
I feel stupid saying this, but it’s the most fun I’ve had playing WoW in a long time. I only pick up groups when they’re running the same quests I am, and I just generally plow ahead with the well-laid-out instructions. It’s like having a tour guide to Azeroth in some ways, and I’m really enjoying playing Tourist.
If you don’t mind feeling a bit sleazy, I do recommend Jame’s guides. They’re good work, and I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever leveled as fast or as focused as I have playing with his advice. Good show.
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I ended up using Jame’s guide to level some of my alts. More than just being liberating, I found that I actually got to visit areas that I had previously missed and found quests that I hadn’t previously done. Admittedly I haven’t followed his guides to the letter and often take additional quests in areas that I’m going to which means I end up being a higher level than he demands. The advantage of this, however, is that when he says you need to grind (happens a lot in the mid to late 30s) then there’s very little need too.
Try Desolace or Arathi Highlands. The 3 zones per level bracket model lets you avoid places you don’t like.
You might want to spell out acronyms the first time you use them for people who might not be in tune with the latest MMOGs or parts of MMOGs they haven’t necessarily played. In particular, it took me a while to figure out that STV was a zone in WoW and not a game concept I was previously unfamiliar with. Another option, if you’re sure your readers overwhelming are familiar with acronym, is to use “<abbr title=”expansion”>abbreviation<abbr>”.
one does not go to Desolace by choice.
You tell ‘im, Alan! I’ve played World of Warcraft, and it took me five minutes to remember what the heck “STV” stands for.
I can’t even begin to express how confusing the posts about that latest EVE Online scandal were to me. So… many… undefined… acronyms!
Clairty, clarity, clarity!
Bah. You want clarity, go read a news site. :)
Sorry guys, I need to bang my head against my desk just to make sure that I have time to post stuff here. This is the one place in the world I can write and not have to do handholding at the same time; my assumption when I write here is that everyone knows stuff like DPS, STV, MMOG, AOE, etc, etc.
I definitely try to do the long-form-first, abbreviate second rule that I follow elsewhere, but to be honest it’s not something I sweat alot about here. :)
In an attempt to elevate your “shame” to a higher moral ground Michael, and utilising Bartles player personality groupings of explorer, socializer, killer or achiever, I’d like to suggest your just exploring your Achiever side a bit more than your Explorer side at the moment ;)
Hahaha! That’s a great way of putting it, Tinman.
You caught me dead on. I’m your classic Explorer/Socializer type that you see a lot of in the mmogblogosphere. I’m not quite as into lore as some other folks, but I love me a good story just the same. That’s a really good point, though. I’m basically grinding to get to content I haven’t really enjoyed yet (TBC stuff as a mage), so I’m kind of feeding my achievement side to get back to exploring. Fascinating.