Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Car Analogies: Wrath Rush Hour Traffic and My Garage Full of Alts

Benameless made a pretty good point about the upcoming expansion, and the sheer level of carnage that will ensue based on the intense crowding of fresh seventies in the first areas of Northrend. While Blizzard has alleviated this issue somewhat by offering alternative starting locations as well as the option to level up a Death Knight, there will be a bit more breathing room.

This may not be the case, since the popularity of WoW has grown considerably since the release of TBC. Who knows whether or not the three "options" for starting off your new expansion will suffice in terms of lag, personal playing space, and schedule. I've played in less popular games when new servers open up, and the starting location for those games are crowded as it is. Trying to level up by grinding mobs alone is susceptible to killstealing, and KS'ers alone piss me off more than even gankers and corpse campers. I want to play WoW, not musical chairs.

So my plans for Wrath then, is to finish off all the 69-70 quests that I have yet to complete. I dinged 70 pretty slowly, simply due to the large number of instances that I did on the way there. As such, I ended up not having to do any quests from Netherstorm or Shadowmoon Valley. I'll probably start there, since those quests will be easier sources for experience than wrath. Not as much, but much more accessible. The overall strategy is to make sure that I can make progress on my main without being interfered by other players. It's like the damn rush hour traffic that I experience driving home from work. I'll simply take the road less travelled. It won't get me home faster, but at least it's some sort of progress.

Either that, or I'll simply level my alts for a bit. I have a garage full of parked gnomes with 150% rested XP. Allow me to introduce you to them.

Krizzlybear, level 1 Warrior - He's my bank alt, and pretty much my namesake. While Bashertin is my main, good old reliable Krizzy is where the action is at with regards to playing the AH for cash. I might actually level him up fury, since I have two Axe of the Legions waiting for him to dual-wield to 70 with.

Miyo, level 24 combat Rogue - She was my first ever attempt at an alt...until I realized that I was too lazy to enchant her gear. She was decked out in Defias armor, and even had a fiery Cruel Barb/Buzzer Blade combo going. Rogue twinks everywhere would cringe at the noobishness of this pathetic attempt to own up WSG, but I'll admit that Alliance-side BGs are not exactly successful over here at US Arygos. So I pretty much gave up, and let her loose into Duskwood, and she's been sitting pretty at the local in, playing around with her pink pigtails. DO note that I created her long before I started blogging, so bearing a resemblance to certain pink-pigtailed bloggers are merely coincidence. Besides, who would want their female gnome any other way?

Lopen, level 14 demonology Warlock - I've gotten her boosted through DM a few times, so she already has a nice pair of gloves and an awesome staff waiting for her in her inventory. I've been putting much of my focus into her in between raids and heroics with Bashertin. Same character design as Miyo, but with green hair instead of pink. Green is awesome, and my favorite colour, btw.

Name TBA, level 55 frost Death Knight - When they become available, I will make one immediately shelve it at the nearest Inn. Gnome for sure, but I probably won't actually start seriously levelling him or her until the dust has been settled, and I have enough breathing room to play around with.

I have other alts, such as a 42 Druid, a 23 Shaman, and a 26 Hunter, but I will never ever touch them again. I've reached my limits with them, and it's most likely because I simply prefer controlling a gnome as opposed to the other races. Weird logic, but I've found my niche, and I am more fulfilled playing what I like, so I will continue to pursue this path. A gnomish Death Knight will surely become a regular part of the alts when WLK is upon us. Heck, he'll probably be a secondary main if the settings are right.

Represent, y'all. Gnomes4Lyfe!

3 comments:

Larísa said...

I've found that I'm pretty stuck on gnomes myself. I guess either you have it in your genes or not.

Funny enough my rogue alt doesn't have pink pigtails! She's got some punky black hair style, hard to describe but I can assure you it's cute. In a little tougher way. She's the bad sheep in the family, the younger, wilder, streetsmart sister of my more wise and kindhearted mage.

krizzlybear said...

ah, lar, all this reading up on personalities behind characters and RP in general have really gotten me into the RP itch. maybe i'm super cool that way, but one of these days, i might just go crazy and transfer one of my alts to scarlet crusade or feathermoon just for the sake of immersing myself in the experience of RP.

if i had to give my toons actual character, i would say that miyo is the shy, anime ninja stereotype who merely wishes to get by in life through her own strength and does not want the spotlight at all.

lopen is a fangirl of the maccabre, even though she often is not aware of her own demonic deeds. maybe one day she'll realize the graveness of her actions.

bashertin is spontaneous but twistedly logical behind his actions; he justifies the slaughter of lvl 1 critters in dungeons by saying that it's "better dead by his hands than becoming a minion of the legion."

krizzlybear, lastly, is the brains behind the group, always operating in the background to make sure that the other three are adequately funded for their adventures.

Larísa said...

Oh another closet roleplayer!

There's somthing to it isn't it... I'm shy but I can't help starting to think in those tracks. I guess I've read Airee.net too much. Her posts are so enthusiastic and inspiring, she's made up her mind to seduce the blog readers into this strange new world.