Last week we talked about the trials and tribulations I dealt with in rolling my first character. It was afterwards that I realized that one doesn't just start at level 80, you have to EARN your way up. After the initial shock and disappointment I attempted to contact Blizzard in the vain hope that perhaps given my status as a blogger, they'd just auto-level my character to 80, or at least 55. However I would have no such luck.
As I'm sure most of you know there are a three main ways to level up in World of Warcraft: Battlegrounds, instances and of course questing. According to Mandifesto questing would be my likely best bet as the other two would prove difficult at level 1. Starting out the quests were pretty easy and right next to each other, from what I've been told the Draenei and Blood Elf starting areas are infinitely more efficient than the rest of their predecessors. Regardless, I still found it to be quite ridiculous after just an hour of gameplay.
After the initial quests where you go talk to so and so, and then kill a couple of moths and crazy plants, you start the "real" questing, or as I like to call it: running. Perhaps it was my experience with games like Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Brothers and more recently Call of Duty: Modern Warfare that never had me running much (and if I was it was with bad guys all around me)m but I was NOT prepared for the ridiculous amount of running that WoW inflicted upon me.
The more I quested around Azuremyst and eventually Bloodmyst island the more annoyed I got with the constant running. My girlfriend would stop by to watch me play for a little bit and after two weeks of occasionally watching me play, she said "You sure do run a lot. I feel like that's all I ever see you doing!" And she's right; I do run way too much. So much so that I started singing a song in my head (and eventually out loud) that would have never have happend otherwise. A song by the British Rock band The Proclaimers entitled "I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)".
The song easily sums up the collective pain that many of us feel questing around Azeroth. I mean honestly, why do I have to walk from Goldshire to Sentinel Hill to Lakeridge to Stormwind all to be allowed to head into the Deadmines? That is RIDICULOUS! I can't imagine being one of the poor original players who had to hoof if as a Human, Gnome, Dwarf or Night Elf. Many old school WoW'ers, as I like to call them, have told me that many quests (like the druid's swimming form quest) were beyond painful. I may have quit the game if that was still the case (and I didn't have quest advisors).
This brings me to another important point, quest guides, boy are these helpful! I didn't have the chance to use one during my initial questing, I found out about them around level 78. I wouldn't advise you follow it religiously but it will certainly help you find places, people or items that would normally take HOURS. I'm genuinely starting to get the feeling the Blizzard wants to make their players as miserable as possible.
Regardless of the requirements set forth on me, I traveled here and there and everywhere working my way through the two islands. I completed Mandifesto's favorite quest and even slayed the mighty Sironas (thanks to a level 70 randomly showing up and offering to pug it with us). I received my first tabard and from there hoped a boat to Stormwind, where I made some pies, found a necklace or two, killed some harvesters and traveled for what felt like 500 miles or more. But finally, I was ready to run through the Deadmines, all I needed was a group, and some etiquette.....
