It’s good to take a week off work. Are you going anywhere people asked me?
‘Costa-del-Slobberchops’, I tell them, a local acronym for staying at home and slobbing out, a nice pastime of mine, but only if I have something to do.
I spent... wasted most of my time on World of Warcraft again, and it’s not getting any better. When I say better, I mean making the most of my time, as this is essentially escapism in its finest form.
So long as I know this, and can contain the obsession, I’m OK (yes… I tell myself that over and over).
...'Level 50. I wish I had not bothered now. Despite telling myself 'Classic' is better, I longed to see the new content'...
From Classic: Mists of Pandaria to the regular World of Warcraft, I migrated after telling myself…, ‘this is all too easy’ and ‘what happened to the enjoyment of levelling and it being a slog’…
As a squished level 40 Warlock, I found myself at odds over where to go. I tried ‘Mists of Pandaria’, got bored. All those pandas prancing about made me feel like it was a nursery, so I did a little research.
As I quit the game shortly before ‘Mists of Pandaria’, it was from here onwards that caught my interest. ‘Legions’ looked good but I had a play with ‘Warlords of Dreanor’ for a while.
...'9 days left until subscription time. 30 more days is around 350,000 WOW Gold. It's not going to happen so I will need to spend cold hard cash'...
Building a garrison seemed great, but once I was at 60, it would all go to shit, and I would leave it behind, and the expansion was slated for being weak and made players isolated.
So Legions it was… for a while. I made it to level 47 or so and then had another change of mind.
Why not bypass all these other ones and go directly to ‘Dragonflight’. The prospect of Dragonriding was not getting me hard. I had been riding flying mounts since the old days and had a sturdy bronze drake from Stratholme (or that’s what it says). Fuck if I can remember where I picked it up.
...'I still prefer the old character selection screen. This cozy camp fire reminds me of other games such as Baldur's Gate 3 and that woke game, Dragon Age (shudder)'...
You can start in ‘Dragonflight’ at level 10 and I was playing alongside low level chubs who were fighting the same monsters as me (scaled down) with ease.
It felt weird, but once at level 70, actually level 68, I could leave all this artificial shit behind and get on with the real game. At this point I had decided to purchase ‘The War Within’, the current expansion that disallowed all those pesky low levels from entering.
...'Dornogal'.., the main hub for The War Within looks great. Why do I keep thinking of Ireland?'...
Until this point, I had been gaining TWELVE levels a day, simply unheard of in the ‘old days’. I would finish two quests and watch the experience bar jump significantly to the right, more so if I was blessed with that ‘rested experience’.
Yesterday I hit the magic number. I was in the middle of the quest campaign for ‘Dragonflight’ which was proving quite enjoyable, if not memorable. It was goodbye, Lord Whoever, as I’m evacuating, ditching you in your time of need.
I have noticed a lot more cut scenes, which are anima-based, in the last two expansions.
Some bad guy is intent on destroying Azerroth (again), and as much as I would like to ingest it, I find it washes over me.
...'talk about an upgrade. This happens a lot, ditch your shoddy blue gear for massively stronger green stuff'...
Stepping onto Khaz Algar, I told myself… follow the story, get into this shit. I am trying, but it’s more a question of getting new gear. Speaking of which, the upgrades are fucking ridiculous.
I went from having 25,000 HP to almost 400,000 HP in just over a day. 1000 extra stamina on a single piece of green cloth, well, thanks very much. It takes a little more to wear down this Warlock now.
Setting down on the Isle of Dorn, I died twice trying to do the first couple of quests.
This was more like it; the trash was hitting like trucks, and I was swarmed more than once for being careless.
Maybe I would need to wake up now, and there could be a little more challenge to the game. Some of my gear is still from the ‘Legions’ expansion and woefully inadequate but now I am on the current expansion, it seems there is something to build on again.
...'Skyriding is much more awkward than using a regular flying mount, and you get one of those custom bars with clicks to control it. They are very fast though'...
Blizzard took away the ability to use flying mounts unless you complete a huge quest that requires about level 80. Until then, you must use the ‘Skyriding’ mounts, which are awkward to handle, at least initially.
There’s no hovering over mining nodes now, and maybe that’s a good reason. In ‘Dragonflight’, it was so easy to pick your node due to the mini-map now showing you where everything is. There’s no need for the old ‘Gatherer’ add-on I used to use.
...'WOW maps have always been a strong feature, and why change what works? I do love me a great map'...
The Isle of Dorn is full of quests, and everything is still presented on a plate for the player. It’s still easy, but jeez.., for a 20+ year old game, it looks so polished and complete.
...Luxury Leathers. Skills have more depth than before, and I am struggling to get a grasp on all the new stuff that's been introduced'...
Lovely graphics, tons of depth, a bountiful Auction House for current expansion materials, and little to spend my gold on (so far). I particularly like the skills and the specialisation wheels they added. Mining and Skinning go further now than.. ‘You got better at Mining (27)’.
I am mailing all the sellable crafting materials to an alt based in Stormwind for now.
If there’s another Auction House closer by then I am unaware of it.
...'A Delve quest. You get a companion, Tank, DPS or Healer and he levels up with you. That's the level of depth this presents'...
The sell point of ‘The War Within’ for me was Delves. Endgame content for the solo explorer with rewards in line with heroic 5-man dungeons?
As someone who is married and a yell can come from a different part of the house at sporadic times, I am not a raid person. In a delve, I can park the character, go do my duties, and return where I left off. Perfect, for us unsociable bastards who don’t want to mingle.
I have done three Delves so far, and each time been presented with two large chests.
...'as a DPS player, I prefer a healer and Brann is a fine one. Delves are not difficult (yet), but I have died more than once due to complacency. The upper tiers are going to be more challenging I feel'...
It’s green gear to date, but I am only on Tier 2. The game seems to check your gear, figure you are a cloth wearer, evaluate the rating of the gear, and add some shoes, a hat, or arms in the chest that yields a giant upgrade in terms of stats.
I’m writing this, but already itching to get back on. The urge, the compulsion, the addiction, it is for real and has destroyed families.
I have to keep it in check, have to hold it at bay, or become another mindless WOW zombie. Pray for me… please.
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