Back From the Dead

I know it has been over one month since anything was posted on this blog. I apologize, but during that month I had a micro-discectomy which has greatly relieved the chronic pain from my herniated disc. I'm on the mend, and can stand to do extraneous things like play WoW and think about my blog now instead of always thinking about pain. Additionally, during the hiatus, the latest expansion has hit the steets of Azeroth. Yes, the Wrath of the Lich King is here.

Let's talk a little about the expansion. The experience is very much like Burning Crusade expansion in its first weeks. Common courtesy becomes a rare-quality drop (if not legendary). There are single named mobs that have to be slain for the very beginning quests in each zone. And people seem to have lost their damned minds. While it has gotten better with the fullness of time (albeit only a few days), it was not uncommon to see a dozen characters all gathered around a spawn point--each of them solo--doing whatever they could to ensure they got the first bit of damage. I've learned quickly that simply asking for an invite often gets you into an impromptu group and allows you to move on with the quests as five of you take on a mob tuned for one.

The other place courtesy is missing is in the gathering nodes. Having a goldclover (herb) or cobalt (mine) node show up on the mini-map sends gatherers running helter-skelter through mobs to tap it. I've asked, unsuccessfully, for a chance at a skill point. I've refused to loot the ore from a node (staying crouched with the loot window open) while someone tried to "steal" a node I'd reached first. It is just ugly. But as with all things, it'll get better in time.

In the world of quests, Blizzard has gone above and beyond with some quest types. We'll talk about that more in the future.

Until then, get out there and level. It's going to take a while.