As I continue my WoW experience, I thought I would put down a few more notes for your reading pleasure. I have been spending most of my time with Tuldar, getting him ready to have a pet. I think I just have one quest left and then I can pick out a pet, which should be a good opportunity to switch back to Kaldur (dwarf priest, L7) and Faltutin (gnome mage, L6).
One of the pleasant surprises for me has been that I can spend 15-20 minutes playing (exploring, working on a quest, trying to level-up or find some items to sell for cash, etc) and put the game down. I am not sure if this trend will continue at later levels, or if the commitment is much longer (i.e. 2-4 hours to complete a quest). For now, this works great for me; I can play for a few minutes after supper, and then for a little more before going to bed. I think using my laptop is making the experience almost like a portable system, which has been a huge plus.
Last night was the first time that I actually felt like I made a mistake (or a decision) that could have a lasting impact. Tuldar, is now a L10 dwarf hunter, so he gained access to the hunter talent tree. As I was looking at the different options, I accidentally clicked on Deflection. What a waste; I really wanted to take Aspect of the Hawk, which seemed like a more useful talent for my current level. I have read that later in the game I will have the opportunity to change around talents, but it will cost me some money. So for now I have used my single talent point on what I consider an unnecessary parry skill. Oh well, so it goes.
Last night I also ran into what I will call my first jackass experience. I was looking for an ice claw bear as part of the final pet taming quest. I finally found one, started the taming process, only to be interrupted by some JA that decided to take down the bear. The thing that really sucked was that this person was some L60 fruity elf-type. Really, what was the point in spoiling my fun? Going into the game, this was (and still is) one of my preconceived notions about the game – random anonymous online interaction is just not that fun because there are too many JAs online.
I have also found myself doing something I swore I would never do – mining. I decided that Tuldar should take up mining and engineering for his professions. They seem to go hand-in-hand, and in the long run I think this combination will save me some money on shots, rifles, scopes, etc. Supposedly, it is also a decent way to make some gold early in the game. I started to do skinning and something else (seemed very hunterish), but I think the mining is more dwarfish. At any rate, I have found a couple of copper veins, and smelted my haul. I still cannot see myself spending time with the purpose of mining, but as an afterthought to my exploration, it was not such a bad experience. I guess in a week or so I will write about my mining; I do have to admit that I feel damn silly admitting this here, but I thought it was worth sharing.
I have started reading a few sites to gain more info on all aspects of the game, which is extremely deep. There is a fine line between reading spoilers (or step-by-step guides), and reading about necessary information to help provide for a better gaming experience. The last thing I want is to have the game scripted (i.e. if you select this race/class combination, you need to take these skills, professions, talents, etc). Like I said, I think there is a fine line here, but it is telling that I am starting to enjoy “reading” about the game.
