Murf Versus

Azeroth Again

This post is part of a series of everyday posts for Blaugust. If you’d like to know more, click here.

MMOs are a part of my gaming diet in much the same way fried chicken is a part of my food diet. They are an essential comfort, one I grew up with and one I cannot shake despite the ill effects on my time or health. While I would much rather be playing a MMO in 2018 from 2018 (or this decade. for that matter), few satisfy me the way a World of Warcraft expansion can satisfy me.

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It is amazing how much staying power this game has and continues to have. I used to only play it to powergame my way through hard dungeons and raids. Now, not so much. I have enjoyed leveling a new Nightborne Priest. Some levels feel sparser than others but there is the feeling of progression again and that is all I have really wanted.

Is it good? Better than any game this old has any right to be. It certainly beats retreading and relearning other MMO classics. I debated returning to EverQuest II instead. I often debate that idea, but it never comes to any action.

I have three months of game time purchased and close to having two characters I want to play. If I can get the Priest to max before the expansion, I will probably bounce between Shadow and a healing spec. I haven’t decided which on the latter. I also still enjoy my Warrior, which I mained in Legion, though I am dying to unlock the new trolls. Goblin Warrior has been fun but a troll that doesn’t look bad in plate sounds like a real winner to me. I think Fury is a lot of fun and I am excited to try pre-expansion Protection eventually.

I burned my token on a Dwarf Monk named Homebrew (I know, great name!). That lasted for all of five seconds. Two of my friends decided that they would play and we have always had a Horde bent. That plus struggling to find anything in both Ironforge and Stormwind made starting at max as Alliance a bigger ordeal. At least I have a max level Alliance-side character for the first time ever.

I am grateful World of Warcraft is still around. It is familiar but fresh. It also occupies that same space that games like Halo 2, League of Legends, and other MMOs have occupied in the past: a pseudo multiplayer experience that eats up my free hours despite having so many other games I should play instead.

Three months should be more than enough …

 

By:

C. T. Murphy

Posted in:

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6 responses to “Azeroth Again”

      • it’s one of those high skill ceiling classes that has a fair chunk of complexity. I think of it like rogue 2.0. Which is too bad, cause my rogue now feels like a lead-eating-cousin.

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  2. I often try to go to the horde side for fun or something new.

    Almost 15 years and that comfort and familiarity is hard to overcome. I have several near max level for each expansion but never got there.

    New Druid forms do look great on the Horde sife

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  3. I’ve levelled a monk to 20 or so during the time I wasn’t subbed, it’s a really fun class – my husband has mained the class since Pandaria and loves the gameplay of all three specs. I do like the looks of the mobility it has – something most classes in WoW sorely lack. Higher end PVE content has the makings of action-MMO content but without the required character abilities. The lack of universal dodge mechanic really pains me when I come back to WoW thesedays…

    I estimate 3 months this time myself too, I’m more disappointed/disinterested by the story this time than I was for Draenor and that’s saying something. Despite the pathos and very talented animators over at Blizzard, they really need to pull several somethings out of the bag to keep me interesting longer than it takes to level through both isles.

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