WoW Weekly: Now what?

WoW Weekly is a biweekly-ish, self-absorbed look into the things I've been doing -- or not doing -- in the game. From auctioneering and pet battling to mount farming and raiding.  

I hit two major milestones over the course of the past week. For better or worse, there is no feat of strength for turning 30 years old. Don't get me wrong---I'm happy to be here. It's hard to believe this game's been around since my early twenties, and I've been a subscriber for most of that time. The second milestone? I made the gold cap on my banker. And subsequently abandoned him to his server to forever camp the Black Money Auction House---but we won't talk about that.

Truth is, I didn't really have a plan for what I'd do after hitting the gold cap. After the server transfer, followed by my dismissal from the new guild, progression raiding on the Main has ceased completely. Not currently seeking it out, nor am I planning to in the near future. My play hasn't been this casual since early Wrath. I've not had this lack of direction since the Burning Crusade.

Quite frankly, I'm a bit overwhelmed with the smaller, faster patch cycle we've been given in MoP. Just as I've gotten a grasp on the bulk of 5.3 content--the Barrens campaign, new scenarios, continuing the Legendary line, new battle pet quests, new battle pets, PvP pet battle quests, etc--I'm getting ridiculous amounts of information on what's all going down in patch 5.4. I feel like I've seen everything but the very end of the movie. Like I know what's going to happen, just a little fuzzy on all of the how's. And it leaves me feeling a bit deflated. A bit burned out. A bit meh.

Of course, aside from story spoilers, we've heard a good deal about planned features and functionality, like Flex Raiding and Virtual Realms. I'm excited about the potential in each of these features, but will leave it to another post. For now, what I've been concentrating on since the last WoW Weekly (which was actually over three weeks ago---I've been slacking):

• Progress towards Raiding with Leashes II is going well. I nabbed all four pets from Karazhan on my second run. Also, Lady Vash'j is NOT an easy fight. I have to work really hard on the Main in order to solo her---haven't yet found a way to do it with my priest. Luckily enough, she dropped her pet on week two, so I no longer have to bother with her. Still after Tideskipper from Serpentshrine Cavern and both the Pocket Reaver and Lesser Voidcaller from Tempest Keep.
 
• Since its release, I've been avoiding the Throne of Thunder LFR. I can't completely put a finger on it. I don't know why a fourth LFR wing seems so much more cumbersome than Dragon Soul's three wings---but it does. Consequently, I've just acquired my last Secrets of the Empire to move on to the next phase of the chain. It's nice of Blizzard to dish out legendary gear to just about anyone who wants some, but it definitely doesn't feel epic like it did in previous expansions---where the team worked together towards a goal that would greatly benefit one player, and thus the raid. Know what I'm saying? Rare things cease to be rare if everyone has one.

• The mount gods have not smiled upon me since the Reigns of the Onyxian Drake dropped over a month ago. I'm still after Ashes, still after the Blue Drake, and I've decided to throw in an occasional Stratholme farming session. In fact, during my last run I looted Lord Aurius and saw a flash of purple---but not the one I wanted to see. Almost gave me a heart attack.

• Now that we're incentivized via a new weekly quest, I've started PvP pet battling again, something I haven't done since the first week of the expansion. I tell you, it's a lot of fun and there's quite a bit more strategy involved when you're fighting with level 25s vs. the level 10s I was using in October of last year. For tips and tricks I've been relying heavily on Liopleurodon's blog.

No longer beholden to a raid schedule, I'm free to do whatever I want. While I haven't completely abandoned the gold-making game---I have to at least check the temperature of the water on the new server---it's taking a back seat to knocking out random achievements with the main and leveling a monk. Aimlessly having fun on my own terms.

I suppose that's all that matters.