Wednesday, April 23, 2014

WoW Weekly: Let's Grind!

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've made it no secret that recently I've become pretty burned out on all-things-WoW. I mean really burned out. Over the course of playing this game for nearly nine years, I can't identify another time where I've become as bored with the game. I wasn't really considering a break, as I've got a raid and a guild to help run, but absent an in-game social network I may have considered taking time off. Instead, there were a lot of nights where I logged in and sat in the Shrine, watching and responding to green text scrolling up the chat pane.

But that's all changed. I've caught my second wind.

I spent some time away with Diablo, Hearthstone, and recently Heroes of the Storm, and it seems to have been the perfect prescription to rekindle my desire to return to Azeroth. What's the saying? Absence makes the heart grow fonder. I've returned to Warcraft with fresh eyes, eyes that have identified the next series of slogs I'll push my character(s) through between now and Warlords of Draenor.

The first of those objectives has been quietly satisfied: earn the legendary cloak on my death knight tank. The final Titan Runestone dropped in SoO's second wing, so I was able to circle back and kill Lei Shen right away, completing the next part of the chain. Thanks to the in-game raid browser, finding groups to defeat all four Celestials took just over an hour.

Additionally, I took my main through ranks 8 and 9 of the Brawler's Guild over the weekend. Hexos was an absolute nightmare and required about an hour's worth of attempts to defeat. It seemed like I pretty well outgeared the other seven fights.

With those things out of the way:

  • Why not replace the grind with another grind? I'm dabbling with the idea of maining a priest come Warlords of Draenor. Thus, the priest will also require a legendary cloak.
  • Late is better than never...600 bones deep, I ventured to the Isle of Giants to kill some dinosaurs. Roughly an hour's work yielded a Primal Egg, about a dozen Direhorn Runts, and enough bones to put me one-fourth of the way to my goal.
  • Gimme some wool for these ol' eyes: largely avoiding Twitter and discussions of Warlords and patch notes. The more I hear, the less excited I get. I'm sick of hearing about details we've known since Blizzcon and am eagerly waiting for something of substance. It'll be a bit easier to digest the trickle of info we're getting concerning Warlords now that we know Blizzcon is happening! Weird as it may seem, it's that announcement that has helped to rekindle my excitement for all things Warcraft.
  • Still working on several legendary chains: Frostmourne and Thunderfury for the DK, Val'nyr for the main, and the Fangs for my rogue.

How are you staying busy in game?


1 comment:

  1. I hear ya. I've kind of decided to grind a few long-avoided things too. i.e. My Jewelcrafter that I've had since cataclysm is finally learning the cataclysm cuts. My Enchancter is going on a massive spending spree and world rep-grinding tour in order to learn all of his abilities. So, yah, it's all mostly profession based, but it's neat because I'm seeing quests and factions that I honestly didn't know existed, and seeing rep grinds that must have been absolutely AWFUL back in the day because you just know that Blizz nerfed the requirements to get exalted somewhere along the lines.

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