Life begins at 40
by Jennie Lees 
Dec 16th 2005 at 1:00PM
This might be a familiar tale to many WoW players out there: you spend days saving up for your mount and finishing off all your quests in the late thirties. Maybe you run SM a couple of times for drops and cash. Then you ding 40 and spend all that hard-earned money on your first mount and the riding skill--you gallop around for a few hours, proudly showing off the steed to anyone who's in your way. You finally feel like you've achieved something.Then you log off.
You log back on, but you've done all the quests you can--i.e. you've finished everything appropriate in STV--and for some reason hitting 41 doesn't seem important any more. Level 60 is a long way off, and what motivation is there to carry on? So you log off again, and maybe roll an alt or two. You keep revisiting the character randomly, but all the drive is gone.
This seems a definite phenomenon in WoW--many of the players I've spoken to who stopped playing got characters to the early forties, and stopped there. Others complain about grinding past the "40s depression", and have said it's their least favourite part of the game. Generally, players who are in supportive guilds with lots of others their level, or who level with friends, don't have this problem, but people who mainly solo tend to find it bites hard.
The cure? We'd love to hear your opinions on this, if you've experienced the same thing. One way to get past this "block" is to adventure to new places and find new quests or grinding spots. The areas suitable for levels 35-45 are:
- Eastern Kingdoms: Alterac Mountains and Arathi Highlands (30-40); Stranglethorn Vale (30-45); Badlands, Swamp of Sorrows, Scarlet Monastery instance (35-45); The Hinterlands (40-52); Uldaman instance (41-51); Searing Gorge (43-52)
- Kalimdor: Desolace (30-40); Dustwallow Marsh (35-45); Razorfen Downs instance (37-46); Feralas and Tanaris (40-50); Zul'Farrak instance (44-54)
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, How-tos
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Cort Dec 16th 2005 2:08PM
I've felt this on every single character I've played thus far. It's tough to get past because Desolace is cleared up, STV seems to have a gap in it, and though there are spots in the Hinterlands and other zones that have quests, there's no place to set your stone to and settle in for a good 7-10 levels of questing, which is pretty much the norm pre-40. Levels 40-44 seem to have this problem, with 45+ smoothing out. I spent 45-51 in Tanaris for the most part, with ample amounts of quests to be had there. Before that, I did some in the Badlands, some in Alterac and Arathi, Feralas, etc. Many of the quests seem a bit high without a full group or some higher level help.
But, I think that once you push through those 4 to 5 levels in the early 40s, some of the best parts of the game are in front of you. You basically have instances to run all the way to 60, and the zones with quests are plentiful.
Barista Dec 16th 2005 2:26PM
I agree. I got a "Ok, now what" feeling when I hit 40. No really good instances, bored with STV, and if I run another RFD or SM I'm going to go nuts.
But if you can push past 45, then the game seems to start picking up. I just ran Uldaman (and finished it for the first time) with a really good group last night, and it re-invigorated my feeling for the game. I have to say the instances are starting to feel more "important" if you can define them as something. The bosses seem more interesting, not just some beefed up elites.
Nitriletiger Dec 16th 2005 3:26PM
I dont think that i was 'depressed' at beinbg a priest i 41 =, got into tons of ULDA groups and hated it after a while but after i hit 42 i did ZF untill 46 when i started doing MARA its all good.
forzaq8 Dec 16th 2005 3:45PM
i stayed in STV from Level 35 - 46 , after 40 it was mostly just killing for exp , since the quest were totaly hard
but after i moved to Tanaris , i went from 46-51 in no time thanks for ZF and all the quest in it , then started to run around for old quest ( mostly greens ) and tried some WPL Action , after i got 54 i moved to Ungoro which has a lot of quest that you don't need to leave the zone to finish , and i did most of them and that got me to 56 and now i have too much quests in EPL i don't know which one to start :P
John Naked Dec 16th 2005 5:02PM
I know the feeling all too well. As soon as I hit 40 now, I start running instances for good drops and PVPing as much as possible. The rewards for BG tokens offer quite a bit of exp, and the instance farming churns out enough exp and drops to keep me happy (usually).
Instead of moving from zone to zone and completing them, I try to switch it up more often these days. Sick of farming in Tanaris? Head elsewhere and return later. It breaks up the monotony a little.
Jeremiah Dec 16th 2005 5:08PM
Highly suggest in the low to mid 50's to do the chain for attunement for Onyxia it's alot of running around and elite quests but gives way good exp and sets you up for BWL later. I am doing as a 58 priest and wish I would have started earlier because it would have made leveling alot easier than the good old fashion grind, mainly because the mobs are elites so you are getting good exp from killing them and then good exp for turning in..... can't beat that!!
L'Emmerdeur Dec 16th 2005 5:10PM
Instances, instances, instances! At 40, you are talking about veritable bloodbaths at Scarlet Monastery and Razorfen Downs, as well as Uldaman in a couple of levels. Then you hop on over to Hinterlands with a group of friends to make the item that summons Gahzrilla in Zul'Farrak, which will be your next instance destination. Then it's off to Maraudon to kill the Princess and, well, everything else. By this point you should have run around 20, and with some questing and Battlegrounds in between, you should be around 50, at which point Sunken Temple is at hand.
And for God's sake, DON'T SOLO. That's what Oblivion and Grand Theft Auto are for. You will be shocked how much more fun it is to group with one or two other buddies and lay waste to the lands of Azeroth.
I play with my best friend. We are both on Verizon Wireless, so unlimited 24/7 talking + headset FTW. Or get yourselves Teamspeak and some good gaming headsets if you have powerful computers. I had fun soloing my pally up to 60 the first time around, but my undead mage has spent her whole life grouped with my best friend's undead priest (whether we are questing, or as part of a 5-man instance group or Battlegrounds team), and it has been a thousand times more fun.
jennie Dec 16th 2005 5:18PM
Sure, if you play with friends a lot or have a good guild, then you can instance your heart out. However, some people just don't have the contiguous time for instances--the people I spoke to who all had the "40+ depression" were mainly solo-ers, with fairly casual guilds. Sure, the solution might be to just grit your teeth, set the time aside and do the instances; perhaps joining a new guild as well. But if you're the "hour a day" type person, it's a big jump from STV (run around, quest, hearth to BB, repeat tomorrow) to anything 40+, it seems.
John Naked Dec 16th 2005 8:25PM
The "low-end" instances and BG don't really require a guild or much time. Getting a 5-man pug (pick-up group) for anything before Scholo was never really a problem for me. Doing a few Arathi Basin runs and turning in the tokens will earn you both honor and exp (and it's been more fun than grinding - even if solid grinding of elites gets you more exp).