The bottom of the top
by Mike Schramm 
Jul 20th 2007 at 3:00PM
Hitting 70 is an extremely interesting experience, especially if you've never done it before. You work your way up, through the long 50s and the somewhat shorter (thanks to Outland) 60s, and just as you finish that last bar of 69, the golden flash hits, and ding-- you're 70. For a moment, you cheer-- "I won!" you think. "I'm done!" But then you look at your gear-- dressed in greens and a few blues-- you look at the instances you haven't seen yet, and you look at all the epics out there to collect, and you realize, as spellproof on WoW Ladies so eloquently puts it, that you're at "the bottom of the top."It's not that there isn't more things to do-- there's tons of quests to do after you hit 70, lots and lots of rep to gain, plenty of great PvP, and plenty of instances and raids to run. It's the humbling realization that as much emphasis as both Blizzard and other players place on arriving at 70, it's hardly anywhere near the end of the game. Your level numbers stop rising, but there's still a lot of progression to go.
For some players (somewhat like spellpower, as it sounds like she's finding herself in a bit of a hole), it's discouraging realizing that there's so much more to do. I find it encouraging to hit 70-- while your gear isn't that great, you can finally run all the instances you want to run, and even start appearing in raids, even if you don't hit the top of any DPS charts. But no matter how you react, it is definitely a feeling that is unique to reaching "the top" of any MMORPG game. For the first time, you might realize that these games really never do end.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Odds and ends, Raiding, Leveling
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Erica Olson Jul 20th 2007 3:12PM
"I find it encouraging to hit 70-- while your gear isn't that great, you can finally run all the instances you want to run, and even start appearing in raids"
I don't know what server you're playing on. I've hit 70 with two toons and I can't run all those instancesor start raiding becase I don't have all the gear or am spec'd the way that I'm told I should be.
And if I want to go back to some of the lower level instances that I never had a chance to run when I should have been running them (for the same reasons as mentioned above) I get asked "why does a lvl 70 want to do "insert instance name of choice". Well, pardon me, I'll take my water, food and face melting dps somewhere else then.
"lots of rep to gain" Oh, yep, how thrilling and mind-numbing to collect Zaxis insignias or ogre beads to turn in. I feel my brain cells dying from lack of use just thinking about it as I write this.
Arras Jul 20th 2007 3:22PM
I'm about to hit 70 on my 2nd character (a warlock, first was a pally) and I'm finding it a little easier and fondly remembering some of the great quest chains in the lower 60s.
But, yeah. 70 is just the tip of the iceberg. Flying mounts, epic flying mounts, rep grinds, instances, heroic instances. So much to do :)
James Jul 20th 2007 3:26PM
@1
Agreed. On all of it.
I avoided the raiding route post-70, and focused on buying epics off the AH and pvp'ing for what I could. My brother in law, however, did the raid thing. Here's how he had to do it (his guild is currently on Gruul's Lair and Mag:
1. Grind to 70.
2. Get rep with various factions so he can run Heroic instances to get their epics. Also, do some BG PvP to get epics from there.
3. Get attuned to Kara
4. Start running Kara when his gear is sufficient to step foot in Kara.
5. Run Kara to get better epics.
6. Run Gruul's lair to get better epics than Kara.
And presumably, afterwards, SSC, etc etc. He didn't just hit 70 then magically start raiding. You could do that back pre-BC...I hit 60 and started in ZG almost immediately with nothing more than blues and greens. Those days are gone.
I've stopped playing my 70 Draenei hunter because I've geared her mostly to where I'd like without having to start raiding again, and frankly, the daily quests for the epic flying mounts got...old. 12g a quest turn is great and all, but playing Simon Says every damn day for a week, or getting attacked by giant birds and having some guy on a netherdrake race in and bomb the eggs for you in Skettis starts to suck after awhile. Same goes for PvP'ing. I love PvP, but I can only handle so much of AV a day. I guess I'm getting old, as my brother in law is 16 and can do all that stuff all day, and doesn't mind seeing Karazhan for the 10th time, or repeatedly playing Simon Says like a rat running the same maze over and over for cheese.
Tinwhisker Jul 20th 2007 3:28PM
If you hit 70 knowing that your going to hit 70, you should be able to walk into the beginnings of endgame just fine. But if you just level up to 70, you won't know the instances, have the gear or be prepared in any way.
I got at least 1/3 of my experience from 60-70 in instances and by the time I hit 69, I had 3 pieces of my Dungeon 3 set and two pieces of my Karazhan key. I was 350 in all my needed skills and 375 in my professions.
If all you're thinking while leveling is, "Once I get to 70, I'm going to be unstoppable!" You're going to fail and have to go back and do what you missed.
The correct mindset is, "I had better make sure I'm prepared for when I hit 70." You need to have finished those important quests, saved up money for that first flying mount and know what's next.
If you aren't thinking past 70 by the time you're 65, you are going to have a tough run and yourself to blame for it.
rick gregory Jul 20th 2007 3:54PM
It definitely takes some adjustment... for so long you have a nice, linear goal... you can see the XP bar moving, level to level... then... nothing.
I had to get used to doing things and not getting XP and I actually had a bit of a down, bored phase where I was staring at the rep, etc and felt like much of it was a grind. After a week or so of that, I started replacing greens with blues from instnace and quests... once you're all in blues you can run most instances and do well, you're a credible slot for Kara, etc.
The bigger issue is, if you don't want to raid then you start having less to do after you hit those goals. Yeah, you can PvP.. but with the exception of Arena, you don't need to be 70 to do that... questing is OK, but meh. rep grinds? well, they're grinds...
I'm mostly in Kara these days, but I can see that getting old... and a lot of the other stuff feels like marking time vs doing interesting things
Zor Jul 20th 2007 4:00PM
i likened it to
'The Game starts @ 70'
1-69 is prep work
Scruffy Jul 20th 2007 4:00PM
OT but does anyone know that mod being used in the picture?
Lago Jul 20th 2007 4:13PM
@7 If you are referring to the scrolling text that is an interface setting, not a mod.
Kyle Jul 20th 2007 4:14PM
That isn't a mod. There are interface options built-in to the game that allow you to display different types of messages near your avatar such as those shown in the picture.
Bootsanator Jul 20th 2007 4:13PM
Idea for an article: Quest Chains that you shouldn't skip on your way to 70 if you want to be keyed/attuned/have rep when you get there.
Not what instance to run to get gear; I can look at wowhead loot tables for instances and get that.
It's way harder to know what quests are important to do pre-70 to accomplish something needed for later on, and which quests are just for money/reward/xp that I can get just as easily from running instances (which is pretty much all I do, as a holy/disc priest...I love it).
Rich Jul 20th 2007 4:18PM
Hitting 70 is like going to college... When you are in High school and a senior, your the shit. Then you go to college and realize, you are at the bottom of the totem pole again.
The game really doesn't open up until you have at least one character at 70. Until that point you are leveling and if your into it, basking in the lore. When you hit 70, you can raid, run instances, grind rep, PvP and farm mats for your other characters more easily.
I don't raid, so the game really has become boring for me. I can only PvP so much before I get tired of it. Rep grinds get old really quick. The daily quests while they help with financing the epic mount, they are seriously getting old really quick. I've been leveling some alts but I hit the mid-teens/low 20's and it slows to a halt.
Anyone who thinks they hit 70 and now run Kara are kidding themselves. I had a friend in another guild tell me I'd be lucky to survive heroics with my current gear. I didn't believe him until I was running some Heroics and got mauled. Gone is the day of being dragged through MC or ZG when you max your level out.
Drew Jul 20th 2007 5:17PM
I am on my way to hit 70 for the first time in the next couple of weeks. Great article for discussion btw. I have a check list of things I want to accomplish when I am 70 and there were mentions of quests that I should do before. I already have the gold for my flying mount and class training.Which quest should I do before hitting 70 and what should I do to prepare?
Dipstick Jul 20th 2007 5:42PM
In the first 3 months after TBC was released, the game was full of people that had only just hit 70 and were willing to do all of these things mentioned.
Now, its comparatively difficult to catch up - with alts or as a new player. There aren't as many groups doing the normal rep-grind instances anymore - those that are key for getting heroic mode stuff and better gear from badges. Obviously it will differ between realms but I can imagine there are lots of cases where people are unable to improve their characters because everyone has been there, done that and got the loot already.
metalsyko@gmail.com Jul 21st 2007 6:47AM
So uh, do you ever have an original thought, or do you just like to link posts from another community and write pointless fluff around someone else's opinion? Just curious, as the pseudo-journalisim is a cute little amusement.
IKT Jul 21st 2007 8:11AM
@1
Learn2Play.
bill gates Jul 21st 2007 3:57PM
The end game sucks