Who am I this time?
by Amanda Rivera 
Oct 22nd 2007 at 9:02AM
I am also leveling my third character, in between the odd foray into raiding with my mage and working on my lock. I have thought long and hard about who of the three represents me more, and despite the fact that mages seem to be less and less desirable in PvE groups and raids, I have spent so much time with her. I love the overall versatility of a mage, what they bring to a group beyond the glass cannon (the sustenance, the crowd control, the transportation.) I have been grouping recently with my lock to get her gear, but whenever a tight spot arises where we need the extra DPS, out comes the mage to power through the encounter. She's the heavy hitter I know I will always have waiting in the wings.
The question still hangs in the air on my character selection screen, who do I enjoy playing more? It's no secret that DPS classes are a blast (no pun intended) to play, but because there are so many of them out there, the need for them is significantly less. Perhaps that is why my third highest character is a priest. She's leveling shadow, so I could for all intents and purposes say it's just another DPS class, but my intent is to have a more useful character for grouping with guild members. I'd also love to have a character I know would have a solid and constant spot in a raid, and it's been my experience, at least on my server, that the mages and warlocks are a vast army of pew pew to compete with.
It's a dilemma I really didn't expect to face. Sure I play ten characters (at least on my home server), but I really didn't think that I would ever consider switching my main character. Now as I look toward the end of this expansion and into the next, the words of Kurt Vonnegut pop into my head, "Who am I this time?"
Do you too have this debate with yourself? Or are you the type to stick to one type of character and stay loyal to them?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
p3ngu11 Oct 22nd 2007 9:14AM
After I started my hunter and got into playing him, I deleted my other characters and didn't create an actual alt until about two months ago to escape the drama of a collapsing guild. Now it seems that I only play my hunter to raid, and spend all my other time on my alt. I have no idea what to do with the alt when he hits 70 though...probably just heroics and the occasional kara pug
Redbull Fan Oct 22nd 2007 9:23AM
I have a 70 Sham. and a 70 Hunter. The Shammy is my main concidering i have played with him since the good ol' days of MC being the only raid around. Since the expansion I have used my hunter though quite alot because of the fun factor dps classes have as you have stated. I am still building gear for both but now the lines of Main and Alt have blurred and that number one spot is really up in the air.
Zev Oct 22nd 2007 9:51AM
I have a 70 fire mage (main) and a 65 shadow priest in the alliance. Some time after TBC came, my guild collapsed and I moved to the horde with some trusted friends and rolled a belf paladin, hoping to tank stuff. As most paladins I was "convinced" to respec to pve Holy, which i did to help the guild improve.
Now I am sick of healing, and I'm divided between a Undead 41 rogue, a 27 lock or a 30 hunter (no more hybrids/healers characters).
So no, I don't stick with a specific character, specially when it becomes a job and it's not funny anymore (which is what healing has become to me).
Nathan Oct 22nd 2007 9:53AM
You want me to feel sorry for you :p
I was a gnome mage, then an undead priest, then a dwarven warrior. Then I quit for a year. when I came back, I was a priest again, then a NE hunter, then a NE priest. Then I deleted all my PvE Alliance toons and went PvP horde, where I had an undead priest, an orc warrior, troll hunter, tauren druid and undead warlock. Then I switched servers to join RL friends, transferring the priest (now 42) and starting a BE rogue. In the last month, another RL friend has been playing, so now my now-55 priest is the only horde character I play regularly, as i work on a gnome mage, dwarven warrior, and dranei hunter.
...And these are just the ones that made it past 20.
Do I have a 70? Nope. But if you add them all up I'm like 200.
Who am I? I am Jack's fractured attention span.
steve Oct 22nd 2007 10:05AM
I also have a level 70 mage main and a new level 70 warlock, and have exactly the same dilemma. The mage is geared with Kara epics and heroic rewards, so any gear upgrades are going to come from the 25 man raids. My guild has a "no alt raiding" policy, and my warlock got gkicked in one of those "let's figure out who the real 70 raiders are" style purges, so he isn't even in the guild anymore.
Consequently, I only log into my main (and my guild) these days to raid and spend all of my other time playing my lock where I am just starting to run heroics, still have lots of quests to do, and have different professions to max out. Playing the main just feels like a job now since I only log in to raid or to farm/buy consumables for raids.
So to answer the question, I think these things go in cycles. The warlock was the first toon I ever rolled, and was my raiding main pre-BC. With BC, I switched to my mage and that became my main. Now that I'm back to playing the lock, I'm looking forward to the 2.3 patch, because I expect we'll start working on ZA and I'll get excited about my main again (I much prefer the 10 man raids to 25 man or the pre-BC 40 mans).
Vestras Oct 22nd 2007 10:19AM
My main is a 70 Druid, I also have prime alts in a 64 mage and a tie with a 21 priest and a Shaman.
I ditched the Druid to grind my Draenei mage when BC hit, but I hit that mid 40's grind and just gave up. My guild at the time was hurting for dedicated healers and tanks, so I rolled a Priest to try things out. just after hiting 20 though, I got the itch for some Boomkin action, so I repeced and got back on my Druid. Hit 70 and began the rep grind. Got sick of it, came back to my mage and forced my way to outland. Got to 62 and realized I was going to need tailoring for some better gear. Ground that to 350, and then got bored again. Rolled a Shaman for an experiment, and rather liked it. Then I got a chance to start raiding, so All my time has been on my Druid main.
I feel if my mage could properly self heal, I'd be on him all the time, but then I'd miss the armor of my druid, so it's a vicious cycle.
Richie Oct 22nd 2007 10:54AM
In theory my main is my human fire mage, I played him from the very start of WoW, and took a looooong time to get to 60, dipping in and out of PvP, eventually my RL friends persuaded me to do MC and ZG runs, after 8 weeks of MC raids i had 2 parts of my T1 set... at which point i deleted mt char and quit WoW completely.
Then came TBC...I reactivated my account, spoke to a GM very nicely and got my mage back, and got him to 61, and gave up deciding that i did not like my mage any more. So I started a BElf Warlock, I got her to 29, topping the damage charts in AB and WSG.
Then I started my own Guild with a few like minded individuals in work, with and Undead priest, I get him to level 30-odd. Then i go and play my mage to lvl 70. I hit lvl 70, guildless, and with no idea where or what to PvE. So i go back to my Priset who is currently lvl 50 (shadow spec)
So... I have no idea what I am... But i know for damn sure i'm all about DPS.
ThorinII Oct 22nd 2007 11:05AM
I am Thorin of Ravencrest. A lvl 63 battle hardened dwarf hunter whose only true friends are his Ashmane Boar named Wilbur and his Winterspring Screecher named Guano. Who together rarely see the need to group with others or waist precious quest time making other friends.
Well, sometimes anyway.
Other times I am Liikuma of Tortheldrin. A lvl 26 mal-tempered female Blood Elf mage. Destroying everything that dares to declare ger an enemy. Alone or in a group she is destructive and vengeful.
And the list goes on.... I have five or six other toons as well. Whatever mood I am in when I sit down to play is who gets my attention. Sometimes I play the same toon for a couple of months even if I have certain goals I want to reach with them. While other times I may play multiple toons in one sitting. I may never have multiple lvl 70's, but I get bored playing the same old toon every day. This keeps the game fresh and new for me.
lazsoft Oct 22nd 2007 6:35PM
I usually level two different classes at the same time. I first took a warrior and shaman to 70. Now I am working on a Warlock and BE Pally, those are at 69 and 68. I also have to make a choice on which to focus my time, since I would like to see some of the 10 Man and maybe even 25 man content. Problem is I like playing them all so tough decision.
Velanna Oct 22nd 2007 11:14AM
Currently I've got a four 70s, two more in the mid 60s, and four more in the early 40s. I consider the first two to 70 my mains, but that doesn't mean I don't bother gearing them all out really nicely and treating them well. With the goal of all of them to be 70 before the next expansion, it's just a matter of wanting to learn the most I can about each class and bring the most versatility to any situation.
That and, after my tank/healer/dps class have all the possible gear I can get in normals/heroics, it's nice to be able to switch to a different and gear them up as well. I may love my mains, but going through the same motions over and over gets boring... I like to do something different to take a break from it.
FireStar Oct 22nd 2007 11:16AM
I debate this every day. I'm playing my 70 druid for getting raiding gear, and im raiding on my 70 priest due to demand. im levelling my 45 rogue for pvp. The big question is, who gets the epic mount first? My current answer = whoever makes the most gold.
Zoidfarb Oct 22nd 2007 11:19AM
I had a druid that I played as my main all the way to 70 and then I started an alt shaman. Now the druid comes out of retirement while the shammy is my main for raids and heroics and all that good stuff. But now when I'm not on my shaman chances are I'm either playing my lock or my warrior to get them up there while at the same time not deterring too much from my main goals with my shaman. It all seems to balance out pretty well for the most part.
Scylloga Oct 22nd 2007 11:30AM
I stopped reading when you said mages are less desirable in pve settings.
If thats how you feel delete the mage and play the lock. Everytime I sign up for raids on my mage I am usually one of three and will almost always get the invite. Who else is gonna supply the raid with food and water?
Seriously tho mages are a crucial part of any raid, we bring alot of dps to the table and in TK our CC ability is a must.
I have a 70 hunter that is BM and for PVP only, she is also my farmer and money maker. Im working on a druid because there is always the time when you need a healer or a tank or a dps and well a druid can fill all of those rolls.
Pook Oct 22nd 2007 11:33AM
I just wish that Blizz would stick to us mages being glass cannons... I dont want to be a glass frag grenade..
xali Oct 22nd 2007 11:58AM
I also have a 70 mage and a 70 lock. The answer is easy. If you raid and PVE mostly, play the mage. If you PVP a lot play the Lock.
A rading lock is nothing more than a wanna be mage. It takes way more effort to do mage dps on a lock than it does to simply be a mage. There is no compelling argument that I have ever been able to find or make to myself why I would rather take my lock into raids than my mage.
An event or two is greatly helped along by having a lock in your group, they are always useful to have, but would I rather actually have to play that lock? No thanks. Plus there is always a lock or two who have never played a mage (and thus think lock is better) who are more than willing to fill that role for the raid.
Now... if you PVP on the other hand, enjoy owning just about everyone with your lock. It's fun fun fun. It's the only reason I bother to mess with my lock anymore.
Tiforix Oct 22nd 2007 1:35PM
My Mage was my first character and my main for over 2 years. My Moonkin was just a "hobby". As my guild got Karazhan on farm status, a lot of us started running our alts through, and I discovered that raiding with my Moonkin is simply more fun. So I took the plunge and declared her my main. Now my Mage doesn't do anything except daily quests for gold.
Nara Oct 22nd 2007 12:48PM
Not that bad of a dilemma to have, I guess from my standpoint. I'm bouncing back and forth between all of my toons. 70 Rogue, 70 Warrior and about 6 other toons ranging from 50-65. I don't even call them alts because I bounce around so much. I'm split pretty even between Alliance and Horde. Really the only character I haven't touched since BC is my 60 priest.
thush Oct 22nd 2007 12:54PM
Geez, I'm glad I'm not the only one with WoW character attention deficit disorder. Started the game on a shaman (now 63), re-rolled a warrior (now 70 collecting dust), re-rolled a druid (70), re-rolled a hunter (70), and currently working a paladin I started back when BC came out that is now almost 64 on blue bars.
So, the answer really is: "play what you like best." Playing a character or spec you hate is no fun for you or anyone else in your guild. That leads to the main problem all of us altaholics have - playing a class/spec for solo purposes in terms of fun is typically inversely proportionate to fun in a group setting. Meaning if I have a friend that plays a support role to my warrior in PvP, warrior is amazingly fun - solo PvP it sucks horribly. Druid is fun for almost anything feral, insanely fun resto for PvP with friends, but resto sucks for solo PvP/PvE. Of course that's just my opinion based on my play style, your miliage may vary.
Looking back I probably re-rolled out of boredom and friends constantly quitting and joining the game. If I had it to do over again, I'd probably just pick one and go with it and never play an alt except to twink. You like your lock better, play your lock. I'm playing my hunter even though they are a dime a dozen because it's a lot of fun.
Drool Oct 22nd 2007 1:37PM
Rolled a Troll Warrior on a PVP server a year ago. Got her to 70, ground out rep for a Talbuc but that was it. She's under-geared and I don't tank well. Rolled a 'lock and love her, she's 45 now) but I got bored one day and rolled a Hunter. He is now 70, well geared for not running any instances and is very close to having rep and cash for a nether ray.
2 friends have twinked 49's so the 'lock may be resurrected soon.
I have a Shammy calling me, as well as a mage, a druid, a paladin and a priest. The only class I refuse to play is a rogue. I don't know why.
I played the warrior a bit lately, she was fun to play and now I'm wondering if I should play her more.
Curse you Blizzard for being so good at what you do. I used to buy a new game every 2 weeks and now it's been a year since I bought anything.
Marcus Oct 22nd 2007 1:36PM
When TBC hit I had a 60 NE Warrior, 48 NE Hunter, and a 35 Human Rogue. At the time my warrior was Arms spec and I blew through Hellfire and Zang. Then I decided to switch to my hunter. I could do this because I wasn't raiding at the time with my guild and I was just bored of being on that toon(my first ever wow character). So there I was on my hunter. I blew through the levels and got to 70 in no time.
Since I was 70 I did what everyone else does, instances. I got all my BL set, got a decent bow, and didn't act like a huntard in runs. After every run I did people would ask if I minded being on their friends list because they liked how I played. I eventually ran into a group of people who I got along with and who wanted to run Kara at the time I wanted to run. I didn't join their guild yet though. Instead I went back and leveled my warrior to 70.
On my warrior I did the same thing I did on my Hunter: Level to 70 then did instances. I instance after instance hating every minute of it until the people I ran into on my hunter asked me to tank a few instances for them. Each run was smooth as silk. For almost 2 years my warrior was Arms/Fury and I never wanted to tank before. These people got me to like tanking for them.
A few days went by and I joined their guild with my hunter being my main. We did Kara for a while until we hit a roadblock. We needed an OT for our runs that was on when we ran. We had a few people with warriors as their mains, but they rarely came on. I was asked if being the OT was something I was willing to do. I agreed and put my hunter away for a while. Ever since then my warrior has been my main. I do fill in for DPS when one of the other warriors comes on, but my main in my current guild is my warrior.
I'm currently leveling a druid with the intent of having her be resto at 70. Once that happens I'll be able to anything the guild needs with my three toons. My poor rogue is sitting at 49 having fun pving and I've got a mage sitting at 37, but I don't think either of them will see 70 anytime soon.
So basically, if you're raiding then pick the class that A)you enjoy playing and B) your guild needs. If you're in it for fun("Casual") play the toon you enjoy the most.