Gamers on the Street: Proud of Proudmoore
by Mike Schramm 
Apr 7th 2008 at 6:30PM
This was the scene this morning on Proudmoore, as they were the first server around to open up the Heroic Badge vendor on the Isle of Quel'danas. So for this week's Gamers on the Street interviews, I decided to go there and see the sights myself. Unfortunately, just as on the PTR, it's not quite that easy to get a level one Blood Elf to the Isle -- I figured I could just fly from Silvermoon like normal, but no -- apparently I had to run all the way to Tranquilien to even get the Silvermoon flight point. So I did.
Fortunately, when I got there, the flight master gave me the flight point to Silvermoon, which would then take me to the Sunwell Plateau. Unfortunately, I was completely and totally broke -- I didn't even have enough cash to fly. I sold everything I had, but it wasn't nearly enough, and instead of begging for gold, I did the next less annoying thing on the list -- I spammed the Trade channel. And I was able to find two nice residents of Proudmoore to tell me about opening up the world event content on Sunwell Plateau.
Fortunately, when I got there, the flight master gave me the flight point to Silvermoon, which would then take me to the Sunwell Plateau. Unfortunately, I was completely and totally broke -- I didn't even have enough cash to fly. I sold everything I had, but it wasn't nearly enough, and instead of begging for gold, I did the next less annoying thing on the list -- I spammed the Trade channel. And I was able to find two nice residents of Proudmoore to tell me about opening up the world event content on Sunwell Plateau.
I started with a query to the trade channel: "Has anyone been up to the Sunwell and seen the badge vendor? If so, I'd like to interview you about it." Pretty soon, I got a reply from Brush, a level 70 Druid in Assassin Syndicate.
Brush: I've seen it, it's glorious!
WoW Insider: Oh yeah?
Haha. It's not bad.
We posted pictures earlier today. It looked pretty crazy.
There are definitely lots of people up there.
Did you help with the unlocking at all?
Of course. Dailys each day. Easiest way to get faction with them.
So did you like the way Blizzard implemented all of this in patch 2.4?
Aye. It's definitely a good stopover while waiting for Wrath of the Lich King.
What was your favorite daily?
Hmmm... I really liked the bombing run.
Did you have trouble doing it alone, or did you do it in a group?
The first few times was tough, but after you do it a few times, you can usually complete it in one run.
And what was your least favorite quest?
Hated the mana remnants. It was just mindless killing of drones. But that could also be because it was one of the first, so we did it a lot more.
So what's your spec?
I'm Feral.
And what do you mostly do in game? Are you guys raiding?
Raiding and PvP. I also have another character on a PvP server.
How far along are you in raiding?
We're in Zul'Aman. We don't have a 25 man group, just a 10 man.
Cool. So did you buy badge loot up there, or did you just go up and do the dailies?
I'm gonna see what drops I can get from the Plateau before I spend my badges.
Wait, from the Plateau?
Sunwell. I mean Magister's Terrace Heroic.
Oh ok. You said you didn't do 25 man, and I was like, well then how are you going to do the Sunwell?
Lol. Aye, not that one.
Great, good luck. Thanks for chatting!
And Dundarga was also nice enough to answer my call -- he's a 70 Hunter in Undecided, and they're raiding pretty strongly right now -- about to take on Black Temple, he says.
WoW Insider: So have you been up to see the badge vendor yet?
Dundarga: Yeah, I was there right when she started selling her wares.
Was it nuts?
Nuts is not really the word for it. It was a pain in the arse. So many folk standing around on top of her. lots of flagged folk all around, getting fearbombed everywhere.
You all are the first server to unlock her, that's probably why everyone is crazy. Did you help with the quests up there?
Yeah, I've been doing the dailies every day. Great source of gold.
Which one was your favorite?
I liked the Bombing Run.
And why's that? Lots of people liked that one, apparently.
Just because it's a little more fun than just killing mobs.
Did you have trouble doing it alone or did you group up for it?
Just did it alone, usually got it on the first run.
Cool. What was your least favorite daily?
Getting the keys to unlock the chests for the ore. The Armory quests. You either got lucky with them, or you had to kill a lot of guys.
But that's the one you guys finished first! How many times do you think you did it?
No clue.
So what's your spec? What do you usually do in game?
I'm Survival. We mostly raid, and a little PvP.
How far have you all gotten so far?
We just started Black Temple.
Nice. So you probably aren't all that interested in the badge loot, then.
Not really. I was hoping for a belt or bracers, but there's not that much at all for Hunters there, unless I want to wear leather. I might pick up the crossbow, but it's so ugly that I might just hold out.
Right. Are you all planning to try Sunwell Plateau, or are you waiting to finish off all the older stuff first?
Not until we finish off the older stuff. No point in missing out on good content.
So what do you think of the Sunwell dailies overall? Do you think we should see the same type of thing in Northrend?
Yeah. But it should last a little longer. Progression on this part has been a little too quick, I think.
On your realm especially.
Yeah.
Have any advice for people who aren't done yet?
Just enjoy it. Have some fun.
Good advice. Thanks very much!
Gamers on the Street goes out to talk to players live on the realms every Monday. Check out what people thought of last year's BlizzCon, or players' New Year resolutions. For more tips on the Sunwell Dailies, make sure to visit our Sunwell page, with nearly everything we've ever posted about patch 2.4.Filed under: Fan stuff, Blizzard, Interviews, Gamers on the Street
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Shofixti Apr 7th 2008 7:40PM
Seriously it was hard work to click on her! Big Tauren in the way I had to click on the tip of the '!' floating high about her nameplate.
Go Proudmoore - also quite likely WoW's largest LGBTI & queer population!
jumb Apr 7th 2008 8:32PM
Don't advertise that or we might get more of them migrate!
Metatronic Apr 7th 2008 8:24PM
Proudmoore has the largest GBLT Community!? Awesome! Go Proudmore again! Due to Blizzards weirdness with gays its rare I even hear about fellow gay gamers.
Ametrine Apr 7th 2008 9:43PM
Actual gays, or just guys pretending to be lesbian elves? There IS a difference.
keith Apr 7th 2008 11:20PM
They call it PROUDmoore for a reason!
Icepuck Apr 7th 2008 8:42PM
The big advantage we are seeing in Proudmoore (and a few other servers) that the older servers are doing great work due to the number of L70 alts a single player can run the current phase quests through.
For Proudmoore this is increased even further as it is one of the unofficial Australian/Oceanic servers. Proudmoore doesnt sleep.
Daily farming, Magisters Terrace and Door opening BT/MH has been the order for many of the mid-raid larger guilds, the free pass around the roadblocks of Vashj & TK Kael has been great. Smaller groups have been focusing on badge farming to get as much of the loot.
Just finally glad now... was sitting on 622 badges when it finally popped this morning :P
- Resident of Proudmoore
Siha Apr 8th 2008 1:15PM
I think the Aussie contribution is probably the biggest factor. If you check out the realm progression updates, Blackrock is the frontrunner PvP realm, and it's the PvP equivalent of Proudmoore. (I.e., they're the servers that the Aussie gaming communities picked as the unofficial Australian PvE and PvP servers at launch.)
Sync Apr 7th 2008 9:28PM
Owwwh no credit for the pics? :P
-Sync
Tiforix Apr 7th 2008 9:40PM
The Aussie/Kiwi population I think has been the key to our success. What it means in practical terms is that we don't have a large bloc of the realm population loggin on in a narrow block of time during the day - there are separte peak times for US west coast and for Oceania. That means less lag and less competition for mob spawns as we do our dailes, meaing all of that questing gets done more efficiently.
And yes, many of us do have multiple characters at level 70, and we've been doing the progression dailes on all or most of them.
Abject Apr 8th 2008 1:12AM
Woot! Brush is awesome, btw. He's the druid in our guild. He's one of the funniest and one of THE best players on our server.
Anyway, they picked the right guy to interview!
Shadowisp Apr 8th 2008 4:17AM
Just one comment though...
a bit one sided talking to the Horde, on an Alliance heavy server :P
Risa Apr 8th 2008 5:21AM
I had a similar thought. I would have thought an attempt would have been made to get some feedback from members of both factions.
It was annoying that a horde guild all flagged and stationed themselves to force others to accidentally flag as well while trying to click on the smith NPC. A guild member reported this and the GM replied they would deal with the matter. Shortly after the flags were off. I understand Ally can be just as guilty but it really would have been nice to hear from two alliance players as well so that we could perceive the author to have made an attempt to have an equal representation of the efforts of both factions.
Calminaion Apr 8th 2008 7:58AM
Hell yeah, damn straight, because the overall experience of being the first realm to unlock the Badge Gear Vendor would have been quite a bit different from an alliance point of view. ...
Here's a hypothesis ... the Author created a Blood Elf character with the intention to get to the Island .. which happens to be off the coast of the Blood elf starting area (kinda coincidental, innit).. when he ran into his problems, he tried the next best thing .. interview a few people who had been there ... the fact that they were horde is another wierd side-effect of being that close to a Horde starting area and rolling a new character accordingly ....
Naaah, too far fetched !
Mike Schramm Apr 8th 2008 12:15PM
Last time I did this column I talked to all Alliance. So this is actually mixing it up a bit. Plus, I wanted to get to the Sunwell originally, and easiest way to do that was to roll a BE.
patrick Apr 8th 2008 10:13AM
Lord, everyone and their sarcasm, as if you're the only who made the boat. Though that may be how it started, when he found himself unable to get to the island, he could just as easily have rolled a level 1 human, ran it to sw in no time and just talked in open trade there for a fair and balanced article. It was chaos, that's for sure.
Ryan Apr 8th 2008 11:48AM
I'm on a PVP server & horde do this all the time. Just click on ppl until you see someone with the vendor targeted & do target of target.
eMarkM Apr 8th 2008 1:43PM
If you have problems clicking the vendor because half the server is standing on top of her, do Shift-V FTW. Really, they should have her standing on a pedastal like they do the initial quest givers so people can't grief like this. Can't wait to see the mayhem on my PvP server when this opens.