Ask WoW Insider: Seeking motivation to level
by Mark Crump 
Jun 8th 2008 at 9:00AM
Welcome to today's edition of Ask WoW Insider, in which we publish your questions for dissection by the peanut gallery -- now with extra snark and commentary by one of our writers. This week JJ writes in:I was wondering if you could give any advice to those who struggle with leveling. I guess you could call me a very casual wow player as I hardly have any time for it.
Recently my friend let me look at his level 70 and once I saw those in action, I have a hard time committing to leveling. When I play WoW I generally hang out around cities chilling with the other players. I just can't seem to get myself to level. I get bored very easily and I don't have a very high-level character. My highest is a level 29 hunter on a PvE but i recently rolled a warlock (level 12 -.-).
Please explain how you go about leveling. Is there a state of mind that you use to continue?
Thanks in advance
JJ
In the tough-love portion of the program, I'm going to be blunt and say you most likely don't like WoW and are still in denial of it. While there's an inevitable wall people hit when leveling, usually it's later than 29.
That said, there's a part of me that kinda agrees with you. I've got a Paladin alt stuck at 20, and while it's not WoW-related, I've been having a hard time getting motivated to work on my Lord of the Rings Online character because I log on and just go "ugh" and log off -- and I even like that game.
I often equate leveling to the 160-odd games that make up the baseball season. While it's fun right out of Spring Training (the newbie areas), once you hit the August stretch you just want to be done with it and get to the playoffs. It just seems like a slog until you can do something with your friends if you're new to any game.
If you really do like the game and want to play it, the only thing you can do is run quests and grind it out. If your friend with the high-level character is on your server, ask him to help you out. Sure, it's power-leveling and it'll be a little too easy mode, but hanging out with your friend might be the spark you need. Otherwise, sometimes just setting a goal of getting so far through a level helps me. Also, if you work better with a map of sorts, I'm a big fan of James' Leveling Guides (they're free).
How about you folks? Got any advice for JJ?
Got questions? Don't wait! Send them to us at ask AT wowinsider DOT com and your query could be up in lights here next week.
Filed under: Tips, Ask WoW Insider, Leveling
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Escott Jun 8th 2008 11:48PM
Spot on, except it's Jame's and not James'
Rolaids Jun 9th 2008 12:09AM
Either put your nose to the grind stone or take up knitting.
The game does not really start till you hit level 70. With a minor 10 day commitment you can level a hunter to 70 with minimal gear and minimal effort.
Like I tell my guildies, the secret to leveling is Carbonite (or questhelper) addon + Leveling guide + caffene = 10-15 day 70.
Rolaids - Blood Furnace - PHD in Pwnology
Inscrutibob Jun 9th 2008 9:19AM
Perhaps your game didn't start until 70, but I have had fun all the way through. Okay, maybe not every moment of it, but if I wasn't having fun, there'd be no point in putting in the effort.
Iwanttobeasleep Jun 9th 2008 12:51AM
It definitely sounds like someone just isn't into the mechanics of the game. I have a 70, and when I started leveling alts I kept hitting the wall way before I should, but that's because I wasn't enjoying the classes or specs. When I got one I liked, it got much easier. If you don't want to level, it's going to be hell, regardless of if you have a 70 and want another, or are going through your first time.
But ignoring that, my advice is:
1) Get into the quests! Read the quest text. A lot of them are boring and basically amount to "We need this item, go get me 20 of them", but some quests have cute storylines, and some quest hubs have interesting dynamics between the different quest givers.
2) Try and find someone to level with. Even if you're just inviting the random person who seems to be working on the same quests as you, it makes everything go a bit more smoothly.
3) A cop out, but do something else while you're leveling. I hate to say it, but the game can be super boring for certain classes. Turning on the TV can be just what you need to chase away boredom.
4) Better than TV, get on vent or TS with someone who plays. My favorite diversion is being able to tell friends about what I like about what I'm doing, my class, if I just got an awesome drop or if an NPC is doing something funny. Or someone to give advice (I'm currently leveling the class that is my best friend's main, very helpful). Or someone to listen to you gripe about the Hordie that just ganked you despite being 4 levels lower (I was being attacked by two things two levels higher than me, what do you want?!).
killer_twinkie Jun 9th 2008 1:01AM
I prefer to listen to music, talk to guildies or watch TV a lot while leveling my alts. It seems to work pretty well once I hit my plateu which is usually between 40 and 50 before it picks up again from 60 to 68 or so.
John Jun 9th 2008 5:13AM
Try a different class I think. If you feel unrelated to your class then you probably don't enjoy levelling him.
Try the whole new blood elf area - it's pretty interesting until about level 20 when you complete Ghostlands.
(warning: you can get a bit spoiled that 21-40 would be pretty boring until you hit the new content in Dustwallow Marsh)
LFD Jun 9th 2008 6:51AM
If it's boring, then why not just stop playing and find a game that's fun to play? Just sayin'.
Alderkin Jun 9th 2008 10:23AM
As far as a mindset for levelling is concerned, I typically approach the task of levelling up as a learning by doing process. Every time I gain skill upgrades and skill points, I'm getting a better understanding of how a particular class works.
If you don't have a lot of time to invest in WoW, then looking at the game in the sense of 'level = accomplishment' probably isn't a good idea in the first place. Fretting about how you won't be able to catch up to the Sunwell raiding guilds before Wrath comes out is only going to lead to frustration. If the farthest you've gotten with a character is 29, then there's a lot of content that's still new to you in Azeroth, not to mention Outland beyond that.
If you'd still rather concentrate on levelling, you might want to see about joining a levelling guild, or a PvE guild that's looking to grow by taking in lower levelled members. Questing and grinding with others is usually more enjoyable than going it alone, even with the 'soloable' quests.
Jeremy Cox Jun 9th 2008 11:04AM
I played original WoW when it launched.
I quit because I couldn't figure out how to level.
I need to duck because of all the fanboys, but I think the difficulty in levelling is a major flaw in WoW's design. Quest dialogue can be confusing or downright misleading. Now that items have glowy auras and question marks/exclamation points, this is less trouble.
So I quit the original WoW and came back: I use a levelling guide to cut the time I spend running around like a &*&^% trying to figure out where to quest. For horde, I recommend Joanasworld.com. And if I must, Alliance players can find links there to Ally guides. It is worth every penny. The time I saved is incalculable.
AK Jun 9th 2008 11:37AM
Yeah... I just cant seem to level another alt past level 14! I already have a 70 hunter... which I hit my wall at level 35... I just spent my time running around Arathi Basin. But never fear! I just changed zones a couple times till I found one that I absolutly loved: Dustwallow Marsh. The new quests are AMAZING!
Aladek Jun 9th 2008 12:34PM
just keep grinding... just keep grinding... just keep grinding...
I do admit, I always have my TV on while grinding, and I'm an alt-o-holic. I have my main mage, my hp driven lock, my heals-r-us priest, and now my prot pally is on his way up.
I enjoy working my little goals, like, lets see if I can finish this quest before the show's over.
Meiji Jun 9th 2008 1:05PM
A few things to bear in mind about leveling:
1. There are more than one way to level - don't like grinding out quests? Grab some friends and run instances. Especially if you don't have a ton of time. Running an instance suited to your current level can net you about half a level if you're rested. The social aspect of the experience may make the difference.
2. Azeroth quests, quite frankly, kind of suck. The required items/kills per quest seem much higher. To counterbalance this, make judicious use of sites like wowhead.com to try to find quests that you can complete concurrantly. If you need to go to the Forest of Doom to harvest 15 stinkblossoms for Lord Ipswich the Unstable, you may as well kill the 20 giant spiders that Bucky the Guardsman's been after you about while you're there.
3. The first toon you run up to level 70 will be the hardest. It seems to take forever - you don't know where anything is, you don't have someone to help you finance purchases so you need to spend time earning money and your still learning the ins and outs of the game. It gets much easier the next time around. You can try out different areas and different strategies. Having a 70 also gives you options. If you feel like running an instance, or raiding, its available and you can plink at your alts, a level here and there in between.
batgrl Jun 9th 2008 5:15PM
Here's another thought - try other classes. Read up on a few first, and ponder the talents you'll get and think about what kind of gameplay you like. Support class or more solo intensive? What skills do you think sound interesting? What sounds like it would be more fun for you? It's the kind of thing that will only get you more alts - but since you're not zooming on to 70 now, what you may need is just the motivation that a fun class can have. You may not have found the one that you'll really enjoy, and thus want to level. And if Wow isn't your thing, that's not a huge tragedy after all. There are also plenty of people who have lower level characters and find plenty to do in game.
But also, if you're not out there soloing some of the time, enjoying some of the weird quests and just exploring some of the landscapes - you're not really getting into the game. If you're bored with a certain quest location (and I think we've all been there with you on that) move to another.
batgrl Jun 9th 2008 5:16PM
Er, also see John's comment above!
Rastas Jun 11th 2008 4:19AM
It took me 24 days to get my pally to 70. I must confess. I did not always enjoy it. Grinding exp with out rested is hell. Now I have a 43 mage with 3d /played and early 20's lock and priest with about 20-24 h /played. And I only play them with rested xp, out of sheer laziness.
So, what I'm after here, if you don't like leveling, only do it with rested xp, and maybe level 2 or 3 characters the same time, so atleast one of them always has rested xp and you don't get bored so easily on just playing one toon. That's how I play my alts and it's been working like a charm. Also, this way you can put all their professions to good use (like one with alch, so he/she can make pots for them all, or something of the sorts).