WRUP: Our bucket list

Cataclysm hasn't arrived yet, and in the meanwhile, the WoW.com team is musing over what they need to get done before it does. And for once, there's something we (mostly) agree on: before Cataclysm comes, take a tour of the Plaguelands. Do the quests and run the dungeons, because there are some fantastic stories there that we'll never see again. But for what everyone's playing this weekend -- and the occasional non-Plagueland suggestions for your pre-Cataclysm to-do list, read on.
- Alex Ziebart (@alexziebart): I'm playing a game called "Petition to have Milwaukee renamed Atlantis."
- Allison Robert (@AllisonRobert): Now that my grandmother's moved into the home we renovated for her, this weekend's going to be spent working on a feature I've been kicking around for a bit, and then at a party to send my brother off to his study abroad program in style. And what should every player do before Cataclysm hits? Quest through Feralas and/or Desolace, I think -- just so you know exactly what you won't be missing. Disclaimer: I like both zones, but good God, could the travel time needed for questing have been any worse? Especially in the days before mounts at 20/40?
- Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey): Either we will be killing 25m HM Putricide, or we will have killed the bugger already, in which case we get to work on ... Sindrigosa. Not. Looking. Forward to that. Other than that, writing away and playing around on the beta! As for the list -- I already wrote an article on what to do in Azshara if you haven't, but other areas that should be experienced at least once -- Thousand Needles, absolutely. Western and Eastern Plaguelands. If you have not done Tirion Fordring's chain, go talk to him in the Eastern Plaguelands and do the kill quests, then continue with the chain. This will not be available after Cataclysm, and it's one of the most heart-wrenching chains out there. Go do it!
- Amy Schley (@wowlawbringer): There's this little test on Tuesday and Wednesday that'll I'll be studying for and panicking about. But my days in Purgatory are numbered, thank the good Lord! And on Thursday, Patent shall be celebrating however y'all choose. I'll be at least tipsy myself. As for a quest, I'll go a little off the beaten path with Favored of Elune? and its chain, as well as Sweet Amber, one of the greatest scavenger hunt quests ever.
- Chase Christian (@madsushi): Leading our 2nd ICC25 PUG this Saturday; we had great success last week so hopefully we can continue the trend this week.
- Christian Belt (@ihatewarlocks): Limbo Limbo Limbo. Also Deathspank. And finishing up Castle Crashers with my firstborn. Horde-side, I'd say everybody needs to hit up the Counterattack! chain in The Barrens, if only for the epic lowbie centaur battle it ends with. Also, I'll second the WPL and EPL recommendations. Both of those zones are so steeped in Scourge lore that'll be all but gone when Cataclysm hits. Nobody who is interested in the lore of Warcraft in any way whatsoever should miss out on the pre-Wrath storylines that culminate therein.
- Daniel Whitcomb (@danielwhitcomb): I'll be working my way through Loremaster of Kalimdor. Currently, I'm finishing out Bloodmyst Isle, then it's on to Darkshore. As far as stuff to do before the end comes? I'd strongly second doing both of the Plaguelands, and Scholomance and Stratholme while you're at it. I think they have some of vanilla's best quest design and storytelling (apart from a few annoying long walks like getting those damned termites). Also, Alliance should do the draenei starting zone quests, if only the questline where you learn the Furbolg language by finding totems and turning into spirit animals, then get declared the chosen savior of an entire tribe. Stuff like that is awesome.
- Eli Khoury (@Jagoex): This weekend, I'll be throwing hate towards Heroic Sindragosa and the Lich King, as well as attending a Cryptozoic Spectral Tiger Safari tournament. If you see a guy who looks like the love child of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt, come say hello.
- Elizabeth Harper (@faience): Probably doing some more work on preserving classic WoW in screenshots, probably on my paladin because soloing old world content with a paladin requires very minimal amounts of thought. For Cataclysm must-dos: Scholomance and Stratholme. They're fun dungeons with some great story behind them -- and they're both easily soloable these days, even if you aren't a paladin.
- Fox Van Allen (@foxvanallen): I'll be spending part of the weekend trying to fix my damn computer, which hasn't been working since Wednesday. And since I'll probably wind up smashing it against the wall in frustration, I'll spend the rest of the weekend playing Phoenix Wright on my iPhone. Ah, and one thing to do before Cataclysm? Run Stratholme. Constantly. Repeatedly. Until the Baron's mount drops. DO IT.
- Gregg Reece: I'll be raid tanking on the Horde pally, leveling the Alliance pally, and occasionally mucking with the druid as well ... although which druid is the real question.
- Joe Perez (@Lodurzj): Getting ready to take on Lady Deathwhisper 25 hard mode next week which once we kill her will leave only Putricide, Sindragosa and the big man himself on heroic 25! More beta datamining as well as working on some videos and partaking in the test of a different beta. Overwatch is a mod for Half-Life 2 that has been in production for some time. It is a cooperative multiplayer FPS/RTS hybrid powered by the Source engine and based on the Half-Life 2 universe. A close friend of mine is on the development team and I'm looking forward to spending some time with the game and giving them some feedback. Between Cataclsym and Overwatch I'm going to have one busy weekend!
- Kelly Aarons (@Cadistra): Last week was a good week for mounts, and I got my Chef's Hat yesterday, so I'll mostly likely putter around with professions. I'm also starting to champion other cities, so dailies, dailies, dailies! My Steam account has finally been restored as well, so I'll most likely fart around with either: Torchlight, Machinarium, or Zeno Clash. Nom. :) As for the Cata 'bukkit' list? Off the top of my head, I'd say quest in both Plaguelands, especially the Darrowshire quest line. It brings up the very human background behind the original plague, and is both very sad and very touching.
- Lisa Poisso (@emused): Keeping my fingers crossed for fun choices for my upcoming Choose My Adventure -- give me something fresh and fun to work with here, guys! ... Poking through a whole list of kids games with my daughter that we're checking out for my column at sister publication Massively ... Peeking at the StarCraft II beta and roaming about a bit in another NDAish beta ... Reading an anthropological investigation of WoW from a writer who'll be profiled soon in 15 Minutes of Fame ... And after all the gaming stuff, off to Half Price Books to dig through the periodicals after dropping off a load to sell!
- Mathew McCurley (@gomatgo): A nice, happy weekend coming up. Hopefully. Writing and stuff. Um. I really have no idea what's happening this weekend. I'm greatly anticipating StarCraft II. Is that a thing? Before Cataclysm, everyone should do the worst quest in the game -- Super Sticky in Un'Goro. You get it from Gadgetzan. It's the worst quest in the game.
- Matt Sampson (@binkenstein): Busy writing stuff, continuing a love/hate relationship with beta, and getting Totemspot off the ground (we have a domain, a server, and a temporary home page so far). Also leveling a mage (currently 60!), have into a few horde "friends" along the way.
- Rich Maloy (@stoneybaby): I was hoping to spend Sunday on my new/used road bike doing the 32-mile loop around Manhattan, but all the bikes I saw this week on Craigslist were garbage. So instead I'll be (hopefully) playing the Cata beta, in addition to the usual QT with girlfriend and killing Lichie. I hate to sound like a broken record, but the Plaguelands, specifically Eastern Plaguelands. Definitely do the Darrowshire quest line, but also keep questing far into the upper parts of EPL.
- Robin Torres (@cosmiclaurel): The only thing I will be doing this weekend is preparing to move. If you see me online, I'll be slacking.
- Zach Yonzon (@Battlemasters): Unless the beta gods smile upon me and let me enter the world of Cataclysm beta, I'll be in hypersleep for the next few days awaiting the release of StarCraft II. Nothing else matter until then. As for what to do in before the expansion ... I have no attachment to the old world. Let Azeroth burn! Bring on the Cataclysm! (Ok, not really -- I just suck at remembering quest lines and stuff.)
Filed under: WoW Insider Business






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Darasen Jul 24th 2010 12:12PM
Now that my grandmother's moved into the home we renovated for her..
I just wanted to point out that when I first read this I missed the "for" in there.
I want to finish leveling a horde toon in the old world before it goers away. They have all been Alliance thus far simply because that is what what family/friends play.
Bonksy Jul 24th 2010 12:15PM
There's no break; so the story is way way too long on the front page.
Possum Jul 24th 2010 9:50PM
I was gunna say "Lol, it's called a break guys!"
michael.doucet Jul 24th 2010 12:26PM
"before Cataclysm comes, take a tour of the Plaguelands. Do the quests and run the dungeons"
Uh... are Stratholme and Scholomance being removed in Cataclysm?
Tremelizzer Jul 24th 2010 12:40PM
No but I think they were changed (level range tuned down) etc.
Tidelord Jul 24th 2010 12:44PM
No, but they are getting heavily changed to become nigh unrecognizable.
michael.doucet Jul 24th 2010 1:23PM
Any chance that there's a list of this kind of thing made up yet?
I'd hate to wake up after the Cataclysm and not have a screenshot of me and my pal Archaedus, for example.
Spiraea Jul 24th 2010 12:28PM
I've returned to my level 80 Orc elemental shaman that got a bit abandoned and enjoying the heck out of it. Got his gear up very well, a few more pieces and I'm going to start looking for a beginner raiding guild (I've raided very little in my WoWtime, finished Kara and done like one wing of Naxx on the pally). I'm hoping there's a such thing on my server (if you're in one and on Khadgar, hit me up - "Mutah") as every run I've seen has that dreaded "must-have achievement". Ugh, how do you expect anyone to get an achievement if you won't let them run with you?!
But I digress.
alpha5099 Jul 24th 2010 12:47PM
I've finally gotten back to work on Loremaster. Still have a lot to do, but I'm getting close on Kalimdor. Need to scrounge up some quests for the dungeons in the Barrens, then do some questing in Felwood, Winterspring, Desolace, and Silithus, all zones I haven't really touched on my main (and for Desolace and Silithus, both zones I've never really quested in at all).
Jamie Jul 24th 2010 12:54PM
I'm considering returning to WoW, but I'm not sure I can learn to love again after feeling pretty left out between the expansions we've shared...
I know I cheated on WoW in the first place going back to my first love MapleStory, but MapleStory said it was ready to let me back into its life again - little did I know I wasn't prepared for the teenagers Maple haas running around and all it wanted was for me to grind a lot and spend money in it's Cash Shop system - Dammit MapleStory, I bought a pet and all the perks and everything and all you gave me was 90 days of usage!!
I even logged into Guild Wars, collected all my characters birthday presents for years 4 & 5, but you know even though I was trying to make a connection it just seemed too welcoming, like it was trying to hard.
All in all, I feel used by everyone... really a real emotional wreck going from MMO to MMO hoping to recapture that loving feeling again... *sob* Other than that I finally watched Batman Begins for the first time fully and Batman: The Dark Knight for the 4th or 5th time.
Aldarion Jul 24th 2010 12:58PM
A friend/neighbour just got banned from WoW which means that I'll try to convince him to give me his computer for a few days until he can't play - so I can buy and play Starcraft II once it comes out... (my own laptop won't even install it because my graphics card is like... ancient) It'll be tough for sure, but hey... That's what friends are for, right? Helping each other in times of distress like this... Me him by taking his computer on a walk so he can't think about it, and him helping me by getting the possibility of playing the Newest.Blizzard.Game.Evah!
Jeff Jul 24th 2010 8:44PM
I'll be working on grinding out a bunch of honor to buy mounts. I hate PvP, but I'm two mounts away from hitting 100, and there are two PvP mounts I haven't bought yet.
I think my plan will be to buy one PvP mount, and then to let the 100th be one of the many rare mounts I've been farming. Either way, it feels awesome as a mount collector to finally reach this milestone!
shirE Jul 24th 2010 1:19PM
I was supposed to go to Germanfest in Milwaukee too, well at least it happened after Summerfest.
Whithbrin Jul 24th 2010 1:34PM
Well, I am lvling some alts I started a long time ago but never finished, and also trying to fix my computers "Lag" issues.
Tim Jul 24th 2010 2:54PM
leatrix latency fix on wowinterface.com can help wit dat.
Jeremy Jul 24th 2010 2:01PM
Maybe pug ICC 10/25m this weekend. Maybe one will even get past Saurfang >.> Unfortunately my work schedule doesn't allow me to participate in regularly scheduled groups, which is why my priest hasn't cleared the Plague and Crimson Halls (I've never even stepped a foot into the Crimson Hall). Level my new warrior alt with friends this weekend. As well as my weekend ritual of doing loads upon loads of laundry. Probably explore more of the changed zones in Beta at some point. Although said exploration is really slowing my leveling down.
MusedMoose Jul 24th 2010 2:03PM
"Ah, and one thing to do before Cataclysm? Run Stratholme. Constantly. Repeatedly. Until the Baron's mount drops. DO IT."
You and me both, Mr. Van Allen. You and me both. @_@
furyDPSPWNZ Jul 24th 2010 3:25PM
i'll be waiting for Illinois to legalize weed
Hurbster Jul 24th 2010 3:27PM
Is that Totem quest in the Draenei starting zone for Draenei only ?
Daniel Whitcomb Jul 24th 2010 4:07PM
It's not. I'm doing Loremaster on my Human Death Knight and just did it a few days ago!