Breakfast Topic: What not to do before Cataclysm
by Mike Jannino 
Jul 29th 2010 at 8:00AM
We're all getting ready for Deathwing and his sundering of the world by raiding the last few bosses of ICC, jumping into the Ruby Sanctum and beating it until it turns into a broken loot box, and leveling our alts. I, for one, have been focusing on the latter. My 80s are geared appropriately for the level 80-85 zones that are coming in Cataclysm, and I believe I'm pretty well prepared. I have enough gear to get into ICC hard mode runs to pass the time if I get really bored, but other than that, I'm focusing on leveling my baby shaman and paladin in preparation for Cataclysm and the old world changes.
If you're not doing any of that, then you're probably hitting one of the game's many meta-games. Gold farming, achievement grinding, rep grinding, mount grinding ... pretty much any kind of grinding there is to be done is a popular option in the calm before the Cataclysm. A huge gold pool to work with when you reach 85 is going to give any type of player an upper hand -- casuals, hardcore raiders, hardcore PvPers alike. Completing WoW's current iteration of achievements before they become Feats of Strength can increase the ever-important ego of every player, and grinding (especially old-world reps) can give you things that may become impossible to retrieve when Deathwing goes insane all over the Azeroth we all know and love.
There still remains one question to ask once you've thought about everything that you need to do in preparation for the upcoming expansion: What shouldn't I do? That is to say, what will be a waste of time before this expansion? For me, getting any of my fresh 80s great gear by grinding heroics seems like a waste of time. They'll sit at 80 for a while while I get my mains to 85, and it just seems pointless to me.
What sort of activities are you all going to avoid before Cataclysm? What long-term goals were abandoned when you realized how close the upcoming expansion is? Do you have any regrets for things you missed out on (and feel it's too late to start) at this point in Wrath?
Have you ever wanted to write for WoW.com? Your chance may be right around the corner. Watch for our next call for submissions for Breakfast Topics via Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. The next byline you see here may be yours! Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Cataclysm, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
loop_not_defined Jul 29th 2010 12:04AM
Write Mankrik fanfic. Better wait for Cataclysm so any new yaoi/CSI: Miami/raptor wife hybrid stories are proper canon.
Shoikler Jul 29th 2010 11:36AM
You joke, but the idea of CSI: Crossroads investigating the case does have some appeal.
"The scavengers have gotten to her, but there are still definite signs of blade and spell damage."
"Quilboar?"
"Too soon to tell."
"But it's really her?"
"Looks like, sir."
"Then we'd better open up a channel to the search parties." *whips off sunglasses* "We've found Mankrik's wife."
Brandon Tilley Jul 29th 2010 12:01PM
http://pc.gamespy.com/articles/607/607958p1.html
StClair Jul 29th 2010 12:32PM
The definitive Mankrik fic has already been written:
You Awaken In Razor Hill
thinkuknowme Jul 29th 2010 2:00PM
@Shoikler I cannot THUMBS UP that NEAR ENOUGH!!!
gunstrak Jul 29th 2010 3:15PM
there is spoilerific epicness involving the Mankrik storyline. i don't want to ruin anything for anyone. just know that there is more to come!
scotepi Jul 29th 2010 12:22AM
I'm waiting for level a druid for Cata, I have leveled more then enough toons thru to 40 and am looking forward to the 0-60 grind to mixed up.
Homtron Jul 29th 2010 8:26AM
likewise, I'm too eager to try the new 1-60 lvling experience that i dont have the courage to lvl a new alt to 80...sadly, i only have 2 80s atm and I'm struggling with professions, how am i going to provide the mats for my crafting-only characters without ruining myself...I should lvl at least one other character.
What to do!
Atm my account is frozen since the beggining of summer because i was too bored, but im about to reactivate it to go do some gold grinding I guess
avickery Jul 29th 2010 10:47AM
Same here. I have 3 classic classes left to level up (Hunter, Rogue, Priest), and will be holding off on all of them till Cata hits so I have lots of room to go through the new leveling experience.
DarkKnight388 Jul 29th 2010 9:25AM
@Homtron:
I also only have 2 lvl 80s, but maybe a DK is a solution, if that is not one of your current level 80s? At least I am planning to level my DK to 80 before Cata. Only problem is that my To Do list is a bit long:
- Play SC2
- Defeat Lich King
- Play SC2
- GET MOAR GOLDZ! (can never have enough, amiright?)
- Play SC2
- Gather more achievements
- Play SC2
- Get DK to level 80
- Work/Study
Hmm, yes, that's basically the order of my to do list. ;)
Homtron Jul 29th 2010 9:33AM
lol unfortunately, one of my 80s is actually a DK :P it would indeed have been the simplest way....damn
I'm thinking about following the "Play SC2" part(s) of your to do list.... I'll see how things go !
musicchan Jul 29th 2010 11:27AM
This is basically what I'm waiting on too. I have some low level alts that I've decided to wait on the leveling, because it sounds like the new stuff is a lot of fun.
I've finished my loremaster acheivments and now all I have to do is finish my screenshot project.
Merus Jul 29th 2010 12:39AM
Outland achievements. I mean, unless they're fun for you, but frankly Ogri'la just has that special something that makes me gag after a couple of days.
Aloix Jul 29th 2010 1:06AM
Same on the Outland stuff. I started on OL achies quite a while ago, and then got distracted. Over the past couple of weeks I did finish my Skyguard/Ogri'la, but now I'm going to force myself (force because I feel quite loose-ended/unfinished in OL) to go do stuff in Azeroth. Loremaster mainly, Insane and some other reps secondarily. I also need some other random achieves, dungeons, and such.
Swifteye Jul 29th 2010 8:19AM
I disagree, at least to a point. Namely, Outland has some of the greatest rep-grind mounts out there, and with Cataclysm allowing flight in the old world, what better way to travel in style?
My mage will be exploring the new Azeroth on a snazzy Nether Ray while my priest does the same on a shiny Netherdrake, and I absolutely do not regret either of those rep grinds *specifically* because we'll be able to use our flying mounts so much more often soon! ^_^
(I do respect your opinion though; did not butt in to say I disagree just to be a jerk... I see where you're coming from; just thought I could add a possible exception?)
Amaxe-1 Jul 29th 2010 8:55AM
Having just got my Cenarion War Hippogryph last night (one of my goals leading up to Cat) I'd disagree with the claim that nothing is worth going after in the Outlands. It's a beautiful mount, and not too common on my server (its all sparkle ponies there)
What seems to be a waste is the grinding for epics and doing the whole raid treadmill... except for the grind for heirlooms.
Right now, my interest is in getting gold for the expansion, and work on gathering ores and other mats to power level my wolvar. In doing so, I intend to keep an eye out for changes in the mats (I hate not knowing what will replace bullets in Cat).
Since I can't grind for Pve heirlooms (bad latency) I am doing the weekly Wintergrasp quests in order to get heirlooms this way... and hope Alliance will actually win (for once) once I have enough tokens.
So my goals are:
1) Acquire gold for Cataclysm
2) For my main, get two more reps to exalted for the 30 faction achievement (thinking Cenarion Circle and Thorium Brotherhood)
3) For my DK alt, finish Argent Dawn grind to get the "Argent Champion" title
4) for my Paladin alt, grind Kurenai rep for the talbuk mounts
5) Getting as many heirlooms as I can
6) work on 3000 quest and loremaster for the main
So any actions I take which don't benefit these goals is a waste of time for me IMO
Ben Jul 29th 2010 1:00AM
Don't level too many alts! I won't be playing a warlock until cataclysm comes out, so I have a new class to play on the new alliance race.
Iirdan Jul 29th 2010 1:01AM
(Breakfast Topic? At 1:00 in the morning? Who eats breakfast THAT early?)
I am not starting any new characters. I'm finishing those who are 60+, but the rest and those non-existent ones will sit and stew until release.
Alex Ziebart Jul 29th 2010 1:34AM
Betrayed by RSS feeds. :'(
Mr. Tastix Jul 29th 2010 8:41AM
...It's breakfast time in EST! Not that I live in America though.
I had bacon at 12 AM, does that count?