I always smile when I come across someone aghast at another player's unfamiliarity with a particular instance or encounter. ("It's been months since that came out!") They're like the horrified grade-schoolers in the neighborhood we used to live in who simply couldn't fathom having a playmate who didn't carry Mom or Dad's cast-off iPhone. These players can't imagine what dire circumstances might keep someone out of Throne of Thunder or how somebody who's played for a year couldn't have Dragon Soul picked clean.

I understand the sense of urgency. Riding into new expansions and patches with a level-capped character and tackling every new update as it releases builds curiosity, motivation, and emotional investment. It's supposed to. But behind the leading edge are tiers and tiers of content that's -- surprise! -- not worn out and useless. With zone updates, raid tweaks, and ongoing tuning, Blizzard works steadily to ensure that players can realistically enjoy older content, too.

Whether you're a late starter or a late bloomer, a completionist still scraping clean nooks and crannies or a time-challenged casual player who simply hasn't gotten there yet, do you play WoW at a rate that's decidedly behind the curve? Like probably most readers here at WoW Insider, are you bobbing comfortably along somewhere in the Mists of Pandaria/Thunder King experience? Or are you chafing at the bit for time and your realmmates to unlock additional bleeding-edge content, thriving on taking down the latest content as soon as it's released?

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