Posts with tag class-quests

Hi, I'm Ol' Grumpy. You may remember me from such posts as every single other post with "Ol' Grumpy" in the title. Today, since I have this incredibly uncomfortable rocking chair to sit on, I figured I'd grump about class quests and why I think they should come back.

Back in the day (that day being 2004 to 2005), I leveled the first of many warriors to the experience cap of level 60. At that time, one of the things that set the warrior class (and other classes) apart was a long, involved quest line that sent you all over Azeroth to gather materials and finally face and defeat Cyclonian. As a result, you gained one of three iconic weapons. (Most people took the axe. As a human at the time, I took the sword.) This extremely long quest line took you from Fray Island to the area north of Tarren Mill and then to Arathi Highlands (giving them a reason to exist) and Stranglethorn Vale before bringing you back to face Cyclonian. It was a rite of passage for a leveling toon. As a 60th-level, 70th-level and then an 80th-level warrior, I would often go back and help warriors on the quest to defeat Cyclonian, who posed an extreme challenge to anyone attempting to solo him.

I lamented the removal of class-specific quests at the time it was announced. Now, over a year later, I still think removing them was a mistake. Being soaked in ancient wisdom like a turkey soaked in ancient wisdom, here are my reasons.

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Classic WoW might have been pretty revolutionary for its time in terms of ease of leveling, but looking back, it was kind of terrible. It was just a lot better than what we had at the time. Thankfully, Cataclysm has fixed a lot of the original game's leveling issues, and I can say from personal experience that bringing a character from 1 to 60 is more fun than anything I've ever done in WoW before. And that's with no heirlooms, no gold from my main, no auction house, no nothing.

Let's talk ways to maximize your fun while leveling in Cataclysm.

Patch 3.1 is still burning up the PTR and sending most classes into a tail spin trying to figure out what their new talent builds will be when the patch goes live. Forget the madness of the ever-changing class mechanics for a few minutes to peruse today's WoW-related posts from around the blogosphere.

• Big Red Kitty shows off what could be the latest Hunter pet models or what could be a texture glitch seen running amok on the Test realm (see pic above.) More on his site.
• To PTR or not PTR, that is the question explored at Shields Up. They look at both sides of the controversial topic.
• Tier 8 gear have you interested in raiding for the first time? Check out The Virtues of the Effective Raider, a good primer for people first dipping their toe into WoW raiding. And for those more experienced in raiding, check out our weekly raiding columns, Ready Check and Raid Rx.
• Though the Echoes of War music was released months ago, Blizzard made an official announcement this week. Next week, they'll be announcing the launch of The Burning Crusade...
• Hoping for more class-specific quests? You'll have to wait a little longer according to European CM Vaneras. They take time to create and implement. He doesn't specifically say they are making more, but does go into the process involved.

Just a little earlier, Allison Robert posted questions we wish we had been asked on Ask a Beta Tester. Me? I'm still going to answer the questions we have been asked, starting with Jay's question...

In Warcraft III:The Frozen Throne, the Blood Elves and Naga teamed up to wage a massive battle against Arthas right on the slopes of Icecrown. It's already been mentioned that settlements and Ruins from further back, when Arthas's expedition land are still there. Is there any sign of the Belf and Naga ruins from their assault?

In Icecrown it's nothing but Scourge and the Scourge's servants as far as the eye can see. Anything that had been there previously is gone. There are Naga ruins further out, though. Off the coast of the Borean Tundra there are some Naga structures you'll be questing in. For those of you sick of killing Naga like I am, don't worry. There's a twist.

Last week I talked about mid-level content and as expected, many of you expressed an opinion. One comment in particular from autumnbear got me thinking. Autumnbear writes:

"How about updating the overall lore for the game, and allowing more class choices for the current playable races. Still waiting for the Night Elves to teach my Human how to be a Druid, especially since he's Exalted with both Darnassus AND the Cenarion Circle."

Now that's something I can chew on. What about quests that will allow you to make race/class combinations that are not otherwise available in the game? I think this is a tremendous idea if the process is sufficiently difficult to prevent everybody and their uncle's cat from doing it. The original Everquest had epic quests that took some players months to complete. Everquest 2 had the betrayal quests which allowed you to change factions which took a really long time to complete.

Why shouldn't a human, in Autumnbear's case, who has earned significant faction with Darnassus not be able to learn the finer points of being a druid? Gnomes have no healing classes. Why not create a very difficult quest line for those gnomes who are exalted with Stormwind that would allow them to become a paladin or priest?

I know I'm going to get a billion comments about game balance. Admittedly this would likely not count as "mid-level" either, but I think that if it was properly implemented it could be a valid source of that new content that everybody is craving.