So it turns out if you marinate Worgen flank steak over night, then slow cook it over moist heat, it can be very tasty!
OK so this is why I’m not a stand-up comic.
I got a late start last night and it was closing in on 10 pm before I tore the shrink wrap off my Collector’s Edition of WOW: Cataclysm. I’m a little annoyed with myself for springing for the CE. I mean, it’s a great CE: it has a very nice art-book, some Friend Passes, a soundtrack CD, “Making of” DVD, some CCG cards (I guess) and of course the game itself. Oh and a mouse pad. But what generally interests me in Collector’s Editions is the in-game goodies, and it looks like the only in-game goodie with this one is a mini-Deathwing vanity pet. Or maybe I’m missing something. I still prefer the Panda Cub that came with the original WoW CE.
Anyway, installation took no time at all (a wee bit of data loaded off the DVD to supplement what I’d already d/led in the patch, then a quick online patch) and I was ready to play. I’ve found that a few people I know on Twitter play on Argent Dawn so I was going to roll my Worgen there, but there was a 15 minute queue. That’s not *too* bad except that about 5 minutes later the queue was still 15 minutes. Given how late it was I didn’t want to spend too much time waiting. I decided maybe I’d work on my Druid on Silver Hand, but that realm was listed as Full. Eric at Channel Massive has been bugging me to roll on Tanaris, but I had trouble logging in there. By the time I got into it and created a shaman goblin I’d come to realize that I really wanted to be a Worgen.
So I headed to my old haunt, Kirin Tor. No queue and before too long, Bartowski the Worgen Hunter was born.
Even without a queue there were plenty of fresh-made Worgen-to-be scurrying about (you start out as human, y’see), but not so many that it made completing those early quests difficult. In fact the “bad” Worgen were spawning so fast that we players relied on each other to keep ourselves alive. It was madness and totally fun. I kept waiting for someone to scream at me for kill stealing but it never happened.
Things got glitchy a few times with the ‘phasing’ technology but it was more amusing than annoying. Overall, given the press of players, I thought things went swimmingly.
I love the Victorian vibe of the Worgen starting area. The quests were more story-driven than interesting-game-play driven, but that was OK (keep in mind I only played for a half-hour or so…maybe level 5? 6?). I still think the new Human starting area is my favorite. The homage to Mario Sunshine tickles the heck out of me.
Tales of werewolves are so ubiquitous that I don’t know how Blizzard could’ve added real tension to the process of being turned, so instead they went for camp. When you get bit (or is it scratched?) by a Worgen your character says something like “Ow! That beast bit me. I’m sure it will be all right but it does sting a bit!” and I couldn’t help but LOL. And there are a few clever quests that, if nothing else, offer a spectacle to other players.
I didn’t get to play for long as a Worgen. Shortly after I transformed I also turned into a pumpkin and had to head to bed.
Now of course I have to decide if I want to keep playing on Kirin Tor, start a new character on Argent Dawn, or go back to Silver Hand. Maybe I’ll just give the crowds a few days to thin out while I decide.
Nice piece. Now I just want to get home so I can play! “)
Yeah, I joined an RL friend on his server for a bit because I didn’t feel like waiting on the Argent Dawn queue. But I would prefer an RP server. I had started a toon on Kirin Tor as well. So now I have a couple lowbies on three servers. I haven’t played any of them long, so there’s no sense of loss abandoning them at this point, but I should decide on one place to focus.
I had pretty much the exact same experience as you, everything from being overswamped by fast respawning rates, to LOL’ing at the part the worgen bit me, to being a victim of phasing glitches. One time a quest giver simply disappeared in front of me while I was still reading her quest. It took 10 minutes until she came back again for me to take it. Another time I was trying to turn a quest in, and the quest giver suddenly runs off and starts shooting at seemingly nothing! It was more hilarious than frustrating though, and I have to agree on the whole the worgen experience was very smooth. Generally, I think Blizzard learned from their experiences and increased spawn rates, made quests that weren’t so dependent on mobs, and the phasing also helps separate the flood of players into more manageable cohorts.
I also stopped at level 5 yesterday before I took a break, but managed to finish the rest of the area late last night. I was pretty impressed from what I’d seen already from the first 5 levels, but after completing the worgen area I think the last half of this storyline is one of the best experiences I’ve ever had in WoW.
Anyway, I had no idea my CE also included friend passes. I’ll take a look at that, thanks! I got mine because I know I was going to purchase the soundtrack and the artbook sometime down the road, and the costs of those plus the game would amount to the same or more than the CE anyway. I did get a loot card in my deck though, and now I have a stack of Sandbox Tigers…lol.
Someone at Blizzard loves Mario Sunshine a whole heck of a lot. That whole strap a water pack on your back and go save the world happens a lot of areas.
Loot card? I’d better check that deck!
Lars — I really prefer RP servers and Tanaris isn’t one, so in spite of Eric’s (@blamefulgecko) urging I’m not sure I’ll be returning there. I do have a level 60 on Kirin Tor so at least I could ‘twink’ my Worgen with bags and stuff.
I’m enjoying the Worgen area too. I figure I’ll try that out for a bit before taking my Druid through the new high-end zones. The style of the zone is really neat, and I love the story so far.
Having played through Shadowfang Keep last week on another lowbie to see the changes there, it is interesting to see the events in the newbie Worgen area that lead up to the new and improved Shadowfang.
FARSTRIDERS!
Sheesh. What’s a girl gotta do to get you to play with her???
Hmmm… that maybe came out wrong. 😛
Horde of Farstriders? I knew that once and somehow forgot… so confused…
But ok!!
Glo and I started baby Goblins last night — wow, what a fun, zany zone! It’s all got this 1940’s mobster Chicago kind of feel too it, we were really having a blast. So seriously, if you want to play goblin just to see how their story begins, please do consider playing with us. We want to start a pair of goblin rogues at some point and would be happy to be a trio for a couple nights, ’til you went back to the alliance and left your dark roots behind. 😉
Sorry — one more note… (too lazy to send you an email, what can I say). You know all my personal details — if you want, add me to your RealID, then we can at least chit chat across the servers. 🙂
I did that last night!
Yay! I wasn’t online last night, but I’ll look for it tonight.
Argh! Getting jealous. I have a CE waiting for me at home. I got for basically the same reason as GeeCee, I like the artbook, and especially the soundtrack. The in-game pet is cool, too. I wish I had a panda, but didn’t join the game until like a year and a half later.