Community Blog Spotlight: Starting Over in WoW
Laura Genender returns with a new Community Blog Spotlight this week, highlighting Ceejay9's blog that details that user's experiences "starting over" in World of Warcraft.
I always love making a new character in an MMO. Starting out as a new person with nothing but the shirt on your back and the Rusty Sword in your pack is absolutely awesome in my book – there’s no greater conquest than working your way up from a friendless newbie to a well known and respected vanquisher of evil (or good!). This week I noticed a new blog by user Ceejay9, wherein Ceejay relates his day by day experiences starting over in World of Warcraft.
Ceejay9’s not a new WoW player. In fact, he has a great deal of past experience. Previously, Ceejay9 explored WoW and its high end content as a level 70 Undead priest. He’s run through most of Karazan, and even had time to roll a few alts.
Since then, he’s spent some time away from the game and his blog marks the birth of his return and new character, as a Blood-Elf Paladin. “This time around I’m starting fresh, and figured, what the heck, everyone else is doing it…I would blog my returning experience.”
Starting out on the Sen`Jin server with Ceejay9 is his wife, a newly created Blood-Elf Warlock, and she gets to call all the shots. While Ceejay’s original intentions were a female avatar, his wife talked him into a male Blood-Elf Paladin named Daeven. After picking out his hair, hair color, and face for him, Ceejay9 and his wife set out into the newbie area.
One of the fun experiences Ceejay9 relates from his first day is his wife’s ‘wardrobe woes.’ “Suddenly, from my wife's chair I hear, ‘I look so horrible in this frayed robe! Don't you think?’ And I start to think to myself, ok, first, we are level 6, we aren't supposed to look good in the junk we find at this level. And second, the name of the robe is FRAYED, meaning not nice, coming apart, etc. But I am too smart a man to fall into the trap of actually responding out loud. So I go the safe route, like any good married man would and give a non-committal grunt.”
Ceejay9 displays a fun imagination as well; on day #2, while waiting for his wife, he does some simple quests. One of those quests involve fetching supplies for a merchant in Ghostland; he travels back to the Blood-Elf city Silvermoon and picks the supplies up from a merchant there. “I walk into the guy's store, and he's telling me I need a pack-mule to get the supplies out of there! I can't afford one of those! Luckily he says I can just go ahead and take back what I can carry. It was at this point I pictured a blood elf paladin, sword at his side, shield slung over his shoulder, chain-mail glinting in the afternoon sun, as he walked around attempting to balance a stack of boxes and bags on the way to the Bat to fly back to Ghostlands.”
On day #3, Ceejay9 shares his experience fighting against the odds. While doing some quests, his wife spotted a named creature, Dar’Khan. Bear in mind that Ceejay9 is only level 19, and his wife 18 – Dar’Khan is a healthy 21 elite. The quest to kill him is orange, still, to both of the Blood-Elves. But as Ceejay9 said, “What the hell, It's not that far of a run back. Easy clear in, and then we are standing there staring at him down in his little crypt area.”
He gives his wife the OK to pull; she is able to pull him solo, remarkably. The fight ensures. “First course of action is to drag him around the corner to break his line of sight and pull him a bit further back. We decide quickly that it’s best to let the voidwalker tank him while I stand back and throw heals. I decide not to stand so far back, but in close because of the large level difference and only the two of us, in between heals I wanted to get some DPS swings in.
“All goes well for the first minute until he AoE fears. Oops, didn’t know he did that. So now we are all running into a wall. Luckily it doesn’t last long, but it forces me to step up healing quite a bit. I’ve already downed a minnow mana potion in hopes that the cooldown might recycle before the fight ends if I need it again. More healing stuff, but blueberry dies after one of the fears I can’t get a heal in on time. At this point he’s at 5% health. We are close. It immediately heads for the warlock lady who had been debuffing and casting at him the entire time. Also the person not in mail armor. I switch heals to her and keep her up until I run out of mana. She dies and boss is now at 1% life. SWISH! The sword and board come out and I start whacking on him. OW! He’s hitting back. But I’m able to finish him off with a judged seal of righteousness. Yay! We won! We won! Oh..Sorry honey.”
From the inception of his Blood-Elf Paladin to his 32nd level, Ceejay9 takes us through 11 days of WoW – and presumably, he’ll keep on going with more days and blog entries to come!
