When you start something like the 2012 Challenge, you never really know how it will go. As I said when I started it, I thought of one or two people in my guild that would be interested and was pleased when they signed up. Other than that, I had no idea. I really didn’t. So I’m pleasantly surprised that we’re now up to ten participants, the most recent being Nevernude (who happens to be working on his own little challenge). I’ve also seen a number of people discussing it and considering it.
I’m even surprised by some of the sites talking about it. I thought other bloggers would mention it and share discussion and a few laughs, but I didn’t expect social groups or message boards to be doing it as well. At least not this early. It’s only the second weekend of February so we have a long way to go. Also, it’s entirely word of mouth as I haven’t advertised the challenge on any of the communities I frequent -though I did consider it.
On my own efforts, I’ve had a few things come up that have slowed my progress. I had a goal of 100-150 levels this month and if I had to guess, I’m not going to do that well unless I roll a few lowbies (which I’d rather save for the moments where I feel overwhelmed by the challenge, which I don’t at this point). In terms of my required inventory:
- Racially I’ve got everything covered except for Gnome and Blood Elf. Still haven’t rolled one of either.
- Class wise I have two of everything, save a second Mage and a second Warlock.
I have ideas for more characters, I just haven’t gotten around to creating them just yet. Of course, the biggest stumbling block is a name. Also, considering another Goblin and possibly a Worgen (or a Hunter with a Worg for a pet…it’s just something important to me) but I’m cringing at doing the start zones just the same. If anything, I’ll wait until I’ve landed a BoA or two on a server before I start levelling them. If I decide on a name, I’ll just place holder it until said heirlooms are available to speed up the process.
I’m also considering doing 2012 in 2012 runs once a week in an effort to gain levels together, at least on US servers. Much as I’d like to have the EU as well, c’est la vie. Now if we had enough for a group on both sides, that would certainly be a bonus. But, I should get around to asking my peers if it’s something they’d like to do before I start planning anything. I don’t even know if there’s a time during the week where we would all be available.
As you can see, roughly six weeks in this challenge is still enjoyable for me and I hope it is for everyone else that’s taking part. I can’t speak for the others, but I find myself falling in love with some characters that I never would have created if not for this challenge. With more expected, who knows how many digital friends I’ll be running around Azeroth when all is said and done. Will I complete my own challenge? Time will tell on that one.
