It’s a well known fact that when Mists of Pandaria launched, my interest in it added up to zero. It did nothing for me. Then some folks bought it for me, “just in case.” Well, as it turned out, I really love the female Pandaren. I have two, and I can see eventually having another. But all in due time. Right now, it’s all about getting some of my many faces ready to go back in time. The problem is that I have to go through Pandaria to do it.
Let me start off by saying that the opening of the gates chain, the idea of the Sha, and faffing about on the Timeless Isle are all things I don’t mind. There’s the occasional quest here and there as well. But on the whole I just cannot get into this continent. I hate the fact that I have to go there to level, let alone five levels…and coincidentally the last five levels of the game. I’ve hit 90 once, and have two more toons currently there (Liouxpold and Saintvache). Try as I may, the interest in the stories and such just isn’t happening and I absolutely love the lore of Warcraft.
I can’t even put my finger on what it is. Whether it’s Kun Lai Summit or Krasarang it doesn’t matter. When I’m going along leveling, it’s like I’m crawling at a snail’s pace and am just completely disinterested in what’s going on for the people I’m helping. Yes, as I mentioned, there are the occasional exceptions. I do mean occasional. I can’t figure out why it is, either. So many people absolutely love Pandaria and everything about it. I find it visually amazing and then lacking substance despite the developers clearly putting in a sound effort. The Pandaren start zone was incredibly enjoyable, so what is it that makes this so much more painstakingly difficult?
Sure, it’s my own fault having a love of alts. Many players racked their way to 90 once and don’t have to suffer through it again. Those of us with more than one (okay, twenty) toon to entertain us means having to do things a little more often. But it never bothered me in Wrath or even Cataclysm (and let’s face it, Cataclysm leveling could be a pain in the butt). This time, I can’t get through it fast enough.
Perhaps that’s the problem. It’s a “watched pot never boils” type of syndrome. That blue/purple bar seems to barely move at times, which is a detriment to the fact I want out of there in the first place. It’s why Saintvache isn’t 90 yet, or why Liouxpold hasn’t done much in the Jade Forest (well, that and the fact I barely recall how to play him). I can only take so much of the place at a time. I want Warlords of Draenor to take it’s time being released so that I have several crew members ready to go there, but at the same time I don’t know how many times I can bring myself to go through Pandaria before that happens.
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We all understand: the “slow down” theme went a bit too far!
Lol, I don’t think I could have said that any better.
I’ve leveled every class to 90 now, and the questing definitely gets old. I did the Pandaria loremaster through a combination of the first couple toons I leveled, so I have seen most of the quests. With the majority of the toons I’ve leveled since though I’ve tried to pick and choose my ways and use the rares/treasures/convince a friend to fly me around and pick stuff up to avoid large portions. I liked a lot of the beginning portion of Jade Forest story so I tend to do more of that. The landing and finding Anduin was an interesting story to me. I didn’t care as much for Valley or Krasarang quests with the exception of the Secret Master but that’s near the end of those two zones (not sure if you can skip right to it). I tend to do the first couple dungeons (especially dungeon quests doing a dungeon only once is a big XP boost) or rare killing to get past that. I liked the unlock the Vale line, and I want the bag from the Grummles so I tend to do those two quest lines in Kun Lai. I didn’t mind the Shado Pan quest line much so I did a lot of that in Towlong. When I hit 89 I tended to try and do the remaining dungeons once that I hadn’t done, and ride around looking for the treasures/rares (or if I was really lucky get a friend to fly me to look for them). That’s what I did to avoid just straight questing to 90, but I’ve heard many who have been doing the pet battles as a way of leveling to break up the monotony. And another thing that helped a lot with leveling was just getting the BoA weapons just so everything died so fast. Hope you find your way that works for you.
Thanks Cain. I honestly considered the other approaches after Saintvache hits 90. I’ve quested with him because I wanted to see how the story plays out for the Horde side after doing most of the Alliance stuff to get Tum to 90. I’ve sought rares but have only found three and one was Willy Wilder in the BMAH and he was getting trampled by the time I got there. On Tum’s server, EVERY rare seems to be up 90% of the time. Go figure.
Sounds like my problem with trying to get past Cata when leveling, not my favorite at all.
I love the Neferset stuff and Thieving Little Pluckers is still my favourite daily in the game. At least with Cata, and it’s predecessors you had definitive options when you leveled. There were points where you could go to A or B. I don’t feel that in Pandaria.
Yeah, that’s probably a big factor as the time when I was doing most of my leveling my server was dead. Almost every rare was always up except a few highly camped ones. We have since merged, so I’m not sure if it’d be the same now.
Well, I seem to have a mix popping up now. Still learning the racial mechanics of each one though. Pandas whoop me something good (at level or higher).
Totally agree. Gorgeous to look at but……. I hate questing especially from 87 to 90. Far too linear, far too annoying bits that you can’t avoid.
I agree as well, leveling an alt through the same content can become a bit of a chore. I specifically resonated with your comment about how visually stunning Pandaria was, but how the story didn’t grab you.
Thanks Chuck. Honestly, I don’t normally mind running through the same content more than once. Pre-Cata, I loved 1-60. Even 70-80 is fine because at any time you have two zones you can quest in at the same level. Cata you have some choice as well (though that narrows as the levels increase), but in Pandaria you’re pretty much forced to quest in certain places at every level.
I 100% agree with everything you said and feel the exact same way. I’ve cancelled my sub probably half a dozen times since MOP was released, and come back to it each time wanting it to feel like it did in BC or Wrath, but, like you said, I can’t get into this continent/story at all. I have 15 or so toons and have 2 at 90. In fact, I just dinged 90 today on my mage. The thought of levelling another is so mentally devastating that it is motivating me to stick with one or two toons to raid and do end content in.
Timeless Isle freshened some things up for me. I dreaded rep grinding dailies early on. I still can only have a certain fill of WoW in this expansion before having to log out and get on Steam to enjoy more gaming.
I’m excited for WOD however, if only because we won’t be in Pandaria any longer.
Thanks for your article.
Glad you enjoyed it.
Like yourself, I now have two 90’s. I know I’ll probably get at least one more there before Warlords goes live, but how I’m going to get there I haven’t yet decided. There’s dailies and pet battles to gain a good portion of it. But the fact remains it will be a bit yet before I even consider that.
I’m glad you’re excited about Warlords, as I am too. I think that’s the important part for Blizzard, regardless of their current focus of “we’ve had 100 million accounts.” There is geniune interest from players who have returned to the game and even some who remain away from it. Plus, they need to hit a home run for all the new players they’ll get when the movie comes out.