Because I Got High (Mountain)

After dipping my toes in over the weekend, I decided to get my hooves wet. Saintvache was off to Legion Dalaran as I decided if I couldn’t have a Zandalari, I could at least get a Highmountain Tauren into the fold. Plus, it gave me a chance to do some leveling, which…wow. Such an improved experience. I’ll elaborate on a later date but I definitely approve. Saintvache is now 47, and that’s just from doing the main Highmountain story and a couple of bonus objectives that happened to be where I was questing anyway.

It didn’t take too long to complete that main story and set up the meeting between Baine and Mayla. I was in for a bit of a surprise as I never looked up how any of the alliances worked. I figured I would fly back to Orgrimmar and it would be a simple case of “hey, thanks for all your help. You proved the Horde is good. We’re in, ok?” Needless to say that is not what happened at all. I really enjoyed the story that lead to them officially joining the Horde. Though I can only imagine what it was like to have to do that chain without a flying mount. Dear Illidan it was like a classic WoW questline – all over the damn place.

In the end, though, it all worked out. The most difficult thing was getting back to Orgrimmar because everyone is logged in for Shadowlands.

See? Just a few people. I actually had to go to Pandaria and use the shrine portal to get back. Then I was able to scoot off and get my new mount and more importantly unlock some new friends. It didn’t take long for one to fall into the fold.

Not a fan of her default armor, but we’ll get that fixed eventually.

Orno Grimtotem

I came upon quite the sight logging in on the Horde side of Moon Guard today…

A level 10 Elite Tauren, fighting off several of the finest guards the city had on hand.  While he shows up hostile, I couldn’t attack him.  As you might guess from the title, his name is Orno Grimtotem.  Anyone who’s quested for Baine Bloodhoof knows this is the guy you fight north of Thunder Bluff.  Baine actually ends up joining the fight and sealing the victory.  In Orgrimmar, however, there’s not much in the way of victory here.  He’s glitched and sits at a single hitpoint. 

The guards just kept stunning him over and over again.  After 20 minutes of amusement, I decided I’d seen enough.  I also read up on WoWhead where this glitch has apparently been happening on rare occasion for over a year and a half and Orno here isn’t the only one getting in on the action.  Still, it’s the first time I’ve seen anything like it outside of a world event.  To be honest, for a brief moment I actually thought there was some sort of event going on.  Well, actually I thought it was Gamon until I noticed all the red in Orno’s outfit.  That and the ridiculous number of guards pounding away on him.

Tonight on COPS!

 

Shattering Thoughts

New Hotness For Alliance

The Shattering came yesterday and my how things have changed!   Rather than just ramble profusely, here are five things I’ve noticed since the realms came back yesterday:

1. Orgrimmar is HUGE
I never checked what the city looked like in any of the Beta spoilers, but flying into it this morning was jaw dropping. Every time I thought it would end, it just kept sprawling outward and upward. It definitely feels like the major capital of the Horde now.

2. Alliance LOVE having a different Shaman
Honestly, I reserved Egwydorian so long ago because I felt Dwarves should’ve always had a Shaman (rather than Rogues to be honest). I was excited when the news of this particular combo came out. I didn’t think others were nearly as excited. I did a “who” for Hunters, Warlocks, Mages, and Shamans last night. There were 11 Mages under level 20, and that easily beat out Hunters and Warlocks. Shamans? 19. I can’t even tell you how many new ones I saw after I did that search either.

3. I Miss Magni
It sounds odd, but seeing three seats in Ironforge instead of one is tough to get used to. Of course, Moira talks about planning to rule when you talk to her, so that doesn’t help. The first thing I always did with my Dwarves was head to the throne, but I just don’t feel the duty to do so.

4. Safety pre-level 5
So long as you don’t wander far, you’re pretty safe. Almost everything is Neutral. Even the old Trolls in Coldridge don’t attack you. I guess it gives new players a chance to get a feel for things before they need to be afraid. I can understand it, but it still feels odd.

5. Little Changes
Blizzard did some things that you don’t even notice until they happen. For example, when you receive a quest for a named character, a 3D portrait of them actually pops up. That’s a subtle thing that I appreciated but didn’t change gameplay. Same with making the old world zone maps the same as Outland and Northrend. Again, it’s the little things.

There’s many other things I could discuss, but for now I’ll keep it to those little tidbits after my first day of the new Azeroth.  I will give an honorable mention to flight paths and the drastic increase in how many there are, though.  What about you?