Mists of Pandaria

Savage (now named Tempest) versus Raticate!

I've been roleplaying and questing since I began way back during February of 2006. One thing I noticed about the quests is that only a handful of them ever actually disturbed me, excited me, or moved me. In general, I was too busy trying to survive each experience to pay much attention to what was going on with the story line. The only one that ever stuck out for me was Westfall, because of the oddities of pigs without livers, the back story of the Masons being screwed over by Stormwind for their pay and making plans for revenge. That, and my friend always commenting on how sexy VanCleef's voice is.

Burning Crusade's quest lines didn't offer a whole lot. It was a bit more involved, but I was generally far more interested in other things. Nagrand was a very fun grind the first three times around, but soon, even that zone, captivating in its beauty, faded into another mindless grind fest in which I always had to remember to attune myself so that I could later quest in Nagrand by doing the first quests in Hellfire Peninsula, which was always such a blindingly annoying shade of red that all I could think about was escaping to the tranquil blue of Zangarmarsh, then to the adventurous outdoors and alien safari of Nagrand. On the occasion I would visit the extremely dry Blade's Edge Mountains to recapture some memories, as it was the first place I had hit max level on a toon, but generally I would fly to the purple-dyed zone of the far north to round off my last level or two. The one far to the south always remained untouched unless I felt like playing Netherwing savior again.

Northrend. I hate Northrend. One time I managed to push a grind through it in two days. No heirlooms. I wanted to gnaw my hands off afterward. If there was any expansion I could skip when playing alts, it would always and forever be Northrend. Neither of the starting zones capture more than a grind-y feeling. The only two zones I enjoy are Zul'Drak for the amazing line beginning with a cursed choker from an old friend and the sheer beauty of the jungle in Sholazar Basin, complete with a ship that spilled over into the rivers from the sea being barely held back.

The Cataclysm held very little in the way of new quests which inspired me. Vash'jir is a waking nightmare for me. I hate deep water. I cannot stand it in real life, and I cannot stand it in World of Warcraft. If I cling to the bottom, I feel a bit better, but watching a fast tide ripping about, even though it won't bother my toon, sets me on edge. Certain bits and pieces stood out, but apart from the revamped lower level zones, such as the end of the Eastern Plaguelands chain, the entire experience was unforgettable with a very painful introduction into heroic dungeons due to people not knowing what Crowd Control is.

All in all, I quest through things without feeling a whole lot. My mind shuts off while I quest, resulting in a drooling, questing zombie with a rotting brain and little sense as to what is going on. I've tried to get involved in the quests, but reading the flavor text of every one just makes my thoughts decay faster, my attention span flickers, and I go back into my old habit of going through the motion.

But even I'm drawn into the Mists of Pandaria quests.

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From the vivid scenery to the content of the quests all linking together and drawing one in... yeah, here and there it's slow, and one start off feeling the grind of getting that first level in after feeling as if you've done so many quests, but soon enough one forgets that and can't help at enjoy the incredible voice acting, amusing nods to everything from Skyrim to Battletoads, the delightfully scripted cut scenes, and feeling that moment where it feels as if everything you've done, rather than feeling repeated, has all been leading up to one amazing moment.

I reached level 86 and acquired my Savage (temporarily named Snowblind and renamed Tempest courtesy of my boyfriend) on the first day. At the end of my second day, I'm level 88. In another day or two I should be max level, then on the fast curve to gearing up, depending on how many tanks and healers have also reached maximum level. In the meanwhile, I've finished up Valley of the Four Winds, almost wrapped up the Jade Forest (I fell off of a cliff of a certain place you cannot get back up without the right Flight Path... which I didn't get, so I have to wait til 90 to finish that one up), and am one part off of finishing up the Krasarang Wilds. For once, I'm actually motivated to finish up and do everything in a continent... Not because I want the achievements, but because I want to see everything the developers have given me to explore!

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Including the nasty water stuff!