Two months, give or take a couple of weeks—that’s about how long WoW’s “honeymoon” period lasts after a new expansion. It’s that initial rush of, “Oh, wow, everyone’s back! New content! Let’s dive in!”
Previous: WoW Player Diary. Part 17. Cataclysm: the beginning
I’ve seen it happen many times, and I have to say, it’s always the part I enjoy the most. New zones, quests, storylines, dungeons, a buzzing auction house, and the challenge of mastering raids. Then, inevitably, it all gets “mastered,” the novelty wears off, gameplay flaws become more apparent, and the initial sparkle fades. You probably know the feeling.
After hitting level 85, I spent a month grinding through Normal and Heroic dungeons and, as if by magic, found myself decked out in ilvl 347 gear. Just kidding, of course. In reality, the gearing process was carefully planned and quite expensive. I bought my pants, a ring, both trinkets (including the Darkmoon card), a necklace, a belt, and a chestpiece from the auction house. I used my Guardians of Hyjal reputation to get boots. Engineering provided me with epic goggles and a gun, and Blacksmithing allowed me to forge a terrifyingly large “axe” that looked more like a scythe. All that was left was a ring from the Guardians of Hyjal, and my pre-raid gear set would be complete. The real problem was that I had no one to raid with.
In the “Anarion” guild, which I had joined after the expansion’s release, a few members managed to find PUGs, but the leadership wasn’t committed to even casual raiding. I started looking for another group, but most guilds on Gordunni weren’t interested in a player like me, and it had nothing to do with my skill. Most guilds raided four or five evenings a week, starting at seven or eight PM. That schedule didn’t work for me, and for most recruiters, the phrase “I can only raid two days a week” was a deal-breaker (“we’re not casuals”). This was 2011, long before LFR, cross-realm groups, and flexible raids. A raid was either 10 or 25 people—no more, no less. Being short even one person meant a significant loss of damage or healing. The best I could hope for was a spot on the bench.
PvP
Another aspect of WoW I had never really explored was PvP. It’s not that I disliked fighting real opponents; the fear of facing players with red nameplates is something you get over. It was just that other things, like playing the auction house and crafting, were more interesting to me. But by this point, my guild bank was well-stocked, and mastering professions no longer brought the same joy it once did.
I bought a starter PvP set and, after a chat with a blog reader, dueled him outside the gates of Ironforge. I liked it. The last time I had played against live opponents was in Quake 2, where we would have deathmatches at work.
To learn PvP from scratch, I created a new character on Gordunni, a human hunter named Jetz. A few friends and I leveled up to 10+ over a couple of fun evenings, and by the third night, we were ready for Battlegrounds. Little Jetz received a care package from his “Uncle Deck”—heirloom chest and cloak, enchanted and ready to go. His baptism by fire took place in Warsong Gulch. More on that later, but first, a few words on the psychology of PvP.
The sight of an enemy player running towards me used to leave me flustered. “What do I do?!” Fights were over in seconds, and I’d usually only figure out what was happening when my screen turned gray. The turning point came unexpectedly. I was questing in Vashj’ir when two Horde players approached. I rarely got attacked while leveling, and I didn’t attack them either. But then I saw one of them, a warlock, start casting on me. “Fuck,” I thought, “what’s the matter, dude?” With that, I unleashed a volley of Arcane Shots. The warlock’s health dropped to 20%, and my Kill Shot button lit up. I hesitated for a split second, and in that time, he healed up and finished me off. But the fact that I had managed to fight back was reassuring. My reactions weren’t so slow after all.
After that, I didn’t feel the same jitters when facing Horde players. In fact, I found that my first few attempts on a raid boss were more nerve-wracking. There was a real excitement to it, and I started to genuinely enjoy WoW PvP.
Return to Europe
However, my newfound interest in PvP didn’t eliminate my desire for endgame PvE. I enjoyed raiding much more. I put off the decision to transfer servers for as long as I could, mainly because of the cost. I had arrived on Gordunni as a lone hunter in 2009, but by the spring of 2011, I had three crafting alts. Sixty dollars wasn’t a huge amount of money, but it was still a factor.
Ultimately, the reasons for moving were more compelling. A top-tier server with a heavy focus on PvE progression isn’t the best fit for a casual player. It’s like the difference between a family resort and a party destination for young singles. The atmosphere and daily routines are completely different. It wasn’t just the difficulty of finding a raid spot that was getting to me. At first, the ridiculous character and guild names were amusing. Then I started to wonder what compels people to name their characters such things. After a while, I realized I was just plain irritated by it all. It’s hard to feel immersed in a fantasy world when you’re surrounded by guilds like “Cool Dudes,” “School Kids and Rednecks,” “A LOT,” “The Titmouse Has Balls,” and “CALL YOUR MOM AGAIN.” Not to mention the trade and general chat channels, where I never saw a single normal conversation in all my time on the server.
I’m not saying all players on the Russian servers are like that. I met plenty of pleasant and well-mannered people in PUGs and in my guild. A progression server just naturally attracts a large number of teenagers and young adults with a lot of free time, who take the game very seriously—almost like a job. In short, it’s a youth resort, with loud parties, drama, and a constant need to show off mounts, titles, and achievements.
After browsing the European forums, I realized it would be much easier to find a suitable guild there. For one, their raid times were more convenient for me. Secondly, there were plenty of casual guilds that raided two or three times a week on weekdays.
My first thought was to return to my original server, Moonglade-EU. I even applied to a raid group where some of my old friends played, but they were full. After waiting about ten days, I posted an ad on the official forums for the Nordrassil server. I chose it because Moonglade and Gordunni were two extremes. Returning to the sparsely populated Moonglade made no sense, but joining a server like Silvermoon would just mean trading one group of nerds for another. I scoured the WoWProgress rankings for servers around the top 100 and posted my resume on their forums. Within a week, I found a suitable group: the “Decepticons” guild on Nordrassil-EU. They had a schedule of 2-3 raids a week and were making decent progress.
I decided to move in two stages. I had acquired several alts and a good amount of gear on Gordunni, but moving everyone at once seemed pointless, given the uncertain prospects on the new server. I would move my main first and bring the others over later.
Nordrassil-EU
This time, the transfer went smoothly. My main got his original name, Deckven, back and landed in the European version of Azeroth.
The first thing that struck me was the absence of gold-selling spam in trade chat. On Gordunni, it wasn’t just professional sellers who spammed; it was also “tough guys” who weren’t afraid of getting their main accounts banned. The trade and general channels were, as expected, fairly quiet. It was a night-and-day difference from the chaotic spam-fest that was Gordunni’s chat before the top Russian guilds transferred off.
Upon arriving, I checked my bags and headed to the auction house. I had done my research beforehand, but the prices were still a pleasant surprise—they were significantly higher than on Gordunni. Truegold was selling for 550-710g, and Maelstrom Crystals were going for 1700-2000g. I also cashed in on some meta gem patterns. On my first evening, I made over 30,000g.
What else was nice? I was back in the “original” game. I can’t say the localization had bothered me; I had gotten used to the Russian names for cities and items. But still, the original is the original. The experience is just different, more complete. It’s like watching a movie in its original language versus a dubbed version. I’ve always preferred the original.
The “Decepticons” guild was founded by former hardcore raiders who had decided to switch from a 4-day raid schedule to a 3-day one. Judging by the achievement points some of them had—over 9,000—they were experienced players. Most of the guild members were British, but there was also one Scandinavian. Nordrassil was generally considered a “British” server, with most of its population hailing from the UK.
More on how things went on the European server in the next episode.
Next: WoW Player Diary. Part 19. Exodus of Players and Patch 4.1
