Just Pre-Forever Hijinx

If you have never played a game like World of Warcraft you may be unfamiliar with the week before launch malaise. You've done it all (I have not... and still) and now are just wandering the same old streets waiting for that new thing to come.

I'm trying to avoid ALL of the spoilers, hints, tips etc... and it's just impossible if you're on Instagram for even 10 minutes a day or YouTube AT ALL... so... I've tried to click on things NOT Forever related and I came across this fabulous video by Spirit called Exploring a Dead Game: World of Warcraft and laughed and laughed and laughed.

And at the same time I thought to myself that while I didn't know his "hack" I am certain the drama of his death runs could have been avoided by just swimming on autorun (press the numlock key on your keyboard while moving) starting at the coast of Westfall and not stopping until you climb the plank out of the water in Booty Bay (or in his case come up onto the rocks at the edge of the jungle that border the back of the Gurubashi Arena.)

My favorite game partner fell into the Stranglethorn side of the mountain range while mining in Westfall and decided, "What the fuck... I'm here... there's a neutral auction house down there somewhere in a town called Booty Bay. That could be useful if there's a flight point." And away he went. And he died. And he died. And he died. And he never stopped healing himself and continuing to run. And he had the damned flight point AND saw the auction house in less time than really should have been possible.

With that as my personal experience (I was in Ventrilo with him the whole time because we'd planned to do Deadmines and I was waiting) I didn't want to die and run and die and run like that so I swam. Being already "at level" for the content on the beach by the Westfall Lighthouse, I didn't even die. Just swam.

Many years later I did the same run with the friend I was playing Classic with because we needed a "fast" way to get to Kalimdor from Eastern Kingdoms and the boat from Booty Bay to Ratchet is really superior to having to travel down into Menethil Harbor for the Theramore boat. We also hiked off the coast of Westfall and swam. We cut too close to shore, though, and I'm thankful she played a priest because OMG it was danger business staying alive.

Today I grabbed the little level 6 warlock I created on Classic when we heard about Forever (I'd made her just to see what I thought of the leveling in certain areas and to remind myself what it's like to play in a world where nothing is about your quality of life and everything is about the player versus the environment they're in. LOL) and away Mazzikim went... her mission? To go from Elwynn Forest to Booty Bay with as few death runs as possible.

Five. I did five death runs. Wolves and *shudder* murlocs.

On the way across Westfall directly to the coast I found out I'd forgotten what the "aggro radius" is on creatures that are double your level (it is VERY big) and a Packleader wolf tried and failed to kill her... then, while recovering from the fight which had required a health potion and a lot of me holding my breath before sitting to eat and drink afterwards I was ganked by another wolf. Another wolf got me right at the lip of the coast where I was trying to figure out level and range from hilltop to avoid murlocs. 

Murlocs are a real issue. I've designed my own very cute plushie after one that WoW released for our houses and insists on giving us over and over and over in different colorations (I have them all. Remember, it's part of the contract with our subs to hate them for giving us what we want.) They're very cute. And NO player who has managed to level all the way from 1-60 (or higher) can avoid murlocs. Fishy guys who have this spine freezing mrglglg sound and come running at you.

in the game

in housing and on my Etsy shop

Anyway... I distract myself. 

Murlocs suck. They're prolific and 99.9% of the time hostile to the player. I died on the edge overlooking the beach to a murloc who aggroed from the bottom of the hill. I died to a pair of murlocs on the coast trying to get to the safety of the water. And I died again to a bastard murloc hiding under the water way out from shore.

And then I was home free. Between the coast and the deadly dark water (in WoW the "dark water" saps life and kills you. it's a preventative at the edge of "known world" that keeps players MOSTLY where they belong. nothing keeps us ENTIRELY where we belong... and dark water does a good job of making it a massive challenge to have oceanic adventures where they don't want us to have them) there's a very clear and VERY LONNNNNNG swim available.

44 minutes from the door of the Lion's Pride Inn in Goldshire, Elwynn Forest to the lovely Dwarven flight master in Booty Bay, Cape of Stranglethorn. 

pictured: Mazzikim with the Lion's Pride Inn to her back, smithy in the foreground.

clock under mini-map in upper right corner

pictured: Mazzakim on a raised section of dock beside the Booty Bay flight master 

with the Ratchet boat at dock below

clock under mini-map in upper right corner

I didn't fly back to Stormwind... it cost 5 silver and I only have 6 on the character. She hearthed home to the Lion's Pride.

So... it doesn't HAVE to be constant death. It can just be very boring and mostly safe.

Mazzakim may or may not survive. I'd parked Gruffudd after moving her up from Classic to Burning Crusade and she was honestly the only Classic character I'd planned to have. I learned what I wanted to learn from these characters.