Question on Blizzard Watch today. This was my response.

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Look a blog post that isn’t cross-posted from tumblr! They do exist! 🙂

I could have posted this on tumblr like I did about my last two posts re: gear and a sense of wonder. However I don’t think that tumblrs really the place for those kind of posts. I think I can ramble about how I’m playing maybe but not get too serious on actual ‘blog post type topics’. You know this blog started life as a Warcraft blog and it has survived and evolved and gone private (I’m talking to myself!) but that’s cool because I just like getting things off my mind.

What prompted this post is that I’ve been playing my Horde Demon Hunter exactly the same way I’ve been playing my Alliance Paladin. Essentially I’m running two mains. However I have to confess that I’m enjoying the Demon Hunter more (sorry my beloved paladin!) and also I like the allied races for Horde better (I really want a Zandalari!). It was yesterday when I was looking at stat priorities for the Demon Hunter, and noting the difference between the two specs, that I realized I had a problem.

I didn’t level any of my professions in Legion because I simply didn’t get round to it. However, Alliance side, I do have a stable of alts with every single profession assigned to them AND (as of yesterday) all of my profession alts are 110. So I could if I wanted take them to Kul Tiras to gather mats, and then make enchants/gems etc. for my Paladin. That’s why the stable of alts got started in the first place – to support my main – sure it evolved over time and I enjoyed playing some but that’s not relevant to the matter at hand.

The point is I don’t have any professions Horde side. I also have very little gold (about 30k) and I only have one Horde alt that is approaching max-level (the level 90 Tauren Paladin) which I have zero interest in levelling now because of Zandalari Paladins. There is no way I can gain access to professions anytime soon. However, does that mean I just ignore them? Or should I make my DH a gatherer and farm mats when I see them in the thought that maybe I’ll need them one day?

This is the dilemma spoken about in the title. I have depth Alliance side, I have a stable of options, and Horde is pretty much brand new like I’m a new player – it’s starting over! Another point to make is that I don’t intend to raid or do any kind of group content that I can’t access through LFG, which means the maximum I can do is heroic dungeons and LFR raids. I suppose my only thought re: appropriate stats and enhancements is that I’m afraid of people, and I’m especially afraid because I do want to tank and at the same time I don’t. I like tanking, I just don’t like people; I hate it when people pull for me, I hate the ‘constant moving go go go’ environment. If I tank and anything goes wrong, I don’t want to hand people ammunition to throw at me I guess.

I guess maybe it’s less of a faction dilemma and more a dilemma about how far I go. You see I want to complete everything, I’m a completionist and a collector but I do hate duplicating effort. So I’m not sure I’d ever want to level professions twice if I tried to create a stable Horde-side like I have Alliance-side, especially because I’m not playing ‘seriously’ on either side.

Maybe this is more of a ramble suited for tumblr after all :/ because basically the ultimate question is how far do you go in setting the goals? I say goals because the game is too massive and too expansive to ever actually achieve everything.

I’ve had a funny relationship with time lately, in that it seems to be disappearing far more rapidly than ever before. I have no clue how it got to be September 2018. I swear it was 2016 last time I checked.

Anyway, the new expansion Battle for Azeroth has been out getting on for a month now (4 weeks at 11pm UK time tonight). What do I think? Well … I’m still not max level.

There is so much story and I’m playing Horde and Alliance at the same time. My main, my beloved Alliance paladin is currently 116 and just started the second zone in Kul Tiras. My Horde Demon Hunter is 114 I think? and just started the second zone in Zuldazar. That makes two zones completed, Drustvar and Nazmir. I also did the end dungeons for both of them.

I haven’t started the war campaign. I have the quest to choose the foothold but I wasn’t sure whether I was supposed to be max level or not. I’m guessing not because I got the quest at level 110 but I’d rather focus on one part of the story at a time anyway. I’m also going after all the rares and treasure boxes that pop up. My theory is that we’ll be max level for a couple of years, so there’s no rush to get there.

I’ve been doing other stuff in game too. I finally got my Bone White Raptor and Spectral Porpette from the Isle of Giants. I also took my level 90 Horde Paladin to the Argent Tournament to get the Horde pets. My Void Elf Priest is level 75 and when I’m online, there’s an invasion, and I feel like it, I’m taking my Death Knight to level 110.

Like I said we’ll be level 120 for a couple of years. However, it’s more than that. The content will only be new and shiny once, so I’d quite like to savour it and make it last. One of the last things I liked when I resubbed … wow a year ago now, is that there was a lot of variety to the game again. I’d like to keep it that way.

Given that I’ve barely scratched the surface and haven’t hit 120 it’s hard to render a verdict. However, I know that world quests are still a thing (yay!) and the fact that I’m still levelling says a lot about the depth of the game. I really do love all the voice acting and sometimes I’m blown away by the visuals. The zones are pretty and the animations of the mobs are top notch.

Also I haven’t yet encountered any problems related to the squish and my paladin, demon hunter and shadow priest still feel the same (phew!). I don’t know about my kitty druid or outlaw rogue yet as I haven’t touched them. One thing at a time.

So thumbs up for now!