Welcome to Pandaria!

Pandaria is out! No more Dragonsoul ever again!

Argentum Legion: Having My Cake and Eating It Too?

Lots of people are talking about taking their time, seeing the content, enjoying the scenery and the new, fresh, shiny content. Most of my guild has been more on that side, though there were a few attempts at various server firsts- poor Fari missed out on server first archaeology, and Rhys was literally seconds away from server first fishing.

But I don't like taking my time, I don't like going slow- I had six max level characters from Cataclysm (don't even ask why I have two holy paladins, yes, I clearly hate myself) and there will be plenty of time while leveling them, to read the quests and pay attention. I rushed like a madwoman, trying to be the first person in the guild at the new level cap- a feat I managed last expansion.

This expansion, however, the guild has far more than 5-8 active people. We're actually one of the boomingest medium-rp guilds out there, ever since Borean Kilted Yaksmen folded into us to form a heroic raid team on Wyrmrest, and since we've really put focus on in character recruitment for RP. It was actually one of my fellow former BKY-ers that beat me to the punch- Napkinz, our resident lazerchicken, was the guild first 90, and more power to him!

I managed second, which was nice. I might have been first if I hadn't come down with a nasty cold and decided to wallow by drinking an entire bottle of wine and watching an online corgi cam for hours on end. I think that lost me the lead, haha.

I feel cautiously optimistic that this blend of heroic (competent!) raiding and role playing might work this time. I have, in the past, tried such a thing- but it has never ended well for me, leading me to the conclusion that raiding and role playing are best left separate.

However, with the Argentum Legion taking on Ziras and, with him, most of Borean Kilted Yaksmen's Dream Team- we just might manage it. I'm crossing my fingers, but in the mean time, my shaman will remain a not-roleplayed character, just in case I need to put her somewhere else.

New content! Shiny! Ohmuhgerd things to do!

In spite of rushing and the constant implications that someone who takes levelling at a breakneck pace can't possibly enjoy the content, I actually greatly enjoyed the whole leveling process- I'm only a couple of quests away from finishing up the Wastes and achieving Loremaster of Pandaria.

What's even better is that it has been incredibly enjoyable- and now that I'm max level, I find that I am forced to do dailies to obtain the gear I want so as to be the best raider I can be. Normally, I'd be very annoyed by that; to a small extent, I still am, mostly because I have to obtain revered with the Golden Lotus before I can start on Shado-Pan, and Shado-Pan has so much gear that I want! However, these dailies are actually fun. Once I've finished my 'obligatory' dailies, I find myself actively looking for others- the Tillers have been unexpectedly entertaining, as have the Anglers, and I'm not even close to max level fishing!

And the heroics!

It's been since the beginning of Cataclysm since I actually found heroic grinding fun, yet these dungeons are fun- it's amazing! The one thing, however, that is driving me a little nuts, is tanks who feel the strong need to chain pull ALL the things while being very, very squishy; when I was just barely geared to heal the heroics, it was harder than it is now. Even so, I'm in mostly blues- I need a moment to stop and drink, people!

Still, that griping aside, I am pleasantly surprised to find a very different atmosphere than there was in Cata. Heroics are challenging, but they aren't beyond doing- not by a long shot. They're fun again, without being impossibly difficult- I can do them in a PuG and not want to end myself!

New abilities! Shiny! Ohmuhgerd buttons to press!

Another wonderful change for a Restoration Shaman is that we now have cooldowns! We have more than one cooldown! We have many cooldowns! This, my friends, is fantastic!! I am loving the versatility, the interactivity with totem use- I love becoming an Ascendent, I love my Heal All The Things totems, I am loving the shaman class as a whole! I am excited about the level 90 talents I am using that makes my elementals empower me, and I feel that my class has a lot of very interesting abilities.

Grind All The Heroics?

But there was a downside, at least for me, personally.

See, I got so into running heroics, that my AC cable caught on fire. I had 'fixed' it after our houserabbit decided to give it some love nibbles, by taping it with scotch tape. This fix has lasted for months, but it decided that, in the middle of the Gates of the Setting Sun, it was to both stop providing power to my laptop, and also spark and smolder and burn through the scotch tape.

So now I have to wait until Monday or Tuesday for the new cord to come in.

I'll be over here QQing.