Rethinking Azeroth
Today’s post comes from guest writer Zaralynda, who has written her own blog in the past and continues to offer insightful WoW commentary both on her Twitter account and through the thoughtful comments she leaves around the blogosphere.
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My mage was my first toon to the level cap (60, at the time), and my main for a long time. During ICC I retired her from raiding since I’m a far better healer than a mage. I wrote in February some of my feelings about her on Go Mog Yourself: Matching a Guild Tabard.
She spends her time doing low level quests, exploring Azeroth’s past glories (old raid instances), and doing weird achievements that most folks have moved on from. She’s a scholar (when I saw the Professor title, I knew that’s what she had to wear) and behind the times.
Things have changed quite a bit since then. I’m no longer in a guild (just a bank guild to prevent spam invites) and honestly, I’m happier that way for now. I’ve spent a small fortune in transfer fees during Catacylsm, and I’m tired of the hunt for a raiding guild.
My mage is now the character that I spend the most time on (the auction toons play a totally different game). My mage has always prized her mount collection. Perhaps mounts feel meaningful to her because in Vanilla it WAS meaningful to have a mount (or an EPIC mount). I’ve tried to get her a few of the WotLK mounts in Cata, since we overgear the content, but some mounts (like Mimiron’s Head and Invincible) are still nearly impossible. So, when a guild on my mage’s server advertised selling the Reins of the Life-Binder (from HM Madness), I bought it. It’ll be a long time before it’s farmable!
Since I had to be present for the kill, I also got the title (Savior of Azeroth). I initially put it on just to take a picture of the mount (planning to go back to Professor), but I’ve left it on. At first I found it funny. My mage is clearly not a raider. She has some 359 gear. She’s gone through LFR three times, and has a HM Madness kill. It’s fake; the title is supposed to represent a high end raider, and I am not.
As I continue to go about my business, Zaralyyn, Savior of Azeroth, it’s come to mean something else to me.
I had the gold to buy the mount/title because I enjoy the auction house game. I find it interesting to develop systems, look for buying/selling patterns, and find ways to make a lot of gold while not spending hours on tedious tasks (which means glyphs and gems are right out). There were a lot of things about raiding that I don’t enjoy (there are good things, but right now, the bad things outweigh the good for me). Because I had been playing the game I liked (AH), Zaralyyn was able to get what she wanted (shiny new mount) without having to endure what I didn’t want (months of raiding).
Puttering around doing end of expac stuff wearing that title, I’ve been reminded that if I want to keep enjoying my time in Azeroth, I should do things that I enjoy. If there’s something I want (like a raiding mount) there will be some other way to get it (paying gold to a raiding guild, or waiting an expansion or two). I need to keep looking for those creative alternatives, and keep doing the things that I like.
Zaralyyn, Savior of Azeroth, HAS saved Azeroth – the piece of Azeroth that resides in my heart.
Tree Heals Go Woosh 
Zaralynda that is a nice tale. Doing what you liked in wow got you something you wanted without the pain of what you’d been trying to avoid! That mount is awesome and it looks great, and it reminds me that everyone has their niche in WoW. There is more than one way to skin a cat – and more than one way to play this game.
Yep! The game is rich with choices for how we could spend our time (and this will be more true in MoP with pet battles and farming and who knows what else). Try a little of everything, decide what you like, and do that!
Great read! I think Navimie says it so well – everyone has their own way of enjoying the game. We can sometimes get caught up in progression and expectations and whatnot, but at the end of the day, having fun is the most important thing.
Yes, it’s especially difficult with social networking sometimes – it seems like everyone is doing X (raiding, playing a new game, whatever). I sometimes need to step back and remind myself that MY expectation is that I have a good time, and how I spend my game time (and the obligations I agree to) should reflect that!
Such good timing for me to be reading this. Just posted on my guilt about not doing what I don’t enjoy in WoW & doing what I do enjoy and then I read a lovely heart warming positive post like this & I feel all happy again. Thank you.
I read your post – I’m having such a hard time motivating myself to do any of the current holiday (and my mage, who does achievements) is missing the NR and Cata zone achieves! The horror! I keep telling myself that the holiday will be around next year if I decide then that she has to have those extra 40 points.