Yeeees, just like everyone else, I wanted to answer these questions, too. I've returned to WoW lately after aching to see the Jade Forest again, and I finally made a Death Knight (I'm a little behind, I know) which I've managed to get alllll the way to level 64. Go me.
I've been keeping up with MMO Champion, but I admit to doing my usual tricks and avoiding too much info about the next expansion, which means I've been ignoring a lot of the blogs I'd usually read, too, so I'm feeling a little isolated. Dead keen for the 40-man Molten Core, though! I'm curious about its difficulty - on one hand I want that mount, but on the other I don't want everyone to have it, you know? Also, being very inexperienced with raids and lockouts, I'm wondering how it's going to work if the raid only lasts a week (I'm assuming it's lasting a week, at least), so if anyone has any info on it I've missed I'd appreciate a hint!
1. Why did you start playing World of Warcraft?
A friend of mine showed me a video of the male Undead dance when we were in school (who really did anything useful in IT class?) and I immediately fell in love. I asked my parents if I could have the game but it was an out-right "no", but what can you do? It wasn't until a few years later that I was finally able to give the game a go on my boyfriend's account. He lost me for a while after that!
2. What was the first ever character you rolled?
Undead Warlock - female. Needless to say I was extremely disappointed with the dance. Her name was Nocnitsa, and after I left my boyfriend's account to join his brother's so I could play with him I remade her as Spinegrinder, and remade her AGAIN when I got my own account. It was only after I'd made my current Spinegrinder that I made any other characters.
3. Which factors determined your faction choice in game?
The Undead dance. I wanted to play Undead, I didn't really think about factions, but since all my friends played on Horde it was a natural occurrance. I have since become pro-Horde, and while I have played as an Alliance, I've never really enjoyed it, likely because I felt out of place running towards blue flags for safety. It's not an easy thing to adjust to.
4. What has been your most memorable moment in Warcraft and why?
Being a low level in Tirisfal Glades and running towards the Bulwark. I was told it was a level 50 zone, but did I believe them? No. Why the hell would there be a level 50 zone next to a level 10 zone? It made no sense to me, so I ran off, keen to explore. I stood corrected very quickly. I miss being a noob. I'm still a noob as far as rotation, damage etc is concerned, but not to the game :(
5. What is your favourite aspect of the game and has this always been the case?
I suppose initially it was the fantasy, as broad an aspect as that is, as I'd never really played games before and had only fell in love with Fantasy a few years before when The Lord of the Rings came out. As time's passed, though, I find it hard to see the game as fantasy. It's...just World of Warcraft now, you know?
In time my interest changed simply to exploration, but it was only really in Cataclysm that that blossomed because of all the little secrets hidden everywhere, from the Gnome suicide pact in Ashenvale to Prince Lakma in Feralas. Mists of Pandaria added to it, particularly with all of the spires and the houses, sights and people on top of them.
6. Do you have an area in game that you always return to?
I suppose I'm in love with a few places for different reasons. The Jade Forest is gorgeous, so I'm always itching to get back out there and run around the lakes; I love Caer Darrow because of the traumatic history so I often go back there with my Spectral Essence, and to the Throne Room of Lordearon for the same reasons; I'm partial to Icecrown if just for the fact that that area is still the freshest in Wrath of the Lich King - a lot of the best quests were there, and a lot of them only became unlocked after reaching 80 so it's not something you really bothered with when Cataclysm took over as the newest expansion.
7. How long have you /played and has that been continuous?
Across my 5 most played characters I've got 227 days, and it certainly hasn't been continuous, mostly because when we reach a certain point in the expansion a lot of people move off elsewhere, and we reached that point months ago. No new content until the next expansion isn't an inviting thought, especially when said expansion is goodness knows how many months away. I do return every now and then, as I have now, and I always think "I'll get soandso to 90!" and I usually gain, like, 5 levels at best before buggering off again. I've done well this time, I managed 6 levels on my Death Knight and 1 level on my Monk. Woo!
8. Admit it: do you read quest text or not?
There's quest text?
In all seriousness, I try to read the quests if I'm in a new zone because they can relay a lot about the place, its past and the current situation, or small storylines, and someone has put a lot of work into writing them when it comes down to it, but it never lasts very long. The only quest I really recall reading was Waptor Twapping.
9. Are there any regrets from your time in game?
I regret that I didn't raid while I lived away from home. Being a full-time carer doesn't allow me to put my time into something like raiding so I really missed out on a lot, even if that opportunity was only during Wrath of the Lich King. I moved back home to be a carer before Cataclysm came out so the only raid experience I have has been when I had already outlevelled each place.
10. What effects has Warcraft had on your life outside gaming?
It's been really good, actually. You'd be surprised. As well as offering escapism when I need it, it also helps me with my writing as I'm able to dive into a broad fantasy world easily, and I often create rough representations of choice characters by looks, race and class (eventhough they're far from accurate since the races in WoW don't exist in my books - and you'll be hard-pushed to convince me to include Elves in my writing - but like I said, very rough representations). Seeing the depth of the history and cultures also gives me examples of structures and guidelines for shaping my own, which is an area I've always struggled with, and from that I've learned that a world without history, whether that history is ever mentioned or not, is a world without depth.
I suppose initially it was the fantasy, as broad an aspect as that is, as I'd never really played games before and had only fell in love with Fantasy a few years before when The Lord of the Rings came out. As time's passed, though, I find it hard to see the game as fantasy. It's...just World of Warcraft now, you know?
In time my interest changed simply to exploration, but it was only really in Cataclysm that that blossomed because of all the little secrets hidden everywhere, from the Gnome suicide pact in Ashenvale to Prince Lakma in Feralas. Mists of Pandaria added to it, particularly with all of the spires and the houses, sights and people on top of them.
6. Do you have an area in game that you always return to?
I suppose I'm in love with a few places for different reasons. The Jade Forest is gorgeous, so I'm always itching to get back out there and run around the lakes; I love Caer Darrow because of the traumatic history so I often go back there with my Spectral Essence, and to the Throne Room of Lordearon for the same reasons; I'm partial to Icecrown if just for the fact that that area is still the freshest in Wrath of the Lich King - a lot of the best quests were there, and a lot of them only became unlocked after reaching 80 so it's not something you really bothered with when Cataclysm took over as the newest expansion.
7. How long have you /played and has that been continuous?
Across my 5 most played characters I've got 227 days, and it certainly hasn't been continuous, mostly because when we reach a certain point in the expansion a lot of people move off elsewhere, and we reached that point months ago. No new content until the next expansion isn't an inviting thought, especially when said expansion is goodness knows how many months away. I do return every now and then, as I have now, and I always think "I'll get soandso to 90!" and I usually gain, like, 5 levels at best before buggering off again. I've done well this time, I managed 6 levels on my Death Knight and 1 level on my Monk. Woo!
8. Admit it: do you read quest text or not?
There's quest text?
In all seriousness, I try to read the quests if I'm in a new zone because they can relay a lot about the place, its past and the current situation, or small storylines, and someone has put a lot of work into writing them when it comes down to it, but it never lasts very long. The only quest I really recall reading was Waptor Twapping.
9. Are there any regrets from your time in game?
I regret that I didn't raid while I lived away from home. Being a full-time carer doesn't allow me to put my time into something like raiding so I really missed out on a lot, even if that opportunity was only during Wrath of the Lich King. I moved back home to be a carer before Cataclysm came out so the only raid experience I have has been when I had already outlevelled each place.
10. What effects has Warcraft had on your life outside gaming?
It's been really good, actually. You'd be surprised. As well as offering escapism when I need it, it also helps me with my writing as I'm able to dive into a broad fantasy world easily, and I often create rough representations of choice characters by looks, race and class (eventhough they're far from accurate since the races in WoW don't exist in my books - and you'll be hard-pushed to convince me to include Elves in my writing - but like I said, very rough representations). Seeing the depth of the history and cultures also gives me examples of structures and guidelines for shaping my own, which is an area I've always struggled with, and from that I've learned that a world without history, whether that history is ever mentioned or not, is a world without depth.
