The Burning Crusade

Well, hi!

I tasted the water, with hesitancy, but once the sweet succor upon my lips did touch, away myself I could not pull.

Translation: I bought TBC and I love it.

Just as an update, a few weeks prior to the expansion, I pvp grinded to get myself those Grand Marshal maces and three GM set pieces. Yes, it was quite worth it. I'm still using all my GM gear, mixed with my old Lt. Commander gear, and it's helped immensely in the expansion. The first couple of things I upgraded: rings, ranged weapon, neckpiece. I pretty much have everything else, and I swap individual pieces to max out certain attributes depending on what I'm doing.

And, yes, I'm still combat mace spec. Apparently many rogues are now reverting/converting to combat mace in order to level, as I once did, a very very long time ago. I stuck with it. I love combat maces, and will never change. It's my destiny. Oh well.

Oh, it also goes well with my play style, and is fun as hell to play.

And, yeah, I main tanked the second boss (the big lobster) in the Slave Pens. Seriously. It was awesome.

Guild update: I gave my guild (Forge) an ultimatum: We're a raid guild, prepare to raid, desire to raid, have the dedication and competency to raid, or kindly depart. Perhaps too harsh, but I'm really a softie. Obviously we're not raiding just yet (not enough 70s), but we're leveling at a fairly steady rate, and are starting to get through the required quests for the level 70 instances. Oh, and guild retention was about 98%.

Expansion: Once I set foot through the portal, and ever since, I was thoroughly impressed. The size and complexity of the expansion was well worth the two year "gap." Honestly, I don't believe in the theory that all MMORPGs should come out with an expansion every year. I think that's too quick. Blizzard has done an absolutely wonderful job for the past two years coming out with patches full of new content. This expansion is like icing on the cake, plus another cake. And maybe a case of beer.

Why is it impressive?

- it's HUGE
- flying mounts
- easy and quick quests that give you a taste, but don't burden you too much
- hilarious movie/etc. references throughout the expansion
- a variety of world pvp (not all are that well implemented, but at least they're trying)
- arenas
- two new races (which I haven't even begun to fully explore)
- max 25-man instances (this is the best feature)
- many new 5-10-man instances (second-best feature) that don't take five+ hours each

In short, clear and fun goals that can be completed in one sitting, thus catering to absolutely every player type. I can log on, get in a 5-man group, and run any of the 5-man instances in under an hour, have a lot of fun, get some gear, log off, and have a real life, too. Thanks, Blizzard!

[Editorial note: Of course I don't log on for merely an hour! But, if I did, I'd still be happy with the game.]

As my guild and I progress and explore/conquer, I'll update the blog.

Woot.