Catch Up Before Proceeding:
Chapter 1: An Introduction
Chapter 2: Joining The Crusade
Chapter 3: Get Back To Where You Once Belong
Chapter 4: The Journey So Far

Adnil’s current level: 31

Ever since I’ve been writing this series I’ve grown more and more attached to this game. Simultaneously Dan had been getting more and more interested in playing and I always tried to egg him on to just purchase it and get going. Not too long ago he had his 30th birthday and I saw it as the perfect opportunity to force his hand, so I gave him the original game as a gift and I’m not entirely sure that he’s stopped playing since then. Naturally, this has also furthered my enthusiasm for the game and I think I can say that I’m now officially addicted.

Part of what has fueled this addiction is that I recently hit level 30. Adnil picked up Astral Recall which is basically a second hearth stone and will definitely come in handy. When you play a shaman your major task becomes juggling all the totems you pick up along the way and at this early point there are already a ton. The last time I played I picked up my air totem from the top of the mountain where Exodar lies, which was awesome and an excellent illustration to where the questing in Burning Crusade dominates that of the original game.

I was listening to the excellent Legendary Thread podcast from 1up and they made a joke that hitting level 27 is kind of like hitting WoW puberty in the way that soloing just doesn’t cut it any more. This is almost entirely true. I can still solo, it just takes a lot longer now. When Dan and I group up we rip through quests pretty quickly. It seems like soloing will just be for grinding for a while.

Now that I understand the game more I’ve noticed that my conversations have gotten a whole lot dorkier too. It’s common place for to talk about re-speccing my gear to increase my mana pool and not laugh or go “Huhwhat?”. Sometimes at work Dan and I will be talking about a certain quest, some great finds on the auction house or spells we picked up and someone who overhears us will just look at us and laugh. The funny thing is, we don’t give a damn. I’ve come to realize that this game is pretty special and there’s a reason so many people play it, but I think we both know that we’ve barely scratched the surface.