That’s right, I was one of the (crazy) who stayed up until 3am EST to log into the new World of Warcraft Cataclysm expansion. There wasn’t a whole lot I wanted to do at 3am, but I really enjoyed the over all festive feeling that was spread through the game and amongst friends on twitter. It felt great to be a part of something big. I logged in without any issues after a brief 5 minute wait, created my new druid wargen, as well as my new goblin mage, and relogged back to my main to purchase the new flying skill. Apparently a billion other players had the same idea, and this was the image I was met with.
Many were crying out in frustration as there were obviously a few folks who had decided to purposely hang around after they obtained their skill. Thankfully one kind soul explained a work around. Open your key bindings, go down to targeting, and find the option to interact with a target. Set the key to something simple (I used the minus key on my number pad) and save. Then /target name (whatever the name of your flight trainer may be, the Orgrimmar one started with Maz, which was easy enough). Once you have the target hit the key you bound, and presto, you can interact with the target without having to use the mouse and combat every other player on your server.
What I really want to talk about are guild levels. I decided to start a guild because after spending a few days watching channels I realized the chances of me finding a mature guild that I didn’t want to send back to their mommies after a week was going to be impossible. I’m not interested in raiding I just like to have a quiet place to call home. I do have a few friends who play on the same server (hopefully more, eventually) and honestly I’d rather just be in a guild of me myself and I if I really have to.
A few things I really like that blizzard does. Number one, your guild tabard actually feels like it means something. It’s shown on your guild window, it’s on your calendar, it’s on your web site mechanics. Apparently there is a mount this expansion that will stream your guild image behind you.
Number two, with this expansion came guild levels. There is a daily cap on how much experience your guild can earn in one day which I really like, it keeps guilds in sync. The rewards for leveling a guild actually encourage you to do things – as a guild. You can earn things such as 5% and 10% experience bonus. A 15 minute cool down on your hearth. Mounts. Gear (including heirloom helms and cloaks). 10% reduction in your gear being damaged. Ports to cities. The list goes on and on. These are things I really wish EQ2 had granted as guild rewards instead of unlocking house sizes and mounts.
You now gain faction with your guild – encouragement to actually stick to one and not bounce from place to place. I still need an alliance home some place (if you have a suggestion please don’t hesitate to let me know, the server doesn’t matter to me) but for now Firetree, and Dragons Flight, will be home.
Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!
I didn’t know that they were adding Guild level to this expansion.