As the expansion winds down I've found myself thinking back on all that's happened since the Cataclysm. Due to very large breaks in Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King this is the first expansion I experienced all the way through and when I look back I realize how far I've come in-game.
This was a pretty eventful expansion for me. I was able to achieve server first for Engineering while Eluniar took Leatherworking. Leveling was pretty interesting and I tried out the new Archaeology thing. I had only recently hit old gold-cap of 214k and change so I set my sights on the new gold cap of 1 million gold.
I quickly set my sights on something I couldn't finish in Wrath: Shadowmourne. I was a tank for all of Wrath and so I was at the bottom of the priority list when ICC was current content. For the first several months of Cataclysm I herded a ragtag bunch of cats through Icecrown Citadel, netting myself an orange axe, some nice vanity items, and a complete hatred of ICC. (Over a year of raiding it every week really wears you down!)
We are in Legacy of the Illuminati, a rather tight-knit friends and family PvE guild. We're not the best of the best but we're within the first dozen guilds on our server more often than not as far as raid progression. While we didn't expect to get any server first boss kills we were able to really pull together as a guild and grab Realm First Guild Level 25. I can definitely say that the time we spent coming together to push for that achievement was the most fun I've ever had with my guild. (Though I can also definitely say I never want to run Halls of Origination ever again!)
I was rejoined by some old friends, transferring my original Faid character (now named Rixen) and my warlock to the Alliance from my old server where I played Horde. It was fun to be playing my long-forgotten BC main again, even if she's now alt-status.
We had a lot of issues with rostering tanks this expansion. Our main tank in Wrath rerolled as a resto druid and so we were left with myself and a DK who eventually rerolled as a druid as well, then quit. Tank instability impeded our progress quite a bit but we pulled together and have accomplished nearly all of the raiding goals we have this expansion. All three of our main spec DPS casters have legendary staves, our rogue has legendary daggers.
I eventually hit 1 million gold, then moved on and hit 2 million gold as well. I've spent a significant amount of that on mounts including completing my own personal challenge: Buying a Swift Spectral Tiger. In fact, I bought a Swift Spectral for myself and two non-epics, one for myself and one for Eluniar.
I'm back down to about 1.2 million and this is probably where I will hover in preparation for Mists of Pandaria.
All in all I'm pleased about how Cataclysm's gone. My friends, aka my raid group, are still going strong and we've done well as a team. Most of my goals were met and then some. Regardless of how I view the quality of content I will say I found Cataclysm a very fun time for me.
Current Stats:
Achievement Points: 13,070
Mounts: 158
Pets: 167
Titles: 53
Gold: ~1.2 Million Liquid
Favorite Memory this Expac: Server First Guild Level 25
I only reached level 80 a few days ago, and so far I am really enjoying the new content. So far, the dungeons are a lot more exciting. There is a lot more tension, interesting mechanics, and also a pretty interesting story in them all. I do miss the storyline of the Lich King, but this is also pretty good.
ReplyDeleteI've been reading your blog for a while now and while I enjoy your posts and have used your gold making ideas on my own server, I have never really had anything to comment on. Well, I finally found something...I understand your feelings about Halls of Origination. My Guild ended up pushing and getting Realm First: Guild level 25 on our server as well. It was a fantastic feeling to get it, but I don't think I ever ran HoO again.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work!