That Damn Role Player

Recently there was a shared topic thrown up on Blog Azeroth and I thought I would go ahead and jump in with my own. Sure, it’s a few days late, but it’s never too late for a good topic, right?

Most of my 10 are memories shared with friends or with my husband, whom I leveled my first character with.

• My first 5 gold. In the beginning of my WoW experience, coin was hard to get and you worked for every single copper you made. As a wee newbie, I didn’t realize how expensive things bought from merchants were. I got tired of having to run back to the merchant after every 4 or 5 kills just to empty out my single bag so I politely and in-character asked in General chat where I might find a merchant to purchase a bag from. Someone (I wish I could remember his name) contacted me in whispers and just as politely, and in-character explained where I might find them. He was in the newbie area and found me and we conversed for a brief period of time. He then generously handed me 5 gold and 4 Runecloth bags for “Being polite and role-playing with him”. I was astounded. That seemed like so much coin to me at the time and I was so incredibly grateful. With the need for bags taken care of, I didn’t need to spend the coin on anything, so I carefully hoarded it away for many many levels. I hope he realized what a wonderful impression he made on someone who had just barely started playing WoW. /salute
• Our first run to Darkshire. As I mentioned, my husband and I leveled our first characters together for the most part. I, the aristocratic human mage, and he the rough and tumble dwarf warrior. We shared many firsts. Our first run from Lakeshire to Darkshire was the most exciting and terrifying experience in game. We were a meager level 13. The woods were dark and spooky, the sounds chilled the blood. Those spiders were so big! And so much higher in level than we were! After all, level 21 was soooo far away from where we were! We laughed as we ran that road, we gasped as the spiders came charging out of the trees looking for an easy meal, we breathed a sigh of relief when we finally made it into town. It was exciting and magical and I wish I could get those times back. Everytime I fly or ride or run into Darkshire, I remember that first run. Nothing will every match it.
• My first gryphon flight. We’d come from a game where, at the time we left, there was no in-game flight. In some vague way, I was aware that it was possible in WoW but it was one of those things that seemed far away for me to experience. When I went to Westfall for the first time I met the flight master there and for a quest was put on a bird. Wow! I had never experienced anything like it! I was FLYING! I took screen shots from every possible angle, I sat on the edge of my seat, my eyes focused on everything passing beneath me. It was amazing! Of course, at the time, money was in short supply and that 1 silver cost for the flight seemed outrageous so it was a while before I did it again. I ran that road between Stormwind and Westfall for a long time.
• My first large scale RP event. I think it was a Rose Ball. An annual ball put on by Order of the Rose, but I couldn’t say for sure. I know it was in Twilight Grove in Duskwood (before it was occupied by a large and cranky dragon). Merly was in her late teens, maybe early twenties and I had decided to dress her up and take her to a RP event. I was nervous. I didn’t really know anyone. Would anyone talk to me? Would I feel like I belonged or be an outsider looking in? Mustering my courage I went anyway. I spoke briefly with a few people, just general greetings and the like, but mostly ended up on the outside. Most everyone there knew each other and I was just some random lowbie that showed up. I was just getting ready to slink away when a random dwarf I didn’t know asked Merly to dance. She of course accepted and we chatted briefly then went about our merry mingling. It was Homrend of the Boomstick Gang and while I know he doesn’t remember me, I will always remember that friendly dwarf helping a new RPer feel welcome at a big event where she felt terribly alone.
• The best wipe EVAR! Strange as it may sound, it was in Deadmines. Nauloera, Laonier, Kyraine, and Rinjanir were working their way through Deadmines and as we enter the area over the goblins doing all the smelting, Kyraine says “You know what I’ve always wanted to do?”. She wanted to jump over the edge and see how many she could grab at once. Okay. So over we go. We struggled valiantly for a few minutes as the goblins realized we were there and proceeded to stomp on us, but it was the best few minutes ever! We laughed, we cheered, and Kyraine got her first Black Ribbon Award. For the record, you rock, Ky. <3
• My first non-combat pet. I met the cat lady in Elwynn Forest. I never believed she was crazy because if I had that much land, I’d have a couple dozen cats too. I saw what she was selling and my eyes got so big! Cats! You could have a cat that followed you around! Oh wow! I was so excited and I wanted one for little Merly so bad! But they were 50 silver each! My frugal nature warred with my desire to have one of my favorite animals IRL, in game. When I saw they had an orange tabby, my frugal nature lost. I snatched one up and named it after my RL orange tabby named Tigger. I was so happy that Tigger could play with me in game. Sadly, after 18 1/2 years, my RL Tigger passed away last year. Whenever I let in-game Tigger out of his carrier, though, I know that in some small way, he’s still with me.
• Capturing Bjarn. This is the main reason I will never delete my little hunter, Ithrene. She’s a dwarf and I was merrily leveling her in dwarf lands. When I went to make my first run to Ironforge my husband said, “Hey! Bjarn is up in Dun Morogh.” I replied. “That’s nice. What’s a Bjarn?” He explained about the rare white bear that spawns out there and that I should go take a look. So off she trotted to look at this rare white bear. So when I got there and saw this rare white bear wandering back and forth, something in little Ith snapped. She had to have it. But she was only level 6 at the time. Bjarn was level 12. So Kan stepped up to the plate and we spent the next couple hours slamming Ith through all of her quests and then some in an effort to get her high enough to tame Bjarn. It was a spectacular effort and when we went back to find the bear, he, fortunately, was still there. She tamed him and named him KaeAskavi and has run with him ever since. After what we went through to get him, if I ever deleted Ith, Kan would throttle me.
• Healing Blackrock Depths at level 40. Did you know you cannot actually step into BRD until level 40 but at that time, all bets are off. When I started leveling my priest, my small circle of friends were so excited. I intended to level Holy and keep her Holy so that we would have a dedicated healer. Throughout the leveling process I found myself dragged to any number of instances to “test what she could do”. At level 40, she began healing BRD. Granted, those taking her in were level 70, but when you pull 15 mobs at a time, there is still damage taken and a need for a healer. I learned real fast what that Fade button is and is not capable of doing. I learned real fast about mana conservation. I learned real fast that crit heals are not always a good thing. And I learned real fast that a healer should always know when it is time to turn tail and run. It was fun, it was silly and it was some of the best times with my greatest friends. They started her healing in Blackrock Spire at 45.
• Meeting Hugnir and Randiriel. I have several friends in game, but Hugnir and Randiriel are the best ones. Strangely, I met them separately; Randiriel I met at a weekly event I used to host and Hugnir I met by sending her a random a whisper with a question I had for her. Both meetings led to friendships that will last long after WoW has faded. We’ve shared laughs, we’ve shared angers, we’ve shared adventures and it never gets old. These two are the best friends anyone could ask for. They are there when I need to cry, to rant, to crow about something really cool and they are always willing to lend an ear, whether it be in game or over the phone. My WoW experience, and my life overall, has been enhanced by knowing them. <3
• Lost Virtue Guild Meeting ’07. The best WoW memory I will ever have and that I will carry with me forever is LV’07. That was when Randiriel, Hugnir, Kanammer and I spent a week together for the first time IRL. It was the most incredible fun. It was planned spur ofthe moment when Hugnir said “I have some vacation I have to use and was thinking about a road trip….”. From there, it snowballed. We scrambled and plotted and worked it so we could all be together for that glorious week. It was so awesome to meet these friends in real life. It was the most fun I’d had in years. We spent the whole week playing WoW together, but the experience was so much more fun when we were all sitting about a foot away from each other. It just reaffirmed my belief that I had the best friends in the world and I wouldn’t trade them for anything.

There are so many more wonderful WoW memories, but these are the ones that stand out the most. The glory of discovery, the warmth of friends, the laughter of the silly things we do. No matter how old or jaded I get, I will always remember those things.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 24th, 2008 at 11:47 am and is filed under General.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.