Thoughts about Lich King achievements, and killing time while waiting for the expansion pack to be released.

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Journeys in Azeroth XV

Killing Time

With rumors running rampant as to how soon we may see Wrath of the Lich King released, I've found myself in a bit of a holding pattern as of late with my priest. Instead of running a bunch of instances in search of spiffy gear, I've been farming rep with various factions startig with the Horde. My first goal is to get the epic land mount of every Horde faction. Thus far, I have the blood elves' hawk (chocobo?), the orcs' wolf, and the undead's horse. All that's left are the raptor and the kodo.

The main reason for me doing this is I have a feeling that if I were to try and get a bunch of near gear from raids or grinding battleground, by the time I have enough to be of any consequence with my luck Lich King will come out, and it will all have been a waste of time, as there are suddenly ten more levels of vastly better gear to be had. So, it's a grand effort to farm rep with various factions. Not only does this sometimes allow one to get a new mount, but I would imagine it will help with unlocking a bunch of achievements as well.

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So far, I'm enjoying it quite a bit, as I'm often doing quests way out in the middle of nowhere to scrounge up that last bit of rep that I need for various factions. Seeking exalted status is no mean feat, which I'm quickly realizing first hand (and this is just with the basic factions). It'll be doubly fun should I try to get exalted with some of the other groups in the game. The Steelwheedle

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Cartel is a very good example of this, where a lot of grinding is required. Yes, there's that Dire Maul quest that yields decent rep, but the drop rate is iffy at times for the item needed to complete it. The tough parts will be convincing people to help out with stuff like Brood of Nozdormu rep. That requires plenty of old world questing / farming that a lot of players aren't keen on. Even if I wait till I hit 80 after Lich King, it'll take some doing to farm rep like that.

I am hopeful, though, that with the introduction of achievements, it will encourage more people to try and improve their rep with different factions instead of just obsessing over gear at the higher levels, as is often the case. Not only that, but it would be nice if this new element helps to steer at least some of the community away from obsessing over gear in the game. Finding some nice armor or whatever is well and good, but it's become such a singular goal for a lot of players.

It's funny, some bored players have taken it upon themselves to do weird, random things while playing like leveling without gear, or only using their fists, or trying to reach far off, exotic places. Now with these achievements, Blizzard is rewarding players to some extent. It'll be nice if this feature becomes as popular as it has in Xbox Live.

Mr. Nash

September 8, 2008