Leveling on Rails
Taking my previous leveling extravaganza as a sample, its quite obvious that speed is not my forte. My hunter meandered through levels for almost 4 years before I managed to get her to 80.
Since speed is the main factor in leveling up my warlock, I decided to get help – help in the form of a guide. A friend linked me this site:
There is a web-based version, but I thought that the mod (addon) would probably be faster. So yesterday I installed it and the three base mods it calls for.
It’s like leveling on rails. Truly amazing!
Since my character started in the forties I had a harder time catching up to where the guide wanted me to be with quests and locations. It took about half a level to get on track, but once I had, it was fairly smooth sailing.
Questing is broken down into nibble-sized chunks and each step is succinctly stated. When you complete that steps objective the next one pops up.
This has been incredible at helping me focus. It takes my whim out of questing, for if I want to stick with the guide I have to stick to the tracks. Each quest that I take that isn’t part of the guide gets angry red warning signs posted all over it.
I do understand that the guide has optimized questing time, but I have to admit that there is a bit of faith involved since at 45 I was instructed to go to Undercity for a section of the guide that was labeled Tanaris (they are on different continents). Once I finally made it to Tanaris I picked up myriad quests, completed a few, and promptly left for a different area. I’m assuming that I go back sometime in the future since I still have quite a few left in my quest log.
My play experience so far has included a few errors, but they are easy to adjust for. It just means you have to pay a little more attention. No afk leveling on this mod. =)
Playing through the guide I almost see the rails (the arrow in the middle of the screen makes a rather insistent representation of rails). It makes me wonder when I see others players in the same area, if they are also riding Jame’s Leveling Train.
Tags: addons, guide, levels, warlock, world of warcraft
April 7th, 2009 at 9:48 am
Yeah, it should be said that if you actually enjoy playing the character, you should NOT use one of these guides. But they are certainly handy for leveling up a character quickly if you’re just wanting to get that character to max level.
April 7th, 2009 at 11:19 am
LOL!
Well sort of. I think I would phrase it: if you don’t mind skipping most of the game, use a guide.
I really dont mind fast tracking through most of these areas, since I have played most of them already. My goal really is to play with friends who are all level 80.
April 8th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Hm, hard to describe what I meant.
For me:
fast-tracking != playing my character
When using a guide, I’m not playing my character the way I normally do. The things I do aren’t what I choose, the way I play isn’t how I choose, etc. Know what I mean? If it’s a character I like playing, fast-tracking just means missing out on a lot of what makes playing that character fun. Of course, for me that also applies to raiding.
Not saying I didn’t use guides. I just used them for characters I didn’t particularly enjoy playing, like Priests and Warriors. =)
All the friends are level 80, eh?
April 8th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
All the friends who play! =P
I think I see what you mean, but for me I do feel like I am playing my character, just not experiencing much of the game outside my character.
Having my warlock group and auto follow my level 80 hunter through a dungeon feels more like not playing my character. I am quite literally not playing. =P