Laying it on the line…

I recently had a discussion with someone who is one of my most influential bloggers, it was the eve of the midnight release or thereabout and we were talking about what would he would be doing in Cataclysm. The conversation drifted to us discussing what we want to do vs. what we see our expectations being set as as bloggers. Recently, viewers and readers to my sight have been slightly above normal given the expansion release but I want to let you all know what you can expect from me. What to expect from me as a blogger…what to expect from me as a player…what to expect from me as a Paladin…and even what to expect from me as a Guild Master; because the expectations I set will be from a perspective that will still maximize my enjoyment and entertainment while not letting you down because you don’t see what you expected you might.

First as a player and a paladin my goal is not to 85 as fast as I can. I don’t want to get to the end goal and two months down the line out of at least 24 be wondering what to do next. I have legitimate joy right now balancing the “Characters to be leveled” list with three 80s and a slew of freshly rolled alts I had been waiting for. I want to get to 85 and experience the first tier of end game content or heroics but I never want to feel about heroics like I did in Wrath again, so if I can hold that off just a while longer…I will. As a paladin, I want to know if the healing at 83+ is better than healing Wrath content was, because I will admit I didn’t like it. The mechanics were built for a different style of damage and while there were those that perservered and succeeded, I went back to melee dps for a few go’s, but I never tried for the Lich King again after the release of 4.0.3. I was out of the Wrath mindset and much too excited for the characters I would be rolling soon. I was still okay with the progress I had made. I saw the inside of most tiers of end-game content and finished completely Naxxramas and TOC. I also finished OS and Malygos but never RS.

As a blogger, you can expect to see the same things you have been seeing. Lately, I have slacked off on the emphasis of holy paladining because the basis or the foundation wasn’t changing but as of this moment you will still see this information. It will range from leveling a new alt to leveling out of 80 and when I get there, healing at 85. There is so much I can talk about when it comes to being a holy paladin and if it comes down the line that I won’t be healing any more…not saying this is the case btw…you will be the first to know. But in addition to that, you can expect to see fun tales of that worgen I rolled or here me talk and go on about just how much FUN I had starting a goblin…which btw, if you haven’t done it, do it!

And on top of all of those expectations, I am still guild master to a wonderful guild <Age of the Phoenix>. We are about to hit Level 2 and I have responsibility to them. But like I explained to my friend, I am not setting any goals for them…they can level when they want, they can level what they want or not even buy Catacylysm at all right now because what I am stressing us to do as a guild is be happy…the theme for us right now is CHOICE. We even opened an alliance sister guild for those who wanted to roll worgen because we support them in whatever they do. I would LOVE to post about the guild interface and changes to guilds and I will, it is a facet of who I am as a player, but right now, I am going to go play instead. I don’t what I will do today, but it will be something that won’t ding me 85 (maybe 82…possibly) I am pretty certain of that.

I would very much like to take this time to redirect you to some of the posts that you will find extremely helpful in your paladining that cover healing through the Wrath content and level 80:

Holy Paladin glyphs which have been updated for 4.0.3a
Updated Mastery & Spec
Tactical Guide has the paladin patch notes for 4.0.3a

TL;DR

You can expect to see the same hodge podge of posts you have been seeing but I won’t be pushing to 85 so you won’t see end game Paladin stuff until I am there. I want to have fun not burn out too early and be done with the experience. Don’t forget I am a GM so you will more than likely see stuff on that too!