BBB has been pondering his plans for the expansion. So have I.
First up, there’s Patch 5.0 just around the corner. Next Tuesday, I’m going to go to the bookstore and buy Tides of War. Maybe I’ll go to the grocery store and get some chocolate and ice cream, too. Then I’ll curl up with the book and read it cover-to-cover. Only after I’ve finished the book will I fire up the game, download the patch, and go play the Theramore scenarios — so that might not be until Wednesday. I’m not going to be looking at any other bloggers’ commentaries on the Theramore event/Tides of War until after I’ve seen and experienced it for myself, either.
The next looming date for me is September 7th. That’s when the semester begins at the university I’m adjuncting at this term. It doesn’t make much sense to start off a lab class in the middle of the week, though, so my actual first day of class will be the next Monday, September 10th. The lab class is closely integrated with the lecture, so I’m anxiously awaiting the completely finished lab manual and syllabus from the lecture instructor/course director so that I can make my own first-day handouts. I’m excited about the course because it’s something new — an upper-division biochemistry lab after years of teaching freshman general chemistry labs — but I’m also a little bit nervous and anxious about it because I haven’t actually done all of the procedures in the scheduled experiments myself. I didn’t take this type of course as an undergraduate because I was a pure chemistry major (I did an upper-division analytical chemistry lab instead), and I only used some of the techniques during my graduate work.
My lab classes, each four hours long, are on Monday afternoon and early Tuesday morning. I probably won’t be staying up late on September 24th saying goodbye to Cataclysm! At this point, I’m planning to swing by Walmart or GameStop or something on my way home from campus on Tuesday afternoon to pick up Mists.
In the short term, immediately after Mists launches, BTH and I will be leveling from 85 to 90 together with his Bear and Kam. We also plan to roll up (har har) and level together a pair of Tauren Monks. Mine will be Mistweaver/Windwalker, and his will probably be Windwalker/Brewmaster. I’m really looking forward to playing WoW together again!
I will also create and level initially at least to 20 and eventually at least to 40 a Pandaren Mage, who will choose Horde because she is a woman of action in-character and to even out the faction imbalance in my coterie of Mages out-of-character.
In the long term, across the whole 1.5-to-2 year expected duration of Mists, I have been thinking lately that Mists will be the Expansion Of The Alt for me.
After we reach level 90, BTH will definitely be gearing up to raid. He’s not too happy with his current guild, so he may go guild-shopping… and if he transfers server again, Kam may not follow at all.
There are so many other things I want to spend my time on in the game besides focusing on getting a single character raid-ready and keeping her raid-ready. In the past two years, I’ve had lots of fun playing my Tauren Paladin as Protection and my Blood Elf Paladin as Holy. I enjoyed tanking with my Paladin so much that I thought I’d like to try out the other shield tank, the Prot Warrior, too — but I haven’t spent much time with either one of them for quite a while. I am planning to level Kerisa as a Tree in Mists, via dungeons and scenarios, because I want to try my hand at Druid healing and haven’t really managed to get around to it yet. I still haven’t finished questing through Shattered Kalimdor with my Tauren Disc/Holy Priest, let alone seeing the Alliance side of the story with my Night Elf Mage. I want to make more significant progress on my very-long-term goal of getting a character of every Class to max-level. And my gaggle of Mages all want to be levelled so that I can play Transmogrification Dress-up with them. For all the angsting and whinging about what am I going to do about raiding in Mists?! I’ve been doing, it’s looking more and more like LFR and LBR may be all the raiding I really, truly want to do, after all.
As for all that “preparation” stuff — inventory space, gold, professions, glyphs, et cetera?
/kermitflail
Quoth the raven: “Theramore!”
XD
Even though Cymre is the priority for me, I will still focus on getting my other professions on other toons too. But I guess I will be questing with my Hunter second, if anything. I agree though, with the lifting of the daily cap and the vast number of things to do it will be a case of ‘need more time’
Same here — main first, then other characters based on their professions. Kerisa will have to be my second character to 90 because she is my Scribe and I will want to make my own shoulder enchants. Kregga, being my Alchemist and Enchanter, will probably be third.
Cat will go first, I hadn’t decided which profession should be next but scribe does sound like a plan. Since she leveled sitting in SW doing dailies I think I’d better see to her gear. I think it’s hovering somewhere under 300, ouch!
Eeep! Perhaps you can find her some reasonably priced crafted gear?
Working on some organizational things around the blog has reminded me that something else I need to do ASAP after Mists launches is incorporate the Pandaren into my Azeroth Beautician’s Manual of Feminine Style!
Getting the organizational stuff done is probably my biggest sticking point. I have to be in just the right mood to do it, and it hasn’t happened yet. I’m going to have to force myself to get started soon, or I’m going to run out of time!
I made myself do some of the inventory management stuff shortly after I wrote this post, but I’m still working on all the rest of it.