If you’ve read the “About the Author?” page on this blog you know by now, that the characters I currently play are not the ones I started out with.
I used to play Alliance. *gasp* I know.
I used to play a healer, not dps. *gasp* Yeah, I know.
I used to raid five days a week, be a class leader and be in charge of all healing during raids, not sit around Shattrath transmuting Primal Earth into Primal Air and get bored. *doublegasp* Yeah, I know…
When my family and I (there’s four of us) decided to leave our guild and realm and start over, we were presented with two choices: Rename and transfer our characters and pick up where we left off somewhere else, or start over from scratch.
The reasons we decided to leave were many fold. Too many people in the leadership of the guild were pulling in too many different directions. Too many different opinions on how things should be handled and too much indecisiveness. Too much weight on too few peoples shoulders. The result was that we lost our flame, could no longer see the fun in the game and towards the end even dreaded turning on the computer and facing the log-in screen. To get to the point: it was simply time for a change.
Being the optimist that I am, I felt that starting over from scratch would be equivalent to a second chance. I’d get to do everything over again, only better this time. It’s kind of like taking the code of an old website and changing it, versus writing new code from scratch. Starting fresh is cleaner and has more potential.
Being the sentimentalist that I am, I did not feel right taking my old main from her home. Forcing her to leave her past and the name she had made for herself behind, only to start over somewhere new, where none of her hard work would matter.
So the choice for me was simple, I wanted to start fresh. Fortunately (I don’t know if for the same reasons) my family wanted to make the same choice and so we decided to start over from scratch and build something new together.
Starting over meant we could (and had to) choose what opportunities and limitations we would have once we got to 70 and eventually on in Wrath to 80. We all voted for endless hours of raiding and epics raining from the skies! Well at least some raiding…
Since there’s four of us and we all love PvE the most, we figured we’d be able to do all instances up to heroics together (without really needing a fifth member), if only we were smart with creating the characters so that they would complement each other. Four characters designed together would also be a decent start for building a 10-man group for Karazhan and maybe even for Wrath of the Lich King, since all raiding-content will be doable on 10-man level. Maybe not as mighty as 25-man, but it has it’s appeals.
Four characters designed together to complement each other is almost half way to seeing all the content the next expantion has to offer. This is no small thing.
Now I know not everyone is in the same situation as us, not everyone decides to start new somewhere else, but I think a lot of us are looking over our choice of main at the moment, since the introduction of the Wrath of the Lich King means we all get a fresh start in a way.
So how to choose what to play?
To PewPew or not to PewPew
Once we decided we wanted to play Horde and found a server we liked, we still had to decide what to play. We had already decided that we wanted our characters to match, i.e. someone had to roll a tank and someone a healer, the other two some sort of dps classes.
Here’s where I think we made the wrong choice. I used to be a healer and Masque used to be a tank. Idara and Malignant used to play dps classes. And we were all really really good at what we did, but given the chance to start fresh, we wanted to try out something different. Idara wanted to try out tanking and Malignant agreed to heal, which left me and Masque with the PewPew. I chose a Mage since I’ve always loved playing casters and I’ve always had a weak spot for Mages in particular. Masque chose to play a shadowpriest.
The reason I say that this is where I think we made the wrong choice is that even though we all did really well in our new roles, it eventually turned out that not everyone was happy. There’s a good reason we used to play the roles we used to play, and it turned out that switching around was not as grand an idea as we first thought it would be. So now we find ourselves in the situation, where (because one person was not happy with their role) we all need to rethink what we will play. Which to some extent means leveling new characters… again.
The Lesson
Now here comes the greatest advice I wish to give to anyone who is considering re-rolling and the main reason I decided to write this post:
What you choose to play should be influenced by two main things (1) what part of the game are you interested in and (2) what are the people around you playing.
1.) what part of the game are you interested in: If your main goal is to become champion over the arena, you should choose a class that performs well in the arena. To find out which class is best suited for this you can look at the top arena teams and see what classes they have to help you decide.
If your main goal is to PvE (and here is where (2) also plays in) you should consider what you are good at. Not everyone has the right mindset to be a tank. Consider what you enjoy doing and ask yourself what is more important: what role/class you play or what part of the game you play. If you plan on raiding on a serious level, you’ll most probably be stuck with the first character you level to 80 so make sure you choose what you really wanted. You should think twice before choosing a healer, even if you’re really good at healing, if you find healing boring, since you otherwise risk to loose your raiding spot while you level a new character.
2.) what are the people around you playing: If you are in the same situation as me, that you play with other people, or if you already are in a raiding guild where most raiders are regular attendants, you’ll have to consider where there might be room for you. For the four of us, one tank was enough. Having two tanks or even three would have spoiled our entire leveling experience when it comes to doing instances. In a guild, it could be that there are too many dps. Choosing to re-roll to a dps class if you are one of the few healers in this guild, might cost you the spot in the guild/raid.
And if your main goal is to see new content and you don’t have a guild to play with, you should scout your server to see what roles are most needed. In general, tank is the role there is most demand for at the moment, but this does not apply to end-game raiding, since 25-mans require fewer tanks-per-capita then 5-mans. This could also change once the expantion goes live, since Death Knights will be able to tank, though this is not certain, since many might choose to play as dps.
In conclusion
When choosing what to play, you should first decide what part of the game you are interested in and then make a choice:
Do you want to experience that part of the game at the cost of playing exactly what you want? I love raiding, a team of people working together towards a common goal. I love to explore new content. As much as I like dps, I can be very much content and even happy with being a healer or tank, if this will get me into raids.
Or do you want to play exatly what you love at the cost of seeing certain parts of the game? I have a friend who chose to be a Moonkin and never ever anything else, but he has accepted the fact that there is not always room for him because of this.
I myself want to experience the social part of the game and to see as much content as possible. So as much as I love playing my Mage, I will be switching over to play a druid instead, since I feel the hybrid classes best fit my goals in the game. By choosing a hybril, I am flexible and will be able to play whatever part needed, thus hopefully always ensuring myself a spot in a group.
Others might prioritize differently.
~~~
The reason I wrote this post is that I find it very important that we reflect over our actions and that we are aware of the consequences of our choices beforehand, so that we have a greater chance to choose right from the start. I hope this was helpful.
Regards,
Aendi
[...] (inspired by this Voodoo Ventures post) [...]
After reading over your blog, there are a couple of things I must respectively disagree with you over.
Certain types of players are healers, if you do not like playing one, then do not level one just for the purpose of seeing content. Last year I made a priest because my guild needed one for Kara and beyond, and three weeks ago I completely burnt out on gameplay, mainly because my primary focus in almost every MMO I’ve ever played is to be up close and personal doing damage. When you are not doing what you ideally want to in a game, its going to affect you sooner or later. For me it was later, but even now im playing my warrior (Arms) and i’m absolutely loving it. It’s like a breath of fresh air. and now im wishing I had put the amount of attention I did with my priest into him.
What I would suggest instead is that you pick a class you absolutely want to play and you make sure you are the best at that class. Yes, servers may be swimming in warlocks, but if you prove to be a great player and a good person to group with you will wind up with a raiding spot sooner or later. If your say a hunter or a rogue, work at it as much as you can and eventually you will get rewarded for great play and “sportsmanship” if you will. MMO’s are like politics, its not what you know, its who you know. and if your a great player and friends with a lot of people, you are set.
Hey Mike!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the subject.
I have to explain myself a bit more I think, because reading your thoughts I feel we are saying the same thing.
I totally support (and strongly recommend) choosing a class you really want to play. I just feel that there is a step to be taken even before that.
First you must ask yourself what matters the most to you, what will make you the most happy: Playing a certain class or seeing certain content.
If the answer is playing a certain class, then you should go for the class you most desire playing. Of course this choice doesn’t mean you’ll end up without a spot in a raiding guild if that is what you desire. But it might mean that you’ll have to work harder to prove yourself.
I just mean that if you ask yourself that question first and base your choices from then on on the answer, you are more likely to not regret your choices further down the line.
I hope I’ve made myself clearer through this response
Regards
Aendi
I’ll have to agree with the healing drains you aspect I am currently in a BT clearing guild and gave up my raid spot because I just do not want to heal anymore it got to the point where I started to fall asleep at the keyboard lol.
This is where I am glad Deathknights are comming into play I can get back to the basics and reroll a melee dps class and not have to start at lvl1 all over again I have 5 Toons in all and the only ones I enjoy playing are my melee dps my rogue / druid. My Resto shaman now sits lifeless in my char selection screen.
Hey,
Interesting post. We’re in sort of a similar situation since all four of us play WoW, but that’s where it ends.
Kids #1 hates to team with people (parents? Ackl!) and is somewhat tired of WoW anyway. Kid #2 gets bored easily and is also tired of WoW. They’ve both been playing since the original beta.
Wife loves WoW but doesn’t make the time to play. Which leaves me.
Your points about picking the right class are spot on. I played a pure healer in another MMO, but was frustrated since she couldn’t fight her way out of a wet paper sack. A little respecing and it was much better. I like to do damage, preferably lots of damage, so that means I’m melee first and ranged DPS second.
I do find tanking interesting though, so maybe I’ll work on that at some point.
Raids? Never been on one. Really. Not even a 5 man. But I’m doing lots of BGs.
@ AzerothCookbook: I know several families like yours and mine who struggle with similar situations and in my experience the will to play together and have WoW as a family activity surpasses the will to play any specific part of the game.
As I’ve said before: my family liked to raid and so that’s what we try to synchronize around.
I would really recommend trying to do one or two 5 man instances with your family. Even if you just choose to make it a short project when the four of you spend a weekend (I’m thinking you’ll have other stuff to do as well) leveling 4 horde characters to level 15 and end the weendend with doing Ragefire Chasm, the instance located inside Orgrimmar.
It will take some time I’m sure, but belive me, it will make the game seem like a whole new game and the teamwork needed will surely be fun for all involved.
Just a tip
Thanks again for your feedback!
Great stuff. I’m going through some soul searching myself. I rolled a priest in WoW because a) I like healers and b) I thought it would be a good way to see content.
As time as gone on, I’ve found that I don’t enjoy healing as much as I thought I would (I spend too much time staring at green bars and not enough time enjoying the content we’re fighting against). And my casual raiding guild is pretty good about letting us play whatever we want, as long as we’re willing to designate a “main” that first dips.
So now that I’ve decided that I *don’t* want to play a healer, it’s time to decide what I *do* want to play and get to work leveling (it definitely will be some kind of pet-less dps, since I don’t like pet classes and my attempts at tanking have been a disaster!)
@Hit: I must admit I almost always nod off during BT trash on my resto druid. I still love healing on boss encounters, though.
On the other hand, I also greatly enjoy playing my prot pally, and my pvp hunter is humongously great for relieving stress and taking out frustrations.
Everything is fun
The trick is you really have to know the class mechanics extremely well to know whether you’ll like it or not. For most people, that means playing the class. I’d recommend reading some blogs and theorycraft on all the candidates.
My last class, druid, I hated levelling but eventually made it because the EJ thread on resto cycles got me so excited. It sounded (and is) challenging. As a self-aware altoholic I love the freedom to respec and pick up offspec loot, even if I rarely actually use it. I like being able to move about and MT heal without being overwritten.
In contrast I just can’t get excited about resto shaman, even though they’re tremendously powerful. CH4 spam and the odd earthshield, meh. Enhancement is fun, but ultimately they’re an autoattack class like retridin – speaking personally, I like spamming specials (although not to the twisted-claw-inducing levels of a prot warrior).
Have you considered getting your whole family to roll druids? It’s totally possible to raid with 4 druids; one bear, one kitty, one tree and one moonkin. If you get bored, swap around! And you’d be very distinctive as “the druid family”.
Admittedly loot might be an issue :/
@ Eldr: Indeed, choosing a class the first time you level up can be very tricky, since you don’t know the mechanics. I agree with your suggestion of looking around on the internet. If you are a new player who just got into the game, you most probably also have a friend or two playing and could ask them (knowing you) what they think might work.
Your suggestion for all of us playing druids is very nice, but I run into the same problem there that I bring up in my post:
you have to decide for yourself what is the most important (what will keep you most happy) class or content. I’ve stated that for me it is content since (as youself) I am an altoholic and love all classes to some extent.
This is not the case for my entire family. Respecting their choice, there is no chance we’ll ever roll 4 druids, since not everyone is interested in the class
Thanks for your contribution to the discussion!
Regards
Aendi