Memories of Vanilla #6 - Heading North

Hey dudes! Welcome back to Memories of Vanilla.

Last time, I told the story of how Stitches welcomed me to Duskwood. It was good times, but now we're really going to start flying forward.

It was around this time, or maybe a bit before this, that school had started again in real life, so my time to play World of Warcraft at my friend Leika's house was getting more and more limited. Being the bro that he was though, he said he'd help me out.

See, Leika's about four years older than me, so he was already working and earning his own money from a full-time job at this point while I was still a sophomore in high school. While I was studying, he was working and looking up new parts for his PC on Newegg. I'm not sure exactly when, but at
some point in the early fall, he had enough money to basically completely rebuild his PC. And so, as bros do, he took the parts from his old PC, got a new case, and built me a computer of my own.

It's worth mentioning that it wasn't my first PC. I actually forgot that I had a computer before this, but it was more than a piece of crap - 4GB hard drive, maybe 256mb of ram if I remember correctly, and an on-board graphics card that could barely run Windows 98 games. I'm also fairly certain that I'd killed it by this point, although I don't remember for sure what happened to it.

My Original PC

And so, when I got my new computer from Leika, I was stoked. I'd finally be able to play WoW at home!

Now, this was still before Blizzard allowed character transfers, even between one's own accounts if I remember correctly, so my priest was still on his account. Luckily though, I got home from school between 3-4PM most days, and he wouldn't get home from work until around 5 or 6, so I got a lot of gaming time in during the gap. Eventually though, I would get kicked off and have to go do something else.

Sven, the Questgiver

However, since I could play more, I began leveling much faster. I clearly remember that I was still in Duskwood when I got the computer, and quickly wrapped up the Raven Hill quests soon after. One quest, however, tasked me with going to a place called Menethil Harbor in the Wetlands. Confused, I opened my map and searched, eventually finding the Wetlands just north of Ironforge.

Now, since I was on my own at this point, drinking Mountain Dew at my own computer in the basement, I couldn't just ask Leika for help. I had to figure this out. Luckily, I had already been to Ironforge and Loch Modan before this, having completed a quest in Elwynn Forest that took me there, so I hopped on a gryphon, went afk (as you do), and came back about 10 minutes later as I was landing in Thelsamar.

Thus began my next epic journey: finding the right gate into the Wetlands.

Travelling north, I entered a gateway that took me into a snowy area - Dun Morogh - and followed the path for a while before realizing my mistake. Turning around, I made my way back into Loch Modan and ran around the north tower until I found the right gate. Sighing, I made my way through and down the twisty-turny path into the crocolisk-invested zone.

The Wetlands

I followed the path for what seemed like ages - after all, the harbor was on the westernmost point of the zone and I had entered at the south-eastern end of the path - before finally coming to a crossroads. Now, my gut told me to turn right and follow the path, but I thought that I should be a bit more careful, lest I end up going the wrong way again like I just had. Looking around, I noticed a signpost nearby. Scrolling my mouse over it, I found my answer.

<-----Menethil Harbor
-----> Arathi Highlands

Ok, so it's a good thing I didn't listen to my gut on that one.

Menethil Harbor - I Made It!

Continuing down the everlasting path, I eventually came to the bridge that marked the entrance to Menethil Harbor. With another sigh, I ran straight over to the flight master, got the flight path, and vowed to never make that trip on foot again.

I finished up the Morbent Fel quest shortly after that, doing the quests required of it in the Wetlands (albeit with several deaths to the ghosts in the shipwrecks to the north), flying back down to Duskwood, and taking him out with a party without significant trouble. But to this day, I still remember that epic journey north - the split paths that I faced and the feeling of achievement, and relief, when I finally reached my destination.

I hope you enjoyed this installment of Memories of Vanilla. If you did, leave a comment telling about your own memories of traversing the World of Warcraft back in the day. I'd love to hear your story. Also remember to check back for more content, as I plan to continue this series until World of Warcraft: Classic finally launches next summer. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter and check out my YouTube channel.

Until the next installment, take it easy!