Last time, I told the story of how I met Thrillseeker - one of my longest in-game friends to date. And though that was one of my fondest WoW memories from 2007, it did take place on Azeroth, and not really in Burning Crusade content. Well today, we're finally ready to step through the Dark Portal and enter the fantastical realm of Outland. I hope you enjoy! If you do, then add yourself to my mailing list below, and leave a comment letting me know what memories you have from back in the day. I'd love to hear your stories as well!
So, sit back, relax and enjoy as I recount my first true Burning Crusade experience...
Memories of TBC
Episode 4: Through the Dark Portal
It was sometime around the early summer of 2007. As usual, the exact date eludes me, but since I was comfortably seated at my final host family's coffee table in Gifu, Japan, I'm sure it was probably around June. My study abroad was winding down at that point and though I was sad to be leaving the country that I'd come to love so much, I was also excited to get my hands on my own copy of The Burning Crusade when I got home.
Well, as fate would have it, I didn't need to wait - at least not for a taste. You see, Blizzard implemented a free trial of The Burning Crusade to players who hadn't upgraded their accounts by that point. After hearing this news from Leika, I exploded with excitement. Even though it would only be for ten days (and I wouldn't be able to actually level up), I would finally be able to see what was beyond the dark portal for myself!
So on that hot summer day, I fired up the family laptop, activated the free trial, and logged onto my priest to begin my Outland journey. As usual, Silvite was parked in Ironforge, so I had to wait for the long flight down south to Nethergarde Keep, but that only increased the excitement welling up within me. By the time the gryphon had landed, I was quite literally trembling. I mounted my Stormsaber, which I was still mighty proud of attaining as a human mind you, and I headed south toward where the Dark Portal stood.
By this point in TBC, the crater was completely deserted. Everyone who was interested in the expansion had come and passed through months ago, but that allowed me to take in everything that was there - the NPCs standing around outside, the two massive statues that I'd seen on the loading screen so many times over the past two years, and of course the massive green swirly portal that beckoned me toward it. Finally, I decided it was time, and I charged forward.
After a full minute or so stuck on the loading screen, I found myself on the Stair of Destiny facing an alien world. And while I'm sure many people's first memories of Outland are of the massive army fighting the pit lord's forces at the base of the portal, mine was the sky. The glowing green lights and many celestial orbs high above the zone absolutely enthralled me - especially when I looked down to see the barren, hellish wasteland that was Hellfire Peninsula. Running forward down the first portion of the steps, I found the first quest giver for the zone.
"Take the flight to Honor Hold!" he told me.
"Well alright. I guess I'm heading to Honor Hold." I thought to myself as I hopped on the gryphon he provided. Over the wasteland Silvite flew and again, I took in all the sights I could. There was a road running along the middle of the zone, as well as swarms of elite demons on the ground below. I looked up at the sky again, amazed by its appearance. Why was this world so different from Azeroth? And why exactly were we here? I didn't have the faintest clue about the lore of Outland, but I was ready to find out.
But, one thing at a time! To start, I had some quests to do. Upon landing in Honor Hold, I set about exploring - finding the inn and setting my hearthstone there, running to the top of the keep, and checking out the towers on the outskirts of town. At this point in my adventure, all of the quests and events start to blur together into a mass of Hellfire Peninsula, so I'm not 100% sure of exactly how each bit went over that few days of the trial. Still, there is one quest that I do remember vividly - the gathering quest Waste Not, Want Not.
The general premise of this quest was, and still is, very simple: go gather some wood and metal in the area just north of Honor Hold. However, as I was still a noob even at level 60, this quest took me far longer than I would like to admit. You see, there were lots of fel orcs spread throughout this area that liked to wander back and forth around the edge of the cliff. The casters and normal orcs weren't too difficult on their own, but more than once I was caught off guard by one of the wolf riders wandering nearby. To make matters worse, there was also a level 61 elite patrol, Tagar Spinebreaker, who snuck up on me more than once when I got too far to the left.
The worst part about doing this quest, however, was actually finding the metal and wood. Having taken nearly a year to level to 60 back in Vanilla, I was no stranger to item collection quests, but on the family laptop I was using at the time, I had a very hard time distinguishing what objects were metals for the quest, or part of the broken-down catapults that I couldn't click on. Combine this with the numerous fel orcs swarming the area and my own incompetence as a player back then, and you can see how this quest gave me so much trouble.
Eventually, after probably a full hour of killing orcs and clicking on scenery, I finished that quest and headed back toward Honor Hold to turn it in. And while the reward options weren't useful to me as a priest, I felt great that my adventure in Outland had finally begun...
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I hope you enjoyed this brief story about my first proper Burning Crusade experience. I had many more adventures during that 10 day expansion trial, but since I stopped questing in Hellfire when my experience capped (1 away from leveling up to 61), I'm not really sure where I finally finished. Still, it was fun for sure, and I was really happy to finally step into that crazy outer-space realm. And now more than ever, I'm super-stoked to do it all again when Classic TBC is out!
But anyway, that's it for today. If you enjoyed this post, let me know by leaving a comment down below! Also, consider adding yourself to my mailing list so you don't miss out on more stories like this in the future. Follow me over on Twitter for updates as well, and consider checking out my YouTube channel if you enjoy video content too! Thanks for reading, have an amazing day, and as always...
Take it easy!
 |
| TBC Free Trial (Advertisement) |
Well, as fate would have it, I didn't need to wait - at least not for a taste. You see, Blizzard implemented a free trial of The Burning Crusade to players who hadn't upgraded their accounts by that point. After hearing this news from Leika, I exploded with excitement. Even though it would only be for ten days (and I wouldn't be able to actually level up), I would finally be able to see what was beyond the dark portal for myself!
So on that hot summer day, I fired up the family laptop, activated the free trial, and logged onto my priest to begin my Outland journey. As usual, Silvite was parked in Ironforge, so I had to wait for the long flight down south to Nethergarde Keep, but that only increased the excitement welling up within me. By the time the gryphon had landed, I was quite literally trembling. I mounted my Stormsaber, which I was still mighty proud of attaining as a human mind you, and I headed south toward where the Dark Portal stood.
 |
| The Dark Portal (Blasted Lands) |
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| Hellfire Peninsula |
"Take the flight to Honor Hold!" he told me.
"Well alright. I guess I'm heading to Honor Hold." I thought to myself as I hopped on the gryphon he provided. Over the wasteland Silvite flew and again, I took in all the sights I could. There was a road running along the middle of the zone, as well as swarms of elite demons on the ground below. I looked up at the sky again, amazed by its appearance. Why was this world so different from Azeroth? And why exactly were we here? I didn't have the faintest clue about the lore of Outland, but I was ready to find out.
But, one thing at a time! To start, I had some quests to do. Upon landing in Honor Hold, I set about exploring - finding the inn and setting my hearthstone there, running to the top of the keep, and checking out the towers on the outskirts of town. At this point in my adventure, all of the quests and events start to blur together into a mass of Hellfire Peninsula, so I'm not 100% sure of exactly how each bit went over that few days of the trial. Still, there is one quest that I do remember vividly - the gathering quest Waste Not, Want Not.
 |
| Tagar Spinebreaker |
The worst part about doing this quest, however, was actually finding the metal and wood. Having taken nearly a year to level to 60 back in Vanilla, I was no stranger to item collection quests, but on the family laptop I was using at the time, I had a very hard time distinguishing what objects were metals for the quest, or part of the broken-down catapults that I couldn't click on. Combine this with the numerous fel orcs swarming the area and my own incompetence as a player back then, and you can see how this quest gave me so much trouble.
Eventually, after probably a full hour of killing orcs and clicking on scenery, I finished that quest and headed back toward Honor Hold to turn it in. And while the reward options weren't useful to me as a priest, I felt great that my adventure in Outland had finally begun...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you enjoyed this brief story about my first proper Burning Crusade experience. I had many more adventures during that 10 day expansion trial, but since I stopped questing in Hellfire when my experience capped (1 away from leveling up to 61), I'm not really sure where I finally finished. Still, it was fun for sure, and I was really happy to finally step into that crazy outer-space realm. And now more than ever, I'm super-stoked to do it all again when Classic TBC is out!
But anyway, that's it for today. If you enjoyed this post, let me know by leaving a comment down below! Also, consider adding yourself to my mailing list so you don't miss out on more stories like this in the future. Follow me over on Twitter for updates as well, and consider checking out my YouTube channel if you enjoy video content too! Thanks for reading, have an amazing day, and as always...
Take it easy!
ReplyDeleteBlizzard appears to be looking at mywowgold name changes in an effort to gain trust following the lawsuit. However, some may be skeptical about whether these are genuine changes or just superficial changes in the midst of a battle to defend the suit's merits. Of course, WoW is still a huge MMORPG . It remains to be seen what the impact of the lawsuit will be going forward, although development has reportedly slowed due to the severity of allegations. WoW Classic is currently preparing for the Overlords of Outland Update on Wow TBC gold the 15th of September.