Memories of TBC - Episode 4: Through the Dark Portal

Hey dudes - Silvite Soltis here and today I'm back with the next installment of Memories of TBC: my reflective series of my Burning Crusade adventures.

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.

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)

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.

Hellfire Peninsula

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.

Tagar Spinebreaker

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!

Memories of TBC - Episode 3: The Friendly Hunter

New Friend?

Hey dudes - Silvite Soltis here. And today, I have another installment of Memories of TBC for you all to enjoy.

As I'm sure we all know from watching seven seasons of My Little Pony - friendship is magic. So today, that's what I'm going to be talking about - the story of how I met one of my longest in-game friends in World of Warcraft. As far as I'm aware, this is the final big event that I experienced before finally being able to step through the Dark Portal, although at this point, the lines are quite blurry, so it might have actually happened slightly after my first adventures in Outland on my priest. Either way, it's a memory that I cherish from out in the open world of Kalimdor from back in the day, so here it is.

Before getting into the story, though, I'd just like to take the time to day thanks for coming to read it. If you enjoy it, feel free to add yourself to my mailing list below, so you can get updates when I release new content like this in the future. There's a lot more coming as we head toward Classic TBC, so let's keep the hype train going!

But anyway, with that out of the way, let's get right into the story...

Memories of TBC
Episode 3: The Friendly Hunter

It was a hot and humid May day back in 2007. I'd recently come home from a Saturday morning kendo practice at school to my newest, and final, host family's house, and I wanted to relax a bit through the afternoon. My host parents were still busy with work and errands until the evening, so I had free range of the house. And you know what that means - World of Warcraft on the family laptop!

I sat down at the short coffee table in the small living room of the house, just in front of the couch. Firing up the laptop (which was leaps and bounds ahead of the ancient technology that my previous host families had tried to pass off as computers, by the way), I eagerly wondered what I should do today - take my priest around to farm gold, level my tauren druid through the mid-20s, or continue the grind on my favorite alt - Aoyamamotoko.

I chose the third option, and swiftly logged onto my purple elf lady to go continue a quest chain that I'd started a few days prior in Felwood. Though I'd hearthed back to Darnassus to gain that sweet sweet rested XP in my previous play session, I was soon back in that creepy forest and began making my way down to the middle of the zone - to an area called Jaedenar.

Jaedenar

I don't recall the specific details of the quests over here to be honest, but the general gist of it was that I had to kill a bunch of these cultists in and around the cave, then light some braziers. Easy work, I thought. But as I made my way toward that cave, I realized that this was not going to be so easy. See, there are a bunch of mobs packed in fairly close proximity in this general area. And while I should've learned how to pull mobs back to a safe distance by this point, being a warrior and all, I didn't.

These guys are no joke in large numbers

I charged toward a cultist, since that's what warriors do. However, there was a caster just a bit too close to it.  By the time I'd finished the first mob, I was at around 40% health. All of a sudden, ANOTHER cultist was on top of me - a patrol perhaps, or maybe just a random mob that I hadn't seen when I'd charged in head first.

"Oh crap," I thought, "I'm gonna die..."














I popped Retaliation, thinking that it might somehow save me from the shadowbolts that were coming at me like machine gun fire. But just as I was about to die, something else flew past me - a flurry of arrows and a giant cat! And man, that kitty looked pissed!

Regaining my composure, I clicked on the only health potion that I had left, which I'd somehow forgotten I had until that point. I looked around while smashing Mortal Strike on the closest mob and discovered just who my savior had been - a male night elf hunter by the name of Thrillseeker. Well...he'd certainly lived up to his name with this pack, that's for sure.

I thanked him for helping me as my warrior ate some random food that I'd had stored in my bags. Then, I asked whether he was doing the same quest chain I was, to which he nodded.

"Wanna group up then?"

"Sure!"

Male Night Elf Hunter

Thrillseeker and I spent about an hour in that cave that afternoon - killing cultists, lighting braziers, and even escorting that one night elf out of the cave to safety.  We died a couple of times toward the end of the quest chain, but had a blast throughout it all. While we fought, we chitchatted about why were were both playing at like 2AM server time. It turns out that he lived in California and typically played late after work, while I was in Japan on a study abroad and played when I could log on. He'd only just recently started playing the game and was on his first character, whereas I was considered a veteran by this point (despite still being a terrible nooby clicker). All in all, it was a friendly exchange and a nice change of pace from the solo experience I'd grown accustomed to over the past few months playing in the dead of Azeroth's night.

By the time we'd wrapped everything up in Felwood, we'd added each other to our friends list and agreed to do a dungeon or some more questing together at some point. At the time, I remember feeling like that would be it - that we'd just part ways and never group up again. Little did I know we'd interact much, much more over the years to come...

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I hope you enjoyed this short story of friendship in the big wide World of Warcraft. Thrillseeker and I continued to quest and dungeon together on and off throughout the Burning Crusade leveling experience, which was obviously a lot of fun. Eventually, around the end of July when I got my priest up to level 70, I left the guild I'd been with for most of Vanilla - the Guardians of Azeroth - and joined his guild - Reservoir Dogcows of Whisperwind. This guild ended up being my home for most of the Burning Crusade, and you can still see some old raiding videos of our adventures together there over on my YouTube channel even to this day. But if it hadn't been for that one fateful day in Felwood on my warrior, I might never have found that guild. And so, many of the stories to come in this particular series would have turned out very differently.

So, thanks Thrillseeker - whether you know it or not, I owe a lot of my WoW experiences from 2007 onward to you. Thanks for saving my ass in Felwood that day!

Anyway though, that's it for today. If you enjoyed this story and would like to hear about more of my adventures from The Burning Crusade back in the day, then follow me over on Twitter, or add yourself to my mailing list below so you can get updates when new content is released. Also, consider checking out my videos over on YouTube, as all my posts get made into videos shortly after they're written here. In any case, thanks for reading, have an awesome day, and I'll catch you next time.

Take it easy!

Memories of TBC - Episode 2: Around the Cape!

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here. And today I'm back with another installment of Memories of TBC - a reflective series of my adventures in the Burning Crusade back in 2007-2008.

Last time, I talked about how I started the first expansion to World of Warcraft by killing furbolgs in Felwood using BoE greens I bought from the auction house. Since I couldn't get the expansion for quite a while after launch, there wasn't much more for me to do - other than level alts, that is. So today, I've got an alt story for you all. If you like it, feel free to add yourself to my mailing list below this post so that you can get notified when I make more posts like it in the future, and consider spreading the word around as well - I really appreciate it!

But anyway, on with the story...

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It was the early spring of 2007. As it was spring break, I had no classes at my Japanese high school. So even though I went in pretty much every morning anyway for kendo club, I had the afternoons off - which meant lots and lots of WoW. It was around this time that I actually hit exalted with the Timbermaw Hold, if I remember correctly, and I was itching for something else to do in game. So, I started exploring.

One day, while leveling my warrior up in the Hinterlands, I looked at my map and noticed that there was an empty zone up above it - not quite part of the newly-introduced Ghostlands, but also not part of the Hinterlands. So, having nothing better to do, I headed over there.

Now at the time, the computer I was using was a really crappy laptop that could hardly run WoW. The graphics were so bad that huge chunks of the land were jagged sheets of screen tearing. I found the eastern coast of the zone among the laggy blocks of turtles moving around at 8 frames per second and began moving north. I remember feeling surprised at how little of the coast I could actually run on - getting pushed into the water quite a few times and having to swim in the dark waters of...wherever I was at that point.

As I moved, I began to notice something strange; I was clearly moving along the coastline and my minimap displayed this, but as I progressed the world map showed me as moving through the continent! This was soon confirmed when I encountered a small night elf area in a zone called Quel'Thalas!

"Wow," I thought to myself, "I got here without the expansion after all!"

I took some screenshots (that I'm happy to say that I still have to this day), then decided to continue onward along the coast. After all, I was basically in the middle of the continent, and I was curious about what else I might find on this little adventure. I swam and swam next to the shore for what felt like an eternity - through it was probably more like 20 minutes now that I think about it. Unfortunately, the gazebo was pretty much all there was to see. Eventually, my warrior exited Quel'Thalas and The Veiled Sea and entered a zone that everyone knows well - Tirisfal Glades.

"No way." I thought to myself as I looked at the map again. But it was true. I had swam all the way through the continent and ended up on the other side. Laughing to myself, I killed a few undead murlocs along the coast - as if to virtually pinch myself and see if this had all been a dream or something. Alas, it wasn't. The developers had simply not put anything up where the map said land should be - not even mountains to block adventurers like myself. Oops!

So, not wanting to travel all the way back the way I had come, I waved farewell to a random lowbie undead guy, hit my hearthstone, and went back to the leveling grind...

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I hope you enjoyed my brief story of exploration in this big wide World of Warcraft. Even though I didn't actually have TBC yet at this point of the expansion's life, I can still say that this memory is one that I really cherish...for some reason. Even though I'd been playing the game for nearly 2 years at that point, the sense of wonder at the big wide world was still alive, and it's fun to see that this feeling continues even now, 13 years later. In any case, there won't be  many more of these TBC-but-not-actually-TBC-yet memories going forward, as there's really only one other event that sticks out in my mind - and I'm not even sure whether that was before or after I secured the expansion.

But yeah, that's it for today. If you liked this story or found it interesting, let me know by leaving a comment down below - and by adding yourself to my mailing list. Follow me over on Twitter for updates on new content as well, and consider checking out my videos over on YouTube if you like stimulating your eyes and ears simultaneously, as I make all of these posts into videos over there soon after I write them here. Thanks for reading, have an awesome day in Azeroth, and as always...

Take it easy!

Memories of TBC - Chapter 1: Dem Greens Tho!

This time, I'll be prepared...

Hey dudes, Silvite Soltis here. And today, I'm proud to be starting a new series of posts...

Since that Blizzard survey about potential TBC server launch styles came out a few weeks back, I've been getting more and more excited about the near certainty of an eventual Classic TBC. As such, I thought it might be fun to reminisce about some of my fondest TBC memories from way back when, in order to keep my hype train going. So, here we are!

Before I get started though, I just want to note that because I played so much more TBC than Vanilla, my memories are a lot more blended together than my Memories of Vanilla. As such this series will definitely be less chronological. That said, I hope it will be just as entertaining for everyone looking forward to storming the dark portal someday. 

Anyway, with that small disclaimer out of the way, let's get right into the first story... 

Memories of TBC
Chapter 1: Dem Greens Tho!

Best year of my young life...despite no TBC...

It was a cold January day when The Burning Crusade released. I remember well the anticipation that was welling up inside me as the date had grown steadily closer, but unfortunately for teenage me, I wasn't able to start the expansion at the dark portal with the millions of other players who were waiting. See, I was in the middle of my year abroad in Japan as a Rotary Youth Exchange student. My priorities in life at that time were making the most of that year - learning the language and culture of Japan, making friends, and generally doing everything new that I could. That being said, I was quite bummed out when January 16th rolled around and everyone else moved forward in WoW without me. But, that's the way it had to be...



I sat there in my host family's house, watching others grow in power from level 60 to 70 while I sat behind. I remember the world first level 70 capping in something like 26 hours after the expansion dropped and thinking "Wow, it must be pretty hard to put down," only to find that they cheesed their way to 70 by tagging mobs and getting help from guildies. Still, I was pretty hyped up for the expansion, and eventually started bugging my friend Leika, and my brother Zelos to get me a copy. However they both basically told me to suck it up and wait til I got back to the US. Typical...

Spent entirely too much time here...

Deciding to make the most of my time, I continued slowly leveling my warrior alt, Aoyamamotoko, up through the 30s during my free time while still enjoying an active social and family life in Japan. When I got bored with the warrior (which happened quite frequently), I farmed Timbermaw rep on my priest. This was quite slow, however, as I was still wearing dungeon blues from Strat and Scholo and never really learned how to properly play my class. Combined with the fact that everyone else was in Outland at this point, I was all by myself in Felwood for these sessions.

Goodbye gold. Hello greens!

Then, one day, someone (probably Leika or Zelos) told me about the amazing green BoE items they were getting in the new expansion. Curious, I traveled to the auction house and looked for myself. And, oh man, was I surprised...these items were AMAZING! Though I didn't have a lot of gold, I had enough to buy a few Laughing Skull pieces with intellect and spell damage, then returned to the grind in Felwood. The difference was night and day. In just a few minutes I went from doing what was probably around 150 dps and needing to drink after every 3 mobs to what must have been 300 or more. I remember still needing to drink a lot, but with how fast those bear dudes were falling, I really didn't care.

So yeah, you could say that my first TBC experience was pleasant, albeit a bit different from most people's...

A fun satyr to troll people with!

In any case, I continued with my furbolg grind through much of February, or maybe March - I don't really recall the dates clearly anymore. Eventually, I reached exalted with the Timbermaw Hold and Darnassus (as I was a big fan of night elves back in the day), and saved enough gold for my epic mount along the way (yes, I had a 60% mount until well after TBC's launch). Being unable to progress beyond level 60, there wasn't much else I could do, so I bought myself a nightsaber mount, grabbed the final quest from Timbermaw Hold, and camped outside High Chief Winterfall's cave to continuously unleash the demon, Xandivious, on unsuspecting players leveling in the village below.

Good times...


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I hope you enjoyed this brief story of my initial adventures in The Burning Crusade. As you can tell, my experience is a bit different than most people's, but it was definitely fun nonetheless. TBC was definitely a fun adventure from start to finish for me, and I really can't wait to share some more of my stories in installments still to come. In any case, this is how my story started, but I'd love to know your story as well. So, if you're willing to share, feel free to leave a comment down below telling about your earliest TBC memories!

In any case though, that's it for today. If you liked this story, why not follow my blog or subscribe to my YouTube channel so you can get more in the future. Also, consider following me on Twitter so you don't miss out on any other updates - be they guides, stories, top 5s, or anything else that I create. Thanks for reading, and I'll catch you next time!

Take it easy!

Memories of Vanilla #29 - 60 Goals

Dreadmist Raiment

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis back today with another Memories of Vanilla post for you!

Last time, I told the story of how I FINALLY hit level 60 in World of Warcraft - grinding zombies and cultists over in the Eastern Plaguelands. And while that was a big milestone for me, it really left me with one burning question:

Now what?

So join me, as I recount the story of how I decided on a goal for my freshly capped shadow priest, as well as some of the adventures that happened as I tried to achieve it! If you like this story, remember to follow my blog for more by adding yourself to my email list below. And, of course, check out my videos over on YouTube, as I put all of this content in a more engaging style over there as well.

But without further ado, let's get right into the story!

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I hit level 60 in the early summer of 2006, basically a full year after I'd started playing the game. However, I quickly noticed that I had no idea what to do. Leika had told me of the dungeons and raids - of Stratholme and Molten Core in particular - so I figured that it would probably be a good idea to run those.

Stratholme

And so, shortly after hitting level 60, I began running the only max-level dungeons I really knew about - Stratholme, Scholomance, and UBRS. Finding groups was pretty easy since everyone always wanted a priest - especially in the dungeons with lots of undead (shackle is OP), but other than "get blues" I didn't really have a goal.

One day, however, this all changed. I don't remember exactly where it was or what I was doing, but I came across a warlock fully decked out in the full tier 0 set - the Dreadmist Raiment. Instantly, I was hooked and convinced myself that I HAD to have it as well. After all, it just looked so...shadow-priesty!

Jandice Barov

So, I chatted with Leika, did some Thottbot searches, and began my long scavenger hunt-like adventure. Along the way, I picked up some great items, like the Starfire Tiara from UBRS and some pieces of the Devout set - you know, the set I SHOULD have been aiming for - but progress was slow.

Eventually, I managed to get a few pieces of the set - gloves, belt, boots, and helm. But I distinctly remember one item constantly eluding me - the shoulders. I must have run Scholomance to farm Jandice Barov at least a dozen times, but each time the shoulders remained out of reach. I was about to give up - after all, the summer was quickly coming to an end and I would be leaving for my year abroad soon, but one day I got a call from Leika saying he was setting up a Scholo group and they needed a healer. I sighed, but agreed to come heal as soon as I got home (I was out at the store with my mom at the time). About 20 minutes later, I was seated at my computer with Silvite in flight up to the Western Plaguelands.

The dungeon was pretty easy to be honest. Since the game had already been out for a while, most of us were pretty well geared (especially Leika), so it didn't take long for us to make it down to Jandice. Our onslaught began, and quickly she fell to our combined might. And there, sparkling on her corpse, I found them - the Dreadmist Mantle.

Needless to say, I got my shoulders...

Dreadmist Mantle

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I hope you enjoyed this short story of my initial goals as a level 60 shadow priest back in the day. Really, I think it's because I had no idea what I was doing that I ended up trying for a completely random set, but it gave my experience that much more meaning. Sure, I wouldn't be able to upgrade them, but to me, it was all about looking badass. And though I never completed the set back in the day (missed out on the robes), it was still a great adventure trying to.

Anyway, that's it for today. If you enjoyed this story and would like to see more in the future, remember to follow my blog by adding yourself to my mailing list below. Also, consider checking out my video content over on YouTube. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates when more content is released, and consider supporting me on Patreon if you'd like some additional perks! There's still quite a bit coming, but until next time...

Take it easy!

Memories of Vanilla #28 - Ding!

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here and today I'm back with a very important Memories story for you.

Ding, 60!

Back in the day, it took ages to get to max level in World of Warcraft. Like...months could go from the time you first created a character until you finally hit level 60. It was a grand adventure, and the feeling of accomplishment upon seeing that final yellow swirl glow around your character was one of the most amazing feelings in all of gaming, in my opinion.

Well after 27 episodes of leveling and adventuring through Azeroth, it's finally time to tell this particular story. Yes, today I'm going to share the story of how I finally hit level 60 in World of Warcraft. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the feels!

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It was the early summer of 2006. School had just let out and I had a decent amount of things on my plate - working part-time, preparing documents and things for my upcoming foreign exchange, and, of course, lots of World of Warcraft time. It had been nearly a year since I'd first stepped foot into Azeroth and I was determined to finally get to 60 and get into raiding before I headed out across the world.

And so, one evening, after finishing up work and taking a much-needed shower, I logged in and looked at my experience bar - just over halfway through level 58. I had nothing to do the next morning. It was time. I was finally going to hit level 60...

The Noxious Glade

The grind began. Having talked with Leika about it before going to work that day, I flew up to Light's Hope Chapel to make my way over to my grinding spot just past the Browman Mill - the Noxious Glade. This area was perfect for my priest, as I could shackle any extra undead I accidentally pulled, mind control the cultists in the area, and collect lots of Scourgestones from the enemies to increase my Argent Dawn reputation along the way. Plus, they dropped lots of cloth for my tailoring, so it was really the ideal place to go.

The grind began. At this point, I was tapped out of quests and I also knew that running dungeons at this point would be mostly futile - as the experience from mobs wasn't really worth forcing my priest into groups. For hours, I ran in a loop around the undead-filled wasteland - mowing down skeletons, ghouls, and cultists as efficiently as I could - all the while watching as my experience bar slowly filled up.

Dread Weaver (My Final Pre-60 Mob)

Around 10:30PM, I hit level 59. My rested experience was all but spent, and I started to doubt if I'd be able to make my goal, but nevertheless I persevered - slaying wave after wave of the scourge forces. Hours passed; cans of Mountain Dew littered the area around my feet; and my eyes and hands grew wearier and wearier.

But it was worth it. It was just after 7:30AM when I killed that final skeletal mage. A yellow aura surrounded my dark-purple shadow priest and I sighed. It was finished. I had reached level 60!

I picked up the phone and immediately called Leika, who was less than thrilled that I woke him up so early on a day he didn't have work. But when I told him I'd capped, he jumped onto his computer.

"Dude, let's go do Stratholme!"

"YEAH!" I agreed. I was super-hyped since it would be my first dungeon as a max level character. I was finally going to be able to enjoy the endgame of World of Warcraft!

Stratholme

When he logged in, I asked him to set up the group while I took a shower since I needed another one after pulling an all-nighter. He agreed and I left for about 20 minutes, sending Silvite off on a flight path back to Light's Hope after grabbing some new spells. However, when I returned to my PC, he'd only been able to find a hunter to join us. Feeling the exhaustion set in, I wearily typed a message to my groupmates:

"Actually guys, I'm super tired from pulling an all-nighter. Leika, let's do this later... I'm gonna hit the sack..."

"Sure thing bud. Good night!" he replied.

I went upstairs, opened my bedroom door, and immediately passed out - with a huge grin on my face.

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I hope you enjoyed this installment of Memories of Vanilla. This particular story is especially nostalgic for me, as you can probably imagine, as it was such a long time coming. Hitting level 60 was such a momentous occasion that to this day, I can't think of anything else in WoW that comes close to the feeling I experienced back then. Sure, Sarth +3 10 man and heroic Lich King 25 were big, but that first time hitting level 60 was just that much sweeter. And it's a memory of a time long past that I'll treasure forever.

But anyway, that's it for today. If you enjoyed this story, let me know by adding yourself to my email list and leaving a comment below. Also, follow me on Facebook and Twitter for content updates, and check out my videos over on YouTube for more! Finally, if you really enjoy my content like this, consider becoming one of my patrons over on Patreon as well, so that I can keep doing what I love in the future. I really appreciate the support. But for now, and as always, take it easy!

Memories of Vanilla #27 - How to Become a Guild Officer

Hey dudes, Silvite Soltis here. And welcome back to another episode of Memories of Vanilla - my reflective series of my early adventures in World of Warcraft.

The Deadmines

Last time, I told about my warrior's bo staff and how exciting it was to bonk enemies in the face with a wooden stick. Well today, we're going to continue that story a bit with another warrior story. One of daring and adventure in every Alliance player's favorite leveling dungeon, the Deadmines.

Before starting though, remember to follow my blog by adding yourself to my mailing list below, should you enjoy my content. There's a lot more coming between now and August 27th, and I'm sure you don't want to miss out on it! But with that out of the way, let's get right into the story:



Back in 2006, I was a guild officer in a small, casual leveling guild on Whisperwind called "The Guardians of Azeroth." I don't remember why or how I became an officer - likely just the fact that I was one of the few members that was online all the time - but I do remember that around this time, we were looking to expand and bolster our ranks.

So, in an effort to do this, the GM and I decided to hold a test for interested participants. As far as I recall, exactly one person expressed interest - a level 35 warrior named Liberate.

Twin Cruel Barbs

And so, we had our candidate. Now what we needed was a test to see if he was worthy of the title of "Officer." Well, at this time, my warrior was around level 17 and I was planning to stop leveling at 19 to do some BG twinking, so I thought it would be cool if I could snag twin Cruel Barbs from the Deadmines in order to wreck some face in Warsong Gulch. And since Liberate was level 35, I devised what I thought would be a unique test of his skill.

He would have to run my warrior, Aoyamamotoko, through the Deadmines.

So, with a plan in mind, the instructions were given and we headed over to the dungeon. Within minutes of arriving outside, we stood at the instance portal, ready to face the challenge ahead.

Liberate moved in carefully, pulling packs of mobs back into the entryway and taking them down one by one. To be honest, though, I busied myself with looting everything rather than actually paying much attention to how he was doing. Moving through the caverns, we defeated each boss in time, though much like my initial run of the dungeon on Silvite, I accidentally pulled the patrols that spawned behind us after one of the bosses' demise. Oops.

Edwin VanCleef

Eventually, after wiping about 3 times from the high damage that elite mobs can inflict even on a level 35 warrior, we made it to the ship at the end of the dungeon. This was the final test. I stood pretty far back as Liberate ran forward and cleared the pirates and their parrots, only following when he beckoned me over. At last, we stood in front of him - Edwin VanCleef. It was the final test.

Liberate charged in and quickly dispatched the two bodyguards before focusing on VC himself. Throughout the fight, he got pretty low due to the damage of the additional bodyguards that spawned, but with some Sweeping Strikes and Retaliation, he was able to finish them all off. The boss fell, a new officer rose, and a nooby warrior got a shiny new sword.





I hope you enjoyed this story of my first guild's somewhat ridiculous officer-promotion protocol. It's one of those experiences from back in the day that I'll never forget. Liberate stayed with our guild all the way through vanilla, though we did part ways sometime around the beginning of TBC when our guild basically fell apart. I did meet him again later on during the daily grind on the Isle of Quel'Danas towards the end of that expansion, though, and we have been friends in the game ever since. Hell, he might even be reading this right now.

But anyway, that's all for today. If you enjoyed this story and would like to see more in the future, follow my blog by adding yourself to my email list below. Also, consider supporting me over on Patreon so that I can continue creating content like this and my videos in the future. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates when more content is posted, but until next time...

Take it easy!

Memories of Vanilla #26 - Ao's Staff

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here with another fun story for you!

Warrior Time!

After talking about Silvite's grande adventures in high-level dungeons and zones for the past few installments, I thought it might be time to revisit my alt, Aoyamamotoko, back in Westfall for a bit. After all, vanilla was a time of learning in many different ways and I can definitely say that I learned a lot from leveling a warrior. It's an interesting class with a lot of different skills and intricacies involved, and I'm really happy that it was my first real alt because of this.

Anyway, sit back, relax and enjoy as I tell the story of Aoyamamotoko and her bo staff.

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What I Thought Warriors Looked Like...

I have no idea when this story takes place in the timeline of vanilla, but I do know that at this time, Ao was traversing the plains of Westfall. I'd just finished some quests around one of the farms in the zone and was heading over to Sentinel Hill. I'm not sure why, but I had made it my mission to kill any living thing along the way - probably to try and collect Goretusk livers or something. But on the corpse of one fallen foe, I found a green item - a staff.

Donatello

Now, my image of warriors was that they were badass metal-wearing sons-of-bitches who ran up to enemies with swords flailing about. However, noticing this staff had some strength on it, I decided "eh, what the hell" and equipped it to see how it looked. Immediately I was hooked.

My New Best Friend (for about 5 levels)

See, this staff was super basic - essentially just a stick with some wrapping around the middle. But it reminded me of my favorite Ninja Turtle from my childhood - Donatello. When I considered this alongside the fact that my previous weapon was some white quality quest reward from Elwynn Forest, I knew I wasn't going back. This was my new weapon for a while.

And so, my purple warrior with blue-green hair set off across the plains of Westfall with her new bo staff - smacking to death any enemies that dared to cross her path. Of course, using a staff as a warrior wasn't without its challenges though. In the beginning, I had no weapon skill, and subsequently died to about 3 mobs before I could finally reliably hit them. Still, it was good times. 

More than once, I noticed a /lol from random players as I 'donked' mobs across the face with my wooden ally, but being the carefree noob that I was, I shrugged it off. After all, I'm sure I was making lots of mistakes other than using a staff, right?

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Anyway that's pretty much it for my story of my bo staff. Looking back now, it's not so much of a story, as it is a fun little memory of my noobishness in early WoW. To be fair, I have learned now that using a staff with higher damage IS actually the correct choice for a warrior, but considering my reasons for doing it back in the day, I think I was just lucky.

But that's it for today. I hope you enjoyed this super-short anecdote of my warrior alt's bo staff adventures. I did eventually replace it when I was chain-boosted through the Deadmines in an attempt to collect twin Cruel Barbs, but that's a story for another time. If you enjoyed this story, remember to follow my blog by adding your email to my mailing list below. Also, leave a comment telling of your nooby stories of early leveling in vanilla or beyond. I look forward to reading them. Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for updates as well, and check out my videos over on YouTube for more content. I'm sure you enjoy that as well.

But for now guys, take it easy!

Memories of Vanilla #25 - Frightening Felwood

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here and today I've got another Memories story for you.

Felwood Map

Last time, I told about the one event that single-handedly ended my account-sharing escapades with Leika - my (terrible) decision to run Maraudon one afternoon in early spring. Well today, we're going to move north a bit on my freshly obtained, only-me account to a spooky forest zone swarming with demons - Felwood.

If you enjoy this story, remember to add yourself to my mailing list below so you don't miss later stories as well! There's a lot more coming as we approach Classic, but for now, join me as I tell the tale of my bear-slaying adventures in Felwood!

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It was sometime around the end of my 2nd year of high school when I headed to northern Kalimdor. I don't remember exactly what brought me to this zone, but I'm pretty sure it had something to do with Leika telling me that there was a zone "even creepier than Duskwood." I had actually visited this area once before, only to have my priest get eaten by a diseased wolf or something. But now, I was ready - right around level 48 or 49. And it was time to face this terrifying place.

Felwood

So, I headed over to Felwood, unsure of what the zone truly had in store. As I entered the zone, I was faced with green fel energy and spooky demonic-looking trees all around. I headed up the path, got a few quests from the camp in the southern end of the zone, and began my adventures.

It didn't take long for me to find a goal in this zone, however. As I slayed some random furbolgs to the west of the camp site, I noticed I was getting reputation with a faction called the "Timbermaw Hold". I had no idea what this faction was, but I had a similar feeling to the water pouches back in Tanaris. Something told me that I needed to work on this rep...

Deadwood Village

So, I spent the next few days of my time in WoW running around the furbolg camp, killing everything in my path. It was long and grindy, but eventually, I was neutral with the faction. I still had no idea what, or where, they were, so at around 100/3000 rep into neutral, I gave up and began heading north.

Now, there was a lot to do and see in Felwood, but unfortunately I don't actually remember much of what I did there other than the furbolg grind to be honest. One thing I do remember clearly though is that around level 50 or so, I hit a wall while leveling - no quests that I could do and no idea where else to go. My skinning was also stagnant, somewhere around 230-250. So, instead of using Thottbot like a pro, I did exactly what anyone would do...

I found a nice spot in the forest with a crap-ton of bears in a line and ran back and forth killing and skinning them! What, isn't that what everyone does?

Angerclaw  Bears for Days

Yeah so instead of finding some mobs with low health and high exp yield, or farming something that could have yielded valuable items, I sat in Felwood for about 4 days farming bears and skinning them. To be fair, I did make quite a bit from their bones and jaws - both grey items that sold for quite a bit of gold to vendors - but like...I could've farmed demons for Felcloth to craft the Felcloth set... Ahh well. Hindsight is 20/20, right?

Anyway, I eventually reached level 52 or so while grinding the hell out of bears, and so ended the clearest of my Felwood memories. I did the Jaedenar quests while here, of course - including the long escort of the night elf in the cave, but at this point, my mind was all about getting to 60, so I really don't remember much about that event. Sorry for that...

Timbermaw Hold - Where the Ganking Happened...

There is one more event, however, that I do remember extremely clearly from this zone - and it again involves furbolgs. Eventually, Silvite had reached level 55 and was on the northern edge of the zone - right up by Timbermaw Hold. I'd finally gotten the flight path and things were getting much easier finally. As I ran over to the furbolg camp to farm some bear-people for reputation, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye: a flagged level 60 tauren shaman who was nearly dead from running through the tunnel!

Now, being on a PVE server, I wasn't one for PVP at all. Hell, I hated when I got ganked whenever I was flagged (usually after a battleground). But this was basically a free HK! So, naturally, I spammed the hell out of my Mind Blast button! Boom! Direct hit! Down went the shaman, and I relished my honorable kill!

Basically What the Shaman Looked Like

...for about 5 seconds, anyway...

See, shamans have the ability to reincarnate with a decent chunk of health - something that I, as an Alliance priest, never really knew about. As I turned to head down the mountain to get my furbolg-killing on, I was struck from behind by a Frost Shock. Confused, I turned to see that the shaman was alive, and coming for me.

Well...needless to say, I was not prepared. Within 5 seconds of being hit with the frost shock, I was dead on the ground, having been served my just desserts.

I laughed, ran back to my body, and watched as he t-bagged my corpse repeatedly for the next 5 minutes. Once my PVP flag had worn off, I rezzed, targetted him and /bowed. I had found a new respect for the shaman class and never again would I try to gank one.

Well...not in Vanilla at least...


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I hope you enjoyed this story of my adventures in Felwood. It's a zone that I have immense love and nostalgia for because of these two events - the bear farming and the shaman incident. Every time I slay bear-people, I'm sent back to the spring of 2006 and the adventures that transpired in this creepy fel forest.

But anyway, that's all for today. If you enjoyed this story, make sure to sign up for updates by adding your email below. Also, feel free to check out my video content over on YouTube, as I turn all these blog posts into videos when I have time (and I think they're pretty good, at least). Follow me on Facebook and Twitter for additional updates, or just to chat about WoW Classic in your free time. I know that I enjoy talking and nostalgia tripping as much as the next guy, so it could be a lot of fun.

Thank you for reading, and as always - Take it easy!

Memories of Vanilla #24 - Moving on in Maraudon!

Hey dudes. Silvite Soltis here and today I've got another installment of Memories of Vanilla for your reading pleasure!

Maraudon Entrance

Last time, we dove into the dungeon known as Zul'Farrak for the first time. And while the adventures there were numerous, we eventually finished it up and headed out. Well today, we're going to fast forward a bit to another dungeon. After all, it's been like 13 years, and my memory of time is a bit sketchy anyway, so we might as well jump around a little bit, right?

Anyway, sit back, relax, and enjoy as I recount the tale of my first adventure in Maraudon. And, more specifically, the aftermath of my decision to tackle this massive cavernous labyrinth.


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It was spring break 2006 - a few days of rest between the third and fourth semester of my sophomore year of high school - and I distinctly remember that I didn't have work at the local pizzeria that day. Waking up at 10AM or so, as you do when you're 16 and don't have school, I immediately fired up my computer and logged into World of Warcraft. After all, Leika was at work and I had the account all to myself for the next 6 hours or so.

And so, I began my adventures - running around in some high-40s zone. I don't remember exactly where I was in the wide World of Warcraft, but I do remember that at some point about an hour after logging in, I got a whisper from someone...

Maraudon Map (This Place is HUGE...)

"Wanna heal Maraudon?"

Well, I had time to kill, and since I'd never done this particular dungeon, I decided it could be a fun experience. So, I agreed. And what followed was among the most painful and intense experiences of my early WoW career...

I joined the group of 4 other adventurers who had clearly all been waiting for a healer for some time. Noticing that they were all around level 50 or so, I figured I might be too low at around level 48. However, they reassured me - saying that it would be fine as long as I stayed around the back of the group. With a sigh of relief, I headed over to everyone's favorite zone - Desolace - and began the first portion of the adventure...finding the entrance to the dungeon.

I had a general idea of where this dungeon was located, having accidentally run into the entrance back when I was questing in this zone a few months back, but nevertheless I ended up getting lost and needed the warlock in our group to summon me. Yeah, I was that guy...but eventually we were able to zone in and begin the dungeon itself.

Now this particular part of the story is quite fuzzy, as there were so many different sub-zones and monsters in this dungeon, but as we progressed (SLOWLY) through the caverns, I distinctly remember three events - the slow-moving slimes, the Satyr boss and loot drama, and the larvae spawning tube. I don't remember exactly what order they came in (even now, the full dungeon is too big and confusing for me to remember), but here's how it went...

Noxious Slime

First of all, the slimes. As we approached this large pack of slimes in one cavern, our tank warned us all not to get too close to them, as they would completely demolish anyone they touched. I, however, tried to keep everyone alive as they broke this rule, and subsequently got healing aggro and died from the slimes as a result. Luckily I was soulstoned, so I was able to rez and we narrowly avoided a wipe, but this was definitely a first. Who puts overpowered, but super-slow moving slimes in a dungeon anyway?

Anyway, after getting considerably lost in this massive labyrinth we came across another room - this time a large purple area with satyrs and treants spread througout. We fought our way through the demons, eventually coming across a room with a single named satyr stood in the center - Lord Vyletongue. Our tank, likely one of the least experienced ones I'd met until that point (which was saying a lot) charged right in, pulling the stealthed satyrs in the process. Oops...

Lord Vyletongue

As a result of the unexpected chaos, we wiped, then made our way back to the entrance. However, in the process of running back in, we all followed one person and ended up in a completely different entrance than the one we'd already cleared. Being noobs, however, none of us really knew why it was different and full of mobs, so we simply began pulling the trash and moving forward - again, as slowly as ever.

Eventually, we made it back to that room with the treants and satyrs. We carefully moved up the stairs to where Lord Vyletongue was located, this time ready to take him on. Using cc, line of sight, and careful kill targeting tactics, we defeated him and were rewarded with a dagger that had some bonus shadow damage as a chance-on-hit effect. Being a shadow priest, I instantly rolled need. After all, more shadow damage was always a plus, right?

Well...not exactly. See, we had a rogue in our group who was less than thrilled when I received a melee weapon. After all, the chance-on-hit was for MELEE attacks, not spells. And while I didn't really know the difference, he clearly did. Calling me a ninja (which, I mean, is fair), he dropped group and we had to head back out to find a replacement.

The Larvae-Spawning Tube

We'd been in here for a while now - getting lost and fighting slimes for something like 2 hours, but hey, I was enjoying it. I still had plenty of time until Leika would be getting home, so I could play to my heart's content! Eventually we got a replacement and headed back inside, making our way into a large orange room with a bunch of larvae creatures. We passed through with relative ease, but as we continued toward the water elemental boss, we kept getting attacked by randomly spawning larvae spawns that we thought we'd already killed. After about the 4th time this happened, we decided to backtrack and found that they were coming from a strange tube structure hanging from the ceiling. Definitely weird, but right-clicking on it destroyed it, and we were able to progress.

Time was flying by as we made our way down to the waterfall and into the final stretch of the zone. It was around 3PM by the time we started working our way up the rocky slopes and caverns that marked the near end of the dungeon, and I was super-eager to see the ending to this amazing place. However, as we made our way up a massive hill, a message popped up.

"Disconnected from server."

Weird. Naturally, I immediately logged back in and was greeted with my character on the screen. However, within a few minutes, it popped back up again...

"Disconnected from server"

Uh oh.

The Entrance to the Final Chamber...

Yes, Leika had gotten home from work. I had spent all afternoon running around Maraudon with this group and would not be able to finish it...or COULD I?

I called him up, explained the situation, and begged him to let me finish the dungeon. He wasn't in a great mood that day, but after a few minutes of begging, he agreed to let me have another hour or so, just to finish it up.

Delighted, I logged in, explained to my group that I had had some internet issues, but that I'd solved it (smooth lying, buddy. Don't wanna tell people you're breaking ToS!), and we moved on.

The final stretch of the dungeon was brutal though, with all mobs being significantly more challenging than they had been until then. Somehow, though, we persevered - albeit very slowly. Eventually, the last room was all that remained - with Princess Theradras waiting on her island in the middle.

Suddenly, my phone rang. It was Leika. Another hour had somehow passed as we slaughtered crocolisks and rock elementals... I answered, saying that we were literally at the princess despite having 2 more packs of stone giants standing between us and he very angrily told me that he didn't care. But, being the bro that he was (and through my pathetic begging), I convinced him to give me another 10 minutes.

Princess Theradras

It was do or die...

I told my group that I had to go to work in 10 minutes and that we HAD to finish this up now. We pushed through with renewed speed and swiftly pulled to that final boss. Now, through sheer dumb luck or whatever it was, I managed to keep up our tank despite nearly being pushed off the island into the water below. 8 minutes after the phone call from Leika, the princess fell. Collecting our loot, I sighed and thanked the group for the fun just in time...

I hope you enjoyed my rather long story of my adventures in Maraudon. This story in particular, while a bit foggy in my memory, is one of my fondest memories of classic WoW. Back when I had the time and reason to adventure in a dungeon for hours on end, not knowing what to expect with each turn. Also, it is the single event that resulted in Leika giving me the second account, paying to transfer Silvite from the first account to it. I don't remember if that was a feature when the game first came out, or if it came later, but I do remember that it was possible then. After all, Silvite made it safely from Account 1 to Account 2 somehow. And it only took 72 hours! Blazing speed!

All joking aside though, I'm really glad that all this happened, as eventually it meant I could play with my friend and brother, but it also meant that I now had to pay for my own account. No biggie - I had my local pizza job to take care of that $15 every month! And take care of it it did!

But anyway, that's it for today! If you enjoyed this story, remember to follow my blog for more in the future. Check me out over on Facebook and Twitter, and watch my videos over on YouTube if you're interested in video content too! Thanks for reading, and as always...

Take it easy!