I wasn't anywhere near ready for the next xpac. I still had more toons to level, around 4-5 if I recall. I'd been working pretty consistently since I hit 60 on my rogue, Nifeweaver, and the results were starting to come in. After the first couple of 60's, I was able to buy them their Epic Mounts as they hit 60. I'd also been working hard on my professions, having every crafting profession at least once, and several miners, herbalists and skinners. I found that once I'd maxed out my crafting, the raw mats I was collecting became a nice cash crop for me.
Focused as I was on levelling my toons, I decided to wait for a couple weeks after the expansion dropped to go and buy it. This was a pre-planned thought. Being naive sometimes works, but sometimes it reaches up and bites you in the ass... you can miss things you wish you didn't.
The Dark Portal Opens
So, there I was happily in my decision to wait, blissfully ignorant of the EVENT that opened the Dark Portal, when Kelletar logged in. "Holy shit man, was it ever wild last night, did you get involved in the Opening of the Dark Portal?" My answer, of course, was no, and "was it a big deal?" My friend proceeded to paint a picture of a wild event, a HAPPENING that I should've attended, as it would only happen a few times during the entire run of WoW. Well, at least it was a mistake I wouldn't repeat.I finished levelling the rest of my toons to 60 within a couple weeks of the release of BC. I went to the store, bought my copy, and went home to install it. Two trends started that night. The first, I'd be buying whatever expansion came out next. The second? I'd be buying a newer computer each time. Without fail, whatever system I had wouldn't be enough to play WoW comfortably when a new expac came out. Something would be off, usually the video, and I'd have a choice of either going into a new video card, or a new system. Most times I'd find out that I was a step or two behind in terms of video card slots, and the newer cards wouldn't fit into my system. So, I'd play the expansion for a month or so, then plunk down enough money for a system that would play it properly. Most times I didn't mind, a new computer system every few years isn't that hard to swallow, and since I was spending a ton of time playing it, I figured it was still cheaper than most other forms of entertainment.
Twink Time
It's time for a correction. I hadn't levelled all my toons on Elune to level 60. One I'd kept at around level 10 or so, a bank alt named Hammahead. Poor Hammahead just sat in Stormwind, running between the bank and the mailbox, running storage errands for every other toon I had. We didn't have guild banks back then, so there was no point in making a guild for him. Instead, I packed him with the largest bags I could at the time, and used him to hold onto stuff I'd wanted to store.I'd stayed away from PVP for the most part, going in only at the urging of Kelletar. "It's fun, man, give it a shot!" So, I took my rogue in, and of course, proceeded to get my ass handed to me time and time again. I'd never been more frustrated by a game in my life! I wish I could say that it got better, but it just didn't. I was a clicker, meaning I clicked on the icons on my toolbar with my mouse, instead of hitting the corresponding keys. I found a weird way to play, using the arrow keys on the right side of the keyboard to drive my movement, and keybinding the closest keys to target, change views, whatever. All the while, mouse turning wasn't even on my radar, even when I first started talking with people about how to pvp. I tried using the W, S, A & D keys, and strafing appropriately, but it just felt so awkward that I gave up trying and resigned myself to leaving the world of PvP to those better suited to it.
Eventually, however, I'd heard about this thing called 'Twinking'. Basically, it is the purposeful levelling to the end of a bracket (10-19, 20-29, 30-39, etc.) and then stopping the gathering of experience points. I did some research, and found that I may have a shot at enjoying PvP, limited though my skills were. I had some advantages built in by being an Altoholic. One was that I had all my professions levelled, and could provide my lower level twink with whatever gear could be crafted. I also found out the items that I'd need to acquire during my twink's levelling process. Some of those items my twink would need to run instances for, all the while mindful of his growing level and xp cap. From what I'd read, the level 29 twink appeared to be the most fun, with a level 29 toon having just enough spells and abilities to make it fun, without being overwhelming in choices and options. Split second timing, where your brain quickly decides what skill to use, is valuable in PvP. I found that by limiting the choices I had to make, the quicker I could come to the right conclusions, and make my time in PvP a lot more enjoyable. I'm not kidding myself, I wasn't good by any means, but it pushed me further away from the 'total suck' end of the meter.
I made a decision about the class I wanted to play in PvP. Actually, I didn't make that decision, I rather had it forced upon me. I'd gone into a 20-29 bracket with one of my toons and played a few games of Warsong Gulch. Looking at the end scoreboards, where it would show the total damage done by any one toon, there was one toon that stood out, miles above the rest. This was my introduction to MOTHER.
Mother was a twinked out Level 29 Undead Warlock. I wish I could remember his server, but it's gone from my memory. What isn't gone, is the ease of which he played, and the complete and total mastery of his surroundings. 5 toons would run at Mother, trying to get within range. Between his curses, fire based spells and his imp, there wasn't a single one standing after Mother finished. Mother would gleefully cackle, never in a spiteful way, but more in a 'come on, bring it on, let's dance!' kind of way. I knew I'd found the class. Now to implement it.
Goodbye Hammahead, Hello Snert
First, I'd have to get rid of a toon. Poor Hammahead's days were numbered. He'd faithfully served me and my toons well, never complaining, just happily moving from mailbox to bank to mailbox. 'Sorry Hammahead," I thought, as I clicked DELETE then typed it into the box to confirm my toon's demise. Proceeding on without much backward glance, I went to work creating my most diabolical toon to date: a gnome Warlock. His laughter would be great to hear while he burned down his enemies, much as Mother had done to me and my fellow Alliance PvPers. I decided on a short name for this short guy, a name that had always brought me a chuckle. Snert was Hagar the Horrible's dog, and it seemed appropriate for my new dealer of pain.Well, first I needed to make sure I had all my ducks in a row. Research and more research eventually led me to the best build, and best gear that I could acquire for my twink. This was a long project, needed to be completed in precise steps. Failure to accumulate the right gear out of instances and quest chains would prevent me from gathering the optimum items before I'd gotten to my stopping point, Level 29. There was a distinct danger in not getting what you needed before you couldn't hit the instances anymore. Near the end, there was a trick of planting Snert outside an instance, running in with a friend on our higher toons, clearing to a boss that Snert needed gear from, then swapping out my higher toon for Snert. My friend (usually Kelletar) would take out the boss, and Snert would loot. It was a sneaky way to do it, but when you were counting down the xp in terms of thousands, it was mandatory to avoid gaining xp, even from trash before a boss.
That wasn't the only thing that that I focused on during my Twinking of Snert. I also scoured the Auction House at all hours of the day, continually watching for those precious Bind on Equip blues that were the best in slot at level 29. I don't remember every piece, but I do remember finally finding Stonecloth Bindings, the ultimate for the Bracers slot on a cloth wearing toon. I'd seen them before, but the prices were always insane. Hoping that someone would eventually put them up at a price that obviously indicated their auctioneer had no idea of their worth in PvP, I remember seeing them at around 5 gold, at least 1/25th of their true value. I snapped them up quickly and sent them off to Snert, for him to hoard away in preparation of hitting level 29.
Finally, the day came that I'd gotten my last piece of gear. I'd taken Snert into the Battlegrounds of Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch, the only two PvP areas he could get into at his level. As I gathered more and more pieces of his ultimate PvP outfit, I felt his power getting closer and closer to that which I saw displayed by Mother. Finally, it all gelled one day and there I was, dotting everything in sight and watching the numbers scroll by. I didn't have near the finesse nor the skill of Mother, for where Mother would face his enemies and end up dancing and laughing after the combat, I'd end up in the graveyard, waiting to rez. The major difference for me, however, was all the KILLING BLOWs that would flash up on my screen. Even in death, people just couldn't outrun my curses and immolates. At level 29, as I'd done my research, you couldn't decurse those things. They'd run their course, and the gear that I'd accumulated gave me enough spellpower to boost my damage over time spells to maximum effect. It was a blast!
Mother Redux
I was, if I recall, a few weeks after I'd fully twinked out Snert that I entered into a Warsong Gulch match. Normally, I'd check the names of the Horde we were up against, sometimes recognizing the names of my opponents. This day I didn't and ran in unaware that there'd be my model Warlock. There he was, Mother in the Undead Flesh. My first thought was to run up and hug him, so I did. He hadn't a clue who I was, but I just had to do it. Of course, he killed me quickly, but after I hugged him I got a /hug and a /wave back! After rezzing, the battle really commenced. We'd seek each other out, and true to our twinked out status, it was pretty much a draw. My inexperience was mitigated by the outstanding gear I'd collected. For the most part, our healthstones would'nt save us from each other's damage. We'd end up dead, lying there waiting for a rez, only to run back, sometimes throwing out a /hug or a /wave before commencing with the damage dealing. What a rush! Even typing this today I'm transported back years to that particular afternoon when I saw the hard work, time, and gold that I'd poured into my Twink come to fruition. I definitely have a smile on my face.After that particular battleground was over, Mother still outdid me in damage, but by no means in terms of fun. I then decided to talk to this guy, and quickly logged into his server, created a horde toon (dunno who, it's long since deleted) and sent a tell to Mother. Fortunately he was still online, and we chatted for quite a while. I told him that he'd by my inspiration for Snert, and that after watching his awesome skill at twinking out and playing that Level 29 Warlock, I'd modelled myself after him. He was flattered, and was seemed really happy that his work hadn't gone un-noticed. I wish that we'd stayed in communication, but cross-realm friends via Real ID was still years away, and I didn't even think about levelling more toons than I already had on Elune.
Alas, after a while, running around in Battlegrounds on Snert wasn't nearly as much fun as the research and time spent gathering his gear. Eventually I stopped taking him into PvP, and he sat unloved and unused... until much, much later.
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