Deatholme Falls

Now at level 19, Udderwin and I returned to the Ghostlands to finish up some loose ends. There were still plenty of quests there for us to complete, but after having done all that dungeon crawling, it was mostly unnecessary at this point. We just went straight for a couple of the higher level quests for the rewards, starting with one involving our old nemesis, Knucklerot.

Hunting Knucklerot

We tracked Knucklerot down in Goldenmist Village and disposed of him without incident this time, and shortly afterward we tracked Luzran down in the Dead Scar and executed him as well. With Knucklerot and Luzran slain, I had now reached level 20 and was eligible to purchase my first mount.

Vengeance at last.

Mounts in World of Warcraft are an invaluable asset. As the game world is extremely massive, it takes a long time to traverse. Mounts are one of many solutions to this problem. Your first ground mount you get becomes available at level 20, and it increases your movement speed by up to 60%. I made my way back to Eversong where the riding trainer was and picked up a Red Sunstrider mount for myself.

Deedlitt's New Mount

While making a quick visit to Silvermoon before I returned to the Ghostlands once more, I encountered a Blood Elf by the name of Thundurr who complimented me on my robe and asked me where I got it. I explained to her that it was from Ragefire Chasm, and offered to give her some free enchantments, but unfortunately I found out that she was using a free trial account which doesn't allow the use of trade windows.

Always a pleasure.

We were now ready for our final mission in the Ghostlands. It was time to strike the leader of the Undead forces there, Dar'Khan, who resided in the Undead stronghold of Deatholme. While battling our way through Deatholme, we encountered another couple of Blood Elves fighting to slay Dar'Khan. Both of them died while fighting him however, presenting an opportunity for Udderwin and I to snag the kill.

Welcome to Deatholme.

We defeated Dar'Khan effortlessly, but we were now feeling a little guilty for what was essentially stealing the kill, so Udderwin resurrected Nastassia and Hansonater to help them with a second chance. Dar'Khan respawned and we slayed him again, this time accompanied with our new-found Blood Elf companions.

Dar'Khan is slain.

With Dar'Khan defeated, the Ghostlands had been liberated by the Undead threat, and I got my brand new staff as a reward. It was time to journey back to the Orc capital of Orgrimmar, where I would receive new orders from the Horde to head to another battlefront.

Dar'Khan is slain. Again.

Now that I have been in World of Warcraft for over a week, I've noticed just how much my relationship with other players can really affect the experience. Playing along side Udderwin and Jessicaloveu greatly improves the experience and makes it more memorable. The unpredictability of what they might say or do next keeps the game feeling exciting even when you might be performing an otherwise mundane quest objective. As also noted from my previous experience in Ragefire Chasm, other players can likewise damage the experience when they don't cooperate or in some cases actively try to make playing the game more difficult for you. Players can surprisingly drive the majority of the entertainment value.

I asked my guildies why they like World of Warcraft to get a sense of what kind of people are attracted to the game. I received a response from Joilyn, a Blood Elf hunter, who replied, "I think its a blast! I love killing stuff!! and Get rewarded!" I suspected I would largely receive this type of response, as it coincides with what I observed about this game previously when I first began playing. The level up and item reward system is an attractive concept for many gamers. They like seeing their character evolve from a fledgling initiate into a powerful fighter. I don't think most people are attracted to World of Warcraft for its social aspect. That is, not at first anyway. What pulls players in is Warcraft's well-executed gameplay system that moves along at just the right pace and doles out the appropriate rewards for your efforts. However, what ends up keeping the players is the community they become attached to once they've familiarized themselves with the game.

Joilyn's Response

One final aspect of Warcraft I would like to touch on today is its economy. It seems even at low levels, trade goods can get pretty expensive. In order to afford any, you're likely going to need to sell some of your own goods first. Looking at just one stack of 20 wool cloth, it costs 25 gold at the cheapest and as high as 60 gold for some listings. I need this material for tailoring, but it's obviously far beyond my price range as I only have roughly 6 gold at my current level.

Wool Listings

I decided to check out some shoulder gear since I was now high enough level to wear some, and this looked more promising. It seems armor is much more affordable than trade goods, with the most expensive piece, Greenweave Mantle of the Eagle, only costing 3 gold. That's half my total wallet, but much more affordable than what I was looking at before.

Shoulder Listings

Investigating further, I took a look at some bags for sale. As suspected, since bags are a valuable good that everyone needs for storage space, they were much more pricey again. Netherweave Bags were going around for 39 gold. The cheapest bag on the list was still a whopping 14 gold, more than double of my current wealth.

Bag Listings

The last set of items I took a look at were some wands, which caster classes use for dealing damage when they have run out of mana. Since these are more class-specific weapons that are only useful to players at my level, prices were much more affordable again. Level 21 Dire Wands were only costing 1 gold, and even level 26 Firestarter wands which I couldn't even wear yet were still only 4 gold; still just barely within my price range. It seems clear that the more general the utility certain items offer, the much more valuable they become in this economy.

Wand Listings

That wraps up my analysis for this week. See you next time when I make my first trip to the new region of Ashenvale Forest!