Dreamcatcher Run
When last we left our intrepid hero, Pazca was heading out towards the minor Night Elf city of Dolanaar. So far, he's avoided killing anything, sold his pants (and other articles), donned powerful heirloom armor passed down from... well, from the previous characters I've had. He also doesn't have any experience yet, and only has 8 copper coins to his name. (But I'll get a little experience just walking down this road, because I'll "discover" new areas, and that gives experience.)
Passing down the road, we see more neutral mobs (marked with yellow), which won't attack unless provoked, and finally some hostile ones (marked in red). But the hostile creatures are off the road, and haven't noticed Pazca yet, so he's not running for his life. He's just running. Because that's the way to get around in WoW.
Before long, I see giant walking trees, which are basically Ents, but aren't called that, because while Tolkien left a legacy which inspired generations of fantasy writing, he also left a legacy of somewhat litigious heirs. I suddenly remember that the first time I noticed one of these giants lumbering towards me years ago when I started my first Druid, I nearly soiled my armor. No way I can take on something that big! Not to worry: These are friendly, and marked green. They won't attack me, and I couldn't attack 'em if I wanted to. But I don't want to, 'cause that's pretty much the point of this experiment. Hello, friendly giant tree things! I am a peaceful, friendly fellow-traveler!
In the town of Dolanaar, I find an NPC (non-player character) offering a new quest. This one wants me to retrieve a dreamcatcher he left behind in a nearby village currently infested with furbolgs. (Yes, there are a lot of crazy creature names. Is it just me, or do these sound awfully close to "fur balls"?)
Hm. Now this, maybe I can do. I don't think I have to kill any of the furbolgs to get the dreamcatcher; if I remember right, I just have to pick it up once I get there. But the furbolgs, despite having a cute-sounding name, are not going to be impressed with my avowed peacefulness: they're going to try to kill me, just because I wandered past them. Oh well, it's time to get started dying and coming back to life anyway. Plus the quest rewards 1 silver piece. Which sounds like a king's ransom for a character that only has 8 copper. (That's 0.08 silver, for those who like unit conversions.)
So here I am, jogging in to the village, trying my best to avoid the big hostile furballs, and not doing so great. How far will I be able to get on the first run before I die and have to revive, I'm wondering. But will you look at that: The furbolgs are hitting me, but that heirloom armor is pretty danged good, and they're not doing too much damage. I make it all the way to the little hut with the dreamcatcher \ without dying, but now I have to grab the dreamcatcher, which is kind of hard to do when about six furbolgs are surrounding and hitting me.
So time to pull out the one extra trick I've been saving: Night elves have the ability to fade into the background and disappear, as long as they don't move. We can't do that very often, and, it's not as good as being a stealthy Rogue maybe, but a good trick nonetheless. Admittedly, I'm not sure how I manage to disappear while a bunch of critters are hitting me, but let's not start pulling at that thread, shall we? I vanish, the crowd of attackers disperse, and I can try to grab the dreamcatcher.
Except... one furbolg sticks around. Every time I try to grab the dreamcatcher, he hits me again, which interrupts my attempt, and I have to start over. Drat. It's not enough to kill me anytime soon, but maybe enough to keep me from finishing the quest. Almost got it... *whack* Almost.... *whack* Did you know what you're doing is really annoying Mr. Furbolg?
After a few more frustrating attempts, and much to my own suprise, I find that I have the quest item. (Must have gotten my timing just right one one of my tries.) So time to try to jog back to the road, which unfortunately once again attracts a throng of ill-wishers who want to try to kill me. This is not a peace-loving bunch of furballs.
Although it's a close one, I make it out of their camp, and back to the road where they finally lose interest. (Mobs in WoW have a somewhat short attention span. Usually if you run too far from where they live, they'll give up and go back.) Time to turn in the quest, and reap the profits: One whole silver piece. Plus some experience. Without killing anything. And amazingly, without even dying. The heirloom armor is a really nice boost to my "peacecrafting" effort. Although it's worth considering that having heirloom armor is dependent on already having had other characters level up, and those characters definitely killed a lot of stuff. Definitely. Like, a lot. So Pazca is peaceful, but in part, it's possible for him to choose to be peaceful because someone before him engaged in a lot of slaughter. There's a metaphor about life and human civilization here, but I'm not going to start unpacking it.
Because let's not forget the important thing here: I have one whole piece of silver. Which means I can go wander over to the inn, find a trainer, and learn both herbalism and mining skills (which I'll use to make more money), and I'll even have money left over.
So next up: I'm going to have to find some herbs to pick or copper to mine, and hopefully some of these won't be too close to something that wants to kill me. But I'm not too hopeful on the last count.
Passing down the road, we see more neutral mobs (marked with yellow), which won't attack unless provoked, and finally some hostile ones (marked in red). But the hostile creatures are off the road, and haven't noticed Pazca yet, so he's not running for his life. He's just running. Because that's the way to get around in WoW.
Before long, I see giant walking trees, which are basically Ents, but aren't called that, because while Tolkien left a legacy which inspired generations of fantasy writing, he also left a legacy of somewhat litigious heirs. I suddenly remember that the first time I noticed one of these giants lumbering towards me years ago when I started my first Druid, I nearly soiled my armor. No way I can take on something that big! Not to worry: These are friendly, and marked green. They won't attack me, and I couldn't attack 'em if I wanted to. But I don't want to, 'cause that's pretty much the point of this experiment. Hello, friendly giant tree things! I am a peaceful, friendly fellow-traveler!
In the town of Dolanaar, I find an NPC (non-player character) offering a new quest. This one wants me to retrieve a dreamcatcher he left behind in a nearby village currently infested with furbolgs. (Yes, there are a lot of crazy creature names. Is it just me, or do these sound awfully close to "fur balls"?)
Hm. Now this, maybe I can do. I don't think I have to kill any of the furbolgs to get the dreamcatcher; if I remember right, I just have to pick it up once I get there. But the furbolgs, despite having a cute-sounding name, are not going to be impressed with my avowed peacefulness: they're going to try to kill me, just because I wandered past them. Oh well, it's time to get started dying and coming back to life anyway. Plus the quest rewards 1 silver piece. Which sounds like a king's ransom for a character that only has 8 copper. (That's 0.08 silver, for those who like unit conversions.)
So here I am, jogging in to the village, trying my best to avoid the big hostile furballs, and not doing so great. How far will I be able to get on the first run before I die and have to revive, I'm wondering. But will you look at that: The furbolgs are hitting me, but that heirloom armor is pretty danged good, and they're not doing too much damage. I make it all the way to the little hut with the dreamcatcher \ without dying, but now I have to grab the dreamcatcher, which is kind of hard to do when about six furbolgs are surrounding and hitting me.
So time to pull out the one extra trick I've been saving: Night elves have the ability to fade into the background and disappear, as long as they don't move. We can't do that very often, and, it's not as good as being a stealthy Rogue maybe, but a good trick nonetheless. Admittedly, I'm not sure how I manage to disappear while a bunch of critters are hitting me, but let's not start pulling at that thread, shall we? I vanish, the crowd of attackers disperse, and I can try to grab the dreamcatcher.
Except... one furbolg sticks around. Every time I try to grab the dreamcatcher, he hits me again, which interrupts my attempt, and I have to start over. Drat. It's not enough to kill me anytime soon, but maybe enough to keep me from finishing the quest. Almost got it... *whack* Almost.... *whack* Did you know what you're doing is really annoying Mr. Furbolg?
After a few more frustrating attempts, and much to my own suprise, I find that I have the quest item. (Must have gotten my timing just right one one of my tries.) So time to try to jog back to the road, which unfortunately once again attracts a throng of ill-wishers who want to try to kill me. This is not a peace-loving bunch of furballs.
Although it's a close one, I make it out of their camp, and back to the road where they finally lose interest. (Mobs in WoW have a somewhat short attention span. Usually if you run too far from where they live, they'll give up and go back.) Time to turn in the quest, and reap the profits: One whole silver piece. Plus some experience. Without killing anything. And amazingly, without even dying. The heirloom armor is a really nice boost to my "peacecrafting" effort. Although it's worth considering that having heirloom armor is dependent on already having had other characters level up, and those characters definitely killed a lot of stuff. Definitely. Like, a lot. So Pazca is peaceful, but in part, it's possible for him to choose to be peaceful because someone before him engaged in a lot of slaughter. There's a metaphor about life and human civilization here, but I'm not going to start unpacking it.
Because let's not forget the important thing here: I have one whole piece of silver. Which means I can go wander over to the inn, find a trainer, and learn both herbalism and mining skills (which I'll use to make more money), and I'll even have money left over.
So next up: I'm going to have to find some herbs to pick or copper to mine, and hopefully some of these won't be too close to something that wants to kill me. But I'm not too hopeful on the last count.
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