Level 53 isn't anything special to most World of Warcraft players. About now, if they're leveling an alt, their aim is to get to 58 as quickly as possible so they can go to Outlands for lots of quests and better gear. I'm just enjoying being what really feels like high-level. 3o felt high-level, because I got my mount. 40 felt high-level too, because I got my mount upgrade. But now 50 really feels like I'm getting somewhere.

I'm wearing a bunch of blue gear, and I have three hats that I've been switching between - one that has Defense Rating on it, for when I'm a bear, one that has Attack Power, for when I'm a cat, and one that has lower stats but is nifty-looking and purple and thus I will never get rid of it, for when I'm questing about and killing stuff so quickly that I don't need the cat one, which is a wolf head and a bit too creepy looking for casual un-form-shifted wear.

I'm hoping to start doing instances a little more. I tanked Blackrock Depths the other night, and I think it went ok. I don't tank very often, so every time I do I feel like I have to relearn all my abilities. I had also just gotten Mangle, and hadn't used it as a bear yet (loved it already in kitty form though), so I also had to rearrange my spell bars. But once I got into the rhythm of it, it got more fun than nerve-wracking.

Also: Grr, freaking paladins! That is all.

As level 80 is actually almost visible in the hazy distance, I'm thinking about what my expectations are, and what I want to get out of the game at that point. The Explorer title, of course - I've known I wanted that since I got Explore Durotar with Zert back in the day, and I'm well on my way. The only zones in Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms Vasu hasn't explored yet are the ones that are still too high-level, and the ones that have Alliance capitals in them.

But what else? I don't expect to raid, except perhaps way down the line, one of the easier ones, if I can find a group merciful enough to take me. But I think there's plenty to do. All kinds of other achievements - the Cook title would be kind of nifty. And there's reputations too - Guardian of Cenarius would be fitting.

I don't know that I could get Ambassador with Vasu because he's not so sure about the blood elves - one of the first he met was the one in Stonetalon Mountains, and she says "You cannot imagine the hatred I possess for this wretched land. The ilk of Cenarius and the kaldorei druids at the peak employ their pathetic powers to stifle the flow of magic, even so far south of their pathetic holdings... their beloved forests." So as I've been wandering around the zone, thinking how neat it is and killing those awful Venture Co. employees, this didn't sit right with me, and ever since, Vasu has not been particularly friendly toward blood elves.

Undercity creeps him out a little too.

So I think there will be plenty to do once I reach level 80. It'll probably still take me a while to get there, but that's okay, you only see the game for the first time once. And with an expansion looming that will change everything, I want to see as much as possible before that happens.

I get to make a death knight soon. A freaking death knight! I honestly wasn't sure that'd ever happen. I think I'm going to recycle my undead mage who was one of my first characters, leveled through recruit-a-friend to level 23, spamming fireball all the way (AoE? What's that?) and then abandoned. I think she continued to adventure on her own, and then got pressed into service under the Lich King. Yes, this will do nicely. I knew I probably wouldn't play her as a mage, because I've got Zert, and leveling mages solo is hard. But I couldn't bring myself to just delete her.

So there's my post about World of Warcraft. It's long and rambly, and I really do think blood elves are ok, it's Vasu that doesn't like them, honestly. I'm feeling the need to make this paragraph longer, and then write a very short one after it, because that's the pattern of this post so far, and I'm a little obsessive like that. Now of course all this writing has made me want to go play, but there is work to be done, so the druid will have to wait.

Here's that last paragraph. For the Horde!