I Think I Found my Favorite Class in World of Warcraft
The first MMORPG that I have started to stream and play again is the Mist of Pandaria Classic version of World of Warcraft. This time around, I decided to try a class that I have never played before, that being the Monk class. I also chose the Gnome race because I also rarely played Gnomes before on the Alliance faction. The result; I believe I have found my favorite class to dethrone the warrior and the hunter, that being the monk. I have been having a blast learning the mechanics and the grind has been extremely satisfying thus far.
Yesterday we had two streams, where I had two 3.5-hour segments, which is more gaming and streaming that I have done in quite a while. It worked out well because each stream was split between a morning session, and an evening session, based on the accomplishment of clearing a full zone in each session. Session 1 allowed us to finish Loch Modan and Session 2 we cleared the wetlands. The leveling process went extremely fast because of two main reasons; 1) Joyous Journeys 50% xp event is on and 2) the monk class gets 50% bonus xp each time they complete monk training quests at the Peak of Serenity, the monk training area.
With the bonus xp event ongoing, it is the perfect time for me (or anyone) to come to Mist of Pandaria Classic. For those who are unaware, World of Warcraft has multiple versions of the game that players can decide to play. They have the retail version which is the current day version that has received updates throughout the years and includes all of the content from start to finish. Then there are classic versions of the game, from the original classic to anniversary classic, and even a hardcore version and a version called Season of Discovery. Our version we are playing is the classic version that has received updates from the original classic version to the burning crusade, to wrath of the lich king, to cataclysm classic, and now to Mists of Pandaria expansion.
The reason why I enjoy this particular version (Mist of Pandaria) of the classic World of Warcraft experience is because of the quality of life that they have added to make the game a bit of a hybrid. On the one hand, you still feel as though the game is a classic version of WoW because the leveling experience is still quite long, making for a long journey through the content if you so choose. On the other hand, the game has a lot of quality-of-life features built in, including a built-in quest tracker as well as a group finder that will matchmake you to others seeking to do dungeons. Both of these are huge for me, because in the earlier versions of classic WoW, you either had to download a quest tracker addon to see the quests or you had to find groups manually for dungeons, which as a solo player was a bit of a pain.
While I am looking forward to a few games in the future, for now, Mist of Pandaria Classic is hitting the mark for me. I even downloaded the retail version of WoW again in case I wanted to try the modern-day version of the Monk class (which I do) because I love the monk class so much right now. I figure that I can start my streams with the classic version, clear a zone completely, then switch over to the modern version to give myself a bit of a different feel while still experiencing World of Warcraft as a monk. I don't want to overdo it, but this may actually provide the necessary variety in the gaming experience by switching back and forth as I try both flavors of WoW. Unfortunately, on the retail WoW side, the name of Coriolanus that I have on Mist of Pandaria Classic was taken, so I had to choose the name Coryolanus instead on retail WoW. I also chose to go Horde faction is a Goblin, which is kind of the Horde version of the Gnome.
Now that the weather outside of finally getting better and the rain has subsided, it is time for me to get up and head out for my morning walk and gym time, followed by getting some food. Looking forward to another productive day, and I will see you all soon in Mist of Pandaria classic on stream later this morning. Thanks again for reading and have a wonderful Tuesday!
Until next time,
Blackboa
P.S. The reason the Monk class is my favorite class right now is because it feels extremely fluid, has very high mobility, and seems to have a ton of utility not only as a solo class, but in group play as well. It has three talent specializations that you can either be a tank, a melee dps, or a healer, so it is a highly flexible pick as well. While I am still learning the class, I eventually plan to go into a deep dive of the mechanics in a later post but didn't want to leave the reader wondering why I suddenly love the monk class. It really is so much fun, and I have currently been in the melee DPS specialization as I have been leveling through the content.