Chapter 1098: For the Purple Gear (Third Update)
Zou Zhuo was having a blast riding his Kodo across the vast grasslands, occasionally bouncing up and down on its back.
At first, having to control the Kodo by pulling the reins felt a bit strange, but after getting used to it, it was no problem. It truly gave a sense of wind-like speed.
Actually, to be strict, players had already been speeding around in GTA for ages. Could a mount that only boosted speed by 60% really provide any new sensory thrill?
Strangely enough, yes, it could.
The main reason was that players had been stifled for too long in World of Warcraft. From level 1 to level 40, they had spent a full thirty to forty hours running on their own two legs. Finally being able to ride a horse was almost enough to make them cry from emotion.
Moreover, this horse had been saved up for, penny by penny, copper by copper, representing so much undifferentiated effort and labor.
That's just how people are. Often, the more time and energy you invest in something, the more you cherish it.
On the other hand, if you just shoved a horse into a player's hands from the start, they'd probably get used to it after five minutes and wouldn't think the experience was all that great.
Zou Zhuo was still letting loose on the grasslands, riding his Kodo, when he heard his teammates urging him in the party channel.
"Hey, fatty, hurry up! What's the deal? How long does it take to buy a horse?!"
"Come on, let's discuss where to go next to level up. Some tryhards are already almost level 50. Can we just let that slide?"
Zou Zhuo was unbothered: "What's the point of leveling up so fast? The max level is only 60, right? Let's just enjoy the game slowly. We don't need to stoop to their level."
"Hmm... Should we go to Tanaris, Feralas, or the Badlands?"
...
...
After a long debate, they finally decided on Tanaris. The main reason was that the quests there were relatively concentrated, and there was also the Zul'Farrak dungeon, which they could run multiple times.
Leveling slowly had its advantages. Although those leveling maniacs couldn't plan out a perfectly optimized leveling route yet, at least they could share which maps offered the best value.
Obviously, even among leveling maps, efficiency varied. Maps with concentrated quests, a dungeon, and convenient transportation became the players' top choices.
Of course, these places were also typically hotspots for PvP activity.
"Ah, another potential customer!"
"Time is money, my friend!"
"Hmm, how interesting!"
"Hey, how are ya? Good luck to ya."
"I'm the real deal, no tricks, no cheats."
Zou Zhuo rode his Kodo around Gadgetzan, the sharp and hoarse voices of the goblins echoing in his ears.
"This is my first time seeing so many goblins..." Zou Zhuo muttered.
Lin Xue, while picking up quests, said, "How is that possible? Didn't you go to Ratchet and Stranglethorn Vale before?"
Zou Zhuo shook his head: "No, we went straight to Hillsbrad Foothills at level 30... then Arathi Highlands..."
Lin Xue thought for a moment: "Oh... I guess so. That time, I was just bored and traveled to Stranglethorn Vale on my own. Now that I think about it... I haven't even cleared the quests there yet."
Old P: "I heard the quests there are pretty troublesome, and there are tons of Alliance players too."
Lin Xue nodded: "Yeah, I heard there's a pain-in-the-ass quest called 'The Green Hills of Stranglethorn.' It's basically a bag killer..."
After Zou Zhuo picked up most of the quests in town, he stepped outside, took one look, and immediately retreated back in.
"It's so damn desolate out there! And... why are there so many Alliance players?!"
Old P took a look: "Isn't that normal? If we think this place is good for leveling, the Alliance must think so too."
Zou Zhuo thought for a moment: "...You've got a point. The question is, how do we get out? And... why are all these Alliance players so docile? Why aren't they attacking us?"
The moment Zou Zhuo finished speaking, an arrow instantly lodged itself in his forehead.
"Holy crap!" Zou Zhuo looked in the direction the arrow came from and saw a Dwarf Hunter standing on a hillside outside the wall, drawing his bow with ill intent.
The terrain was quite interesting. The entire perimeter of Gadgetzan was enclosed by walls, but there was a hill to the west. Standing on that hill, you could shoot over the wall and hit people inside.
Zou Zhuo was dumbfounded. What now? He couldn't charge over the wall.
Trade shots with the Hunter? Wasn't that just asking to be a joke?
Just as Zou Zhuo was about to tell Old P and the others to fight back, he saw a few Goblin guards dash out of the city in a flash.
Five seconds later, the guards had climbed up to that hilltop. One hammer blow each, and they directly killed the Dwarf Hunter.
Old P: "...Overthinking it."
Zou Zhuo looked at the overall layout of Gadgetzan. He kind of understood why all the guards here were a uniform level 57...
"Alright, don't overthink it. Let's hurry up and do the quests. As long as the five of us stick together, we won't be afraid of the Alliance out in the wild."
Zou Zhuo and his group started heading out of Gadgetzan when someone posted a message in the general chat channel.
"Forming a group for Zul'Farrak! Need people! Drops a purple two-handed sword! Purple two-handed sword! Purple two-handed sword! Important things said three times!"
Zou Zhuo immediately stopped in his tracks: "Purple two-handed sword?! Guys, let's change our plans! Let's just grind Zul'Farrak all the way to level 50!"
Old P's face darkened: "You're so fickle! The moment you hear 'purple two-handed sword,' you can't move. Think about it, with your luck, do you really think it'll drop?"
Zou Zhuo was checking leaked info online: "Apparently, this dungeon also drops the Sul'thraze the Lasher, the Energy Staff, and the Mask of the Unforgiven... Hmm, all stuff you can use."
Old P: "Zul'Farrak... how do we get there?"
Lin Xue squinted at the two of them: "Old P, can't you have a little more ambition? Are you seriously planning to grind Zul'Farrak all the way to level 50?!"
Zou Zhuo puffed out his chest: "Don't worry, I just checked a guide. I've got the route all planned out. We'll do quests and run Zul'Farrak at the same time. By the time we're done, we'll be around level 50 and can move straight to Maraudon. I heard the final boss of Maraudon is a princess, and they say she's as beautiful as a fairy."
Old P: "Really? As beautiful as a fairy? Where did you see that info? Got any pictures?"
Zou Zhuo grinned: "I saw it on Chen Mo's Weibo! He said the princess of Maraudon is as beautiful as a fairy and has a huge chest. He said you'll definitely remember her."
...
As soon as Zou Zhuo heard about purple gear, he immediately decided to level up quickly and throw himself into the grind of Zul'Farrak until he was sick of it.
Later players would find it hard to understand the obsession that 60-era players had with low-level purple gear, or even some special blue items. In later versions of World of Warcraft, the game became more and more fast-food oriented. People just looked at item levels and didn't care what the equipment was actually called.
But in the 60-era, every single piece of purple gear left a deep impression on players.
For example:
The Staff of Jordan, the Fiery War Axe, the Glowing Brightwood Staff, the Gutgore Ripper, the Night Blade, Kang the Decapitator, the Warden Staff, Krol Blade, Hurricane, Icy Scale Gauntlets, Pauldrons of the Unrelenting, Robes of Insight...
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