Chapter 1112: Max Level Is Just the Beginning (Second Update)
The reason the two maps of the Eastern and Western Plaguelands were so deeply ingrained in players' hearts was ultimately because they embodied so much of Azeroth's history and sentiment.
Many players would feel a sense of awe when they saw Uther's Tomb: "Ah, Uther! I know him, isn't he that paladin from Warcraft? I heard he was killed by Arthas and buried near Andorhal. So this is where it is!"
This feeling was the unique magic of World of Warcraft.
...
After a long and arduous struggle, the first batch of hardcore players finally reached level 60.
Looking back at the time they had spent on this game, it was truly indescribable.
Many people remembered how they had initially thought about buying a monthly subscription card! What the hell were they thinking? They must have lost their minds...
And you thought that hitting max level meant the game was almost over? Hah, you were way too naive.
When players reached level 60, they realized just how much there was still to do...
Although everyone was max level, the quests were far from cleared. The Eastern and Western Plaguelands, Winterspring, Silithus—these places still had many quests waiting for them, including plenty of classic quests with great rewards.
Moreover, to improve their gear, they had to farm various level 60 dungeons, like Stratholme, Scholomance, Blackrock Depths, and so on. Many players formed fixed groups to grind these dungeons for a full set of blue Tier 0 gear, and they were almost sick of it.
Money was also a huge problem. Many players were saving up to buy their epic mounts, which was no small expense.
The main issue was that the game hadn't been out for long, and the first wave of players had just hit level 60. Everyone was waiting to save up gold for their mounts, so trying to buy gold with real money was basically a seller's market—no one was willing to sell large amounts. So these players started brainstorming ways to make money, like grinding their professions, selling ores and herbs, crafting bags and gear, and so on.
Warlocks and Paladins were quite happy, because they didn't need to buy mounts; they could get their exclusive epic mounts through quests. But the process was equally painful. Take Warlocks, for example: they had to pick up a quest in Burning Steppes, then go kill monsters in Felwood and Winterspring, then head to Scholomance to have a "chat" with Ras Frostwhisper, and finally go to Dire Maul. After this series of complicated steps, they could finally get their unique mount.
At this point, running Stratholme and Scholomance was still extremely challenging. The top-tier players could clear them, but it was very difficult. Whether they could defeat many bosses often came down to luck—they might win one time and wipe the next.
And Scholomance wasn't even accessible without a key. Getting that key was an even longer story: you had to run from the Plaguelands to Gadgetzan, then to Un'Goro Crater, and finally to the ruins of Andorhal to kill Araj the Summoner before you could get the Skeleton Key.
You could skip the quest if you had a Rogue with 300 Lockpicking in your group...
Well, many players thought it over and decided, "I'll just do the quest..."
The Lockpicking skill was also very difficult to level up, because during the initial leveling phase, most Rogues didn't bother to practice it—they were too busy rushing to max level. By the time they realized they needed Lockpicking, they had to run all over Azeroth to train it.
From Lakeshire to Westfall, then to the Temple of Atal'Hakkar, then to Zul'Farrak, then to Blackrock Spire...
Some Rogues found it too troublesome and bought lockboxes from Engineering players, which was another hefty expense. Even for highly skilled players, just leveling Lockpicking to max took five or six hours.
However, Rogues who actually maxed out their Lockpicking to 300 were in high demand everywhere. In the level 60 era, most high-level dungeons required keys to enter, whether it was the early Stratholme, Scholomance, Dire Maul, or the later Onyxia's Lair and Blackwing Lair. Considering the complexity of the Scholomance key quest, most players were too lazy to run around everywhere.
With a Rogue who had 300 Lockpicking in the group, they could basically access most locked dungeons without any trouble. This convenience was a huge upgrade, and for Rogue players, all their hard work leveling Lockpicking finally paid off. That feeling was fantastic.
And this was one of the best elements of World of Warcraft's level 60 era: class differentiation.
This differentiation wasn't just reflected in class skills, but also in the irreplaceability of certain classes.
For example, the Rogue's Lockpicking, the Hunter's Epic Bow quest, the Priest's Epic Staff quest, the Warlock and Paladin's Epic Mount quests, and so on.
Even Shamans back then had to do quests to learn their Earth, Fire, Water, and Air totems. The Water Totem quest required crossing three maps and even diving into the sea—it was absolutely grueling. Of course, after completing these quests, players' sense of identity with their class skyrocketed. They felt that their class was unique and irreplaceable by others.
...
At that moment, Qian Kun was frantically farming mobs in Blackrock Depths.
"I knew it—how could this quest just cut off like that? If I hadn't sneaked a peek at Zheng Hongxi's quest list, I might have missed this entirely..."
In truth, Qian Kun had already run Blackrock Depths several times and didn't need much more gear. So why was he back here again?
Well, it was a long story.
Although Qian Kun was in charge of the game's combat and dungeon design, he knew nothing about the story and quests. Since the entire quest system was handled by Zheng Hongxi and kept strictly confidential, Qian Kun himself had no idea how each quest line developed or what rewards they gave.
While leveling in Burning Steppes, he had stumbled upon a quest to kill a black dragon. After completing it, the NPC started sending him on a wild goose chase. From Lakeshire to Stormwind, then back to Lakeshire from Stormwind, then back to Burning Steppes...
Qian Kun almost got sick from all the running. If the quest hadn't seemed so complicated and potentially rewarding, he wouldn't have bothered with all this trouble.
To put it simply, Burning Steppes was threatened by dragonkin and Dark Iron Dwarves, which could endanger Redridge Mountains. So the mayor of Lakeshire sent him to Stormwind to deliver a message asking for help. But the Countess in Stormwind kicked him out, and the Duke said that since the Countess wasn't willing, he'd have to solve it himself.
After much effort, with his legs practically worn out, Qian Kun finally tracked down a key figure: Marshal Windsor. But after finding him in the prison of Blackrock Depths, he seemed to have gone mad, and the quest line broke off.
Qian Kun was dumbfounded. "That's it?!"
He couldn't accept this. "I've run my legs off, and you give me nothing, and then the quest line just ends?!"
He refused to believe it. He secretly checked Zheng Hongxi's quest list and discovered that there was indeed a follow-up, but it required killing mobs in Blackrock Depths for a random drop...
Qian Kun muttered "M-M-P" under his breath and had to call another group from his guild to enter Blackrock Depths again.