The recent departure of Big Red Kitty caused me to do some serious reflection about World of Warcraft. I had not yet reached the point that I was ignoring or neglecting family members while making podcasts and videos or raiding (Raiding? What’s that?). But I had reached the point where I would be flying around Storm Peaks on my green proto drake (Thanks, Oracles!) hunting for the time-lost proto drake.

Why?

Wasn’t the time-lost proto drake exactly the same as the green proto drake except that it wasn’t green but more time-lost colored? Was it really necessary that I run through the Scholomance quest chain in order to get the skeleton key so that I could read that one last book and get the Well Read achievement? Why did I go all the way back out to Netherstorm to buy pets for some goofy pet collecting achievement? Lord have mercy, Jesus, how many days in a row did I brave shark infested waters to feed fish to the lazy and horribly ugly sea lion so that it could find it’s equally hideous mate? I don’t even want to talk about how long I sat there trying to fish up Old Ironjaw (I finally did!). I took the death knight out to Westfall to hunt down Edwin Van Cleef. For ten lousy achievement points.

My reflection brought me to this conclusion: None of these things were at all fun for me. None of these things changed the game one bit. I enjoy [most of] World of Warcraft, but it was high time I cut out things that were largely unnecessary and unenjoyable wastes of time.

It was then that I decided to start over. From scratch.

I created a brand new blood elf rogue on Earthen Ring. I’ve never seriously tried horde before. I played an orc hunter once to about level 24 or so on another server, but most of that time was spent in the barren wasteland known as, well, the Barrens, and I don’t think even that was enough experience to let me know what playing on the horde side is really like. I have no horde characters on this server and no way to be a sugar daddy to myself. I’m going to have to earn everything.

And I am earning it without the use of professions. That’s right, ladies and gentlemen, my rogue is only going to be able to do first aid. No skinning, no mining, no herbalism. No dressmaking, no meth labs, no way to make bendy straws. My rogue is going to exist entirely off of what she finds lying around and nifty quest rewards. I am going even further out on a limb by not leveling in a combat spec. I once got a gnome rogue to level 30 with a combat spec in what would be the most boring 30 levels of my WoW career. Nope, this time I am going assassination. I know, I know. It doesn’t have the sustained DPS that’s recommended for leveling. But playing a combat rogue to me just doesn’t seem very … rogueish. It’s more pirate-ish. And I don’t want to be a pirate (though they do get cool hats).

I’m not doing anything in this game that I don’t want to anymore. I don’t need to grind rep for vanity pets. I don’t need the extra special shoulders from the So-and-so faction, especially since all my characters end up in PvP anyway.

So if you’re on Earthen Ring and you see a lonely blood elf rogue slithering around happily hunting for quest targets, that’s me.