Scamp wrote:Leveling is a lot slower in vanilla, if you're not enjoying the ride there best I could recommend is to mix it up a bit with some pvp or something. Try to find dungeon groups when you have enough time to do one because that's a lot less dry than purely questing. Mages have been doing really well in pvp (low level pvp too.) I've had a LOT of fun on mine.
As for Questie, make sure to check back in a bit, it's in constant development right now and should be a lot more polished in the coming weeks. There's actually a few people including myself working on it in their free time.
Leveling is actually a legitimate challenge in the game. While WoW, like most MMOs, doesn't "truly begin" until you reach the level cap, hitting the cap is a big accomplishment in of itself. I think there were about 850,000 level 60 characters before TBC hit, and there were 8-8.5 million subscribers in Q4 '06 - Q1 '07 (TBC content patch + launch). When you count for some subscribers have two or more level 60s, that means 10% or less of the people who played Vanilla managed to finish the grind to 60.
I played WoW a lot between 2006 and 2011, and I've seen the game change. In modern WoW, everything is organized, efficient, streamlined, simple, and has its place. The reason Vanilla is so hard to level in is there aren't enough quests, long, long chains that span multiple zones and/or multiple dungeons, breadcrumb quests everywhere, quests that send you literally all over the world, obscure quests, hidden quests, and stuff that just has no purpose. Oh, and drop quests (not guaranteed drop and only one drop per party) plus quest mobs with 30+ minute respawn timers.
And you know? I actually prefer Vanilla. I thought I wanted the Cataclysm model, and I loved it when it first came out. The thing is, the game felt more like a theme park ride than an immersive world, and going from 1-the cap wasn't an accomplishment anymore. Most of the stupid grindy elements that feel like bad design actually make the game feel more immersive, engaging, challenging, rewarding, and like a real world to explore.
My leveling experience:
Vanilla: 1-60 twice (Alliance and Horde)
TBC: 1-70 two or three times (Horde) plus 60-70 once (Horde).
Wrath: 1-80 quite a few times, plus 70-80 a few times (Horde). I think I had 4-5 classes at 80 by the time Wrath ended.
Cata: US top 50 overall/US 3rd rogue to level 85 (~12h 40m), 7-8 classes to 85, plus 1-85 as Ally and Horde in the Beta.
I quit as Firelands hit, so no comment on the new types of Heirlooms or the 85-90 and 90-100 grinds. Also keep in mind the 1-60 experience grind wasn't really nerfed until midway through TBC. They didn't nerf the previous expansion's leveling grind at the start of expansions until Wrath hit, so while my 70 alts did have an easier time 1-58 because of more quests and less elite mobs, the experience needed was the same.