Saying goodbye to the old world

This world has come to an end. For the last few weeks I’ve loosened my mental ties to the game as I’ve known it until now. Every thing I’ve done has had an aura of “last time”. Last time in Karazhan. Last time running Black Morass. Last daily quest at Sunwell Island (but I must admit that was so long time ago that I don’t remember it and didn’t realize it was the last time when I did it.)

Tonight was the last time I would log on before the expansion and it was time to say farewell.

I had planned a little ceremony on my own on beforehand. I wanted to bake a Delicious Chocolate Cake. Then I would go to a dark coast somewhere, lit a fire and sit there, contemplating life under a starry sky, enjoying the fireworks and my momentary happiness.

It sounded silly when I shared my plans to a guildie of mine. “I know it’s pointless, I said excusing myself.”. “It doesn’t give me anything, not even an achievement.”

“It IS an achievement to make a chocolate cake”, he replied. Oh well. But that wasn’t my main reason for doing it. I only wanted to bring this part of the game to an end, turning my back to it, open and enthusiastic for all the new stuff awaiting us a few hours from now.

So I filled my bag with ingredients. (By the way, I wonder how that cake tastes. Eggs and flour are normal ingredients, but who would put flowers into a chocolate cake? And where is the cacao?)

I made sure I had mats to make a fire in my bags – this was one of the few times when making your own fire felt more appropriate than using one of the free ones in Ironforge.

And after having a look at the event in the Stormwind harbor I went on this last sentimental trip on my own. My choice fell on deserted coast of Darkshore, at Mist’s Edge.. And I it all turned out exactly as I had planned it. I lit my fire, I baked my chocolate cake on it and when it had cooled down a little so I wouldn’t burn my mouth, I ate it.

As I watched the scenery in the sky, I thought about the 1 year and 9 months I’ve been playing. Snapshots flew through my head.

My first time entering Ironforge, chocked to find such a huge city in the middle of the wilderness.

My first time in Zul Farrak, enjoying the mighty scene on the stairs.

I recalled how I slowly, painstakingly learned how to play my mage. All those endless corpse runs. All those “oh shit”-moments, pulling too many mobs or hitting the wrong button.

I remembered dinging 70 and realizing that the game was far from finished – in fact it was now that it started. I thought about my first stumbling steps in Karazhan, at a time when Moroes was HARD to conquer and nothing in that instance was a joke. A long journey had started, ending at the death of Illidan Stormrage.

It all came back to me as I sat there on the ground, watching the cliffs in the water and beyond there the unknown void. I heard the voices of all those wonderful people I’ve met, and the guilds I’ve loved and yet left, when my path turned in another direction. I remembered the hysterical laughter on TS after a ridiculous wipe in UBRS when a bunch of level 70s managed to hatch all the eggs at once. I remembered the insane hunt for The Suneater for a friend of mine. I remembered the first kill of Archimonde in the end of September, such a relief after all those wipes.

I thought about my present guild and the future that lies ahead of us. Our development the last few months has been amazing and I think it would take a lot more than a robbery of our guild bank to stop us. And I thought that I’ve been very fortunate. When I ding 80 I don’t have to face the hassle of going on guild hunt. I’ve already got my home and family in the game. I get my little piece of chocolate cake every time I log in.

1 year and 9 months, how quickly haven’t they passed? WoW has certainly given me a headache, trying to manage the delicate balance with real life and getting some sort of understanding and acceptance from people around me. Sometimes I wish I had never stumbled upon it. Life would have been easier and there would have been fewer conflicts around.

But it has also given me a ton of entertainment and even some insights about group psychology, management and about myself. Not to speak of all the people I've got to know. It has become a part of who I am, like it or not.

The fireworks lit up the sky and I smiled to myself.

Goodbye old world! Hello new world!

I can’t wait to see what awaits us on the other side of the ocean.