Warning: This post is about 1% game content. I mention Azeroth flying, and two zone names. That is the depth of "the cata experience" you will get from this post. Which isn't to say it doesn't have merit--this post isn't about playing cata as a character, this about literally you, a human being existing in the physical universe, manipulating your mouse and keyboard to progress your character in Cataclysm. In other words, this about the first 17 hours of cata, from the man behind the undead warrior Hyperiom.
It's been a few weeks, but let me tell you why it has been--and let me connect the explanation to KATAKLIHZUM.
The reason I'm terrible at blogging is the reason I'm excellent at leveling. No, it's not "I just lurve WoW so much I can't take my eyes off of it to blog about it"--I have ADD. Everyone knows what that is, or thinks they know what that is, but though it's "Attention Deficit Disorder" (technically, ADD is actually ADHD without a hyperactive component) it doesn't necessarily mean that I lose focus all the time. Don't get me wrong, that's part of it, but remember that it's a focus disorder. Something is wrong with my focus, so not only do I lose focus, but many studies show that ADD has a hyperfocus component. Just as I can get so bored with a task that I procrastinate endlessly (blogging) I can also sit down and watch an entire season of the Sopranos in one sitting. That's 12 hours.
To further connect this, I will say that I had the cataclysm digital download, and after various failed login attempts, I ended up getting Azeroth flying and whisked my way over to Hyjal at about 12:30. I wanted to go to Vash'jir because it has more quests, but everyone ELSE wanted to do it for that reason, so I thought Hyjal would be less populated. In the end, I think I made the correct decision, even though it was totally accidental.
So, to recap, 12:30am I'm logged in.
5:30am I'm logged out at level 81, maybe 30% to 82, and just going to sleep.
10:30am I wake up, can't get back to sleep, start playing.
5:00pm I log out, nearly 83, thinking nothing more than "Damn, that's scary."
It's not scary that WoW is an addicting game, and personally I don't really have much of an addictive personality. You might say "but Hype, you just played wow for 12 of your past 12 waking hours!" to which I say "Yes, but I had nothing better to do besides watch TV and sleep, and I'm not sitting here blogging thinking "oh man oh man I gotta get back to playing oh man oh man." It's not addiction, it's a rather unattractive level of hyperfocus. I fully maintain the capability to play WoW, or do anything, until I say it's time to stop. My body doesn't go "Man, you should stop." I wasn't tired at 5:30 in the morning, and only now am I really feeling tired.
There is a dangerous element, to that, though. I made sure to sleep, and I knocked out one complete REM cycle. Other people in my guild didn't do that. I logged in and they were still playing. I was ahead of them when I logged out (I'm pretty good at questing, especially awesome cata quests) and they caught up and surpassed me, cause they didn't sleep. MY nerves were dulled enough that, at about 11:30am, I poured some boiling water on my hand while making tea, and I didn't notice for far too long.
I'd guess the time it takes to {Pour boiling water on oneself; register the pain from that; stop boiling water on oneself} is probably a quarter of a second. Me, I stared at the boiling water on my hand for far too long. I'd say it took just under a second, maybe 8/10ths to do what should take 3/10ths. Worst of all, I shook my hand off and then kept pouring. That should've been an early warning sign that my brain is turning to mush.
"Hype," you might inquire, "didn't you just say you're not addicted? That you're fully capable of handling this?" No, fuck no. I'm not addicted, but any period of time where 12 of the last 17 hours have been leveling in WoW is bad for you, ESPECIALLY when you have as nasty a cold as I have. Did I mention that? Yeah, it was a doozy. I'm still thinking about going to the doctor, but it seems to be improving.
Now, I'm considering logging back in once I take a longer cooldown, and taking a shower has helped my state of mind. I want to hit 83 tonight, and I think I can in 3 hours or so. I want to finish Vash'jir.
So, how is Cata? Next post, kids, next post. I'll be more up-to-date now that I have fresh material. I might even have videos O_O
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