My Warcraft Year in Review

This post over on Restokin alerted me to the existence of the Warcraft Year in Review Meme, and I thought I'd join the crowd and give my own answers to these questions.

1. What did you do in the World of Warcraft in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Well, like Lissanna, I started my blog this year, but as for what I did in-game, this year was the first (and last) time I ran a 25-man raid. I was spontaneously invited by my guild, so I thought, why not? I'll try it. It was a pretty fun experience, but considering that I mostly tank now and that there isn't as much of a demand for tanks in 25-mans as there is in 10-mans, I think I'll be sticking to 10-mans when and if I do raid, which is a big if.

2. What was your favorite new place that you visited?
The new 5-mans in patch 3.3, The Frozen Halls. Granted, I have yet to actually complete the Halls of Reflection (goddamn that one is hard), but the Forge of Souls and Pit of Saron are incredibly fun. Why? The boss fights require movement. I was pretty disappointed by the encounters in Trial of the Champion because they were just damage and healing races. In fact, they were pretty much tank-and-spanks. I think I enjoy Eardic the Pure the most in ToC because you actually need to move in that fight. The FoS and PoS fights all involve movement, and if you move correctly, the fights are not all that difficult. Sure, they do require a pretty high level of gear, but then again, The Frozen halls is like the Ulduar of the 5-man world, in terms of skill and gear required. I think Krick and Ick might be my favorite fight in The Frozen Halls.

Still, you may say, other fights also require movement, so what makes The Frozen Halls special? I'll tell you: the movement is proactive, not reactive. There's no satisfaction in moving out of an area spell when a boss casts it out of nowhere; it's just a nuisance. However, when a boss is about to cast a spell, and you move to avoid it, or you just move because you know you need to, rather than because of something that just happened, you avoided that damage outright. Your skill just made the fight easier, and that makes it much more satisfying.

3. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
In terms of game content, I would like viable solo content. Sure, 5-mans have become so casual-geared that solo content is almost a non-issue at this point, but I was still very disappointed by Wrath's solo content. With the new Path of the Titans, my wish might be granted.

In terms of what I want for my character, I would really like to win the Battered Hilt so that I can get the Lightborn Spire, a serious upgrade to my current tank and DPS weapons. I have run both FoS and PoS quite a bit (fourteen times as of posting this), and have yet to see the hilt even drop once. Come on, Blizz; just seeing it drop would make me more optimistic.

Oh, and realm stability for Thrall would be nice.

4. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
There are too many to pick, but if I had to pick my biggest, I'd say it was either getting Lil' Game Hunter or the Traveler's Tundra Mammoth. I'd say Lil' Game Hunter was a bigger achievement, but I'm prouder of my Traveler's Tundra Mammoth. Whenever I am in Pit of Saron, the Culling of Stratholme, or Utgarde Keep, I always take the opportunity to show it off.

5. What was your biggest failure?
Trying to force myself to raid. My play style and play schedule just don't allow me to put in the amount of time needed to raid, and yet I tried to fit that mold anyways. It seemed like the next logical thing to do, since I had bested the 5-mans, but I just didn't enjoy it. Thank god for the new 5-mans, which are like mini raids, and so the give a similar level of satisfaction when beaten.

6. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Dual specs and the dungeon finder. I got more excited over dual specs than I did over the dungeon finder, since there was a big healer shortage on my realm and I would finally be able to help that problem, but now I am more excited about the dungeon finder than the dual specs, since it has made me interested in the game again. I suppose I got pretty excited over buying the Traveler's Tundra Mammoth, as well.

7. What do you wish you’d done less of?
The Argent Tournament dailies. Granted, the Argent Pony Bridle and the pets were somewhat worth it, but I punished myself for those things.

8. What was your favorite WoW blog or podcast?
Aside from the obvious answer of wow.com, Restokin is certainly up there. The mix of druid info and occasional philosophy makes it an awesome blog.

9. Tell us a valuable WoW lesson you learned in 2009.
I learned the importance of being prepared by reading up on what you are doing. When I started healing, rather than just getting the gear and going in blind, I read Lissanna's guide to resto healing, and it made me a much better healer. Reading the strats for the new Frozen Halls also made me much more able to tank them.