Around the World in 85 Levels

Way back in September I was under the impression that Cataclysm would drop in November. I was also under the impression that the only way to get it was at a Gamestop at midnight. Both of those turned out to not be true. It ended up coming out last week (Dec 7th), I shifted my pre-order at Gamestop to another game and just bought it directly and digitally from Blizzard. I was still prepared for a three day slog of no sleep though. A near 72 hour leveling binge that would leave me with only fragments of my sanity. That didn't happen either.

This time around things were different. For Cataclysm, Blizzard went with a common release date/time in the US and Europe. So I could not start until 3am EST (12am PST). I was upset about this at first. After finding out I didn't have to go out in the cold at midnight though, I just went to bed at 11pm and woke up at 2:30am refreshed and ready to level. I was 81 before 5am and 82 soon after that. By 5pm on Tuesday I had hit 84 and logged off to be with my family for the evening. I was back on at 9pm and before 3am Wednesday I had hit 85.

So all five levels in less than 24 hours with two breaks to be a husband and father. This was a much different experience than 2008 and a welcome one. Sure my lovely wife gave me the go ahead to do as I wished with my staycation (wowcation?), but not having to beat myself up in doing so was awesome. The rest of the week saw me getting a solid 8 hours of sleep every night. Sure I filled my day with 5 man heroics and daily quest, but I did it on a normal sleep schedule and ate proper meals.

After a weeks time I have already hit superior and grabbed two epics. Tonight is our first 25 man raid. The first two ten man raids did not go so well, but everyones gear is getting better by the day. All I know is Toxitron better drop some bracers.

Just like in 2008, I'll do the numbers...

Days to 85: 1

Purples Replaced: all

New Purples: 2

Coolest New Purple: Earthmender's Boots

Special thanks goes to...

• My beautiful wife for being supportive and understanding given my addiction to not just WoW, but all things geeky.
• My son, to be honest he never knew what I was doing. I was always there when he was awake, but he is awesome enough to get my thanks anyway.
• Chort for leveling with me up to 84, he almost got realm first warrior after I logged off, but missed it by that much.
• My brother, for being a champ and heading into work at 5am on Tuesday. He wanted to level, but took care of his real world obligations instead. He still hit 85 by Thursday though.