So I have been taking a break from WoW recently. I have played the game since December 2004, off and on of course, and I've always had a good time doing so. I've leveled a rogue, paladin, warrior and shaman to 80, and a hunter dang close as well (76 or something, can't recall at the moment). The original game was, by leaps and bounds, my favorite since it was my first MMO and based in the Warcraft universe I've enjoyed for years before WoW was released. I cringe to think of the /played I have on my first character, but I don't regret playing the game for so long, because it's been a blast.
I've been staying current on Cataclysm as best I can through this site, the official site, and whatever external sources they link me to. I'm actually very excited to see the game growing, and am particularly interested in the Old World revamps that will be undertaken. It was thinking about this that the question first came to my mind: should I just delete my characters and start over new with Cataclysm? And the answer seems to be, for all intents and purposes...yes.
Now I can already tell most people will disagree with this, although there are some who will roll worgen and goblins in addition to their current characters. But I'm talking about getting rid of ALL my existing characters in order to experience leveling them again, only brand new.
I've weighed several other options that would circumvent that, but I like deleting them best:
- You can just create new characters on different servers/factions
While this is true, it doesn't alleviate the temptation of sending resources, heirloom gear, and other luxuries to my new characters to help them along. I want to do it truly from scratch, with no outside assistance from existing characters
- You can just create a new account to avoid that temptation
While I do not mind buying Cataclysm, buying WoW, TBC, WotLK, AND Cataclysm is a bit too steep for my desire. It's much easier this way.
-But, you'll lose all the exclusive Feats of Strength, titles, and items you have that do not exist anymore!
While it's true that I will lose my [Severed Night Elf Head] from old school Alterac Valley, and my First Sergeant rank on my first character, I find that the former is something I barely even glance at in the bank, and the latter will be trivialized by new content. This is the lot of any nostalgia items I may have anyways; ultimately, they're just clutter, and I don't wanna be a packrat anyways, so it's better to nix them despite the fond memories.
-Well that's all well and good, but you realize you'll have wasted 5+ years of your life for absolutely nothing if you do this...
Well, yes and no. Y'see, my characters aren't MINE to begin with. I mean sure, I created and leveled and geared them, but they have always belonged to Blizzard despite this. One day in the distant, distant future WoW will dwindle, and the servers could very well be repurposed for something else and shut down. My time will be just as wasted that day as it would be by deleting my characters. But ultimately, it's about the fun memories I create on the characters for me, and to be perfectly honest I have FAR more fond memories of leveling and below-the-cap instancing than I have in farming heroics for weeks, so I look forward to the fun of new memories in a new game world, with revamped talents, skills and zones.
So what do you guys think? Does this notion make sense to you? Would you ever consider this yourselves?