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It's now day three for my return to the World of Warcraft. I'm on the Saurfang server and find it for the most part the way I like it: quiet. That isn't to say the server is barren. However, compared to my old server, this one is pretty serene. So far, as promised, I have created a few characters as per my specification. The ones I've played through have been my Tauren Paladin, Goblin Rogue and a Troll Hunter. The Paladin and Rogue are currently at level 13 while my Hunter is close to hitting 22. Without having to deal with gankings any longer, I'm practically stress free in terms of exploring the realm and enjoying questing.

I have to say that the quests feel better organized. If you've played Wrath of the Lich King, then most of the quests are along those lines. There's more interesting quests compared to vanilla WoW. As a matter of fact, I would say that they managed to finally correct all the original quests and then some as a result of several years worth of feedback. One chief improvement for quests is that the leveling per zone is much more restricted. For instance, the original Barrens had a fairly vast range, whereas now it's focused between 10-20. I find that good though because the extended freedom from quests might allow new players to accidentally step into zones that they were not prepared for. 

Another major overhaul is that a lot of the useless walking has been reduced. Now, the quest hubs are far more focused so that you only go within a certain section of the map. More than that, a big part is that many quests offer safe forms of travel that take you between quest hubs. Sometimes though you might encounter something along the way. For instance, in the Northern Barrens now, you escort two caravans as you slowly make your way towards the Crossroads. Previously, some areas forced you to trek through zones that were clearly beyond your characters level. A good example is the path between Mulgore to the Crossroads. Prior to the Zepplin, you had to cut through the center part of the Barrens, which had creatures between the levels of 15+. On average, by the time you finished Mulgore as a Tauren, you probably would be around level 10-12 (at best). So unless you had an escort, you had to traverse the zone extremely carefully to avoid aggro'ing the monsters there.

Also, the quest rewards seem more fulfilling and focused. I'm noticing more relevant statistics being applied to gear as you finish quests. I think this is great because the old zone drops were rather lacking. It forced you to hit dungeons to obtain better gear.  When I first started playing my original hunter, his gear stayed tragically horrible for a long time, until I started instancing. With the new gear rewards, you're not entirely forced to enter instances so that your gear will scale better along with the zone. This is particularly beneficial for players that prefer to solo.

Before starting my new toons, I hopped on my old Tauren Hunter, gave him the new Azeroth Flying and took a quick spin around a few of the new zones in Ner'zhul. To say that things are different is an understatement. The world feels drastically different. Even Orgrimmar was barely recognizable and honestly a little overwhelming for me at first, despite the layout being essentially the same. So getting that opportunity to preview a few parts was really cool. On my older PC, the graphics are pretty intense and can drag the performance down. Fortunately, I have a new Macbook Pro to continue my play (my desktop seems like it's dying). Either way, the world is definitely to be something that needs to be witnessed if you're a veteran.

I zoomed through with my troll hunter first. The new troll starting zone gets your feet wet and introduces you back into the story if you're a veteran. Part of it demonstrates the tension between Garrosh Hellscream and Vol'jin. Once you finish though, you'll be around level 5-6. Since my main is a hunter, using the troll hunter from level one felt quite alien to me. The biggest change beyond the move towards focus was having a pet from the start. It definitely helped since I didn't have to go through that painful taming quest. However, I didn't have a lot of control over it. Also, I'm used to possessing a large well of abilities. So being reduced to a few really made it feel like I was playing a different character.  Still, I got used to the character fairly quickly. The biggest problem I'm having is dealing with my pet's lack of aggro. I'm pulling too much damage and my pet is too slow. Also, it feels that the monsters are faster in this regard. Fortunately, because I'm used to being a survival hunter, kiting did not become a huge hindrance compared to when I first started. It's a lot easier this time, but I think I'm spoiled at having nearly the full range of abilities.

Next I tried the rogue with my friend. I already have a troll rogue who was coming along until Cataclysm. So this time around, I took what I felt was a natural pairing between race and class type by rolling a goblin. The new area is really something. It's vibrant and you could tell that Blizzard put a lot of effort into making the starting zone a lot of fun. One of the biggest parts with the goblins is that they even receive their own cut scene movie when they move off their initial island. I don't know about the Worgen yet, but none of the other races as far as I can tell receive anything like that. That alone would make it worth playing the goblin race because it reveals the type of effort Blizzard is attempting to convey and get people to try out the race.

Most of the time I was laughing while playing in the goblin starting zone. There's just little quirks here and there that make you enjoy each little spot. You end up feeling a level of empathy towards these guys for their odd sense of ingenuity as well as wondering what larger role they would be playing with Death Wing. Thus far, they are the only race I've played that showed some direct link to Death Wing from the starting zone.

That said, not all of the zone was fun and games. A few quests had me miffed. My little girl goblin got killed at least seven times in the starting zone. Not sure if it's because she's small or if she's a rogue. But there were definitely moments that ticked me off. The whole thing isn't impossible though. As always, you just need to be careful, read the quests and ploy through.

At the end, I did definitely feel that of all the races thus far, the goblins had a sense of "epicness" to them by the time you finished the last quest. You're even rewarded with one blue item. As for my little girl goblin, I think she's a cutie. Some people feel that the goblins are the Horde's answer to the Alliance's gnomes, but I disagree. The goblins by far are one of the most intriguing races in the game. They have a lot of really cool abilities too like the banker ability and the best deals in the game.

Afterward, I tried my first Paladin. Sorry, Sunwalker. Taurens technically do not have true "paladins" as they call themselves Sunwalkers. I had been itching to play a paladin for a while, especially with the new Tauren combos. I have to say that the Tauren Paladin is ridiculous. So far, I haven't died once with him. He's been able to take on odds and just evade death at the last moment. Is this what being overpowered is like?

But the thing I enjoyed most thus far has been the revamped starting zone. Most of the quests feel the same as vanilla WoW. But they're clearly more organized. In fact, it feels as though Blizzard was massively apologizing to our bull horned friends by doing things to make the zone easier. For instance, you're again transported a few times between the initial camp to the tiny village, saving you valuable time since you don't have to trek the previous passage. Also, the levels in the zone seem better. When I started my first hunter, I had so many issues getting through some areas. Of course, that probably was due to my lack of experience. But I kept dying back then so easily. This time, no such hassle. Much smoother.

Probably, my personal favorite touch added by Blizzard was this particular mob called the Venture Company Supervisor. Occasionally, he will ask you, "Ask yourself, is this good for the Venture Company?" Then he might use a special ability called "Motivation" on you. Clearly, these are references to Bill Lumberg from Office Space, a perennial favorite movie of mine. I could stop laughing at that.

Anyway, I decided to focus my attention on my hunter. At the moment, she's questing through Ashzara. Previously, the Ashzara zone, while considerably gorgeous, was practically deserted. For one reason or another, people tended to avoid this zone for questing. I read various players lamenting how the zone was quite beautiful and completely underappreciated. I think Blizzard finally decided to take action on that by revamping the zone as a level spot for Goblins and Horde members. I have to say the quests here are a lot of fun. Originally, I started in my typical stomping grounds of the Barrens. But since I had this quest in my pocket, I decided to take a look, hearing online how Blizzard had done a tremendous job. Indeed, this zone is definitely a spot you do not want to miss. There's just so much new content in this zone and it also gives you a chance to check out the new Goblin town. By the end of one major quest chain, you'll get the chance to receive a blue item. I was fortunate enough to find a gun that was relevant to my hunter. So you can't miss this kind of zone.

I'll probably continue with the quests in this zone to see if I can hit the achievement and figure out how far I can go without most of the quests going gray. After this, I'll hit Ashenvale to see how the horde have metamorphosized the area.

Bottom line: enjoying it thus far. PVE for me works well.