huh. you know, alliance is definitely worse for ganking, but. they seem to be a LOT more likely to be friendly in random dungeon groups?? i cannot believe how friendly everyone has been. it is so nice :)
also i used to be really reluctant and SUPER ANXIOUS about doing dungeons and raids w/ random groups because What If I Fuck Up And Everyone Hates Me, but i've been the top damage dealer for every dungeon i've queued for so far, and i've gotten better wrt raid awareness and mechanics. it's a lot less scary than i thought (⋈óᴗò) edit: i think it's probably pretty easy to be a high-damage-output demon hunter, but it's still really good for my self-esteem :'D
on one hand i wouldn't worry too much about pugging, say.. mythics that aren't + anything, and normal mode raids. because they're tuned to be pugged. once you get into mythic+ and heroic raiding that's a little bit more organized. however if the wow community has taught me anything it's that LFG is a nightmare tool full of people who like to ask others to jump through bizarre gear requirement hoops for even the easiest of shit (mostly so they can find people to carry them). so.
thank god for the LFR system that came in MoP /WoD, the only good thing tbh. It's quite literally set up to where the respective gear level that is required gets in, and if people bitch about it too much you can vote-to-kick or just fucking wait the cooldown out and join again. Though LFR does dumb the raids down so much that they can generally be completed in less than an hour, and is on different lockouts than full on lfg / group finder raiding. That was my experience, mind you I was a healer so I had more clout than most dps
So I've been wanting to level a shaman cuz I heard they're super fun and I really wanted one, and so I rolled a Draenai because I'm pretty much Alliance trash (or at the very least, my absolutely lovely little guild that I've found myself in is Alliance). But the thing is, for some reason, I just do not like the Draenai starting zone! Idk what it is but it just annoys the heck out of me!! So today I rerolled her as a Pandaren and DEAR GOD THE WANDERING ISLE IS AN ABSOLUTE FUCKING DELIGHT. Even if it wasn't for the fact that it pings something like "home" to me since my main is a (gnome) monk and it's my class hall, it would still be top of my Best Starting Zone list. CUTE LIL ELEMENTAL SPIRITS YOU NO TAKE CARROT THE PANDA WHO SINGS ABOUT THE FIRST PANDAREN ADVENTURER THE ONE DUDE WHO KEEPS BREAKING CRAP WITH HIS HEAD just!! aaaaah!! aaaaaahhhhhh!!! *lil handflaps* no offense draenai you're neat and all but heck if i'm ever going back to azuremyst isle (except for that one damn exodar quest with the light's heart yeah you know the one, in breaking news kil'jaeden is a piece of trash and i am going to punch his face so hard it turns into a crater)
draenei starting zone sucks because it wasn't updated at all with the Cataclysm expansion. every other race's starting zones were tweaked to flow better. draenei and belf ones still suck. i do love wandering isle though. you get it as your class hall for monk which is neat!
fun fact: Before cata, the Draenei / Belf starting zones were the BEST and SMOOTHEST starting zones comparatively to the other races. So, most people would run their characters to these zones to level. These days, as Aniseed said, they are complete ass but it's mostly because they're a relic of a bygone age. Much like Hellfire Peninsula, aka 'Where alts go to die' for me.
I fucking adore the panda starting zone, but for some reason the heirloom chauffeur mounts don't work for pandas. Like, at all. Even after you pick a side. Once you get used to using those, it's like a slap in the face. (Fuck the goblin starting zone though. :| I dig goblins as a concept, but that starting zone is so bad.)
weirdly for me my alts either die at the point of having to do blasted lands again for the 50th time because the other 'option' is silithus which didn't get an update in cataclysm, or the beginning of northrend. BC i find is decently okay to get through just because there are so many dungeon options and it's a very viable way to level. then you hit northrend and the zones are still boring and you just get to run utgarde keep for what feels like the rest of your life.
I love Northrend leveling :'(((( (Prior to boosting, Cata was pretty much where my will to level got eaten. Which was really close to current content, so you'd think I could power through, but nah. Fucking long ass grindy leveling kills me in the soul.)
the later northrend zones are great, but borean tundra and howling fjord are where my alt dreams die. then if i DO make it through.. there's cata.
i LOVE the music for either grizzly hills or howling fjord, fuck if i can ever remember which. also i can't believe how much cata-leveling hatred i have seen here??? northrend and cata have all my FAVOURITE leveling zones, i fuckin love cata, it's so FUNNY......
So I'm running around in Stormheim and it's beautiful and sunny and then suddenly it starts snowing and going dark...spooky atmosphere... AAAA SHIT SHIT FUCK SHIT Needless to say, I died.
I'll be honest, for the Cata/MoP leveling hate it's 100% the 'putting in ten levels worth of work for five levels worth of gain' for me. Also Cata leveling goes Funky with exp gains sometimes if you're just doing questing. (I have to say that WoD leveling is probably going to be my hatemance down the line tho, because trying to fight my way up and down mountains all day is NOT MY IDEA OF A GOOD TIME) (That said, I do unironically love Deepholm and Vashj'r, it's just. That Grind Tho.)
I don't enjoy most of cataclysm leveling except for VASHJ'IR I LOVE VASHJ'IR A lot of people apparently hated vashjir for some reason? But I love it it's beautiful the music is amazing you can ride seahorses there's nothing else like it in the game
My husband hates Vash'jir because of the 3D physics of swimming. I love naga so I wasn't bothered. Wrath was my absolute favorite expansion, and now Legion, which feels like everything good about Wrath but A WHOLE LOT MORE. And after the shitshow that was Warlords, it makes such a nice palate cleanser. :'3
ALSO IF YOU JUMP OFF THE HIGHEST PEAK IN HIGHMOUNTAIN YOU CAN FLOAT DOWN INTO SURAMAR AND IT LOOKS AWESOME
