This week’s Blog Azeroth shared topic post comes from Frinka from Warcraft Street:
Are you playing the MoP Beta? Why or why not? How much time are you spending there vs. the “live” servers?
I have access to the Mists beta (my sparklepegasus confirms this) but I spend very little time playing it, which I’m a little surprised about. I couldn’t wait for the beta. I was a little annoyed that I was in one of the last rounds of invites. And yet when I finally got my invite…I’ve barely logged on.
I’ve played around with it a little. I took a peak at the Pandaren starting zone (which was insanely crowded and therefore not fun) and I went to the Jade Forest to check it out, though I didn’t really do much. I struggled with my lack of desire to log on for awhile. I wanted to provide feedback, didn’t I? I would be a good beta tester. I’m a coherant (if long winded) writer, and I can express my frustration about things in ways other than saying “OMFG BLIZZ YOU SUCK.” I love this game and I want to make it better. So why was I not logging on?
In the end, I realized it’s because I love this game. I want to play the hell out of Mists when it launches. I want to get myself involved with the questing and the rep grinds and the pet battles and the dungeons and raids. And I just don’t want to spoil that for myself. Right now in the live game, I feel like there’s very little to do because the content I have is 8 months old. I don’t want Mists to feel that way a month after it drops. It’s selfish. But I had to be honest with myself about it.
I mostly use the beta now to check random things, like if a certain quest reward will still be around or whether or not I’ll be able to get the Cataclysmic PvP set after the expansion drops. I downloaded the beta onto my new computer so I could ooh and aah over how pretty it looks and to take some screenies for this blog and for my guild’s website. But I’m not questing. I’m not playing around with pet battles. I’m not even playing around with the druid or pally talents. I’m not really reading up much about what’s happening in the beta (with the exception of Cymre’s fantastic posts about pet battles) and I’m actively avoiding spoilers because I just want it to be fresh and new.
I figure…I can experience all of this when the expansion drops, and I can savor it. Will I be a little behind on things on September 25th? Maybe. Will I be cursing myself for not reading up on healing changes? Probably. But at least I know I won’t also be bored. I don’t want to push for any realm firsts and my guild tends to take a pretty casual stance about getting ready for initial raid content. I’m fine with being a little slowed down at the start if it means I love this expansion as long as I loved Wrath. And besides. I have plenty of stuff to do on live before I can go to the pretty lands of Pandaria and start enjoying the content for real.
The Dancing Tree 
I’m in the same boat. I was so excited about getting beta access. So far, all I’ve done with it is watch monk character animations and check on the status of Booty Bay Bruisers to plan my path to “The Insane”. I’d rather do all my actual playing on live so that my progress is saved. And yes, with all our alts, I don’t want to get prematurely bored with the new quests.
It just so much easier to get beta information through WoW Insider, MMO-Champ, and WoWHead than to find it myself. And I’m not at all hesitant to spoil myself with information because it’s not the same as playing through it myself.
I was having fun with the beta monk animations too. I still think I’m going to go male blood elf for it, though it is really tempting to make a panda girl!
Good, well written post. Its strange how many people are feeling like this about MoP beta. Maybe its because we don’t feel special with so many beta testers now.
I got beta access quite early but have barely been on it. I logged on mostly to see/confirm the changes to the classes I play, especially Hunters. I didn’t get to see the level 90 talents as I eventually decided I did not care to spoil the experience for myself when MoP actually comes out. I’ve actually uninstalled the beta from my computer.
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