If I get one and only claim to fame for this expansion, its that I was blessed enough to coin the phrase, Children of Wrath. Its one that spawned a TON of posts across the Blog Azeroth community, but lets take a bit of time almost a year out to do a little retrospective. This was the first post that I did, that WowInsider took notice and was nice enough to crash my site over. Its a post of mine that still gets hits to this day.
When I did the original post, I was focused on the things that a Child of Wrath missed. Now… almost a year in the future, I want to take a look back and see what their world is like.
This is probably one of my more interactive topics folks. I would highly encourage anyone who has grown up in Wrath to post on this, whether it be to share your perspective, or to show me where you blogged on it. This is something that really fascinates me, and to be honest, I’m really curious what life has been like for someone who started the game after Wrath of the Lich King was released.
But for now, lets take a deeper dive on my perspectives on how life has been for the Children of Wrath… I’m not going to go into the world of PVP servers, but stick with our care bear PVE servers.
The Formative Years… 1-55
A Child of Wrath entered this world in one of many ways…. they could be a spouse who joined the game. They could have been sucked in by their friends, or maybe… they just saw the game and thought they’d give it a try. Their world has been one where they walk through a world almost devoid of people. When they roam into a major city, they are surrounded by the bustle of people going to and from the auction house, but otherwise, the rest of the world is almost barren.
If leveling with a friend (from the recruit a friend program), they are literally only spending a couple of weeks just quickly leveling up. The old world becomes a blur. Its just something you do to get to where the “real game” is. If surrounded by friends, they are encouraged to get to 55 so they can test out a death knight. They are bombarded with ideas and thoughts both new and old on the best way to level.
They live in a world where Paladins are not difficult to level. They live in a world where leveling priests or almost any class can be done without having to perform heavy grinds. They live in a world where a whole host of resources is available to them. Money grows on trees, so those with friends are just as likely to find themselves holding 100g in almost no time flat.
Since Wrath, they’ve seen the cost and levels of riding skills change not once, not twice, but three times. They’ve likely not stepped into many instances. Trying to get into a low level instance is nearly impossible for a while. High level 80 characters are queuing and getting priority for instances making it difficult on any medium or high population server to provide access to instances.
Level 55 – 68…. Lands of the Death Knight
Upon reaching level 55, the Child of Wrath is faced with a choice. They have instant access to a brand new level 55 character. They can begin a new life as a death knight. They are presented with a character that not only has a very well done starter area, they are presented with a powerhouse. A character extremely well equipped. For some, the draw of this new type of character is too much to resist. They set aside their level 55 character in favor of a new type of challenge.
Upon moving to Outland, their world transforms. They are surrounded by Death Knights. They’re everywhere. They’re constant. They may be bombarded with requests for instances as new Death Knights endeavor to spread their wings and face roll instances. Depending on when they reached Outland, they were able to fly. They started in a world where flying was instantly available.
They quickly moved through the zones. They probably saw less than half of the zones available in Outland. They moved to a world where suddenly there were a ton of people running around. Most of them were death knights. They probably learned to love or hate death knights for their ability to gather up 4-6 mobs at once and kill them all. They probably learned to love or hate death knights ability to pull mobs from great distances to them.
68+… Welcome to the brave new world
Children of Wrath were likely not the front runners. They walked into Northrend to be greeted by zones with plenty of people, but not overflowing with bodies. They didn’t struggle to complete quests, but rather were lead from quest hub to quest hub. Lacking practical raiding knowledge, they likely struggle to make sense of what gear is actually good for their class, but yet….Blizzard has standardized so much that they find it easier to pick gear that works for them.
They go out to Google, and their senses are barraged by a multitude of choices. The have very extensive blogs. They have resource sites. They have access to a variety of forums and podcasts. Everywhere they go…. information. Gone are the days that detailed information could only be found in forum threads 500 pages long. Gone are the days that information is hidden way in Ivory towers… but now… everyone has an opinion. Right or wrong.. Conventional wisdom or not… sorting through the mass of data is the challenge.
The Children of Wrath see a world transformed. Varian Wynn is mad… he made the Archdruid look like Mr. Sunshine and Happiness. The Alliance has lost the path of righteousness and has taken up the mantle of revenge. Their storyline smacks of it. The Argent Crusade has taken up the mantle of destroying the Lich King, but the cracks in the foundation appear if you look closely. They walk closely to treading over that line.
Getting late to 80 though is no longer the barrier that it once was. Yes… the Child of Wrath was behind, but with Blizzard’s new path, catching up to a “reasonable” gear level is easy. The Child of Wrath is not weighed down by the limitations of their forefathers. They are not eternally behind. They have the opportunity to see more content than they ever did before… yes… The Child of Wrath may yet see Arthas… They may shake the halls Icecrown Citadel…. The Child of Wrath…walks.. into a new world…. Every major patch brings access to new gear. PUGs are reasonably successful. They are not limited to being only in a guild to have access to gear. They can run 5 man dungeons to get raid equivalent gear. They can do dailys to get access to starter gear. Higher end 5 mans provide access to raid equivalent gear.
The barriers of entry that so limited the forefathers… do not exist. For anyone with the dedication and willingness to try hard.. they can catch up. They can be ready to move forward.. with everyone else.
What about you? What is your view on the Children of Wrath…What are their paths as they look forward to Patch 3.3? Where will they go? What have they seen?
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