WoW Diary Day 1: The Barrens

A series of side-quests have already pulled me toward The Barrens, but now my attempt to discover how to become The Bear – to me, he has become The Bear – will also take me there. My side-quest involves walking to The Crossroads, supposedly the point where the Tauren and Orc trails meet and the site of their first allied camp and town (WoW is full of mythical details like this that give the world history and weight). As it turns out I stride right past the Moonkin Stone that is the key to becoming The Bear.

The Barrens is a very different place: a dust-bowl with monsters too tough to look twice at, at least for me now. The towns are temporary camps on a road that's no more than tighter-pressed earth. It's still quite something to see, against the gaudiness elsewhere.

It's at The Crossroads that I have my first gentle brush with PvP. As I approach a warning message arrives, frequently. “The Crossroads is under attack!” The “LocalDefense” channel is ablaze. I pick up the pace to town while working out exactly what to do. I think, as a beginner that I'm safe from random PvP on this server. However I also thought this when I blundered out of Moonglade once and was cut down with one stroke.

When I reach The Crossroads there are people flying everywhere – the most players I've seen in one place, even more than Thunder Bluff. I can't even work out what's going on: from mouse-overs there are level 50+ characters involved. I am level 10 at this point and decide to sidestep the chaos.

Unfortunately my contact, Tonga's brother Tuska, has been killed in the attack. It's a nuisance, and if it were my critical to my needs I'd be much more frustrated. Maybe critical NPCs are better protected, or maybe it's just part of the risk. Either way, I choose not to wait on this occasion. The front of the war feels closer than ever.

I catch a dragon back to Thunder Bluff, because I can't find the Moonkin Stone. The option to move quickly between major towns for a fee is common in MMOs, but WoW lets you watch the subsequent ride, further adding to the sense of wonder. It turns out I'm just being dense. The stone is just off the path on the near edge of The Barrens, behind a big rock. I get my buffs up, consider my strategy, and use my moon-dust.

The guardian of the stone appears: it's a close and satisfying fight, that threatens to go against me, but I shade it at the last. With this final step completed, I take another dragon back to Thunder Bluff – I am too excited to count pennies. Tonga finally imparts the wisdom of The Bear to me, and it sits there, a tiny icon just above the action bar, like a tab. I click it, and everything's different. I'm a bear, and I have a new action bar, with new powers, and no mana bar – but something promising called Rage instead.

That seems a good place to leave the first day. It's been long and satisfying, but I've done little else today. The Bear awaits tomorrow...