That's what I'm talking about! Just have a good time doing whatever. I have less gold and justice points than even you. I have nothing for raiding. I won't be playing Cataclysm until a week or two (or more) after release. It's all good.

Have fun in India!

i'm almost exactly the same as you, Larisa: i have done none of these things except the cooking & fishing dailies (even though they don't give me profession points, and that does really bug me). i'm pretty ignorant of all the new content. i know broad strokes, and some mage-specific stuff, but that's it.

Mmmmmm Vogon poetry. Sweet dulcet sonnets....

I suspectifies what that last of flasks and scrolls done took longer ta type out then what'll actually saves ya time wise. By the time yer inta yer 81st season that stuff'll be so obsolete you'll barely even feel'em.

Wow, that's quite the list. There are people who enjoy and savour this type of preparation as much as the event itself, but I'm not one of them. I approach everything I do in game with a single question .. Is it fun? If the answer is no, I won't do it. I don't find activities like running LK heroics over and over to be fun, so I guess I'll be going into Cataclysm with however many justice points I have now. More fun to earn them in new content than in old if you ask me.

Have a wonderful trip Larisa!

Like you, I am not prepared. I don't feel a need to have a planned route and rush to 85. I don't want to run randoms to get Justice points (I'm sure I'll get my fair share as I level), and I couldn't care less about where to find the best pre-raid gear. I want there to be a sense of discovery and surprise in Cataclysm and I'm quite confident I can work things out as I go.

Like you and the above posters, I'm pretty much in the air. I sold the last flasks hanging around in my bags, I never used scrolls so I don't intend to do it now, I'm planning to copy a boomkin spec from my boyfriend or Lissanna for leveling and wait for other people to do my resto math, and until we get raiding I don't even want to look at loot, the best part of getting a character in a dungeon is having a surprise upgrade!

On the guild front (which Kurn was referring more to), we've done a bit of preparing (mostly chatting to my co-GM on Gtalk), but we don't have spreadsheets of people and specs, just a thread on the public forums and another one on the officer forums, with a lot of question marks. I'm pretty sure we'll survive just fine like that too.

Went and read the whole post at Manaflask. Bugger totally left out hookin' yerself up ta a catheter, IV water, and a feeding tube. Amateur.

For Wrath I read as much as I could about the new expansion - zones/how to get there, faction reps and their importance for each class, and all that stuff. Once it launched I jumped in and just played normally, throwing everything out the window. The only thing I regretted was not building a stockpile of gold - I never expected the training to be so expensive right away...and I only had epic flying on one toon.

Now - I have stayed away from everything for the most part. I didn't even know that Hyjal and Sunken City were the two 80+ zones until this morning. I feel comfortable on gold - though I am far from rich (about 10K total in gold on my 5 level 80s....but all have epic fying and 250g for Old World flying is nothing - and 310% is not a huge priority for me).

All my 80s have a combo of heroic and epic gear - not top tier, but enough to feel like I am well-equipped for the new mobs.

Plus, a friend and I have spent the last 3 weeks leveling an alliance (1-71) since we were all horde.

This weekend will be clearing out my banks (I am such a pack rat), setting my hearths back in the old world and trying out some new starting areas to see the changes.

My only real goal now is to put myself in a position to raid this xpac. I definitely feel that this was the only thing I missed out on in Wrath.

oh yeah, and I look forward to reading your thoughts from a mage point of view, since this will be my first the first time my mage is officially my "main"

Wow that's a lot of potential preparation! No thanks, I'm finally enjoying leveling a wee dwarfy warlock after many years of getting stuck and deleting them at level 10-20, and don't plan to stop to spend hours farming. Ugh, farming.

I'm with Bri - fun > everything else!

Sounds like our story over here. My wife and I won't have Cataclysm until after Christmas (according to Amazon’s shipping targets), and my wife thought it was funny when I told her about the preparations that some bloggers have suggested. She still can’t wrap her mind around why people would want to get to 85 faster.

We’re really excited to play Cataclysm, but we’re having so much fun with the major world changes that we’re fine with waiting. We’ve dusted off our 40’s twin mages (fire and ice specs), I’ve dug back in to my 30s Paladin, and she’s been having fun with taking her Dreadsteed out and exploring the new sights.

We’ll be 2-3 weeks behind release getting started, but that’s no biggie – she doesn’t raid, and my main is a healer, so there’s no fear of being stymied because of the delay. Plus, we’ll have at least 2 years to sit around at the cap once we get there, so there’s really no rush.

That list actually made me think of some things I tought I had prepared and have not !
Gotta prepare ground for a new goblin alt.

Have a good trip!

I've got 250g for my Flying License and all the arrows I'm gonna need - pretty sure I can figure it from there. If not, they'll be plenty of people to follow around :)

On the other hand, I may just take my warrior mining alt out for the first couple of days and have her mine to her heart's content -"Ores, the future is in ores, I tell ya!"

Whatever I eventually decide to do on C-Day, it's guaranteed that I'll be riding around cluelessly and loving every minute of it! Glad to know that many of my friends here sound like their taking the same approach.

/salute and have a great weekend, Friends!

PS @ Ratters, "IV water"? Still strikes me as somewhat amateurish. Now start talking about a Red Bull IV, on the other hand, and I think that would show the appropriate dedication :)

Hah! I've been trying to finish up Outland quests (gag) on my newish Level 80 shaman, who I hope to make my raid main. I have some gold. I have almost no Justice points. I hate pugging raids, and dislike pugging 5-mans almost as much.

I realize I won't be the first EnhShaman on my server with all the best gear; in fact, I may be the last. Big deal. I do know that when I raid, I'll bring everything I have, and since I don't raid with elitist jerks, it'll be plenty.

Also: Pretty sure if you use a flask and a scroll, one will cancel the other. Be careful on that score!

once I decided that my main focus in game is going to be raiding with my 10 man group, I made a list. making lists is something that I do on a daily basis, so it wasn't much of a stretch (I make lists of chores, shopping lists, menus, you name it, I either have or at some point made a list for it - its the only way I can get things down without forgetting something essential)

My list consists of factions I want reputation with and my leveling route is based on it. since at this point, WoW is more of a means to an end (raiding with friends), then actual end - I want to level as quickly and efficiently as possible, giving myself more time to play other game and yet still keeping up with my guildies.

I have a rough gear list, mostly based on reputation rewards and I have some JP left over to fill in the holes.

didn't look at the instances yet, or worried about making gold at all - quest rewards will give me more then enough to cover repairs and tips for guildies for whatever crafted items I might need and cannot make myself, and as for instances, I don't plan on running any until I'm 85, so I'll watch whatever at that point.

so you could say, I'm semi prepared :P

as for my other alts? I'm not sure what their destiny will be, I'll get to them when I'll get to them :P

Justice points - nope; flasks and stuff - nope; Dailies - yes, but only because I still did them anyway even though I'm capped in both - I just like a bit of gold and someting to do when I log in and catch up with the guild (500 Dalaran cooking awards anyone?; read up on new instances - nope - in fact I've barely read anything about where to go or what to do even - I plan to take my time and see where the game takes me; got 25 dailies ready to hand in - i wouldn't even know where to get 25 dailies to hand in from - I do my cookng, fishing and stupid 'give me a polar bear one' in Storm Peaks and that is it; gold - well I have enough - I got rid of all my glyphs and have a vague idea of some things to do in Cataclysm, but doubt I will because I don't really need any.

What I have done is got my 4 new pets (plus bought the other 2 new ones) and re-done some old zones and had an amazing time doing it, which I hope to carry on with - I don't want to rush to 85, do all the instances, start to raid and be bored of it all in 3 months.

I suppose you could say the Vogons could be referring to me with their 'Apathetic Bloody planet - I ask you' type comment :)

I took a moderate approach to preparing for Cataclysm:

1: Tame Spirit Beast? Check
2: 4K Justice points? Check
3: 100 Frostweave Cloth? Check
4: I forget what 4 was
5: Mats for 10 Fish Feasts? Check
6: Avoided all spoilers about dungeons and quests? Check
7: Drums of Kings? I always have those around.
8: Avoided making lists longer than 7 things? Check

I just wanted to be able to throw myself some heals when needed ( and have a cool looking pet)and get a head start on leveling some professions. The justice points and stacks of frostweave were a side effect of leveling new pets via the dungeon finder.

I tanked the weekly for the guild after the two tanks who signed up were no-shows 10 minutes after the scheduled start time; I am now this close to having 300 justice points.

I only fish in the Dalaran fountain these days as I am missing a gold coin or two for the (pointless) achievement.

I will likely choose an entirely new realm should I make a goblin.

I don't see the point of checking websites for potential gold-making tips in Cataclysm when I made well over one million gold profit in WotLK being as unprepared as I am now. Being the fastest out of the gate holds no interest to me. Nor does "winning" the gold race. Gold fell from the sky in WotLK and I assume it will only fall in larger quantity in Cataclysm.

I will pick up my copy of Cataclysm after work on December 7. I may be already two levels behind several guild members when I first log in the expansion but I am sure I will catch them sometimes in January.

Those are the first two instances? I did not know. Our plan is to first 4-man the instances, coming in unprepared. We will wipe while learning the encounters? It's a strong possibility and that is exactly that possibility which drives us to run dungeons uprepared and undermanned.

All my 80s have exactly zero quest in their quests log.

We will raid in whatever gear we have when we conduct our first raid. We will progress at our own pace.

I don't need to be reminded to breathe, nor to be patient.

So 0/10 for me. Shame, shame, shame!

I have two three 80's and a fourth baby alt heading into Cata, and only one of the 80s has any real amount of JP; t10, especially w/ some of the 2p/4p bonuses, are exceptional for leveling so I didn't bother pay-it-forward and save points for Cata gear. Plus, considering the price for purchasable lv85 gear, 4k isn't going to get you very far anyway, no?

As much as I look forward to Cata, it's safe to say that Cata is going to be a video game expansion, not a military expedition. I strongly agree w/ Ratshag - most of that consumable will last no further than 81, maybe 82, before it gets out of date.

As any seasoned traveler/frequent flyer will tell you - pack light and relax and enjoy the ride. Reminds me of Gevlon over at Greedy Goblin and his post(s) on emptying his bag/bank in preparation for Cata.

I had hoped to have my warrior leveled to the high 70s by release, so that he could mine in the first couple weeks, one of the few times gathering profs are actually profitable. My two characters that have max level on my current server, I'm unwilling to abandon any of their existing professions.

But he's 52 now, and unless I want to literally do nothing but questing and dungeon runs with that character all weekend, it ain't happening. We'll see if mining is still worth it after a week or two.

If not, oh well, I didn't actually spend anything to level it, except a bit of time at the ah and the forge.

I'm at 2/10 too. Buying Cata was easy as I usually have some money saved at any time and I didn't buy any gear (I felt I was geared enough for the content I was doing, it was more like I was not skilled enough) so I got JP capped by raiding.
I'm not sure about breathing, I don't think I'm getting crazy about Cataclysm (although being effective is fun too) though - it's just something unrelated. I'm quite curious about it though and I'm planning to roll a new alt after I get back into raiding (or do some of the new old world quests on my high-level characters), I hope the quests are going to be as fun as people are saying.

Enjoy your vacation! I'm going to spend remainder of this year's vacation learning for a certification; it's a boring way to spend one but my previous manager told me I was quite a hardworker so I guess it's just my fault for spending my free days this way.

Well, by all standards I'm a bit of a slacker right now. Outside of collecting flight points and doing some of the plants vs. zombies quest chain --with a slight detour to say hello to Tirion in his new digs-- I've been working on leveling two of my alts in Outland.

Quintalan has been languishing a bit, except for doing some occasional battlegrounds. I don't even think he's got 200 justice points, let alone 4k. I blew most of Q's stash on getting the rest of my T10 gear a while ago, and he haven't done very many instances at all the past month.

Am I worried I'll miss out? Hell no. The way the past year has been going, if I tried to take vacation time to play Cat all day on Tuesday, I'd get called into work anyway. So I'm not going to be in a tizzy if I can't be the first Pally to make L85. (And given the way Ret has been nerfed, I'd bet money the first L85 Pally on the A-52 server will be Prot or Holy spec.)

What I'm more concerned about are just relaxing and enjoying the ride, then propping my feet up on a barstool and debating the lore. (Even Blood Knights have to relax now and then.)

Rex-

Even better than IV Red Bull would be wirin' yerself ta yer house's 220 system with a timer fer ta give ya a jolt every 15 minutes.

imho, as long as you spend just a tiny bit of effort on tidying out your bags and bank so you've got some space for all the cool new l00t, you're fine. Everything else is only for people who genuinely enjoy planning and preparation.

I'm with you here - I missed getting my Loremaster title because I didn't realise the Sundering would happen before Cataclysm and one day when I logged in my druid was not sitting in Auberdine where she logged out but in a refugee camp in Darkshore. Ah, well, I can still get the title. Someday... :-)

Cataclysm will come when it comes, and I will have full bags of old stuff and I will have a great time filling them with even more stuff.

Cheers!

First thing I did? Started leveling a female gnome priest...

As for preparations?
-Look up the best new specs and spec it
-Get all the new glyphs
-Since I've been gone for like a year go and do a few pugs to get back the feeling of the new rotations
-Goldwise? Still got about 60k gold & a few hundred glyphs in my bank. I'm not worried about gold.
-And try reading a few blogs again :)

Todo:
-Clear my bank & bags. Everything I don't really really need gets sold or trashed.
-Fix my credit card so I can actually buy Cataclysm (I should take care of this one...).

PS: yey, a reference to Douglas Adams!

Oh, man, I am... so not prepared. The only thing I'm doing beforehand is capping my professions so I don't have to worry too much about that before raiding. Thankfully, Kurn is slightly less, uh, stern about our own personal readiness/planning so long as we get there and ready by the time we start raiding, or not TOO far behind everyone else. Really my plan is Napoleon's. First we show up, then we see what happens. :) It's worked relatively well thus far (even with my raiding!), so I don't think the busiest time of year at my job is the best time to change things up.

Anyway, I hope you have fun on your holiday! :) Enjoy some lovely Indian food for us.

I haven't prepared even Larisa, think my justice points is below 1000, too.

Same reason as you really, lack of discipline, but partly because I'm just not bored enough to prepare for something when I could be playing other games or doing work ^.^

Three cheers for Wrath of the Lich King, and on with the show!

I'm not really fussed about preparing, I didn't prepare for Wrath and that was fine :)

Mostly, I do trust Blizz to provide a great levelling experience, and I trust me to explore and find out anything I need to know.

I know on our guild boards someone recommended that we all do the first few quests in Hyjal first to get an uber weapon and my reaction was like ... no, I'm off to the cool underwater city and you can't stop me hahaha!

I've only decided to renew my sub a few weeks ago so... no, I'm not prepared, but I have zero interest in server firsts and there is no raid waiting for me at the end of the rainbow. Finished leveling a rogue as a backup plan in case my ret. paladin main feels as clunky at 85 as he does at 80 and that's about it. He has some 6 month old food and raid consumables in his bags and that will have to do.

Oh dear. That list is for me, and I wouldn't dream of imposing it or even recommending it. It fits with what I want to do early in Cata -- get a raid heals spot with my guild -- and may well not fit with what other people want to do. I'm so sorry if it it sounded directive, I didn't mean it to be that way.
The point of doing the Cooking daily is to get tokens, so you can buy the new recipes. I'm not maxed out in fishing, so I get the skill up from the daily, but even so, the rewards are so pitiful for so much effort, I'll think I'll give up on that one.
I like making lists better than I like the LFG tool - Keppe is still at 1.8K JP, despite my best intentions!

I'm going to be semi-power-leveling one of my characters to 85, but I haven't been able to decide which one as yet (although if I can get my gnome priest to 80 before Cata, she might be the lucky first).

As far as the checklist goes, I'm only sitting on 3/10 (and two of those points are purely accidental), so I guess that says a great deal about how much preparation I've put into it.

My first character to 85? That I'll probably push myself a little with. The rest? Well, for those I can take the scenic route.

Larisa, allow me to present you with my personal justification for not doing much from these bucket lists. I give full permission to use the following as YOUR justification for procrastination as well! :)

Considering the rate at which stats will be increasing over a scant 5 levels, I don't think that all those consumables will be relevant very far into the leveling process, and will be replaced by new ones pretty quickly.

As far as gold, justice, and honor points...well, I have some justice and honor points simply because I decided a few weeks ago to stop buying new gear. I've kept enough gold to make sure I can fly and still have a bit left over. But again, I figure that those things will be accumulated between 80-85. The points we won't really want to be spending until 85 so I'm sure I'll hit the cap by then. And I've heard that gold flows like honeymint tea from questing, so I'm sure I'll have enough for my needs by 85.

Anyhow, back to work goes I, I'll cheers your friday toast later tonight!

On one hand, for BC and Wrath I was mostly unprepared for release week. I jumped right in and barreled up the tunnel to 70 and 80.

This time though, I am working on a "what to pack list" also, and will probably borrow some from the post you linked and my own ideas that have been floating around in my head.

Overall, I just want to be 'prepared' but not too "THIS is EXACTLY what I HAVE to do when I log in." I'm going to be a slow leveler and for the first week I am going to only farm herbs anyway. I spent 20K on a Jaina's Locket a few months ago and that hurt. Due to work I'm only sitting on about 12K.

My preparation for Cata? I stopped playing this weekend. For 2 whole days. I left my lvl 16 troll priest in Azshara on the island, it was so late when I got there I didn't look to see what it was, looks like goblins. I was having a ball lvling her in Azshara and when I finally stopped and talked to the goblin on the thing that looked like a roller coaster I found out I could ride a rocket sled! So I spent the last half hour of play (around 1 am) hilariously riding around on the rockets and only finally got the goblin island around 130 am. I parked her and logged. I have no idea what my other toons or main look like or are doing.

This weekend off I will read a lot, clean the house, walk the dog and do some Christmas shopping. Sunday night - technically, 2 days later I will log on and probably lvl my priest some more. I am having a ball in Azshara and am only afraid she will level up too fast before I have seen all of it. On Monday I'll rotate around my alts and see if there is something interesting happening to announce the beginning of cataclysm and on Tuesday I will start my leisurely trip to 85 on my 2 favorite 80s. My mage, who has stood by me since day one and my (now, retro) tauren druid. If the leveling looks impossible I will go back to leveling my priest for a few days. I can hardly wait for it all and I plan to savor as much of the content as I can for as long as I can. Thank you for the toast and a chance to chat and have a great vacation!

The reception of this post was a tad overwhelming. Little did I figure there were so many other slackers around!

@Ratshag: "Bugger totally left out hookin' yerself up ta a catheter, IV water, and a feeding tube. Amateur."

I laughed. Cheers.

@Xeppe: I really didn't mean to ridicule your efforts, I hope that was clear. I just wanted to show a different approach, which I also think is valid.

@Larisa. No, not really. Please next time you decide to take a springjump off AAOP can you leave a comment so I can be forewarned?

@Xeppe: Oh don't worry. If you're that sensitive, I'll refrain from writing any posts referring to your blog in the future. It seems safer that way.

I gamely tried to make some of my own preparations. The fishing/cooking didn't work out so well, seeing how my current skill is capped. I wanted to get my goblin rep up so I'd have access to the new trikes. Then I realized that they are ugly, I would probably not use them more than once and they would probably join the rest of my 100+ mounts rotting in my inventory anyway.

Then I rolled a new rogue; no heirlooms, no twinked out gear, and just tried out the new WOW levelling experience. It was absolutely the most fun I've had in months. They have done an excellent job of making the starting out experience utterly simple and enjoyable. The new LFDs are incredible and the new Deadmines has Wrath-level boss mechanics (but is not so difficult at low levels as to scar newbies). The questgivers are all lined up when you zone in, ready to give you quests! And when you complete the instance, they run up to you and dance around so you can turn in! Wheeee!!

Preparation? Uhm.. yeah.. I'll survive without min-maxing for leveling thankya.

Not sure how a polite request for a comment letting me know you're bouncing off my content makes me 'super-sensitive'. It's a fairly standard practice and I think, common courtesy.
Kindness would suit you better.

I'm a casual player, so I'm in no rush to do everything at once. I prefer to take it in as it comes. What I'm most looking forward to is earning some guild achievements. I've done nothing to prepare whatsoever except take time off WoW. :)

@Xeppe: I normally don't leave comments on other blogs just in order to say that I've linked to them. If it's a standard procedure, I'm blissfully unaware of it.

I think the issue here is if I ridiculed you or not. I don't think I did at all. But you obviously feel otherwise and that makes me think you're somewhat sensitive. Looking back I see that it would have been better to pick any of the other to-do-list-posts before Cataclysm to tick off.

I always consider the effects my posts might have if I link to other blogs. Because of this I didn't link to or even mention by name a blog just a few days ago since I thought that the attention brought to her might be negative. But in your case? I just didn't see the problem. You're the one who is prepared and doing everything "right". I'm the unprepared one that you can laugh at when I'm still at 82 and you're capped. No ridicule there. But apparently you read something different into the post. I'm very sorry if I have hurt your feelings.

I'm doing the same thing you are. I'm excited for Cataclysm, but I want everything to be brand new. I want to have fun exploring and learning. I have no need to rush to 85 or stress out about leveling.

@Larisa,
you didn't just link my post, a big whack of your post is based on mine. And yes, it's standard to let a blogger know you're going to do that.

My readership is much smaller than yours, and almost (but not quite) all of my readers have played with me, or know me irl, and know that I wouldn't dictate or impose such a list (or anything else, apart from perhaps raid punctuality, if I could) on anyone.

I wrote it, as I often do write posts, in response to a request from an in-game friend.

If you'd let me know that you were posting off it, I could have commented early to explain that.

I'm glad you feel blissful about your approach. I don't.

@Larisa and Xeppe: If there was such a practice, I'm also unaware of it and I would have never thought of letting someone know that I'm linking to them. If content is live and not passworded, everyone is free to link to it, and unless that blog isn't working properly, the linked person will get a trackback from the post that linked to them, i.e. notification.

@Xeppe: I comment as much on the Manaflask post and I didn't contact them to let them know this either. Equally I don't expect anywone writing commenting posts about something I've written to contact me in advance. But apparently we have different opinions in this matter, about what you're expected to do as a blogger.

Again: this post wasn't really so much about your post - or Manaflask's post. There are dozens of similar list posts out there, where everyone talks about how to prepare. I just picked a couple of random examples. Reading all those posts it's easy to feel lazy, lacking ambitions or to even feel stressed out because all those preparations you haven't had time to do. I thought it was about time that one of the slackers stepped out of the shades, like I did now, speaking up, honestly admitting why we're NOT prepared. Considering the response, I was apparently not alone. However my intention was never to attack your post, to suggest that you're stupid for doing all those preperations, on the contrary I belive I state clearly that it's a great post and I don't belittle anyone following the advice. I just wanted to show a different picture, show how it looks through the eyes of someone more casual/relaxed/slacking player. I thought I was clear enough. Again: this post wasn't about your post, it was about the entire genre "be prepared for Cataclysm posts". Seeing your reactions I regret deeply linking to you and I'll be very careful not to do it again in the future.

I didn't see Xeppe's comment before I posted and since she passworded her/his blog, I guess that's problem solved.

(But seriously. Larisa was polite, didn't say anything rude to you and just pointed out that she takes a different approach. She didn't do anything wrong and if you weren't being too sensitive earlier, you *are* now.)

I've not prepared all that much myself. I definitely don't have lots of potions stacked - but I probably have a few still since I was raiding. I figured those will be enough :P

But then, I'm not aiming for server first 85 or anything. Sure, I want to get to 85 at a decent speed and I don't want to be the last one in the guild (and I'm pretty sure I won't be).

I just want to enjoy the new levels 80-85 and I'm not overthinking it. I've decided which zone I will be starting with, after that.. I guess I'll see.

Oh, and I've not done any of the new fishing/cooking dailies because without portals I've been stuck in Northrend where I've been finishing up getting some mounts from the Argent Tournament.. it's the one thing that makes me wish I was a mage rather than warlock :P

Regarding pre-raid gear.. I've made a list for warlocks (which will be coming up tomorrow) and since you use exactly the same gear I do as a mage, feel free to use it :) It's supposed to list all the gear available before stepping your foot into your first raid, so Heroics and craftables. (I didn't go through every single quest available at 85, it seemed a bit much)

Oh and enjoy your trip to India. That sounds awesome :)

@Xeppe
Run away little girl, run away!

A married couple in my guild took the week off and already found themselves at 85 after two days.

Although they spent a significant amount of time playing WoW the past two days, they had made absolutely no preparation.