Old End-Game

I was questing with Aioka yesterday, turning in some Bone Fragments in Light's Hope Chapel when it hit me. This was what end-game was all about several years ago. Instead of rep-grinding with the Sons of Hodir, it was rep-grinding with the Argent Dawn. And instead of running Pit of Saron and Halls of Lightning for your next cool drop, it was Stratholme and Scholomance, Blackwing Lair and Dire Maul. You can still get attuned to Naxxramas: the level 60, 40 man raid. This blew my mind.

Honestly, who in their right mind ever went to Dire Maul when they didn't have to? That place haunts my dreams. Aioka's Random Dungeon Finder is broken, because every time (no, really. every time.) she gets put in Dire Maul - West.

Now, I've mentioned I'm a post-BC kid. Wrath is the first time I've been able to participate in whatever was currently "end-game". So, it's true that I'm not (wasn't) as intimately familiar with the older dungeons as the new ones. Except Scholomance, but that's a different story.

But I'm not retarded. So I did a little research and figured out how to at least finish Dire Maul - West. The guildies were awesome enough to get Aioka the key from Dire Maul - East so I didn't have to worry about that any more. Although, seriously, what is it with Blizzard putting noobs in placed they can't get to? I also randomed my way into the side entrance of Stratholme when no one in the group had a key. I got skillz.

Despite this, I still haven't been able to complete Dire Maul - West. Because, even though I've explained to each and every group I've been with that you have to wipe out the 5 mana pylons and then go to the final boss NO ONE LISTENS.

The warrior tank continues to wander around willy nilly killing whatever strikes his fancy at the time being. Then the dk dps sends his ghoul after everything in sight, even though the rest of the group is still drinking their mana juice.

And I know fail-pug stories are a dime a dozen. But honestly, I know how to get through the dungeon. I'm even willing to lead the group through the dungeon, while keeping the clueless tank, the idiot dk, and the over-aggroing lock alive. (Have I mentioned how much I love Power Word: Shield?) But to have a group completely and totally fail to listen to basic instructions? That's as sad as it gets. I even used small words.

On the positive side of things, Aioka hit 60. I could chose to walk away from Vanilla End Game and enjoy myself in the Outland dungeons. I would probably level faster. But I'm masochistic enough to want to finish the quests and dungeons from vanilla that are still littering my quest log.

Side note: Penance is everything I dreamed it would be.

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