Race to level 80 in World of Warcraft

Dramatic upset in the race to level 80 in World of Warcraft
By Tom Chick
editor@fidgit.com



There's an interview on MMO Champion with the first guy ever to reach the highest level in World of Warcraft (which is probably much more dramatic than the above screenshot of the actual event would lead you to believe). He's some 21-year-old guy who points out that he does indeed have a job. He took 27 hours to advance his character, Nymh, from level 70, the previous cap, to level 80, the new cap raised by the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. It's a pretty disappointing interview for not asking the obvious questions, namely "Dude, what the hell?" and "Seriously, dude, what the hell?"

It also underplays the real drama here, which is the competition between two French guys to get to level 80 first. For some reason, just as Kenyans win marathons, French dudes seem to excel at World of Warcraft powerleveling.

The favorite to hit level 80 first was a character named Darus, working with internationally renowned paladin and YouTube "celebrity" Athene. This guy was grouping with four other people, entering private areas called instances, and then leaving the group. He would then run through the instance and tag all the monster, essentially calling dibbs on any experience points gained when they were killed. Then his four friends actually did the killing for him. Once Darus reached level 79, Blizzard decided this was an unacceptable exploit and they reset him to level 70! It was like when that dude won the Tour de France in 2006 and then got busted for doping. But it was an online game, so it was actually nothing like that.

Not that Nymh, the guy who then caught up and hit level 80 first, was any less devious. His method was having a healer help him who wasn't actually in his group. This meant the healer was protecting Nymh, but Nymh wasn't having to share any experience points for his kills. In the course of playing normally, experience points and thus advancement are spread among the members of a group.

Both players were bending the rules, but for whatever reason, Blizzard decided Darus was bending them too far. And that's what these achievements are all about. No one who actually plays the game as it was built to be played it going to get to level 80 in 27 hours. I'm no more impressed than I would be if someone ran on a treadmill in a van while the van drove the Boston Marathon. That guy doesn't get to claim he won the Boston Marathon just because he crossed the finish line and was technically running the entire time.

SOURCE: fidgit[url][/url]