Introduction

My name is Chris, and I'm a Fire mage.

Confessional!

I've been a Fire mage since January 9, 2005, when I logged into World of Warcraft for the first time. Ascanius, level 1 human mage, popped into existence in Northshire Valley, on the Doomhammer server, and unwittingly became my anchor in the world of Azeroth for the next five years and counting.

I started playing because of a girl. My wife Lexa, who back then had only earned the title "Girlfriend", was living in the San Francisco Bay Area, while I was here in Sydney. Her friend Ian had encouraged her to try the game during the open beta period, and had set up a guild called on Doomhammer.

Ian, Lexa, and a couple of other people had already been playing since the game launched in November 2004, and even back then a two-month delay meant I was well behind them. Lexa and I discussed what kind of characters were available in the game, and I settled on the idea of playing a mage.

I wonder to this day how many people ended up quitting the game, or sticking with it, based solely on the issue of how well their expectations for their first character lined up with the reality of the game. I came to World of Warcraft from a background in tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons, and chose to play a mage because of my experiences with wizards and other spellcasters in those pen-and-paper games.

In fact, Lexa still likes to mock me for the way I ran screaming (metaphorically, anyway) from the wolves and kobolds a level 1 human is asked to kill in Northshire Valley, convinced that a mage couldn't possibly survive melee combat - all because D&D wizards start with a tiny number of hit points and can easily be dispatched by a single blow.

That wasn't the only difference from D&D, of course! I soon learned that WoW's single-target Fireball spells are quite distinct from the area-of-effect explosions in D&D, and as my experience with the game grew I learned about the distinctive features of the world of Azeroth - the primal culture of the orcs, the anachronistic technology of gnomes and goblins, and so on.

I haven't played the game continuously since that day back in 2005, but I certainly have been playing for most of that time. These days, Ascanius has moved to the Oceanic server of Nagrand, a member of the guild run by my friend Gareth. He is my raiding character - you can judge from the fact that he's still a Fire mage that is relaxed about raiding, but we're 6/12 in Icecrown Citadel and close to killing Professor Putricide - and I have three other level 80 characters:

• Catilina, a human Arms warrior
• Concepción, a human Retribution paladin
• Fulvia, a draenei Shadow priest

The things I value in World of Warcraft are playing with my friends, seeing dungeon and raid content, exploring the world, and crafting cool and fun (even if not necessarily powerful) gear and items.

To the latter end, one of my biggest enthusiasms in the game is the Engineering profession. Ascanius is the proud possessor of a Turbo-Charged Flying Machine (the reason I took up the profession during The Burning Crusade) and a Mekgineer's Chopper (earning the gold for which gave me a serious tolerance for daily quests). I was disappointed to learn that the two-seater X-53 Touring Rocket wouldn't be constructable by engineers, but at least Lexa and I can acquire one for Ascanius through the Recruit-A-Friend program.

So what is the point of this blog?

I'm going to write about a few things:

• First, the experience of playing a Fire mage in Cataclysm. It's not a coincidence that I'm establishing this blog the day before we expect to hear from Blizzard about the changes to my class in the new expansion.
• Second, the general experience of the changes and new zones in Azeroth from the point of view of someone who enjoys questing, exploring, and levelling. This includes the new dungeons and raids, and I will be playing a worgen rogue to experience the changes in the Eastern Kingdoms and Kalimdor.
• Third, professions - especially Engineering, of course, but between my various characters I have an interest in Enchanting, Jewelcrafting, Blacksmithing, Tailoring, and Leatherworking.

The next post should be a look at the changes coming to mages, once Blizzard sees fit to share them with us. I'll see you then.