Leveling stones? ...really?

[Tekulve2012]

Maybe this is purist thinking ...but does everything in WoW have to be quicker and easier and does quicker/easier mean better?

OK.. So after 18+months and 7k+ battles (or so) - I have 320 pets to lvl 25 ...I'm looking at 200+ to go and look forward to trying to accomplish it before the Xpac hits....then I hear rumbles of levelling stones appearing in WoD... while I see the value and pride I might enjoy in doing the levelling all the way... if an item comes to the game where you can insta-level a pet to 25?!?
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I see and hear established players moaning about new lvl 90 players who have no clue how to play the race/class because they simply shelled out 60$ and got a ready-made 90.
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I see and hear established players talking about the days when you ran around everywhere cause you couldnt fly in most zones at all... most are nostalgic about it because you spent time with others there instead of flitting around everywhere...

My thread here offers 2 questions to ponder:
1) should a person bother putting in leveling time if leveling stones are on the way?
2) Has WoW become too 'easy' with too many shortcuts-/ is this all a move to make the game more accessible to today's gamer?

[Quintessence]

In regards to question 1, my opinion would be yes, collectors and battlers should still put forth effort if they desire all their pets to be max level. LeCraft Tweeted the bit about the "leveling stones" but provided no additional detail.

We really don't know what leveling stones will entail. Possibilities include but are not limited to:

• They provide only a portion of a level and not the full 25 levels? Or full 25?
• Limit use of one per pet? Other usage cooldown?
• Extremely difficult/rare to find?
• Other limiting factors?

It's even possible that it's an idea they liked in the beginning but then end up scrapping later as work on WoD progresses. So until we know for sure what the stones will be all about and the details behind it, I wouldn't drop your leveling efforts. You might regret stopping now in hopes that leveling stones will be a quicker method of leveling up, only to find that they're not what you thought they would be. Maybe once more information comes out, it'll be something to consider.

Just my two cents.

[Ravnhawk]

Also don't forget all the wonderful NEW pets I am hoping we'll see in WoD. (LOTS and LOTS of new pets I am hoping for) So those little cuties will need to be leveled to 25 as well. Good luck it is tedious but so worth the effort to see them all big and strong LOL.

Also don't forget there are alot of pets you can buy off the AH already leveled to level 25 and they can be gotten cheap in some cases.

In some cases yes it does feel like there are too many short cuts, especially with the insta- 90s and their lack of knowledge with their toon.

Leveling all your pets to level 25 I'd keep plugging away. You never know what Blizz will decide by the next Xpac. And I know we will all be busy leveling that 1st toon to 100.

[Kendrah]

Come on, Ravnhawk. You're slacking. Only 300 at level 25? Kidding! Kidding!

For 1, yes. I do PB both because I enjoy them and because they're easy XP/VP/lesser charms. If I do the dailies on a new level 90 than I won't need to do them for the lesser charms for weeks because I literally get hundreds.

As for 2, well, that'll probably be a pricy thing. I should get hopping and finish the ones I still need done so I'm not tempted. I have about ninety left to get to level 25.

[Kpb321]

1) I'd say yes continue doing it. As mentioned by Quintessence we really don't know anything about the leveling stones. What they will do. When they will be available. How common they will be. Etc. I'm also finding the home stretch of leveling pets to be going fairly quickly for me. I focused on pets that started at level 1 when I started my leveling so by this point all my remaining pets are wild pets from pet battles which means they may be as high as lvl 23 when I start leveling them. That makes things go much quicker than leveling them from level 1.

2) I think this is a tricky question both because it will vary from person to person and situation to situation.

Would I really care if there were stones that instantly got your pet to level 25? Probably not assuming you already have to have a level 25 pet to use them. The only time it's really a challenge to get a pet to level 25 is your first few pets while you are still getting your teams established for the tamers. Once you've got teams for the tamers you can fairly easily and quickly get at least two pets a day from 1 to 25. The only reason getting everything to 25 is such a chore is the huge number of pets available.

I've been playing MMO's for longer than I probably want to admit at this point starting with EQ shortly after it launched and it's hard not to think that something has been lost by the simplification of things that have happened over the years compared to what things were like then. On the other hand I am not blinded completely by rose colored glasses and haven't forgotten how much of a pain things like corpse runs in EQ were and still remember loosing my corpse in EQ which meant loosing all my gear and all the money I had on me at the time. Luckily I had some good friends or I probably would have quit then and there. I'm really not sure I'd want that type of thing back now.

[Ravnhawk]

LOL @Kendrah! (chop chop Kendrah get those last few to max level. You can do it!)

The 300 (well around there) I have left are in an ALT GB to be given away to friends when they get their 1st pet to level 25. I try and get a good one or two for them so there is a bit of incentive to get their 1st one to 25.

I do the PD as well the lesser charms, do all those in 1 day and you get enough charms for a week. Then there is the parking a lowby usually a level 1 to start in Halfhil by Lucky (decked in full heirlooms) . This way I get toon and pet xp. I do stack pet biscuits and bandages on the parked toon for less traveling, and of course the safari hat. At the end of their pet battling for the day I usually hearth back to 2 moon and turn in the fabled quests that one of my other toons completed. Also I I take off the safari hat when turning in pet quests on a lowby that way they get more player xp with the heirloom hat. Kills 2 birds with one stone so to speak LOL.

[Opallena]

I hope they don't add leveling stones... Leveling 500+ pets to 25 is no different than trying to get all of your pokemon to level 100(and there's over 600 of those now). If they do add leveling stones, there'd better be a drawback such as lowering the quality of the pet, or the stones would have to be ashes-of-a'lar rare to find/obtain.

[Peanutty]

I wouldn't object to leveling stones. Not everyone has the time or wants to put in the kind of effort it takes to get all pets leveled.

As for me, I'd just level the old fashioned way... and then sell or trade any leveling stones I did get.

[Jefra]

Yeah same I wouldnt use my leveling stones to level my pets but I certainly wouldnt mind another way to make gold from doing pet stuff.

[Digem]

Yeah same I wouldnt use my leveling stones to level my pets but I certainly wouldnt mind another way to make gold from doing pet stuff.

I wouldn't personally use them, heck I kinda liked leveling my 500+ pets to 25 and am all done, but sure would be nice thing to sell to the lazy people.
better than what we get from doing the CT once one has all the pets.
I find leveling easy and fun but more ways to make some money I am fine with.

[Jefra]

Yeah same I wouldnt use my leveling stones to level my pets but I certainly wouldnt mind another way to make gold from doing pet stuff.

I wouldn't personally use them, heck I kinda liked leveling my 500+ pets to 25 and am all done, but sure would be nice thing to sell to the lazy people.
better than what we get from doing the CT once one has all the pets.
I find leveling easy and fun but more ways to make some money I am fine with.

Yep this is exactly how I feel!

[Shikon01]

I personally enjoy leveling my pets and going for the achievements,but w/ that being said I would use them on the 500 roaches , snakes etc they have in game that drives me nuts to level. I expect at some point we will probably see something like that in game before its over. As w/ everything else they will probably make it BOA, but it would still be a money maker for the thousands of folks who don't want to be bothered w/ doing it all themselves. I say bring it on and let the chips fall where they may

[Opallena]

I thought of something a few days ago- if they do implement leveling stones, maybe they'll be like rare candies in pokemon. One level per stone, that's it. I can live with that, especially if you only get them from daily bags in Draenor.

[Azrile]

Leveling pets is a boring tedium. We don´t know enough about these stones to panic yet, but if they give like 5 levels on the pet and are as rare as rare stones, why not?

Seriously, getting the first 50-100 pets to 25 was fun. But now it is just something I brainlessly do a few hours a week. Besides doing pet tamer battles with a carry pet, I also occasionally grind the crickets in Valley4winds with 2 raptors. To be honest, I have now leveled about 100 pets this way, and I NEVER even use them. They start the fight, get switched out, and then a raptor kills the enemy team. I barely even see the graphic of the carry pet let alone use any of it´s abilities. How is this something that will be missed?

That aside, almost all of the pets in WoD will probably start out very close to 25, so very little training needed. The pet stones are probably just something we can sell to new tamers. Once we are caught up with 550 pets, keeping our collections at 25 will be trivial because we don´t get that many new pets frequently and wild pets will be close to 25.