Beta invite!

This post contains no spoilers, unless you have been living under a rock and don`t know anything about the new playable races.

Much to my surprise, I got a beta invite a few weeks ago. I had only just recently re-upped my sub at the beginning of September, having canceled it during the RealID fiasco. I like to think it was an olive branch after being vocal during that event, but I`m sure I was just lucky with the lottery.

I have mixed feelings about having access to beta. Although I crave information about Cata and will gladly read spoilers on MMO Champ, I don`t necessarily want to go to the zones and do the quests now. (It works out well, because battle.net gives me the finger every time I try to copy my main over) The only exception is starting zones - I often replay those even now. Which is why I keep making goblins and worgen. Unfortunately, I don`t seem to be able to find time all that often to play them! And although I am busy, when I`m not, I end up playing on live instead. With all the projects I`m working on (The Insane, in particular, other rep grinds, Loremaster on an alliance toon), I`d rather spend time working on them rather than on a toon that will disappear come Cata release. The last reason, probably the least pressing, is that I don`t want to get attached. For instance, I picked out a name for my future goblin and went so far as to level a placeholder to 10. On beta, it was taken, so I used a different name. Now I am super attached to this name and am having a naming crisis! It`s just as well that I named my premade pally Puffinz, so I feel just enough self-loathing when I log in that I won`t get attached.

The amazing thing is that I logged in and saw level 85s everywhere, including goblins and worgen. (I guess this only amazes me because I level very slowly and don`t spend much time playing beta toons) People were advertising for guilds, requiring knowledge of all the dungeons and heroics. At first I couldn`t help but think, "Why? What`s the point?" But I realize that this is the point of beta - to test out the new guild system and all that jazz. For some reason that makes me drag my feet - I`m not ready to start learning my way through new dungeons and their encounters! If I start exploring, will I still be awed when I fly through for real on Aka? At least ally side doesn`t feel quite as sacred, probably because deep down I doubt that my alt will ever see enough love to get to 80. The worst part is that I feel bad for having access to beta when I feel like I`m somehow playing it The Wrong Way. As it is, I`ll be replaying starting areas when I get a chance, so if nothing else I can give feedback on the quest log interface, spell training, leveling, and use, and those environments. Maybe I can even join a guild!