Blizzard's announcement at Blizzcon introducing a Death Knight class in the next WoW expansion intrigued me. Also (and I'll believe it when I see it) they're promising substantial changes to Retribution starting in patch 2.3, including a DPS boost and increased group utility. This left me with a dilemma.
Don't get me wrong - I'm still looking forward to WAR, and still excited about the Warrior Priest class. I'm also still planning on forming up a Regiment when WAR goes live. Unfortunately, however, there has been very little news about WAR that we don't already know (hence the big lag in blogging). I tried several games after quitting WoW including LOTR Online and EVE Online, and playing through all my old RTS's and FPS's, but nothing has managed to hold my interest. To put it simply, I got bored.
There's also the matter of a 60 hunter I had sitting in my account, complete with 6/8 Giantstalkers and Rhok/Lok'delar. My old raiding guild had a bit of a revolution, getting rid of the dead weight and returning to more of their family oriented casual raiding roots, so the timing was right. I did what I never thought I'd do and reactivated my account.
Since coming back, I must say there are ups to counter the downs. The new arena and revamped PvP system allow a player to obtain an entire set of epic gear catered to their preferred spec, including jewelry and weapons, without ever having to set foot in a dungeon. What this means is that a Ret Paladin with sufficient patience and a REALLY thick skin (and it helps to have some old friends that still play the game) now has access to gear previously unheard of.
Along lore lines, I see all of this as a means for vindication. Whether or not they ever make Ret a desirable spec for 5-mans and smaller raids, there's now a dark alternative on the (somewhat distant) horizon. All of the jabs and rejection have culminated in the hearts of a lot of disenfranchised Paladins to they point where they're ready to admit the Light just doesn't cut it when it comes to anything but healing. Priests learned this a long time ago, hence the Shadow tree.
I'll still see many of you in Warhammer Online, but for now I'm getting back on my charger to start down a dark path. Forsaking the obvious strengths of the Paladin order, I'm defying all around me to pursue my own ends.
