Thurgen

Not much gaming lately, but am still progressing in SpaceChem when I can, and a review for the game will be coming soon.

Meanwhile I've also been leveling another WoW character, Thurgen, a Worgen Druid. After running a few heroic-level dungeons with Jahger, my Hunter, I realized that I actually get quite bored just being a DPS character (besides the interminable queues that DPS classes have to endure since they're the most played role). I know, I should have learned my lesson from my early days when I leveled a Mage to the Burning Crusade level cap of 70 before realizing I preferred playing my Priest.

So I'm leveling a Druid now, specced for Restoration (healing) for dungeons and Balance (DPS) for questing. Unlike previous characters, I've tried to spend as much time as possible in dungeons and my time has probably been split 50/50 between questing and dungeons. The Dungeon Finder tool has made it so easy for tanks and healers to just do serial dungeon runs while leveling. While it may not give the fastest XP, experiencing content with a good group is more fun than questing in areas I've been before.

I do still have some concerns with the Dungeon Finder:

• Lack of dungeon variety - despite multiple dungeons being available at a certain level, 90% of the time you end up in the same one if you choose random.
• Too easy - if you have a tank that's at the higher end of the level bracket for the dungeon or has good gear then the dungeon becomes way too easy for the healer (who then spends his time just doing some insignificant DPS).
• Gear gap - at level 80 you're forced to move on to Cataclysm content (otherwise you receive only minimal XP), but a freshly leveling character won't have the gear to be allowed by Dungeon Finder into Cataclysm dungeons. You won't be able to do any dungeons until you've replaced most of your gear with new quest rewards or from the auction house. And don't forget to keep around substitutes for your heirlooms that otherwise count as level 1 items.

Healing with the Druid is fun when the challenge is right, and I hope to be able to do some casual raiding with him in the future. But for now, I'm happy to just take my time getting to the Cataclysm level cap of 85.