The area around Goldshire uses a tech called image splitting.
Lucas and his team used image splitting for most of the early, peaceful areas. This was mainly to give players a smoother start in the beginner area.
Ben is actually leveling up pretty fast.
Some players don't even level up. They just wander around to unlock the map and end up as bones in some forgotten corner of the game.
Ben's first stop was the Lion's Pride Inn to set his Hearthstone.
He had researched this stuff beforehand and the game gives you some basic instructions.
If you don't skip all the dialogue, you'll understand the basic systems in the game.
Goldshire has a lot more quests than Northshire Abbey.
Ben talked to Sheriff Duhan and took a quest to check out a mine. After finishing it, he didn't go straight back to Goldshire. Instead, he took a few quests at Stonefield Farm, to the right of the mine.
"Those kobolds are so unlucky, always getting their candles stolen," Ben said.
He felt a little sorry for the kobolds when he remembered them saying, 'You no take candle!'
The quests in Goldshire aren't too hard. Ben spent a little time and finished most of them.
Plus, the map around Goldshire is bigger than Northshire Abbey. Thanks to the image splitting system, there weren't too many people compared to monsters.
He was able to do his quests and level up. At level six, Ben went to Stonefield Farm to deliver a letter.
Then, the NPC called Mother Stonefield gave Ben a quest that made him curious.
[The Princess Must Die!]
There's a princess in the Brackwell Pumpkin Patch who's been a real pain. She's ruined all my farm's vegetables.
Before she destroys my farm again, you have to kill her! Bring back her collar to prove you killed her, and I'll give you a reward!
A princess?
When he saw this quest, Ben pictured Princess Peach in his head.
Normally, a dragon steals the princess and you, the hero, go to save her, right?
So why do you have to kill this princess?
Could there be more to it?
Is she not a real princess, but just pretending to be?
But that doesn't make sense either. It's just a level six quest with a small reward. And how could a princess be connected to a small town and farm?
Ben scratched his head, confused. He finished the quests nearby, then used his Hearthstone to return to the inn. He decided to check it out later.
This is a pretty unique quest in World of Warcraft.
Why is it unique?
Because it's the first time players get to see a very attractive princess in Warcraft.
Later on, players will see all kinds of interesting princesses in different quests and dungeons.
Lucas made the princess's background and identity unclear on purpose. He wanted players to have a better experience, to imagine this perfect princess on the way to the quest and then have their minds blown when they see what she really is.
"Let's do this quest and see what this princess is really like." At the inn, Ben took a quest from William Pestle to collect seaweed. He planned to finish that one and then go see the princess.
He was really curious about what she looked like.
Is she pretty or ugly?
Full of curiosity, Ben headed to Crystal Lake to collect seaweed.
"Huh... someone died here too? What a noob!"
Crystal Lake is a pretty big area in the game.
Thanks to image splitting, when Ben got there, he didn't see any other players.
But what surprised him was that there were a few white skeletons on the ground nearby. Someone had died here.
He wondered what class they were playing.
But could these murlocs really kill someone?
Were they low on health? Or just went AFK?
Ben scoffed at the patrolling murlocs. He didn't think these weak murlocs could be any threat.
He charged forward and slashed with his weapon. He was playing World of Warcraft, but the fighting felt like Monster Hunter: World.
Ben thought to himself.
The murlocs' attack and defense were pretty weak. They're just a little fast. But from how quickly their health was dropping, they weren't a threat at all.
Just as Ben was about to finish off the murloc in front of him, something unexpected happened.
The murloc in the game made a strange noise, 'Waaaugh, waaaugh...' and started running around.
Then, Ben saw two more murlocs waving their weapons and making the same 'Waaaugh' sound, charging toward him.
That's just how murlocs are. They live in groups and, like human characters, they run away when they're low on health. So they often attract extra enemies.
Like now.
"What the heck!" Ben said, dumbfounded by the murlocs in front of him.
How could he survive against so many of them?
Murlocs are an important part of every Warcraft player's journey.
A Warcraft life isn't complete without being killed by murlocs.
As you level up and explore new maps, the murlocs you meet will also level up with you.
Their groups are perfectly balanced, with healers, potion drinkers, net casters, and chargers.
Listening to the murlocs' crazy 'Waaaugh' cries, Ben just lay down and gave up.
If he couldn't fight back, he might as well just accept it.
'Argh!' With his character's scream, Ben's warrior died for the first time, killed by murlocs.
He released his spirit and the screen turned gray. His character turned into a ghost and revived at the nearby graveyard.
There was a beautiful angel there, and many other ghosts like him.
Some people chose to revive where they were, while others ran back to their bodies as ghosts.
Ben chose to run back. He still had quests to do.
He carefully went back to his body. After making sure it was safe, he revived.
Then, he quickly ran away from Crystal Lake and slowly waited for his health to recover, afraid of running into the murloc squad again.
He didn't even want to do the seaweed quest anymore.
He didn't want to deal with those weird-looking creatures again.
"If I can't beat them, I can run away, right? I'm going to find my pumpkin patch princess," Ben muttered, turning around and leaving while watching the patrolling murlocs in the distance.
What will the princess in the pumpkin patch look like?
(End of chapter)
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