I'm one of the most forgiving customers there is,

[Bolty]

I don't know if anyone else is even seeing any of these as issues.  I don't know how the problems would be solved.[right][snapback]71024[/snapback][/right]

Sure, I saw these as the basic issues of the game at the end of beta. They're still the same issues - some standard things that aren't properly implemented in the game yet. Dig through my "warning, this game isn't ready" posts in November and you'll find juicy tidbits like "the game's going to seem perfect to new players until they hit their mid-40's and start seeing the holes." Now that you've been 60 for a while, you've gotten a good look at those holes. :) Your feeling of "nothing good to do at 60" is because Battlegrounds isn't implemented (and, for PvP server players, no honor system is implemented) at release. So your only outlet at this level is to run the same four instances over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over...

I don't necessarily agree about your casual gamer note - it's completely possible to get to 60 by soloing 100% of the time. Only hardcore players are willing to do the "let's run Scholomance 20 times to get X set item" play, and Blizzard needed to program something like that in for them - hence the set items that require all those runs. The casual gamer isn't going to bother with those. What will the casual gamer do at 60? I'm not sure - I'll have to ask one. Some Lurkers here might *think* they're casual gamers, but let's face it: if you read and post here, you're not a casual gamer. The true definition of a casual gamer is someone who plays a few hours a week tops and never touches one of these gaming sites. Some of us here are just less hardcore than others. No truly "casual" gamer has had the time to hit 60 yet.

As for your skill-alone comments, and naked magedom - give it some time. Usually hijinks like that don't start until everyone's got their feet wet. While it's arguably very difficult to tank anything without armor, I wouldn't be surprised to hear of a 5-player group naked-running instances for the challenge, mostly because everyone thinks it's impossible and we know that's like waving a red flag in front of the Variant Scum crowd. :)

I know you're already playing alts, and I recommend you keep doing so while waiting for the rest of your guildies to get level 60 chars. Once we have enough, it'll be easy to find a party made only of Lurkers to run some of the more challenging content, not as zerg-fest raids, but as a challenge for a goal - especially when new content comes out (high-end instances). What you're experiencing is the penalty that comes with being one of the first to cap their char in a guild - not too many people to play with yet.

For those who have been 60 for a while on Stormrage, you might have noticed that there's a "new crop" of almost-capped chars coming. I suggest you welcome us into your clique and show us around. I've yet to EVER run Scholomance, LBRS, UBRS, and Scarlet Stratholme - and I'd sure like to do it right, with a Lurker gang.

Oh, and do try some Horde, Lochnar. If you never play Horde, you're basically never seeing a good 35% of the game's quests (figuring roughly 35% Horde-only, 40% Alliance-only, and 25% neutral).

-Bolty