The Things I Thought I Knew

I've been playing WoW for almost two years, now. In that time, I've leveled two Alliance characters to 80, and I'm working on a third. I've gotten The Loremaster and World Explorer, and any number of other achievements on my main "gotta do it all" experience hound.

And I'm still running into things I've never seen before. Quests I've somehow missed, areas that - despite running around like a hyperactive ferret with ADD - I've never actually been to before. Little nooks and crannies and treats like the Dwarven mage above Starfall Village in Winterspring, or the shoe shine gnome in the "Threads of Fate" shop above Dalaran.

Two that have caught my attention recently:

Old Icefin is a Murloc in the northwest corner of Howling Fjord. He's friendly, and has a kind of melancholy quest for you - Trident of the Son. I found him while looking over quests, trying to figure out if Aeven could get I've Toured the Fjord without having to do any group quests.

Archavon's Log is something I haven't seen yet, on any of my characters. It's found in Wintergrasp, and is apparently the (sort of) diary of Archavon the Stone Watcher. Like Old Icefin's quest, the log itself is not quite what you would expect.

The little things like this don't really make the game. That's questing, and running dungeons, and raiding, and PvP. These little touches, though - they're like a hint of spice in what could easily be an otherwise bland meal. For me, at least, they're what helps keep the wonder and the "Oh, wow!" moments coming, even after years of play.