Life At the Crossroads

I've been hearthstoned to the inn at The Crossroads for what feels like forever. I think I reached there around level 12 (maybe a bit higher) and I'm now 25. And still, as I turn quests in, more are offered. And still, there are quest-givers with grey question marks (for the uninitiated/unaddicted, a grey question mark means you're not yet of a high enough level to be given the quest).

Which means in theory I could be hanging around here for a while yet.

I have absolutely no recollection of the equivalent zones for previous Alliance-side characters being so packed with opportunities. I do still tend to think in terms of the kind of progress I'm used to on The Other Side, so for example The Barrens, the region containing The Crossroads, is the Tauren equivalent of Darkshore, if you're a Night Elf, or Loch Modan if you're a Dwarf or Gnome.

Don't get me wrong - I have ventured out into the contested regions of Ashenvale (previously mentioned) and Thousand Needles, as quests required. And I've even started spending time in ultra scary Hillsbrad, which used to be quite a jolly place I went to to level skinning, or to pass through en route to The Scarlet Monastery. Now it's a place of arse-clenching terror, full of menace as high level Allies run through to yes, that's right, The Scarlet Monastery. I crank up all the display options to the point where the animations get jerky just to make sure I've got the greatest visbility of everything around me. One sight of a red character name in the distance and I run for the hills (or for the formerly daunting Tarren Mill). It wouldn't be my luck to run across some lost little lowbie Gnome - I'm going to get the high level buggers every single time.

But the bottom line is that even though my quest log is steadily filling with quests that will take me further afield, The Crossroads remains the hub I stick to, and it's still got stuff to offer me.