Over the holidays, inspired entirely by Carlo’s reminiscing on the game, I logged into Classic Guild Wars to thumb through my characters and see what presents have shown up in the last year or two. And as I was doing it, I remembered that I had used my last character slot on a Pre-Searing character, long ago. She’s now older than Guild Wars 2, and she’s the baby on my account!
For those who have no idea what I’m talking about: When you create a Prophecies character in GW1, it’s kind of like a idyllic, pastoral tutorial. You complete it in an hour or so, and then you advance through the questline, never to return, and you arrive in the same world, torn asunder by the Searing (those dastardly Charr!). It’s a jarring moment, seeing the pretty world as a smoking ruin, and a lot of people just want to go back to what became known as Pre-Searing Ascalon. And since they couldn’t take their character back, they would just roll a new character in Pre-Searing and stay. Forever. There are even little tricks you can use to level to 20 in there, if you really wanted to. Having a Pre-Sear toon was just a thing people did for fun, for relaxation, back in the peaceful and lovely version of the world. And boy I still feel that pull!
This is most definitely not specific to Classic Guild Wars, mind you. Earlier this month, there was even a post on the LOTRO subreddit about people who keep their characters permanently in the Christmas town of Frostbluff so they can enjoy the snowy, festive ambiance year-round.
For this morning’s Daily Grind, tell me about your own “Pre-Searing” – the places and locations and even experiences in your own MMOs you keep coming back to, especially if they’re early on in the game. Does your MMO have something akin to a Pre-Searing or Frostbluff spot or experience where people coalesce to feel a blast of cozy nostalgia?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
