Starting over - advice from those that have

[Owltoid]

My current situation:
5 WotLK accounts
5 druids @ 80
quite a few other toons between 60 and 80 (probably 13)
2 vanilla accounts that are currently RAF linked to 2 of the WotLK accounts


I'm debating abandoning all and starting fresh. When I originally started multiboxing I thought I'd just play my druids, and therefore wasted my RAF time. Now if I want to level up toons I either have to do it without RAF or pay transfer fees (gets expensive).

If I started over then I think I could get 5 of each tanking/healing class, and 4 of each pure DPS class allowing for nearly every comination I could want. I could also get a consistent naming scheme which helps with my OCD of needing order to things :)

What are your experiences on starting over, whether it just be a new realm or abandoning old accounts to start new ones? The biggest hit would be paying for 5x battlechests + WotLK expansion (probably around $300, which is equivalent to 12 transfers). I'm not terribly worried about the money as long as I don't regret starting fresh, but would like ot hear others' experiences.

[Stabface]

Seems like a lot to throw away. Depending on how many toons you have right now to transfer, maybe you can consolidate down to 3 accounts, then open up 2 new RAF accounts or use the existing ones and boost your new alts?

[ILikeTwins]

To be honest with you it is not that bad to level up toons even without RAF. If you have a decently geared druid tank amongst your druids then it would only take about a week to get a group of new toons from 1 to 80.If you are really used to the RAF bonus from 1-60 then it might seem harder but it honestly flies by pretty quick. You wouldn't have RAF after 60 anyway so if you already have a bunch of toons around 60 then you can just level those.

If you really want RAF then I would suggest that you just get a bunch of vanilla wows and use those to RAF up to 60. The only thing you wouldn't be able to do is make a blood elf or draenei. If you really want those races then look for warchests that are on sale. Transferring those toons that you make would be cheaper than completely starting over it would seem. Especially if you need to buy expansions for all of them.

[Owltoid]

Sorry, I should have been more clear.

I keep running into the problem of "this group would be fun" and I don't have the group. For example, I'm currently leveling warlocks. In a few months maybe it will be hunters, or mages, etc. If I knew locks were going to be the last group then I'd be ok stopping, but I'm worried about the constant adding on of new toons.

There have been some valid points made. The leveling time from 1-60 is small compared to 60-80 so if I really want to do this then maybe I should save the money and keep the current accounts.

[Firstcow]

Owltoid, DO NOT get new accounts or use RAF anymore. Now 1-60 is so easy to boost that it's not worth paying the money. Here's a good strategy to level up 1-60 without burning yourself out.
Note that this works only if you make a druid feral and boost only 4 other characters, not 5.

1. DO NOT boost more than 2 hours at a time, ever! Otherwise you get burned out. So every day do 2 hours of boosting and maybe in the weekends do more but take breaks every 2 hours.
2. Lvl 1-10. Just level up normally without any boosting.
3. Lvl 10-18. Deadmines.
4. Lvl 18-22. Stockades.
5. Lvl 22-35. Scarlet Monastery. Only the CATH side, don't bother with the other wings.
6. Lvl 35-45. Zul'farrak.
7. Lvl 45-55. Upper and Lower Blackrock Spires.
8. Lvl 55-58. Hellfire Ramparts.

On average you will get about 2 levels per hour this way, from 10 to 58, so the total is about 24 hours of play time. If you play 2 hours every day during week days and 8 hours in a Sat and another 8 hours on Sun, you can have a new team in one week, and you paid no extra money. Just be consistent and TAKE BREAKS every 2 hours.

[Nighthawk38]

A suggestion from someone of the same mindset. I was in the same boat, Owltoid. Felt like I kinda wasted my RAF by not getting as many toons leveled up as I could have. I also enjoy playing different classes, depending on my "mood" for the day.

Here is my suggestion, and it's what I am currently doing with my guys. Why not take your 5 druids, farm some heroics and do a few Wintergrasp battles. Get yourself 40 triumph badges on each toon, and i think it's about the same in WG marks of honor. Buy a cloth heirloom chest with the badges, and the cloth shoulders (heirloom) with the WG marks. That will give each of the toons you are leveling a 20% XP bonus, all the way thru 80. I would imagine with a druid tank you can boost almost as fast as a pally from 1-60, then you can mix and match questing and instances on the toons from 60-80.

It will take a little longer from 1-60 than if you had RAF, but the 60-80 will be a bit faster because of the heirloom gear.

If you completely start over, you also will need to relevel all those professions as well, don't forget that. And those professions can be worse than leveling the toons themselves.

Just my two cents.

[Drommon]

I have often thought about starting over myself because I know way more now than I did when I started . What has stopped me was the amount of time that I already put in. If you are willing to let go of what was done without regret then do it. What I would do though is try to find a way to use what you have and maybe use heirlooms to give a boost in XP for the new toons. But it sounds to me you want to RAF a bunch of toons to 60 from scratch.

My Pally team was RAFfed to level 42 and then RAF ran out. I leveled them to 78 and today they are 11 days played. Thats a lot of time. I also have a mixed bag of horde and alliance toons at 60 as well. Today I wished that I raffed 5 of each class to 60. I would have started with Pallys, then shaman and so on.

If you are going to start over please have some very clear goals (it sounds like you do). Because you are giving up a LOT.

[kate]

It depends, in part, on what your time is worth.

If I were going to start over, here's how I'd do it:

Keep 1 main account that has an 80 for boosting.
Buy 4 copies of Vanilla (not battle chest or WOTLK - I suspect that once Cataclysm comes out there will be a new battle-chest or deal that offers WOTLK cheaper, and you don't need the expansions until then)
Link them via whatever RAF method is optimal
Boost like mad - getting 1 of everything on the 4 vanilla accounts to 60.
Roll 1 of everything you don't have on the main account, quest in a group/grant levels as needed to get all of those to 60.

I've been thinking about doing something similar, but I'm going to wait until after Cata launches probably to be able to best decide what to do.

Edit: In Cata, guild "talents" will allow you to get a 10 and 20% bonus to leveling speed, from some of the things I've seen - basically replacing the heirlooms. I don't know if it will be cumulative with them, but there's that. Also, we don't know what other kinds of things will come out yet. Leveling 1-60 in Cata may be REALLY easy compared to now, and it will certainly be different.

[Siaea]

Just get the heirlooms from Argent Tourny and it's pretty easy to get to 80. I did it with my alliance shammies and it was cake until 70 (see my "Holy brick wall, batman" post), but it's still not too bad with the 20% exp boost. I wouldn't spend the cash on 5x more battle chests unless you just fart money.

[Owltoid]

Thanks for the helpful replies.

There is something so tempting about a clean slate. I'm sure many have had that feeling. Starting on a new server without any "seed" gold, no boosting and just running instances at level, making a new name for yourself on the server, etc. Obviously I'm trying to debate if that's worth the $325 plus TONS of time.

I considered waiting until Cata, but there's no guarantee RAF will be around. In fact, since they're redesigning all the old content, I wouldn't be surprised if they did away with RAF. They'd likely keep 1-60 similar to what it is now, decrease 60-70 exp a bit, and heavily decrease 70-80 required exp to level (thereby keeping the leveling time from 1-85 roughly similar to the current non-RAF 1-80).

It would be sooo sweet to have all my teams names exactly how I want them and have everything unison based on the knowledge I've gained multiboxing for the last 1.5 years.

Not an easy decision...

One perk of starting new accounts is that I would have 5 legacy WotLK accounts in case I ever decided to 10-box (not likely, but you never know). I do make very good money at my job, but recently lost a ton investing in options... not my brightest moment in life.

[Firstcow]

Thanks for the helpful replies.

There is something so tempting about a clean slate. I'm sure many have had that feeling. Starting on a new server without any "seed" gold, no boosting and just running instances at level, making a new name for yourself on the server, etc. Obviously I'm trying to debate if that's worth the $325 plus TONS of time.

I considered waiting until Cata, but there's no guarantee RAF will be around. In fact, since they're redesigning all the old content, I wouldn't be surprised if they did away with RAF. They'd likely keep 1-60 similar to what it is now, decrease 60-70 exp a bit, and heavily decrease 70-80 required exp to level (thereby keeping the leveling time from 1-85 roughly similar to the current non-RAF 1-80).

It would be sooo sweet to have all my teams names exactly how I want them and have everything unison based on the knowledge I've gained multiboxing for the last 1.5 years.

Not an easy decision...

One perk of starting new accounts is that I would have 5 legacy WotLK accounts in case I ever decided to 10-box (not likely, but you never know). I do make very good money at my job, but recently lost a ton investing in options... not my brightest moment in life.

Well, it appears like you kind of made up your mind on starting fresh. Then come to horde on Blackrock server where I have my mains :)

[Owltoid]

Heh, no, definitely haven't made up my mind. Probably going to think about it for a day or two and try not to make a rash decision.

[Heavyd]

fart money. lol

I've started over many times. I think at last count I've probably had 16 different RAF accounts, if not more. I also level toons to 60 in those accounts and decide that I'd rather do a different group, delete the 60's and start over. I've probably started hundreds of toons.

I only regret that I don't really have anything to show for all the time i've spent playing -- I do have one toon i leveled to 80 but my highest team is 69.

I did decide that i'm not going to start over anymore -- these teams (pally/shammy and 5warlock or 5 pally) are the last i'm going to level. I'd like to see what all the heroic fuss is about.

[Owltoid]

Heavyd, your situation is the one I'm fearing. I think I've had a total of 9 accounts (4 used for RAF and never upgraded) and am worried that number will only grow with time. I'm wondering if a clean start with the goal of 5x9 toons (screw DKs for now) with an easy, clean naming convention would save money and make the game more fun in the long run, or just be the final straw that drives me away from WoW for good (not likely)

[jinkobi]

Only reason to get 5 more is if you plan on 10 boxing at some point :) Really to me just seems like a waste of $$ in the name of laziness. Which I can sympathize with I'm lazy as hell and after the RAF experience 1-60 does seem a chore. In actuality you really only save a couple of days if you're boosting toons.

Cataclysm is still a ways off- and day 1 of it you'll be exchanging out gear. I'm in a similar situation 4 druids, 1 pally, 1 rogue at 80 and would like to get more 80's for variety. I'm just going to boost 4 at a time and once they hit around 70 continue boosting with my 80 geared team.

[crowdx]

I am actually in the process of boosting a ton of new toons. For me, I have decided to fill out all the empty slots on my current server with the classes I am missing on each account. What I did was during the sale last year, bought 4 vanilla keys for $5 each. I have added these keys to 4 new RAF accounts linked to the old accounts. Then with my booster I am boosting in teams of 4 toons, 2 on exisiting accounts and 2 on the new RAF accounts. This meant on a couple of sets of toons I had 5 sets of 4 to level. Once I am done I will take the odd toon here and there from the RAF accounts and transfer to the 5th account and then cancel the RAF accounts.
This will leave me with all my accounts on this server full, with all toons level 61 or above. Once this is complete I will boost some of these toons up to 65- 67 and use a mix of boosting and quests to hit 70. Then I will quest in Northrend where I will also be able to skip 90% of the collection questions due to not going to quest in Northrend at 68 and also using the BOA Shoulders and chestpiece.
My current state of play on this process is that I am nearly done with SM on all the accounts and about to move to BRD form 40 - 45 and then Scholo to 59.9 and ding on the RAF account to grant a level to the old account and then ding it to 61. I will have to do this for about half of the toons I am leveling, the other half I will bring to level 45 and then use the grantable levels to level them to 61 also.
I could not even think of the idea of restarting again with brand new accounts, losing all the gold, gear and professions.
My two cents

[Owltoid]

I'm starting to lean towards a similar system, crowdx. I'll have to take inventory of exactly what toons I need, but in the end it would probably be cheaper and faster (considering getting 5 druids from 60-80 is a huge chunk of time) to do the two plus two system. I'm assuming you're just leaving those toons on the vanilla accounts right where they are?

Thanks again for all the help everyone :)

[Drommon]

Owltoid,

I am curious about your naming "convention" you want to use. You mentioned previously that you wanted everyone name similarly or the "same". What were you planning to use?

[Stabface]

Don't forget to win the walrus fishing tournament a few times to get +5% xp rings !

[crowdx]

I'm starting to lean towards a similar system, crowdx. I'll have to take inventory of exactly what toons I need, but in the end it would probably be cheaper and faster (considering getting 5 druids from 60-80 is a huge chunk of time) to do the two plus two system. I'm assuming you're just leaving those toons on the vanilla accounts right where they are?

Thanks again for all the help everyone :)

Yes, the vanilla account toons will be disgarded with the exception of the ones I move to the 5th account which I did not link for RAF. I will also use as many of the grantable levels as possible which will reduce the grind from 45 - 60 for about half of those toons (have not done all the math yet on how many levels I have to grant and so how high I will need the remaining accounts to be so as to grant levels to 60).

[deez]

Either way I'd get the heirloom items, they do stack with RAF. If you decide to start fresh transfer an 80 with the heirlooms to each new account. There were quests for Uldaman that granted around 15k xp. Pretty amazing.

[crowdx]

The issue I would see using Heirloom items with RAF is that the RAF accounts will fall too far behind the referring account and ultimately will break the bonus RAF level gap rule.

[Owltoid]

Thanks to all the helpful replies, I now have a plan that I'm happy about.

I will not be starting 5 new account and upgrading to WotLK. Instead, I will do just as suggested in this thread and start two more vanilla RAF accounts. I currently have 2 RAF accounts linked (to account 2 and account3) and I will add two more (to account4 and account5). It's going to be a bit laborious, but I will first fill up my account2 and account3, then activate my new RAF accounts and fill up my account4 and account5.

I was pretty lucky with my account1. I wanted my account1 to have every type of toon that can heal and/or tank so that in PvP I can run 4 DPS plus any healer I want, and in PvE I can use that account as my tanking account. Fortunately, I have a "high" level druid, priest, and warrior already on the account, so worst case scenario is I transfer my "high" level shaman and pally (exists on account4 and account5).

To summarize costs, instead of $325 plus not having any level 80s and starting fresh, I am now looking at the following worst case scenario:

2 new RAF accounts = $40
2 toon transfers = $50
2 likely toon recustomizations = $30 (though no rush)
2 name changes = $20 (really no rush and may not do it)
Total = $140

Because I'll be salvaging 5x80 druids and 5x67 pallys, I think I'll actually be saving time by doing this method, even though I can only work on 2 toons at a time (plus level granting) instead of 4.

Once again thanks to all for helping me think through this issue :)

[Kedash00]

i was in a similar situation, i pretty much maxxed out my 5 man team in heroics/triumph gear, so i went and got 5 more accounts so i can 10 box, almost got the second team ready to go but just knowing i'm working on a bigger project makes it worth while for me.

[jinkobi]

When I started multiboxing that's how I began Owl with just 2 accounts. Already had an 80 paladin and wanted to build my team around him. So I began with the RAF and leveled 2 druids at a time up to 80. Granted it was a bit painful the second time around but it's a bit of a distant memory now. Less than a month had my 4 druids up to 80- went to Frye's and bought 3 more WOWs up to WOTLK came home and transferred everyone to their new home.

Worked out great for me in the long run. If I'd had more forsight and energy I'd dual boxed more teams up but was too excited and impatient to get into 5 boxing.

[Shodokan]

Do not RAF now. In cata... If you are in a guild there is a new guild talent that allows for up to 20% extra experience gained by their members. This does stack with BOAS pre-80.

[crowdx]

How does the talent work? Is it automatic with the guild or does the guild need certain achievements?

[Owltoid]

Leveling is going well, though long. The suggestions to turn that moonkin into a feral druid was pure gold. Although the moonkin is still better for deadmines (when doing it in one pull it's such a long run back from the ship to the beginning that you need to have a couple good rejuvs), the feral tank destroys everything else. My new "tank" is just in auction house greens, and I'm sure Scholo would go even better if I had better gear, but the 360 degree swipe that also heals you while you don't have to worry about mana is a boosters dream. I'm clearing most of Scholo in 10 minutes (my thorns has about 30 seconds left when I reset the instance) which is worth 50% of a level at 59 and more at lower levels. Basically no level takes more than 20 minutes since I just plan on granting levels from 42 to 45 since those are the pain in the ass ones (SM gives barely any exp and it's too much of a time sink to go anywhere else).

[OzPhoenix]

An all-druid team is the only thing I'd consider going through the 5-boxing leveling experience one last time for.

Glad to hear your making good progress.

[crowdx]

The only comment I would make is that I placed 2 lowbies at BRD so that they can summon other toons there, BRD is very fast from 40 - 45, it takes about 1.25 hours for each set of toons to boost from 40 -45, so yes a pain to get your first set there but once you have toons to summon the next set it makes that 40 - 45 very easy.
Also something I do when leveling like this is to finish each place with all my toons, i.e. I had all my toons at level 40 before I moved on to BRD, this way no time is wasted moving the tank between the two instances. Another tip would be if you have a lock, you can summon the tank to each new instance, e.g. My warlock is on a linked account and so I have him ride to the next instance, summon the lowbie and then with the other higher level (a dk I have sitting on that account) I summon the second lowbie and finally I use the lock to summon the tank, makes it a lot less painful moving to the next instance.
Finally, it is worth putting the points in your talent tree to give you the speed boost in cat form, can be a great help in large pulls enabling you to outrun the mobs and drag them behind you.
My two cents :)

[roflstomp]

ok start 5 more then transfer 5 to new realm on old accounts the 10 box lol and u can do 1-60 in a day boosting then u need to take a few day break before next set

[kate]

Do not RAF now. In cata... If you are in a guild there is a new guild talent that allows for up to 20% extra experience gained by their members. This does stack with BOAS pre-80.

Any news on the requirements for gaining those talents and how attainable they might be for someone who has a vanity guild?

[wyofiddler]

Someone said that heirlooms stack with RAF bonus.... I used up my RAF last winter but I distinctly remember in the official FAQ page about the RAF program it says that nothing stacks with the 300% bonus, that 300% bonus is the max limit. Could have been updated, and the difference isn't that big, but it's something to double-check.

[kate]

Someone said that heirlooms stack with RAF bonus.... I used up my RAF last winter but I distinctly remember in the official FAQ page about the RAF program it says that nothing stacks with the 300% bonus, that 300% bonus is the max limit. Could have been updated, and the difference isn't that big, but it's something to double-check.

If it stacks and the 20% is also multiplied by 3x, that would be a pretty big bonus, actually.

[HPAVC]

fwiw, I have started over plenty of times 5 boxing and once now 10 boxing. I rarely xfer characters. Leveling is pretty stupid easy and quick, and it takes about that long to get all the macro and ui stuff tuned if your starting a setup over from scratch as well (when i switch to jamba i basically migrated while leveling)

The big issue is will you be able to raid with a main or similar, faction, pv[ep], and will there be a social element you can play with, maybe fellow pvp players if your into that. Likely you want that all setup in advance to avoid some heart ache.

What I get stuck with is rerolling on feathermoon, getting to 80 on ten characters and then having fuck heads decide they don't want to play anymore or won't let me raid, or rerolling on a server to find out they won't allow mboxer mains to raid, but they don't mind you in the roster.

Also want to put some thought into what is on what account, most of the character xfer moves I have done have been from one account to another for group composition issues. That was a long time ago though.

[Shabu42]

Didn't really read the entire thread, but saw your post on naming ocd and then read your sig and lol'd irl

[mikekim]

I had a similar dilemma a couple of months ago, wanted a change as i was bored of my current server and toons, so I started afresh on a new PVP server (GB :) ) .
I initially started with 3x Warlocks, levelled them to 20 and then moved over (server & faction change) a pally and priest (the transfers helped quite a bit, as I could bring over all the items I was lacking on the server (mats, gear & some gold). My levelling has been a mixture of the following

1-20 Questing
20-25 Shadowfang Keep
25-40 Scarlet Monastery
40-45 Zul Farrak
45-58 Scholomance
58-59 Outlands Questing
59-63 Ramparts
63-68 Sethekk Halls
68-74 Outlands Questing
74-80 will be a mixture of Instances, PVP and Questing

All instances have been done with a Ret Pally Boosting (3.9k GS) - to keep within the 12 minutes per level on some of the shorter ones I have been looting the big pull piles (handy source of income if you are not on an established server).

the main thing i have found is, that a fresh start on a new server gives you renewed interest in the game