On Day 4 of my World of Warcraft trial I decided to return to my search for the Gnarlpines. I went back to the area with the Gnarlpine camps to complete another quest, and I was lucky enough to run into a level 11 human mage who invited me to be in her group of two. She was completing one of the same quests that I was doing, and she said that we could go find those Gnarlpine Ambushers, as they were on the way. I was thrilled.

After about 10 minutes, our group reconvened in town and set off on our quest. While it was odd to share experience and money gained from fighting monsters, battles were much more efficient. I no longer had to fear death if more than one monster attacked me at the same time.

We did have to make a stop for one of our group members to complete a quest with those nasty gnarlpines (not the ambushers), but it took just a few minutes with all of us fighting. Then we ran off on a quest for relics.

The cave that contained the relics happened to be off the road and past a bunch of Gnarlpine Ambushers. They were right off the road, but very much out of sight. There were a lot of them, so I was really glad that I had two people with me so I didn’t get trapped. The cave with the relics was also filled with Gnarlpines of all kinds. They were a bit of a challenge because of the sheer number of them, not to mention a fairly rapid re-spawn rate. I really couldn't have done it alone.

It was really nice to explore a cave with a group of people who helped me and waited for each person to get what they needed to complete quests. We all finished a couple of quests in that cave. Then it came time to look for an exit.

We ran around the maze-like cave, but those nasty gnarlpines kept slowing us down. We went the wrong way twice and then we lost the highest-level person in our group (the level 11 mage). At that point, the other group member and I fought together but got separated shortly afterwards. Then we both died.

At this point, I had little experience in revival, but I knew that I did not want to revive in a cave full of tough gnarlpines without my group. I decided to revive in the graveyard and accept the durability damage and ten-minute disabilities. My group member then informed me how you could find your corpse, revive, and transport back to your inn using the Hearthstone. I felt a little stupid then, but I learned a lot from that group.

Despite the fact that my group fell apart at the end, it was a great experience. I don’t know who those people were, but they were both very helpful and didn’t make fun of me for asking questions. In a game like World of Warcraft, half the conversations I see are people asking where to go and what to do. I like the fact that you can ask others for help, but I think I prefer strategy guides. I never know if I can trust someone (even those who mean well sometimes give bad directions) and I hate bothering people with stupid questions because I’m naïve.

Today’s experiences have opened my mind. I am cautious about joining groups, but I am willing to take a chance if there are people out there like those I met today. Perhaps MMORPGs are okay after all.