Realm First: Pros & Cons

I am not going for realm first myself but being from a small server it would be quite possible that I could get it if only because I am a quest-a-holic.  I have so many alts and have basically mastered questing so I am extremely efficient with doing it.  That is why I won't be a realm first however.  If even 1 person is questing in the same area as me I move on.  I will not be able to do that which means I will not be realm first.  I'll be wasting to much time cursing out my screen at the idiot taking my kills.

Not to mention that there are so many people out there that are obsessed with being realm firsts that the numbers of people transferring to my small server is amazing.  I've seen at least 20 people alliance side say that they transferred to my server for the sole purpose of getting realm first and then they intend to go back to their server.  I am sure that number is actually much higher.  

Most people that are seriously going after realm first would probably be quiet about it.  The worst thing you can do is tell people you are going for realm first.  That will just bring out people trying to stop you from doing that by grouping up to kill the mobs you need and basically make your life a living hell.

While I have no delusions of being realm first I do want to be 85 as soon as I possibly can be.  Not for some feat of strength but because that is just who I am.  The faster I get to 85 the better, as I see it.  I've been reading a lot of guides to get ideas on where to start to move along smoothest.  In the threads there are always people complaining one way or the other.  So I thought to myself, what exactly are the pros can cons to leveling quickly, realm first or not.

Pros:
- Better class of players in LFD.  Lets face it, bad players will not go out of their way to level fast.
- Time to farm materials without worrying about leveling at the same time.
- Easier farming because of better gear to fend off mobs.
- Lots of time (because of wait time con) to do farming.
- Ability to get Archeology up everywhere without thinking you are missing out.
- Time to explore without the feel you are wasting time.
- Get professions up faster, which in turn means you make more gold.
- Get gathering up faster, which in turn means you make more gold.

Cons:
- Longer waits in the Dungeon Finder.
- Sleep deprivation.
- No one to raid with.
- No one to dungeon with.
- Trolls whispering you telling you that you must have no life.
- Missing out on the lore the first time around.
- Missing out on the view the first time around.

Based on breaking things down I see no reason really to not get to 85 as fast as you can.  You can rectify the not seeing things when you go through with an alt later on.  Lets face it, anyone that is going to power to 85 most likely has more then one character.  You can catch up on sleep easy enough.  The longer waits are a good time to gather/explore so it is not that big of a deal.  And no one to raid/dungeon with?  That will fix itself in a matter of a weeks time, if not less.  By the time 2 weeks come anyone that actually plans to raid will already be at 85 or even have 2 or 3 characters at 85.  The trolls will always find something to troll about.  Remember, they do it to get a response, do not respond and they failed at their job of being a troll.

So I plan to rush through it.  Main reason being is that I hate having to "share quests" with others.  I want to get ahead of the pack and level at my own, effective rate.  I want to be able to gather without fighting over things.  I want to be able to do quests without waiting for things to respawn.

In my opinion, if you get ahead of the pack you can have an easier time questing.  If you get behind the pack you are going to be with everyone else that is trying to get to 85 but is not as into it as you are.  There will be 1000s of people on the server at any given moment questing so you have that many to compete with. 

If you are playing 8 hours after launch and are already 83 I am sure there will be no more then 25-50 people you are questing with.  A lot better then trying with 1000s.  So I will level quick if I can.  Don't care about realm first but I do not want to be one of those people caught in the pack the next morning when everyone gets on.  I would probably throw something through my monitor if I had to deal with all those idiots.  Like I said, I hate questing in the same area as even one person.  This will be hell on me I am sure.

Based on early returns I am considering just gathering my way to 85, or at least the first 2 levels.  4 herb nodes will get me the same amount as one quest.  Depending on the spawn rate of them I can get about 1 node per minute (more if they up it knowing there will be lots of people) which means it would be like me completing a quest every 4 minutes.  Not bad at all.  Most quests will take longer and with people fighting for kills one quest could take 15-20 minutes.  In that time herbing I would have completed the equivalent of 5 quests.  Seems like the way to go for me, for now at least.  Will make my decision when I see how many people are questing with me when the time comes. 

One thing that is for sure is that I have to be ahead of the pack.  I can not, will not, be able to handle questing with that many people.  I do not have that sort of patience.  I am pretty secure in the fact that on Dec 8th I will be posting about hitting 85 however.  If it takes more then 1 day that means I am doing something wrong.  Or there were way to many idiots stealing my kills. ;)