And here I thought that I was the one odd-ball who thought that pre-searing was the coolest part of the game! Most players I spoke two wanted to get through pre-searing ASAP so that they could get run to Droknar's Forge. I never understood that mentality. Rush through the good part of the game so that you can get a run to the crappy parts?

The slums of Cantha comprise about half of Factions :lol:

Actually, if you do all the quests and Masters missions on Shing Jea Island, you come out of there at 17th or 18th level in less than a day's worth of play time. Once you hit the mainland it's a matter of a couple more hours to hit level 20. In contrast, it took me weeks to level up my first character to 20. If anything, my complaint with Factions was that they levelled me way too fast and then forced me trudge through those lousy slums fighting level 20 mobs that were still only giving level 15 drops (relative to Prophecies). The way they made us do those missions wouldn't have been as annoying if it didn't also involve lots of backtracking through those god-awful slums. I don't care if they make me do all the missions, but please don't make me guide Menhlo, Togo, and/or some clueless group of "guards" though the Shenzun Tunnels for the umpteenth time!