On Blog Azeroth, Dangfool proposed this shared topic:

Normally the words “Best” and “Grind” are not found this close together and there are plenty of grinds to hate. However, I’m interested in the flip side:

Was there something that required sustained and prolonged effort that you found interesting or rewarding? Was there something that was not just a chore to work on?

I’m assuming most grinds are for Reputation, but maybe you have a novel definition?

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Zin’rokh, Destroyer of Worlds is one big-assed sword.  It’s huge, it’s nasty, it looks cool, and it is not easy to get.  Which makes having it all that much sweeter.

I’d scanned my roster of characters to decide who would best make use of this Final Fantasy-looking blade.  It boiled down to my dwarven death knight (having recently become my new main focus of interest at that time) who was going to be the lucky owner of this sword.

All he had to do was level up Archaeology.

I know.  I’d heard the stories too.  Read about how Archaeology was about as much fun to level as watching paint dry. But Zin’rokh called to me with its epic coolness, and so my mind was made up.

Besides, it’s not like there weren’t other upsides to leveling the profession.  There were excellent Archaeology addons I could use to help simplify the procedure.   I could get not one, but two titles out of the deal.  Along the way there were plenty of companion pets I could get, as well as a slick mount or two. Oh yeah, and blah blah lore something something.  But I had to admit, it sure looked like there’d be quite a bit of upside to leveling Archaeology.

I also had a strategy.  I would only grind the Eastern Kingdom, since it had the most Troll digsites and I’d need a metric shit ton of Troll fragments and keystones to improve my chances at Zin’rokh.  Using a DK also made the process easier – I’d use Death Gate to start off at Ebon Hold, then simply fly south and hit every digsite along the way.  Once I reached the southern tip of Stranglethorn, I’d hit Death Gate, port back to Ebon Hold, and start the procecure all over again.

Armed with a plan, and motivation, my DK began the leveling process.

The process was… painful.  I’ve leveling fishing to max level before, and that was easier to do than skilling up Archaeology. It wore me down like nothing, and I’ve done my fair share of mindless rep grinds.  I’ve even done fishing to skill cap.  The difference between those grinds and this one is for Archaeology, you have to pay attention.  You have to know where to fly, and once you arrive at your digsite you still have to scamper around and repeatedly drop your spyglass thingie before you dig up your first of three finds per site.  Fishing you could just click, cast, pay attention somewhere else until you heard the splash, then focus back on your floater.  That’s what made Archaeology so different – it kept you more aware of what you were doing, and what you were doing was mind-numbingly BORING!

I saw achievements pop up and I didn’t care.  Blues and purples formed in my bags and I ignored them.  I felt like a mental marathon runner, willing myself to make it just a little further, just to the next checkpoint, the next mile.  I just had to hit 450, then start solving the Troll fragments and hope to unlock Zin’rohk.  That became my mantra, my goal – reach 450 in Archaeology.

And I did.  I got to 450 and started solving Troll artifacts.  Two things happened after that –

1) I reached 525 in Archaeology.

2) Zin’rohk was not mine.

To say I felt like I’d been kicked in the balls is a disservice to actually being kicked in the balls.  There are time sinks in World of Warcraft, and then there’s the pit of time quicksand that is Archaeology.  It was like having teeth pulled with pliers, and being very aware of every second of it – the pressure on your gums as the metal bites down on the tooth, the pressure of the roots being dislodged, and then the pain.  It was like all of that, but without the sucker the dentist/butcher would give you for being a good boy and not spitting blood all over.

I don’t log on with that DK very much anymore.

Now you might be thinking that this little rant had very little to do with the Shared Topic question.  In fact, it sounds like the opposite of what was being asked.  But to that I say this:  Archaeology became the bar that every grind would be measured against.  Thanks to the Archaeology grind, I had no problem with my Netherdrake rep grind, or the Fireland Daily grind.  In a way, my Archaeology grind made everything else better.

In case you’re wondering, I don’t miss not having Zin’rokh.  At least I didn’t, until Blizzard introduced Transmogrification in Patch 4.3.  Can you imagine a Fury Warrior dual weilding Zin’rohk?  Sadly, I can.

*Twitch twitch*