@@NixxiomOnTH-cam he also forgot about Hyjal. just because its mostly inaccessible and there's nothing to do there doesn't mean it should be left out! /s
I think Tanaris is liked by a lot of people because it was almost a reward for finishing the Shimmering Flats grind. Back at the start when no one knew what they were doing I could take a very long time to get that done and when you finished you went to an awesome goblin town. Pretty cool.
I think it's more that the zone has a bunch of good quests to do making it a good zone to level in. ZF is also a really good dungeon and Gadgetzan is a cool town
I actually kind of like Tanaris but I can see why it wouldn't appeal to everyone. And yes, it was a HUGE relief to get there after escaping from sodding Desolace and Thousand Needles. I hate Desolace so much.
As someone who only played as undead or blood elf, silverpine, hillsbrad, and arathi highlands hold special places in my heart as I progressed through them as a kid. I will always love those zones. This video also made me realize how many zones I have completely avoided 😂
Hinterlands is unironically one of my favorite zones in classic World of Warcraft. Very high quest density that lets you complete multiple quests with minimal backtracking. Also a lot of quests started in other zones send you there anyway, so you can knock those out too. There are memorable quest chains like Shadra, the egg of Hakkar, and mallet of Zul'Farrak that intersect with other parts of the world (which you can always skip if you don't want to invest the time). There's also a lot of sweet loot you get from doing the quests there.
The rating for Hinterlands depends highly on if you are on pre or post patch 2.3... In that patch, it got a massive overhaul. Before, you had the elite temple city and some part in other good questlines and lore, but for solo questing and leveling it was terrible. After, it is one of the best questing zones (at least for horde), and the superb quest rewards were also introduced then.
That was where I stood to. Ive only played Horde, and while the initial walk to the only FP is long, after that the concentration of quests means I would get 3-4 levels very quickly. Its also one of the few places where you return to the same spot to fight progressively harder enemies, without that feeling draining since you can run past each tier of the pyramid. Hinterlands and Arathi Highlands were my biggest gripes with this list. Highlands had zombies and ogres and beasts. Lot of diversity there.
Yes if people do the elite quests in Pyrewood Village and Shadowfang Keep dungeon it is awesome. If you love the undead side of things the continuation of their storyline is great. It just lacks people willing to get through the early quests which have intentionally terrible drop rates because there are less quests compared to Barrens. Also Son of Arugal elite patrolling and ganking lowbies unexpectedly. Worgen and swimming to a mysterious castle on an island is fun.
I must defend Tanaris as a fun zone. The vast desert, with the classic music (not after cataclysm changes ), that kind of weird serenity in this place... Also Zul'Farrak is there and thats a very good dungeon, fun to do with loads of nice rewards from quests inside. Mallet quest sends u for an adventure. Caverns of Time are later in TBC (does TBC count as classic nowdays?). There are hints of titans far in the south. There are pirates quests here and they are always fun to do. Escort quests with turtle and robot chicken are always a pain in the butt, still they are memorable. Bugs quests are long and i always skip them but they are important from the story perspective, u know that looming threat in thte horizon.
I used to think Mulgure wasn't fun, due to all the running and the empty plains, but as I got older I learned to love it. It's a very comfy zone when you realise there isn't *as much* running as your impatient kid-self thought, and the quests themsleves are enjoyable, evoking a "rite of passage" feel.
As classic released launched in 2019 i leveled in Darkshore it was pretty nice, you need to plan your path's but it can be very efficent and the biggest plus was that it was nearly empty so you dont have to wait for respawns or get in a line to kill a named.
Desolace is a great zone. Shitton of variety, kodos, wildlife, satyr, orcs, demons, naga, centaur, undead, almost every type of mob imagineable, and a ton of quests to see you through the entire zone.
I think it sounds really rough that almost half the zones „suck“ But then again, you don‘t need to go there and I think thats what made the whole experience much better. You explore new zones because you don‘t enjoy the current one. You travel the whole world to see if the „other“ zone is more appealing. You explore this giant world
A few corrections I would make: - Hillsbrad: Fun - Horde quests are pretty good I'd say and the Alliance side I don't think is too bad either. I've always enjoyed my time in that zone. - Tanaris: Fun - Might be some weird nostalgia but I just really like Tanaris, good world pvp, the quests aren't annoying like in other zones, the pirate area is great, the map fragment/Cuergo's gold questline and going to Land's End Beach is pretty cool also, beach part to the east and Steamwheedle Port are nice, overall chill and good vibes from that zone. - Wetlands: Fun - Super chill zone as well, quests are decent, Menethil Harbor is a really good town, the crashed ships with the human ghosts are cool, killing the Dragonmaw orcs is cool and the road leading to Grim Batol is cool also even though you can't really go there at low levels because the elite 60 mobs will wreck you. Also cool lore connections to Warcraft 2. - Feralas: *Not* Fun - Not that fun of a zone imo, yeah sure Dire Maul and the mystery around Isle of Dread are cool but that's just not enough, I've tried to follow along and read quest text multiple times but I always end up switching to autopilot and getting out of that zone asap, not a bad zone exactly but just reaaally boring.
I never played classic, started in TBC. But so many memories, such good ones. I wish I could go back in time, to be in school again, rushing home to log in with my guild, discovering this world and its wonders. So nostalgic. I miss the Barrens the most. Thanks for this nostalgic video. Nixxiom videos: FUN
I agree pretty much, but I also LOVE Hinterlands, Silithus and Tanaris. I guess I like the latter two because they really did the Ahn'Qiraj lore really good. The qiraji lore begins way back in the Barrens if you are Horde, with the silithid eggs quest. It then continues in the Shimmering Flats, Feralas, Tanaris, Un'Goro and finally, Silithus. You should definitely read the quest texts, I think it's a great way of foreshadowing. Really enjoyed reading about it and questing, with the epic finale to that lore coming in Patch 1.9. I love how those little quests start from local quest NPCs wondering why some bugs are appearing in the southern barrens, then sending your findings back, then going to shimmering flats to check it out, etc etc all the way to Silithus, where you finally learn that this is where the Qiraji/Silithid originate from.
i hope we can see more parts of "FUN / NOT FUN", I mean like zones of different expansion (I know thats a lot of work, but I realy love your WoW content Nixxiom.) Also, thank you for all the hard work and content.
Winterspring and Eastern plaguelands are one of the best zones, Stranglethorn vale as well, one of the best! For starting zones, I like human starting zone and dwarf/gnome.
I generally agree, though I do really love wetlands though it's always been my favorite zone due to just the music, design and ambiance of it. Also big fan of Desolace, Darkshore and Feralas due to just the atmosphere of them.
Ah man! Darkshore was great 👍 👌 yes... the running around sucked but man, nostalgia hits hard when going back there to level. Unique quests and such a stark contrast coming from Teldrassil. It has such a cool vibe to it imo.
darkshore while a bit depressing compared to teldrassil, totally grew on me, and I'm very nostalgic now to old darkshore. bears, moonkin, water saurus dinosaurs, beautiful
@@amacuro mine in 2005 was a night elf warrior and I can still see in my mind when a naga in the north part of the zone dropped my first set of shoulders lol. I was hooked after I got shoulders
My time with playing through Vanilla wow was spent when i was about 10-11. I played with my family, My bro, Dad, Mom and even my Grandmother rounded out a 5 man group. At that age virtually every zone, especially the mid level ones, were so memorable. Looking at them now more objectively I would generally agree, but for me the only zones that I ended up disliking were Burning steppes, Felwood, Silithus and the hinterlands. Everything else to me was a fantastic time.
Great video! As someone who played on a crappy college network on a dell laptop, I had no choice but to level up in underpopulated zones like desolace and stonetalon…they are huge nostalgia hits just hearing about them 💕
Nuanced take on Stonetalon and I agree. One of my top favorite zones (Duskwood, Dead Wind, and EPL/WPL all tie for #1) and I love that you're actually climbing the mountain over the course of questing but it's hard to say that it's outright fun.
@Ben Y don't think he did actually. I guess there's not a lot to do there so it's easy to forget but the environment and art design of the zone is really striking so I always remember it.
@@beny988 He missed it. let me give you what he would say probably. Dead wind Pass - Not Fun. There's nothing to do here. Spooky looking zone and karazhan looks great, but the only reason you come here is just to ride past to get to Swamp of Sorrows.
The whole point of Dead wind Pass is that there's nothing alive there, except for the vultures, looking for more flesh to peck at. it is what it's supposed to be.
I had a blast in most of them back in vanilla tbh. I think there's a lot to be said for the myriad of social interactions you have in each zone, whether that's teaming up, or fighting the other faction. Even "bad" zones can have memorable dungeon parties.
The End Game zones are were the fun is at, especially on a PvP server. Got into playing Classic WoW when it came out and it was a constant heart attack. "Oh shit i'm gonna die!" "Oh damn a warrior saved me" "Oh shit the warrior died!" "Oh damn, a rogue saved me." "Oh shit, the rogue left me?!"
I actually liked how Cataclysm managed to make many of the unfun zones fun again. Cata Azshara is hilarious with the various goblin experiements and the highway. I loved the boat in Cata Thousand Needles. Cata Silverpine was freaking badass with the all-out war between the Forsaken and the worgen. And I loved the caravan story of Cata Eastern Plaguelands.
Cata's revamps were hit or miss for me. A lot of them are awesome and memorable from Badlands to Silverpine to Stonetalon. But I don't necessarily like how most of them have the exact same pacing, length and linear structure, it feels more like a designed video game, while the original was more like an actual world. Ashenvale and Thousand Needles both have good campaigns imo, but both zones lost some of their atmosphere.
I think you may need to fully explore ALL the quests in Classic and then make a determination for which zones are made more fun or less fun from trying to complete them. Tanaris, for example, might have you find a key hidden inside a pirate's personal treasure chest you get from looting them occasionally, which leads you into one of their ships for some extra loot. Then theres also Cuergo's Gold which has you explore the far southern beaches, fight some more pirates to access that sweet treasure. I think thats really fun to discover. There's also that continuation quest if you completed Uldaman's questline after beating the dungeon, which takes you to Uldum and it kind of just leaves you hanging there until Cataclysm. Small little moments like that can really spice up a zone, especially if you never knew about them on your first go around and finally discover them again on your next go around. Blasted Lands has no redeeming qualities unless you're rich enough to afford all the quest materials off the Auction House, then you just do that and pair it with the really easy quest where you start a huge chain, but you kind of just leave it there. That all on its own is worth like, 35k-40k exp I think, and can be done at level 50 after you wrap up Searing Gorge. But then at that point, you're not really "doing" the zone, you're skipping it, which in itself is fun, but is just an extra kick in the balls to how bad the zone is.
Darkshore is a good zone if you do like... half of it. The upper half anyway, then completing all those "find the washed up beach creatures" and turning them all in at once is super satisfying. By then you should be good to fully wrap up Westfall, Redridge, and be fully ready for Deadmines. Ashenvale is good... but damn does it take for god damn ever to get through. Its like Silverpine, where you almost feel forced into going to Duskwood instead because you run out of things to do. IMO the quest lore there is just boring, too. Wetlands is SUPER fun though. The dinosaur area, that archaeological digsite, culminating in you having to kill this much higher level dinosaur. Then doing the Dark Iron elite quests, and the orc chain. Iconic. Theres also the undead ships off to the coast, which is right next to quests involving the murloc area, and if you're on the croc killing part where you're on giant croc skins its also right there. I'm ambivalent to the zone's looks, its neither hit or miss for me, but the quests always feel so satisfying!
Generally agree about Hillsbrad, but consider this. Wear blue overalls, a white shirt, a straw hat or something of some kind, and a pitchfork with fiery weapon on it. Then go slap around those Horde levellers there for a bit. Come back, tell me that ain't fun. Sure, its not Blizzard's handcrafted "fun", but its player-made fun. Then they added a PvP brawl for Tarren Mill vs Southshore in retail - though in Classic people found it more beneficial to world pvp in groups of 5 or 10 until BGs dropped. Shimmering flats grind sucks. As Alliance theres just flat out better options, IMO Southshore is far superior than this one and thats saying something. Then again, Southshore sends you mostly up to Alterac, and theres a big elite area of a bunch of quests you can gather around there, and Stormwind, for huge XP gains. Swamp of Sorrows has barely any quests, for Alliance, UNLESS you know in advance about some of them, you're going to get lost. Theres a chain that starts with killing animals, which by the time you get there you are most likely in the middle of doing that in Stranglethorn anyway. Theres quests in Stormwind and around the world that send you to this zone and back for like, one thing. Dunno how it is for Horde, but it is NOT that fun as Alliance. Its so hard to route in for even a semi-efficient or half-efficient casual questing route, because Stranglethorn is right there and theres 3 better picks at that level range. Dustwallow Marsh doesn't have much either, BUT theres the culmination of the Missing Diplomat chain, which gives you a really nice ring, and you get to meet Jaina for the first time. There's also the fact Onyxia lives there. However - this zone REALLY gets good when it updates in TBC. Theres just SO much to do there, its honestly better than Stranglethorn - and it was already worth going there in classic due to the missing diplomat chain wrapping up there, and a few extra hidden quests that are worth a ton if you know about them.
Badlands sucks, sure. But how could you include a bit about Sunken Temple, and completely miss Uldaman being right there! But yeah the zone sucks. Worse if you're a hunter wanting to PvP, because you have to camp Broken Tooth there. As a Dwarf player... Hinterlands is great! You get to meet the Wildhammers, and if you're a Warcraft fan you'll remember how badass (annoying) they were in Warcraft 2, and in the books where they came in with a literal storm of hammers, cracking the skulls of rampaging orcs and trolls across elven lands. Then you're STILL fighting trolls alongside them now, and if you have The Ancient Egg and the last part of Saving Sharpbeak, you get to explore the literal OUTDOOR DUNGEON... that you might not have a group for because not everyone will have both of those quests, and people tend to not get through them all anyway. But its still cool and fun if you DO get to do it! Also theres quests that lead to here, from Tanaris, and Stranglethorn, if you know about them, one of them being part of how you get Noggenfoggers. Also if you're getting your Fey Dragon pet, it has you come here too. Alliance only. But yeah if you can't do those elite quests in the outdoor dungeon it kind of just feels like a huge waste of time and sucks. Generally agree with everything else, but Moonglade shouldn't really count outside of Druid class quests and the Lunar Festival area. And I guess the green sceptre chain, but thats not really for levelling thats part of the opening of AQ. Which is cool, and that event is cool, really fun, but levellers will probably never see it, and if they do they'll get absolutely destroyed by raid-level mobs in the area.
There were some wack ones but I think we can all agree Blizzard was a king of the starter locations. Every single one of them was S-tier fun, each one was very different and each one had lots of memorable moments. And it's not even a nostalgia thing, those would be great even in a modern MMO.
I've always loved Felwood. The dark green hue with the Halloween theme made it cozy for me in a weird way. Hillsbrad foothills is another favourite. Lots of places off the main road to explore, good lore and some decent pvp.
Just for the record, these videos remind me so much of when I first got in to WoW many years back. I would just love watching content that explored and showcased the world and the sense of adventure it brought to the table. As cynical as I can be about the game, I genuinely loved the experience it gave me, and I'm glad that the classic servers do still preserve the original vision of the game.
Burning Steppes is my favourite zone. Super lore heavy and so close to BRM, which is really the heart of the game for me, especially as you get close to level cap or just hit it. I find it epic. Also, it's a great zone for gathering materials (herbing and/or mining and even black dragonscale as skinner). But hey, to each their own. A lot of agreement, but quite a bit of disagreement, which is healthy I guess and a testament to the variety of the game and it appealing to different tastes. :) Enjoyed the video as well otherwise, as well as the other Classic (Vanilla) vids!
I have vivid memories of being a kid, me and a friend from school who just started the game running up to Burning Steppes (at like level 15) from Redridge mountains and being like holy shit this is awesome. I mean we died immediately but it was a cool looking zone for sure.
Overall I agree. Even after playing through vanilla, private servers, classic, and season 1 seeing these kinds of videos still fills me up with nostalgia reminding me that resubscribing is only a few clicks away. That music can move me to tears at times. I look forward to your next video.
Silverpine is awesome. Sure it's a means to an end before getting funneled into The Barrens, but the zone itself was a lot of fun and the lore is great!
Disagree about Darkshore. One of my favourite zones in the game actually. I get such a peaceful, serene vibe in this place - the green, dappled shadows, the quiet, funeral silence, that mournful grey shore. Love it! There's a lot of running involved but that doesn't bother me, as it's a very chill experience. EPL is decent if you're in a group, for solo players though it's a pain as you're very limited in what you can do. Silithus can GDIAF!
I do remember Azshara as one of the most fun zones in the game, the quests were so immersive and for the Light, I still remember the Goblin trying to exorcizate the engineering thing I never laugh so loud on a World of Warcraft campaign like that
I am one of those people that love Tanaris AND the Burning Steppes, one for the sandfury quests / Zul'farrak and the other because of the black dragons and all the Dark Horde shenanigans. Plus, to this day I find Blackrock mountain to be one of the best areas in the game.
Really like wetlands coziness. Dont think its very pretty, but its flat and easy to go through and knock out all quests at once. I have so many good nostalgic memories from silithus and tanaris. I like the idea of those bug kingdoms and their hives alot idk why.
My opinion on the zones: Starting zones: Tirisfal glades 6/10 - gloomy, atmospheric and a nice zone overall, feels abit too lonely though Dun morogh 7/10 - a very frosty place where I wouldn't wanna be IRL, nice zone though Mulgore 10/10 - a lot of walking yes but such a beautful zone with the best city in it too. Best vanilla zone. Teldrassil 8/10 - loreheavy and a good place, props for hosting the best race, slightly lonelyfeeling Durotar 7/10 - A wee bit barren, somewhat not nice looking but definetely theme based so that's the purpose I guess, nice zone Elwynn forest 9/10 - Can't go wrong here, it's just a perfectly balanced forest, thematically good and feels cozy to be in. Extra points for Hogger. Early adventure zones: The barrens 7/10 - a bit the same as Durotar. Lots of quests which is good and hosting WC too. But so very long to walk everywhere. Silverpine forest 5/10 - honestly not that bad. A bit gloomy which is fine contextually, but also very lonelyfeeling. Takes so long to walk everywhere. Westfall 9/10 - open, nice looking, autumny feel and hosting deadmines. It's just overall great. Loch modan 8/10 - open and nice looking zone, very nice thematically. A bit of a downside that the zone forces you to go elsewhere after a short while then come back. Darkshore 6/10 - I think it's better than Silverpine forest but ohh God the walking... the damn walking everywhere... Stonetalon mountains 7/10 - I like the zone overall, it has a nice feeling to it. However, so far to walk across. Redridge mountain 9/10 - Packed with quests and it doesnt take long to go everywhere, also good looking. What's not to like? High energy zones: Duskwood 7/10 - Quite a nice zone, a bit gloomy and dark, somewhat lonely but also plenty of quests and stuff to do Ashenvale 8/10 - I like it. Plenty of quests, good chance of some pvp action and a relatively pretty zone. It's a long-stretched zone though. Wetlands 6/10 - Though I might argue for 7/10, but I don't have that much opinion on this zone. It's not the best looking zone but decent to lvl in. Hillsbrad foothills 8/10 - I think it is a zone that looks good and plenty of chance for pvp action which I love. Probably not all that much questing to do here but oh well. Thousand needles 7/10 - Haven't been here much but I think it's a fine zone. Alterac mountains 7/10 - zone itself is decent enough but yeah, not that much to do here and I hardly think of it as seperate from hillsbrad foothills really. Desolace 5/10 - I mean.. it just feels very desolate. I can't really feel that much at home here, and wanna move on relatively quickly Arathi highlands 8/10 - I like this one, I like it's openness and appearance. Swamp of sorrows 3/10 - I just don't like this, it feels so lonely and not cozy to be in. STV 10/10 - Awesome zone, visually appealing, lots lots lots of quests and several iconic quests as well, booty bay is awesome, pvp is awesome, second only to Mulgore because Mulgore is sheer beauty Badlands 7/10 - I think it's just a decent zone to be in, quite a bit to do here and chances for pvp action which is a plus Dustwallow marsh 5/10 - Somewhat better than Swamp of sorrows, and about on par with desolace. Don't like it that much, but it's ok. Closer to lvl cap zones: Hinterlands 8/10 - I don't get the hate, it's got plenty quests and visually appealing, a nice foresty zone. Tanaris 9/10 - A cool goblin town, plenty of quests, lots to do, zul'farrak and lots of pvp, FUN! Felwood 4/10 - SOOO MUCH WALKING/RIDING! Not very stimulating otherwise either. Azshara 6/10 - has so much potential though, but feels like a waste of time since not much to do Un'goro crater 10/10 - memorable, plenty of pvp action, very distinct from the rest, LOTS of quests with buffs and stuff, you can stay here for a while Searing gorge 7/10 - definetely not the worst zone to be in, stuff to do and not that far between everything WPL 6/10 - A bit the same as Tirisfal glades only in a higher lvl fashion, decent enough but u wanna move on to EPL Feralas 6/10 - Feels like I get lost here sometimes, also abit on the lonely side of things Burning steppes 7/10 - I think it is very similar to searing gorge Blasted lands 6/10 - very cool with the dark portal and design otherwise is ok, but it feels empty I dunno Final zones: EPL 8/10 - feels alot more homely and open than WPL and Tirisfal glades even though they are the same genre, also being a late game zone gives opportunity for pvp Silithus 1/10 - I just gave 1/10 for all the damn bugs, but the zone itself is mostly around 5 or 6/10. Good amount of quests, pvp action, some reputation items if you care to grind. Overall including bugs, maybe about 4/10 Winterspring 8/10 - good zone with some quests here and there and it has a chill vibe over it literally. Also chance for some nice pvp action in the furlborg village ^^ Moonglade - I won't rate it cuz I don't consider it a zone, it's just the hangout place for druids. More like a small town.
I really wish blizzard would use the modern graphics in classic, add some new quests and content, maybe some world quests, but keep the play style exactly the same as classic that would be my dream come true.
One of the reasons why I was an Alliance player was because I liked their zones better. I think especially the human leveling path Elwynn > Westfall > Redridge > Duskwood was just the best in the game and it seems like Blizzard put the most effort into that.
I have been playing WoW on and off since a month before tbc came out, that's 15 years. A decade and a half. And today, thanks to your video I've realized it's Burning Steppes and not Burning Steps. Not a single person has ever corrected me.
Classic is all about taking the rough with the smooth. Toughing out the boring or difficult parts to get to the good makes the good feel so much sweeter and the break with dungeon runs feel awesome. When even regular mobs can give you a challenge if you pull too many and the maps are full of dense monster camps where you are forced to pop cooldowns and consumes to survive. I love every zone in their own way they have uniqueness. You can almost feel the copy paste in retail WoW and the lack of difficulty and inconvenience makes everything feel so uneventful.
Even after 2 decades of WoW including Retail, classic games still draw me back. Even though the community it once had is long gone, the world is still immersive and leveling really enjoyable. Unpopular opinion it may be, but i love having greens drop and be excited.
I can tell you why I like Tanaris even if the quests aren't fun: it's a desert. I love deserts. Especially with some of the early hints of Old God shenanigans with those giant bug nest things.
I don’t really remember most of those later level zones. I mostly played Alliance in the Eastern Kingdoms so I didn’t really get to see the Horde zones. Also when I started playing WoW, Burning Crusades came out so I was in a mad dash to get to Outland.
My favorite quest for the blasted lands was helping the demon hunter kill that demon. Sent me all over the world for stuff he needed which was pretty cool back in the day
Gues i'm one of the few people that actually like Felwood, Decent amount of lore, plus the corrupting influence of the legion is there, and the quest to help an ancient find a place to stand with it's long lost kin, i don't know, i just loved questing there, also bonus points if you lvl as an undead warlock!
Darkshore is great. Loads of quests that you can do simultaneously with great lore and unique vibes. Also gives better and faster exp than other zones that level.
Idk, Burning Steppes seems fun to me. I mean that's where the 2nd war occured, where all the blackrock orcs and the black dragonflight live. Also is fun to quest and collect the dungeon quests there to then, find a group for BRD/LBRS and hit 60
One positive thing the Cataclysm world revamp did. Is that it did some justice to the horrible classic zones. Giving us memorable storylines and some more continuation of storylines, between the zones.
Really dislike Plaguelands but I absolutely love felwood and darkshore too. Darkshore is very dense on quests and there are a lot of escorts/event missions in the southern part, lots of easy xp for the shore seamonster quests too you can grab while traveling to the other quest objectives. Felwood is a great throwback to wc3 for me and it's also not that much running, you do the satyr+furbolg quests in the south, shadow hold questline and then do the quests in the north. Shadow hold quests are the best. Feralas bis zone for aesthetics altho the alliance boat sucks, it's faster to swim from shore to the island than taking the boat even if you get on it just as it's about to leave. Wetlands I do like for the late 20s, the orc area, ghost ship qline and dark iron dwarves are very memorable. Swamp is a terrible zone for alliance players, I've skipped em on every playthrough except 1 cause there's hardly any quests. What can I say, I'm a nelf enjoyer.
IDK about Loch Modan being fun... Last year during my return to WoW, I played TBC Classic. Gnome warlock.. I know, you can punt me now. But during my Loch Modan grind I got extremely bored and realized there was a lack of quests there compared to Westfall or Darkshore. So I was just begging someone to punt me to Westfall or even Darkshore.. Darkshore sure has a lot of walking but there 's a lot of quests there to keep me busy at least.
Wetlands is hands down the best 20-30 zone in classic Edit: Also complaining about all the running in some zones but still liking Duskwood. Duskwood is the worst zone when it comes to running back and forth if you don't know the exact order to get it done faster.
Only one I disagree with is Tanaris. I've always liked Tanaris because getting there was always a big milestone, and leveling starts to pick up again following a bit of a slump in the mid to late 30s. ZF is nearby, and you (probably) just got your mount, so the open dunes are great for riding around from quest to quest. That being said, if you don't have a mount when you get to Tanaris, you probably won't have a great time.
I quite like Tanaris. I like the atmosphere. The quests also aren't bad and pirates, ogres, desert criminal whatever they are, trolls and silithids make for a nice mix of enemies, as well. It's just usually too crowded (or was in Classic) and the Western side could have used a couple more quests. I also like Felwood a lot. But I have no idea what there is to like about the Western Plaguelands, at all. 0 appeal to me.
HEY YOU! Enter the Arena and check out Clash Royale TODAY using my link: wehy.pe/y/9/Nixxiom
the fact that all the starting zones are fun despite being quite different from one another is a testament to how well they were made back in the day.
100% feels like they ran out of time to give the later zones as much love though.
Or how nostalgia works lol
@@BEANSFM
No, it's common practice to put extra effort into the starting zones to make a good first impression on the gamer.
@@BEANSFM two things can be true
@@BEANSFM You're taking a lot of deserved credit away from the devs by saying that.
Deadwind pass goes in the "oh yeah i actually forgot" section
Oh yeah! I forgot. LOL
@@NixxiomOnTH-cam he also forgot about Hyjal.
just because its mostly inaccessible and there's nothing to do there doesn't mean it should be left out! /s
Imo Elwynn Forest is iconic to vanilla/classic. The music, atmosphere, mobs, and the quest… adore it all
South park...
@@johnnyb2909 MOM! HOTPOCKETS!
Gotta kill them forest boars
Oh look at all these profession trainers! ...but where's the mining trainer? STORMWIND?! FU BLIZZARD
Ugh, Undead teritory wins by miles
I think Tanaris is liked by a lot of people because it was almost a reward for finishing the Shimmering Flats grind. Back at the start when no one knew what they were doing I could take a very long time to get that done and when you finished you went to an awesome goblin town. Pretty cool.
It’s much more enjoyable because you just got your mount at level 40 and you have this massive open zone to explore.
I think it's more that the zone has a bunch of good quests to do making it a good zone to level in. ZF is also a really good dungeon and Gadgetzan is a cool town
I actually kind of like Tanaris but I can see why it wouldn't appeal to everyone. And yes, it was a HUGE relief to get there after escaping from sodding Desolace and Thousand Needles. I hate Desolace so much.
Yea exp really dries up prior to 40. But once you get to Tanaris it's like a torrent of exp from Zulaman and the pirate quests.
Nah I'd go to Tanaris as Alliance and I love it
Imagine not liking Tanaris
5:32
"Centaurs smell bad, centaur rep grinds stink"
10/10 writing
As someone who only played as undead or blood elf, silverpine, hillsbrad, and arathi highlands hold special places in my heart as I progressed through them as a kid. I will always love those zones. This video also made me realize how many zones I have completely avoided 😂
Hinterlands is unironically one of my favorite zones in classic World of Warcraft. Very high quest density that lets you complete multiple quests with minimal backtracking. Also a lot of quests started in other zones send you there anyway, so you can knock those out too. There are memorable quest chains like Shadra, the egg of Hakkar, and mallet of Zul'Farrak that intersect with other parts of the world (which you can always skip if you don't want to invest the time). There's also a lot of sweet loot you get from doing the quests there.
The rating for Hinterlands depends highly on if you are on pre or post patch 2.3... In that patch, it got a massive overhaul. Before, you had the elite temple city and some part in other good questlines and lore, but for solo questing and leveling it was terrible. After, it is one of the best questing zones (at least for horde), and the superb quest rewards were also introduced then.
That was where I stood to. Ive only played Horde, and while the initial walk to the only FP is long, after that the concentration of quests means I would get 3-4 levels very quickly. Its also one of the few places where you return to the same spot to fight progressively harder enemies, without that feeling draining since you can run past each tier of the pyramid.
Hinterlands and Arathi Highlands were my biggest gripes with this list. Highlands had zombies and ogres and beasts. Lot of diversity there.
Silverpine Forest is amazing, even though its not leveling efficient is a really memorable zone that is worth doing
Yes if people do the elite quests in Pyrewood Village and Shadowfang Keep dungeon it is awesome. If you love the undead side of things the continuation of their storyline is great. It just lacks people willing to get through the early quests which have intentionally terrible drop rates because there are less quests compared to Barrens. Also Son of Arugal elite patrolling and ganking lowbies unexpectedly. Worgen and swimming to a mysterious castle on an island is fun.
I always enjoy a nice spooky and dark zone lol ashenvale, felwood, etc.
I must defend Tanaris as a fun zone. The vast desert, with the classic music (not after cataclysm changes ), that kind of weird serenity in this place... Also Zul'Farrak is there and thats a very good dungeon, fun to do with loads of nice rewards from quests inside. Mallet quest sends u for an adventure. Caverns of Time are later in TBC (does TBC count as classic nowdays?). There are hints of titans far in the south. There are pirates quests here and they are always fun to do. Escort quests with turtle and robot chicken are always a pain in the butt, still they are memorable. Bugs quests are long and i always skip them but they are important from the story perspective, u know that looming threat in thte horizon.
Gotta agree, Tanaris is one of my favorites ever, next to Ashenvale.
ZF was my favorite dungeon in vanilla. Such a cool setting and good loot
I used to think Mulgure wasn't fun, due to all the running and the empty plains, but as I got older I learned to love it. It's a very comfy zone when you realise there isn't *as much* running as your impatient kid-self thought, and the quests themsleves are enjoyable, evoking a "rite of passage" feel.
Tanaris is nice questing fighting pirates, trolls and insects
I'm a Night Elf at heart. I need trees.
One word. Noggenfogger
The dark shore part is interesting since it’s considered one of the best zones for questing by xp per hour in the level range
shut up minmaxer
no one likes sweaters on a game that was designed to be roleplayed
dark shore is a fun zone makes me sad it mad it didn't make the list because of some running
I agree. The running isn't a big deal if know how to rout your quests. It's a great zone.
As classic released launched in 2019 i leveled in Darkshore it was pretty nice, you need to plan your path's but it can be very efficent and the biggest plus was that it was nearly empty so you dont have to wait for respawns or get in a line to kill a named.
Darkshore is great for quest quantity and most of them are fun but the atmosphere and layout of the zone is so dogshit
Desolace is a great zone. Shitton of variety, kodos, wildlife, satyr, orcs, demons, naga, centaur, undead, almost every type of mob imagineable, and a ton of quests to see you through the entire zone.
I think it sounds really rough that almost half the zones „suck“
But then again, you don‘t need to go there and I think thats what made the whole experience much better.
You explore new zones because you don‘t enjoy the current one. You travel the whole world to see if the „other“ zone is more appealing.
You explore this giant world
Yeah, you may not like it, but not fun zones is peak game design.
A few corrections I would make:
- Hillsbrad: Fun - Horde quests are pretty good I'd say and the Alliance side I don't think is too bad either. I've always enjoyed my time in that zone.
- Tanaris: Fun - Might be some weird nostalgia but I just really like Tanaris, good world pvp, the quests aren't annoying like in other zones, the pirate area is great, the map fragment/Cuergo's gold questline and going to Land's End Beach is pretty cool also, beach part to the east and Steamwheedle Port are nice, overall chill and good vibes from that zone.
- Wetlands: Fun - Super chill zone as well, quests are decent, Menethil Harbor is a really good town, the crashed ships with the human ghosts are cool, killing the Dragonmaw orcs is cool and the road leading to Grim Batol is cool also even though you can't really go there at low levels because the elite 60 mobs will wreck you. Also cool lore connections to Warcraft 2.
- Feralas: *Not* Fun - Not that fun of a zone imo, yeah sure Dire Maul and the mystery around Isle of Dread are cool but that's just not enough, I've tried to follow along and read quest text multiple times but I always end up switching to autopilot and getting out of that zone asap, not a bad zone exactly but just reaaally boring.
I never played classic, started in TBC. But so many memories, such good ones. I wish I could go back in time, to be in school again, rushing home to log in with my guild, discovering this world and its wonders. So nostalgic. I miss the Barrens the most. Thanks for this nostalgic video. Nixxiom videos: FUN
I agree pretty much, but I also LOVE Hinterlands, Silithus and Tanaris. I guess I like the latter two because they really did the Ahn'Qiraj lore really good.
The qiraji lore begins way back in the Barrens if you are Horde, with the silithid eggs quest. It then continues in the Shimmering Flats, Feralas, Tanaris, Un'Goro and finally, Silithus.
You should definitely read the quest texts, I think it's a great way of foreshadowing. Really enjoyed reading about it and questing, with the epic finale to that lore coming in Patch 1.9.
I love how those little quests start from local quest NPCs wondering why some bugs are appearing in the southern barrens, then sending your findings back, then going to shimmering flats to check it out, etc etc all the way to Silithus, where you finally learn that this is where the Qiraji/Silithid originate from.
As a Tauren and Night elf enjoyer I would have been very sad if you didn’t put their starting zones on the fun side, great video keep them coming🤙🏽
i hope we can see more parts of "FUN / NOT FUN", I mean like zones of different expansion (I know thats a lot of work, but I realy love your WoW content Nixxiom.) Also, thank you for all the hard work and content.
Winterspring and Eastern plaguelands are one of the best zones, Stranglethorn vale as well, one of the best! For starting zones, I like human starting zone and dwarf/gnome.
The classic leveling experience:
1-45: fun
45-60: a slog of half finished quests that make you run across the map to finish
I generally agree, though I do really love wetlands though it's always been my favorite zone due to just the music, design and ambiance of it. Also big fan of Desolace, Darkshore and Feralas due to just the atmosphere of them.
Ah man! Darkshore was great 👍 👌 yes... the running around sucked but man, nostalgia hits hard when going back there to level. Unique quests and such a stark contrast coming from Teldrassil. It has such a cool vibe to it imo.
My main back in 2005 was a night elf druid, so I do have a soft spot for Darkshore. I think I have a soft spot for all zones except Blasted Lands.
Darkshore is also the only zone with a Demon Hunter character, which is really cool
darkshore while a bit depressing compared to teldrassil, totally grew on me, and I'm very nostalgic now to old darkshore. bears, moonkin, water saurus dinosaurs, beautiful
If you know what you're doing with the quests, the running around isn't even that inefficient. Just pair your quests properly. It isn't bad at all.
@@amacuro mine in 2005 was a night elf warrior and I can still see in my mind when a naga in the north part of the zone dropped my first set of shoulders lol. I was hooked after I got shoulders
My time with playing through Vanilla wow was spent when i was about 10-11. I played with my family, My bro, Dad, Mom and even my Grandmother rounded out a 5 man group.
At that age virtually every zone, especially the mid level ones, were so memorable. Looking at them now more objectively I would generally agree, but for me the only zones that I ended up disliking were Burning steppes, Felwood, Silithus and the hinterlands. Everything else to me was a fantastic time.
Great video! As someone who played on a crappy college network on a dell laptop, I had no choice but to level up in underpopulated zones like desolace and stonetalon…they are huge nostalgia hits just hearing about them 💕
Overall I agree. Though would love to see you rate the starting zones from favorite to least favorite. Could be a fun list.
He should have done a top 10 starting zones from what I remember
Nuanced take on Stonetalon and I agree. One of my top favorite zones (Duskwood, Dead Wind, and EPL/WPL all tie for #1) and I love that you're actually climbing the mountain over the course of questing but it's hard to say that it's outright fun.
Did he mention deadwind pass? I must have missed it.
@Ben Y don't think he did actually. I guess there's not a lot to do there so it's easy to forget but the environment and art design of the zone is really striking so I always remember it.
@@beny988 He missed it. let me give you what he would say probably.
Dead wind Pass - Not Fun.
There's nothing to do here. Spooky looking zone and karazhan looks great, but the only reason you come here is just to ride past to get to Swamp of Sorrows.
The whole point of Dead wind Pass is that there's nothing alive there, except for the vultures, looking for more flesh to peck at.
it is what it's supposed to be.
@@beny988 Deadwind pass is just a placeholder for Kharazan. There is nothing in that zone
I love Darkshore and am proud of it.
I had a blast in most of them back in vanilla tbh. I think there's a lot to be said for the myriad of social interactions you have in each zone, whether that's teaming up, or fighting the other faction. Even "bad" zones can have memorable dungeon parties.
The End Game zones are were the fun is at, especially on a PvP server.
Got into playing Classic WoW when it came out and it was a constant heart attack.
"Oh shit i'm gonna die!"
"Oh damn a warrior saved me"
"Oh shit the warrior died!"
"Oh damn, a rogue saved me."
"Oh shit, the rogue left me?!"
No MMORPG I've played has come close to the sense of adventure of Classic WoW. When everyone is weak, you have to band together. It's simply amazing.
I actually liked how Cataclysm managed to make many of the unfun zones fun again. Cata Azshara is hilarious with the various goblin experiements and the highway. I loved the boat in Cata Thousand Needles. Cata Silverpine was freaking badass with the all-out war between the Forsaken and the worgen. And I loved the caravan story of Cata Eastern Plaguelands.
and they fixed Barrens into not being just a barren wasteland with nothing just walking
Cata's revamps were hit or miss for me. A lot of them are awesome and memorable from Badlands to Silverpine to Stonetalon. But I don't necessarily like how most of them have the exact same pacing, length and linear structure, it feels more like a designed video game, while the original was more like an actual world. Ashenvale and Thousand Needles both have good campaigns imo, but both zones lost some of their atmosphere.
I loved darkshore... I get why ppl don't though them walks were long as hell but it was so memorable. Loved the lore and trying to heal the land
I think you may need to fully explore ALL the quests in Classic and then make a determination for which zones are made more fun or less fun from trying to complete them.
Tanaris, for example, might have you find a key hidden inside a pirate's personal treasure chest you get from looting them occasionally, which leads you into one of their ships for some extra loot. Then theres also Cuergo's Gold which has you explore the far southern beaches, fight some more pirates to access that sweet treasure. I think thats really fun to discover. There's also that continuation quest if you completed Uldaman's questline after beating the dungeon, which takes you to Uldum and it kind of just leaves you hanging there until Cataclysm.
Small little moments like that can really spice up a zone, especially if you never knew about them on your first go around and finally discover them again on your next go around.
Blasted Lands has no redeeming qualities unless you're rich enough to afford all the quest materials off the Auction House, then you just do that and pair it with the really easy quest where you start a huge chain, but you kind of just leave it there. That all on its own is worth like, 35k-40k exp I think, and can be done at level 50 after you wrap up Searing Gorge. But then at that point, you're not really "doing" the zone, you're skipping it, which in itself is fun, but is just an extra kick in the balls to how bad the zone is.
Darkshore is a good zone if you do like... half of it. The upper half anyway, then completing all those "find the washed up beach creatures" and turning them all in at once is super satisfying. By then you should be good to fully wrap up Westfall, Redridge, and be fully ready for Deadmines.
Ashenvale is good... but damn does it take for god damn ever to get through. Its like Silverpine, where you almost feel forced into going to Duskwood instead because you run out of things to do. IMO the quest lore there is just boring, too.
Wetlands is SUPER fun though. The dinosaur area, that archaeological digsite, culminating in you having to kill this much higher level dinosaur. Then doing the Dark Iron elite quests, and the orc chain. Iconic. Theres also the undead ships off to the coast, which is right next to quests involving the murloc area, and if you're on the croc killing part where you're on giant croc skins its also right there. I'm ambivalent to the zone's looks, its neither hit or miss for me, but the quests always feel so satisfying!
Generally agree about Hillsbrad, but consider this. Wear blue overalls, a white shirt, a straw hat or something of some kind, and a pitchfork with fiery weapon on it. Then go slap around those Horde levellers there for a bit. Come back, tell me that ain't fun. Sure, its not Blizzard's handcrafted "fun", but its player-made fun. Then they added a PvP brawl for Tarren Mill vs Southshore in retail - though in Classic people found it more beneficial to world pvp in groups of 5 or 10 until BGs dropped.
Shimmering flats grind sucks. As Alliance theres just flat out better options, IMO Southshore is far superior than this one and thats saying something. Then again, Southshore sends you mostly up to Alterac, and theres a big elite area of a bunch of quests you can gather around there, and Stormwind, for huge XP gains.
Swamp of Sorrows has barely any quests, for Alliance, UNLESS you know in advance about some of them, you're going to get lost. Theres a chain that starts with killing animals, which by the time you get there you are most likely in the middle of doing that in Stranglethorn anyway. Theres quests in Stormwind and around the world that send you to this zone and back for like, one thing. Dunno how it is for Horde, but it is NOT that fun as Alliance. Its so hard to route in for even a semi-efficient or half-efficient casual questing route, because Stranglethorn is right there and theres 3 better picks at that level range.
Dustwallow Marsh doesn't have much either, BUT theres the culmination of the Missing Diplomat chain, which gives you a really nice ring, and you get to meet Jaina for the first time. There's also the fact Onyxia lives there. However - this zone REALLY gets good when it updates in TBC. Theres just SO much to do there, its honestly better than Stranglethorn - and it was already worth going there in classic due to the missing diplomat chain wrapping up there, and a few extra hidden quests that are worth a ton if you know about them.
Badlands sucks, sure. But how could you include a bit about Sunken Temple, and completely miss Uldaman being right there! But yeah the zone sucks. Worse if you're a hunter wanting to PvP, because you have to camp Broken Tooth there.
As a Dwarf player... Hinterlands is great! You get to meet the Wildhammers, and if you're a Warcraft fan you'll remember how badass (annoying) they were in Warcraft 2, and in the books where they came in with a literal storm of hammers, cracking the skulls of rampaging orcs and trolls across elven lands. Then you're STILL fighting trolls alongside them now, and if you have The Ancient Egg and the last part of Saving Sharpbeak, you get to explore the literal OUTDOOR DUNGEON... that you might not have a group for because not everyone will have both of those quests, and people tend to not get through them all anyway. But its still cool and fun if you DO get to do it! Also theres quests that lead to here, from Tanaris, and Stranglethorn, if you know about them, one of them being part of how you get Noggenfoggers. Also if you're getting your Fey Dragon pet, it has you come here too. Alliance only. But yeah if you can't do those elite quests in the outdoor dungeon it kind of just feels like a huge waste of time and sucks.
Generally agree with everything else, but Moonglade shouldn't really count outside of Druid class quests and the Lunar Festival area. And I guess the green sceptre chain, but thats not really for levelling thats part of the opening of AQ. Which is cool, and that event is cool, really fun, but levellers will probably never see it, and if they do they'll get absolutely destroyed by raid-level mobs in the area.
Definitely do one for each expansion man. Would be great. Or more Classic wow lists.
There were some wack ones but I think we can all agree Blizzard was a king of the starter locations. Every single one of them was S-tier fun, each one was very different and each one had lots of memorable moments. And it's not even a nostalgia thing, those would be great even in a modern MMO.
Darkshore is my favourite 1-20 zone. Great amount of quests, unique vibe, great enemy variety.
Agreed on all but one, I Love Tanaris! I've always enjoyed the desert aesthetic.
It could use more and better quests. I think the revamp of quest lines really helped it in modern wow.
@@remyllebeau77 yeah a few more quests would have been nice. They could have easily added more to the trolls outside ZF and the dunemaul ogres
I've always loved Felwood. The dark green hue with the Halloween theme made it cozy for me in a weird way. Hillsbrad foothills is another favourite. Lots of places off the main road to explore, good lore and some decent pvp.
Just for the record, these videos remind me so much of when I first got in to WoW many years back. I would just love watching content that explored and showcased the world and the sense of adventure it brought to the table. As cynical as I can be about the game, I genuinely loved the experience it gave me, and I'm glad that the classic servers do still preserve the original vision of the game.
Burning Steppes is my favourite zone. Super lore heavy and so close to BRM, which is really the heart of the game for me, especially as you get close to level cap or just hit it. I find it epic. Also, it's a great zone for gathering materials (herbing and/or mining and even black dragonscale as skinner). But hey, to each their own. A lot of agreement, but quite a bit of disagreement, which is healthy I guess and a testament to the variety of the game and it appealing to different tastes. :) Enjoyed the video as well otherwise, as well as the other Classic (Vanilla) vids!
I have vivid memories of being a kid, me and a friend from school who just started the game running up to Burning Steppes (at like level 15) from Redridge mountains and being like holy shit this is awesome. I mean we died immediately but it was a cool looking zone for sure.
Overall I agree. Even after playing through vanilla, private servers, classic, and season 1 seeing these kinds of videos still fills me up with nostalgia reminding me that resubscribing is only a few clicks away. That music can move me to tears at times. I look forward to your next video.
Silverpine is awesome. Sure it's a means to an end before getting funneled into The Barrens, but the zone itself was a lot of fun and the lore is great!
Agree with all really but Arathi and Hinterlands… easily two of my top 5 zones.
Hinterlands is fantastic.
Disagree about Darkshore. One of my favourite zones in the game actually. I get such a peaceful, serene vibe in this place - the green, dappled shadows, the quiet, funeral silence, that mournful grey shore. Love it! There's a lot of running involved but that doesn't bother me, as it's a very chill experience.
EPL is decent if you're in a group, for solo players though it's a pain as you're very limited in what you can do.
Silithus can GDIAF!
Please do a retail version. I'm interested in your opinion on every zone
Let's make this a series. Love it.
Hoping for/looking forward to reviews of all the xpac zones and Cataclysm reworked-zones!
Thanks for the video. I think I agree with most of that, but I like MoonGlade.
I do remember Azshara as one of the most fun zones in the game, the quests were so immersive and for the Light, I still remember the Goblin trying to exorcizate the engineering thing I never laugh so loud on a World of Warcraft campaign like that
I am one of those people that love Tanaris AND the Burning Steppes, one for the sandfury quests / Zul'farrak and the other because of the black dragons and all the Dark Horde shenanigans. Plus, to this day I find Blackrock mountain to be one of the best areas in the game.
I've totally forgot all those years ago when I first realized I was on a big ass tree I was mindblown, such joy just remembering
Really like wetlands coziness. Dont think its very pretty, but its flat and easy to go through and knock out all quests at once. I have so many good nostalgic memories from silithus and tanaris. I like the idea of those bug kingdoms and their hives alot idk why.
My opinion on the zones:
Starting zones:
Tirisfal glades 6/10 - gloomy, atmospheric and a nice zone overall, feels abit too lonely though
Dun morogh 7/10 - a very frosty place where I wouldn't wanna be IRL, nice zone though
Mulgore 10/10 - a lot of walking yes but such a beautful zone with the best city in it too. Best vanilla zone.
Teldrassil 8/10 - loreheavy and a good place, props for hosting the best race, slightly lonelyfeeling
Durotar 7/10 - A wee bit barren, somewhat not nice looking but definetely theme based so that's the purpose I guess, nice zone
Elwynn forest 9/10 - Can't go wrong here, it's just a perfectly balanced forest, thematically good and feels cozy to be in. Extra points for Hogger.
Early adventure zones:
The barrens 7/10 - a bit the same as Durotar. Lots of quests which is good and hosting WC too. But so very long to walk everywhere.
Silverpine forest 5/10 - honestly not that bad. A bit gloomy which is fine contextually, but also very lonelyfeeling. Takes so long to walk everywhere.
Westfall 9/10 - open, nice looking, autumny feel and hosting deadmines. It's just overall great.
Loch modan 8/10 - open and nice looking zone, very nice thematically. A bit of a downside that the zone forces you to go elsewhere after a short while then come back.
Darkshore 6/10 - I think it's better than Silverpine forest but ohh God the walking... the damn walking everywhere...
Stonetalon mountains 7/10 - I like the zone overall, it has a nice feeling to it. However, so far to walk across.
Redridge mountain 9/10 - Packed with quests and it doesnt take long to go everywhere, also good looking. What's not to like?
High energy zones:
Duskwood 7/10 - Quite a nice zone, a bit gloomy and dark, somewhat lonely but also plenty of quests and stuff to do
Ashenvale 8/10 - I like it. Plenty of quests, good chance of some pvp action and a relatively pretty zone. It's a long-stretched zone though.
Wetlands 6/10 - Though I might argue for 7/10, but I don't have that much opinion on this zone. It's not the best looking zone but decent to lvl in.
Hillsbrad foothills 8/10 - I think it is a zone that looks good and plenty of chance for pvp action which I love. Probably not all that much questing to do here but oh well.
Thousand needles 7/10 - Haven't been here much but I think it's a fine zone.
Alterac mountains 7/10 - zone itself is decent enough but yeah, not that much to do here and I hardly think of it as seperate from hillsbrad foothills really.
Desolace 5/10 - I mean.. it just feels very desolate. I can't really feel that much at home here, and wanna move on relatively quickly
Arathi highlands 8/10 - I like this one, I like it's openness and appearance.
Swamp of sorrows 3/10 - I just don't like this, it feels so lonely and not cozy to be in.
STV 10/10 - Awesome zone, visually appealing, lots lots lots of quests and several iconic quests as well, booty bay is awesome, pvp is awesome, second only to Mulgore because Mulgore is sheer beauty
Badlands 7/10 - I think it's just a decent zone to be in, quite a bit to do here and chances for pvp action which is a plus
Dustwallow marsh 5/10 - Somewhat better than Swamp of sorrows, and about on par with desolace. Don't like it that much, but it's ok.
Closer to lvl cap zones:
Hinterlands 8/10 - I don't get the hate, it's got plenty quests and visually appealing, a nice foresty zone.
Tanaris 9/10 - A cool goblin town, plenty of quests, lots to do, zul'farrak and lots of pvp, FUN!
Felwood 4/10 - SOOO MUCH WALKING/RIDING! Not very stimulating otherwise either.
Azshara 6/10 - has so much potential though, but feels like a waste of time since not much to do
Un'goro crater 10/10 - memorable, plenty of pvp action, very distinct from the rest, LOTS of quests with buffs and stuff, you can stay here for a while
Searing gorge 7/10 - definetely not the worst zone to be in, stuff to do and not that far between everything
WPL 6/10 - A bit the same as Tirisfal glades only in a higher lvl fashion, decent enough but u wanna move on to EPL
Feralas 6/10 - Feels like I get lost here sometimes, also abit on the lonely side of things
Burning steppes 7/10 - I think it is very similar to searing gorge
Blasted lands 6/10 - very cool with the dark portal and design otherwise is ok, but it feels empty I dunno
Final zones:
EPL 8/10 - feels alot more homely and open than WPL and Tirisfal glades even though they are the same genre, also being a late game zone gives opportunity for pvp
Silithus 1/10 - I just gave 1/10 for all the damn bugs, but the zone itself is mostly around 5 or 6/10. Good amount of quests, pvp action, some reputation items if you care to grind. Overall including bugs, maybe about 4/10
Winterspring 8/10 - good zone with some quests here and there and it has a chill vibe over it literally. Also chance for some nice pvp action in the furlborg village ^^
Moonglade - I won't rate it cuz I don't consider it a zone, it's just the hangout place for druids. More like a small town.
Very fun video to watch!
Glad you enjoyed it! :)
My only thing is Gadget is fun actually because it offers good consistent killing quests which is good for leveling in my book. Great video! 😀👍
Well i agree mostly except for Tanaris & Thousand Needles which i consider fun and Searing Gorge for not fun
I really wish blizzard would use the modern graphics in classic, add some new quests and content, maybe some world quests, but keep the play style exactly the same as classic that would be my dream come true.
A lot of the art updates changed things though, sometimes subtly sometimes majorly
I'm one of those folks who really like "Tanaris". The beaches are awesome. And imo, it's lovely, for a desert region. Also, I like Gadgetzan.
Badlands has to be the worst zone for me
Tanaris is cool. Also, you forgot about the Deadwind Pass. Maybe not fun, but I remember how amazingly creepy it was when I first found myself there.
I love wetlands. Raptors Crocks evil dwarf's orcs GHOST PIRATES.
Plus the sky box in the evening is one of the best in the game
One of the reasons why I was an Alliance player was because I liked their zones better. I think especially the human leveling path Elwynn > Westfall > Redridge > Duskwood was just the best in the game and it seems like Blizzard put the most effort into that.
I have been playing WoW on and off since a month before tbc came out, that's 15 years. A decade and a half. And today, thanks to your video I've realized it's Burning Steppes and not Burning Steps. Not a single person has ever corrected me.
Do more of this. This was fun.
not fun
Classic is all about taking the rough with the smooth. Toughing out the boring or difficult parts to get to the good makes the good feel so much sweeter and the break with dungeon runs feel awesome. When even regular mobs can give you a challenge if you pull too many and the maps are full of dense monster camps where you are forced to pop cooldowns and consumes to survive. I love every zone in their own way they have uniqueness. You can almost feel the copy paste in retail WoW and the lack of difficulty and inconvenience makes everything feel so uneventful.
I love your classic videos!!
Ey, I loved the Wetlands! Specially the end, fighting Dark Iron Dwarfs...
But I'm a Dwarf Enjoyer, I'm biased.
FOR KHAZ MODAN
Even after 2 decades of WoW including Retail, classic games still draw me back. Even though the community it once had is long gone, the world is still immersive and leveling really enjoyable. Unpopular opinion it may be, but i love having greens drop and be excited.
I can tell you why I like Tanaris even if the quests aren't fun: it's a desert. I love deserts. Especially with some of the early hints of Old God shenanigans with those giant bug nest things.
Mulgore is literally my happy place. It's just so calm and peaceful.
You nailed it Nixxiom! I couldn't agree more
Darkshore is really atmospheric and spooky espescially when classic wasn't overly brightly lit at night
Stranglethorne Vale, Hillsbrad Foothills, Westfall are my favorites
I love Hillsbrad, Alterac and Arathi, even though they are a bit standard. Tanaris is great as well.
I don’t really remember most of those later level zones. I mostly played Alliance in the Eastern Kingdoms so I didn’t really get to see the Horde zones. Also when I started playing WoW, Burning Crusades came out so I was in a mad dash to get to Outland.
My favorite quest for the blasted lands was helping the demon hunter kill that demon. Sent me all over the world for stuff he needed which was pretty cool back in the day
Gues i'm one of the few people that actually like Felwood, Decent amount of lore, plus the corrupting influence of the legion is there, and the quest to help an ancient find a place to stand with it's long lost kin, i don't know, i just loved questing there, also bonus points if you lvl as an undead warlock!
"also bonus points if you lvl as an undead warlock!"
wrong
Man, you did Thousand needles dirty. It's top tier just for the memorability and uniqueness, totally one of the my zones.
Cool video. More like this please! Maybe quests next?
Hence the name, starting zones really are so good and I think most of that is because that's where we all began our journey.
Darkshore is great. Loads of quests that you can do simultaneously with great lore and unique vibes. Also gives better and faster exp than other zones that level.
I was going to complain if you didn't put searing gorge as fun but you did so nice video.
6:25 I think the Dwarf Fortress that the Dark Irons invaded is also fun
Idk, Burning Steppes seems fun to me. I mean that's where the 2nd war occured, where all the blackrock orcs and the black dragonflight live. Also is fun to quest and collect the dungeon quests there to then, find a group for BRD/LBRS and hit 60
One positive thing the Cataclysm world revamp did. Is that it did some justice to the horrible classic zones. Giving us memorable storylines and some more continuation of storylines, between the zones.
This is great, hope you can make more vids with different xpacs
I do want to see your opinion on all the expansions now. Great vid as always Nix
I agree with everything you said except what you said about Tanaris. It is fun!
Really dislike Plaguelands but I absolutely love felwood and darkshore too. Darkshore is very dense on quests and there are a lot of escorts/event missions in the southern part, lots of easy xp for the shore seamonster quests too you can grab while traveling to the other quest objectives.
Felwood is a great throwback to wc3 for me and it's also not that much running, you do the satyr+furbolg quests in the south, shadow hold questline and then do the quests in the north. Shadow hold quests are the best. Feralas bis zone for aesthetics altho the alliance boat sucks, it's faster to swim from shore to the island than taking the boat even if you get on it just as it's about to leave.
Wetlands I do like for the late 20s, the orc area, ghost ship qline and dark iron dwarves are very memorable.
Swamp is a terrible zone for alliance players, I've skipped em on every playthrough except 1 cause there's hardly any quests.
What can I say, I'm a nelf enjoyer.
IDK about Loch Modan being fun...
Last year during my return to WoW, I played TBC Classic.
Gnome warlock.. I know, you can punt me now. But during my Loch Modan grind I got extremely bored and realized there was a lack of quests there compared to Westfall or Darkshore. So I was just begging someone to punt me to Westfall or even Darkshore.. Darkshore sure has a lot of walking but there 's a lot of quests there to keep me busy at least.
I agree mostly. But I love Desolace, Badlands and Tanaris.
This could be series on its own, and I hope it will be
Elwynn keeps motivating me to level a new character each time I'm there
Wetlands is hands down the best 20-30 zone in classic
Edit: Also complaining about all the running in some zones but still liking Duskwood.
Duskwood is the worst zone when it comes to running back and forth if you don't know
the exact order to get it done faster.
Only one I disagree with is Tanaris. I've always liked Tanaris because getting there was always a big milestone, and leveling starts to pick up again following a bit of a slump in the mid to late 30s. ZF is nearby, and you (probably) just got your mount, so the open dunes are great for riding around from quest to quest. That being said, if you don't have a mount when you get to Tanaris, you probably won't have a great time.
I always loved Desolace. Couldn’t tell you why, though.
I quite like Tanaris. I like the atmosphere. The quests also aren't bad and pirates, ogres, desert criminal whatever they are, trolls and silithids make for a nice mix of enemies, as well. It's just usually too crowded (or was in Classic) and the Western side could have used a couple more quests.
I also like Felwood a lot. But I have no idea what there is to like about the Western Plaguelands, at all. 0 appeal to me.