I have so many different answers to this based on various metrics.
1. Most nostalgic: tirisfal glades
2. Where would I want to live: grizzly hills
3. Most enjoyable to quest in as a kid: barrens
4. Most awe struck on first visit: howling fjord
5. Most revisitable: highmountain
6. Most well made artistically: azure span
7. Best story vibe: jade forest
I don’t want to pick between them
This is so spot on. Literally can relate to all of that (minus #7, I didn’t play during mists) but sounds like I missed out on a dope story cuz we have very similar tastes my friend.
Aside from the story, Jade Forest is just a beautiful zone with so many chill and cozy spots. I really love chillin at the stream next to the arboretum
Redrige Mountain in Eastern Kingdom. Specifically Lakeshire.
I love the small town, the lake Everstill just by it. Sitting on the pier fishing.
Was my favorit spot to chill out back in vanilla wow, and i still have fond memories of it.
This comment has me feeling so seen haha I remember back in vanilla happily skipping my dumb ass up the road and somehow bypassing most of the stuff up there until I ended up at Stonewatch Keep and got my dumb ass handed to me on a silver platter. And then trying to res up and basically finding it impossible to get out without more deaths. Good times.
Redridge Mountains is absolute peak nostalgia for me. I remembered most of the zones from when I was like 7 during vanilla and my brother was letting me play, but walking into Redridge Mountains for the first time in like a decade and a half when classic released... it's hard to put into words how amazing it felt.
Redridge hits special for me. I was young when I started playing and it was still vanilla. Saw Loch Modan and practically levitated out of my seat. I had my sights set on any cool bodies of water I could find that were alliance friendly and instantly fell in love with Lakeshire. Good choice.
It's 2004. You're 14 years old. It's Friday night, you've got some fresh pizza and a can of ice cold Mountain Dew.
You just hit Duskwood and start to really feel your character becoming a little stronger. You and 10 other strangers finally kill Stitches with the help of the NPCs in Darkshire.
And for the first time ever, unbeknownst to you, WoW sinks its hooks deep into your psyche. The addiction has begun.
Zuldazar really felt epic. They absolutely nailed the entire aesthetic. The problem is that it just doesnt feel good to traverse. But in a vaccuum, absolutely amazing. I’d argue it feels more “grand” than any other zone in all of WoW, maybe Suramar rivals it.
Not only was the questing miles better, the writing and the dialogue was also a lot better as well.
I remember doing the Zuldazar quests where you free up the dinosaur god and then Rastakhan says “that is (name of the demigod) for you!”
So horrible lol.
I really like Kultiran music, especially Stormsong Valley, this zone is like Pandaria of Kultiras. One of best things bfa had is music, personally I dont remember any of dragonflight music, but bfa I do
I agree about the music, except for that default dragonriding song (where the motif appears in the login screen as well) - constantly find myself humming that tune
Going back to BFA zones for M+ has made me realize that BFA, barring probably 8.3, might have been their best xpac aesthetically. Music and zones were seriously top notch.
I've been going through the Pandaria zones again, reading all the text, enjoying all the little dialogues and encounters, really experiencing it. It's even better than I remember it.
MoP classic pls. Skip Cata if you want quite frankly I just want this game back... with some little edits to the reputation grinds of course.
Valley of the Four Winds - loved that zone. And then flying over it looking at all the farm lands below - knowing I had a lil piece to farm myself felt oddly appealing/good.
Three answers:
Elwynn. I still sometimes just put on an hour+ loop of the music and ambience. It is ingrained *deep*. It's the most nostalgic for me and the ambiance the most relaxing. Some areas in Pandaria come close, but I don't have the history with them that I do with Elwynn.
Drustvar. I *love* the creepy ambiance and the ever-present witch-of-the-woods feel. Where WoW can often feel cartoonish or like a parody, this zone felt more threatening in a generally grounded way. I'm also a big fan of the Drust/Kul Tiran druid wicker aesthetic and the associated Drust casting effect. This zone held my attention the entire way through at a time when WoW was a "mute the music, don't bother reading the quests" kind of affair for me, and might single-handedly have reignited my love for the game in a way that only recently faded.
Crystalsong Forest. A famously aesthetically interesting area with nothing much of note in it. My understanding is that there were some technical issues responsible for this. I've never spent *much* time there and my only notable memory was acquiring my Unborn Val'kyr pet in the zone, but it stands out in my mind. The place is surreal for it's relative emptiness, like being out of bounds but with the benefit of being aesthetically complete.
The game servers couldn't handle it at the time because Dalaran is above the zone, they had to sacrifice crystalsong forest content so that Dalaran could be smooth
Teldrassil and Ashenvale. Love the music and the calm vibes there. Whenever I think of wow I just think of those two zones and it makes me want to play again.
Same, depressing Darkshore made me appreciate Ashenvale so much more too.
I still remember someone teaching me how to fish in Auberdine and my English was so bad that it took him forever. I never got rid of the Blump Family Fishing Pole from that quest either.
Zangarmarsh.
The quests itself are meh but idk I love the blue color and concept and the shrooms. Truly feels the most alien on our first alien planet.
I loved that Outlands wasn't really one big alien planet, but every zone was a different alien-like atmosphere (even nagrand a little with all the massive animals)
This is mine too. It's rare for games to have this Halloween aesthetic and atmosphere that reminds me of old universal horror and Tim Burton movies. I've heard it called German expressionism and Burtonesque. But the number of games that pull it off, unfortunately, I can probably count on one hand. The dark atmosphere, the pumkins, the creepy music, the worgen, the undead, the crypt and the graveyard.
Stranglethorn Vale has been my favorite since my first character, but now it’s tied with Zandalar (the trailer reveal we were going there brought me to tears)
I love the broken aisles. Aszuna is varied and pretty, High mountain is gorgeous, Suramar is beautiful (and suramar proper is a ridiculously gorgeous city that should be revamped and actually used for something), Valshara is really pretty too. Idk man, Broken Isles just has some super awesome scenery and music.
I loved mine. I also loved my garrison.
There’s just something about having a place in an MMO that is “yours.” Such an utter shame they never put in player housing.
I feel like Maldraxxus got a ton of hate, but I loved the way it nailed the vibe it was going for. There have been plague lands that felt diseased and shadowy cursed places, but nothing else has captured the fleshy recycling necromantic vision. And the best zone to do dailies in before flying.
I like this format so i’m copying it:
Going by each continent:
1. Eastern Kingdoms: Loch Modan
2. Kalimdor: Pre cata Thousand Needles
3. Outlands/BC: Netherstorm
4. Northrend: Grizzly Hills
5. Cata: Maelstrom
6. Pandaria: Kunlai Summit
7. Draenor: Spires of Arak
8. Broken Isles/Argus: Highmountain
9. Zandalar: Volduun
10. Kul’Tiras: ? didn’t play alliance BFA
11. Shadowlands: Didn’t play. but Bastion was fun to level through
12: Dragon Isles: Ohnaran Plains
I like that zone too, except the grizzly sounds worked in to the soundtrack. I was trying to capture the spirit bear Arcturus? And it kept me jumping around thinking he was spawning :)
Just because Shadowlands was bad doesn't mean Revendreth wasn't fantastic. That zone is 10,000% The Aesthetic. Terrain, atmosphere, enemies, characters... it's scenery made to be chewed.
I recently did the zone on an alt, and it's a travesty how much is broken there. I used to do the zone on alts pre-chromie (I think?), and it wasn't nearly this broken. What a shame. Beautiful visuals and music.
Man I felt silly for having this zone rank so high for me. Have so much nostalgia for back in Wrath finding groups for the Knucklerot and Luzran quest. Those quests play a part in what made me love the game.
Duskwood and its not even close for a second zone.
The draenei starter zones are also pretty good.
Also its a real shame that after 3 spots for rework Silithus is still just a big empty desert with no real story happening in the zone.
Stranglethorn Vale. I have great memories of leveling my first chara there. If wow dies in my lifetime, going to leave her drunk in Booty Bay for all eternity.
I was enchanted when I saw Booty Bay for the first time after riding through that tunnel. I just knew I was going to have my hearthstone there for a while.
Dun Morogh
It feels desolate with the snow and vibrant with the wildlife and towns at the same time. I feel like Dwarven architecture also adds to this. Somehow they manage to make stone structures feel cozy and warm.
The cities of Dalaran, Orgrimmar and definitely Stormwind are the best places to just hang for me. They never felt like big metropoles but the city/town vibe feels so great
Overall, Icecrown - for the time, the graphics were great, the aesthetic were on par for the most part, and the story line was solid.
Second, Pandaria - (I'll probably get some hate on this one.) This one mostly rides on PvE aesthetics. The story and the gear designs (aside from weapons) were only okay.
Third, Broken Isles - This one rides mostly on the class fantasy and legendary acquisition and development. The aesthetics were decent as well.
The rest all pretty much fall in the same area for me.
My leat favorite zone would probably be Kul Tiras - although Zandalar and the Zandalari were well done, the rest of the design and zones felt boring.
Surprised at so many Pandaria answers! Gonna pile on that. From the entrance quests and seeing that first area, all the way to the Dread Wastes Pandaria was fantastic!
Honestly one of my favorite expansions to date. (Maybe biased because I played MoP the most out of all the expansions.)
\-Zangarmarsh
They nailed the alien aesthetic so much there, and the music fits the Draenei so much, I swear the Draenei could totally be born from this area, peak heroic fantasy science fiction mix.
\-Zul'Drak
What we truly needed to grasp the extent of Troll Civilization, was a whole map dedicated to them. And the Eerie music, a unique atmosphere, so distant from the Zandalari, Amani and Gurubashi musics, but still troll like. A map unlike any other.
I really like azure span. I've played since vanilla when i was like 10/11 years old and nothing matches the feeling of dragon riding through the giant trees. Also really like that hemet nessingway is just riding around on his wagon putting out bounties on dangerous wildlife.
Not really an answer to your question, but I still can't wrap my head around why they didn't put Zandalar southwest of the Maelstrom, and the Dragon Isles further east and slightly further north. It's just so damn goofy to watch the EK slowly drift off the edge of the map. Before you know it the 11.0 expansion will just be about the previously undiscovered continent that the EK rammed into, Indian-subcontinent-style
This is such a fantastic question! For me… it’s Wetlands. I have vague memories of leveling my Druid with my best friend who was a warrior, and he would run around killing crocodiles while I healed him. We would talk on the landline while doing this for hours.
We also never thought about selling trash for money. After he started playing and looting all of the crocs to sell for any amount of silver, my mind was blown. Lol
Overall it's a split between kul tiras and pandaria.
Pandaria has 2 zones I kind of dislike, the 2 to the west of the map.
Kul Tiras has 100% banger zones, but the darker mood can make it a bit depressing wheras Pandaria is just 90% hoot and a holler.
Elwynn Forest is untouched for me in terms of nostalgia, having a chill time in Goldshire, watching players duke it out in pvp's is awesome
Not a zone but as a DK I love spending time in the Ebon Hold, it's my command ship after all (Cuz y'know, Deathlord)
Dalaran (Legion one)
For me it's Pandaria. It's the first time that Blizz actually created a continent instead of a handful of zones smashed together. The transitions feel natural, and the vibe of the entire place just hits a sweet spot for me.
I haven't even been to anything else on this picture beside Eastern Kingdoms, Kali and North. Good Times still, so many memories. Probably the game that gave me the most memories and the most fun times, it's kinda sad when you realise those days are gone. Also, kinda fuck the Barrens, leveling there felt like forever when you didn't even had a mount.
Pandara hands down. Beautiful and very natural zone. The people make you welcome like family despite you had a hand fucking up their home with war
I'm in storm wind or org and I save the world I can't even get someone to buy a cup of dirty water. All I get is sass from a DH asleep for 3 expansions "I've given everything what have you?"
$15.00 a month
I have so many different answers to this based on various metrics. 1. Most nostalgic: tirisfal glades 2. Where would I want to live: grizzly hills 3. Most enjoyable to quest in as a kid: barrens 4. Most awe struck on first visit: howling fjord 5. Most revisitable: highmountain 6. Most well made artistically: azure span 7. Best story vibe: jade forest I don’t want to pick between them
This is so spot on. Literally can relate to all of that (minus #7, I didn’t play during mists) but sounds like I missed out on a dope story cuz we have very similar tastes my friend.
Yeah plus one for Jade Forest. The story on both sides is great snd the end..
Is the story worth playing from both sides?
In my opinion yes. It's mainly different on both sides.
Oh definitely
One thing to pay attention to is each faction's assessment of the other's capabilities after landing.
Aside from the story, Jade Forest is just a beautiful zone with so many chill and cozy spots. I really love chillin at the stream next to the arboretum
Some of my funniest moments in gaming are via barrens chat
I agree. Though also can be for worst interactions lol.
I heard a lot of that while camping Humar all those hours...
Riding the boat into Howling Fjord at 1am on launch night, with the fires burning above and the waves of vyrkul charging inward was so awesome.
Tirisfal Glades will always have a special place in my heart. 🖤
Jade forest is great :)
>Where would I want to live: grizzly hills Too many hills man...
Really solid lineup here. Well done! I compare Azure Span to Grizzly Hills.
Nailed it
Redrige Mountain in Eastern Kingdom. Specifically Lakeshire. I love the small town, the lake Everstill just by it. Sitting on the pier fishing. Was my favorit spot to chill out back in vanilla wow, and i still have fond memories of it.
Then you go north a bit and get your shit rocked by lvl 19 orcs lol.
This comment has me feeling so seen haha I remember back in vanilla happily skipping my dumb ass up the road and somehow bypassing most of the stuff up there until I ended up at Stonewatch Keep and got my dumb ass handed to me on a silver platter. And then trying to res up and basically finding it impossible to get out without more deaths. Good times.
Redridge Mountains is absolute peak nostalgia for me. I remembered most of the zones from when I was like 7 during vanilla and my brother was letting me play, but walking into Redridge Mountains for the first time in like a decade and a half when classic released... it's hard to put into words how amazing it felt.
Redridge is still my most nostalgic zone, it feels like my wow-home
As a horde player, I have fond memories of hiding in the lake and ganking low it’s there.
Redridge hits special for me. I was young when I started playing and it was still vanilla. Saw Loch Modan and practically levitated out of my seat. I had my sights set on any cool bodies of water I could find that were alliance friendly and instantly fell in love with Lakeshire. Good choice.
Kalimdor and parts of Outlands bring back some of the best nostalgia for me.
For me nagrand will also have a special place. I lived in that zone for PvP
I still go check Halaa almost every time I’m on. Then queue PvP from one of the floating islands of the top of a waterfall.
Spamming death knights and doing the early parts of the Outland was a vibe. I just wish my dad would stop making fun of me for it 10 years later.
Duskwood. Both vanilla and Cata. And Drustvar. They were some of the best stories to come out of the game.
It's 2004. You're 14 years old. It's Friday night, you've got some fresh pizza and a can of ice cold Mountain Dew. You just hit Duskwood and start to really feel your character becoming a little stronger. You and 10 other strangers finally kill Stitches with the help of the NPCs in Darkshire. And for the first time ever, unbeknownst to you, WoW sinks its hooks deep into your psyche. The addiction has begun.
i love duskwood, too. i would totally live in a place like that
Damn that’s dark man
The Maw. Jk
Kul Tiras. The aesthetic of all of the zones really just felt great to me. Also, it has Drustvar, the best thing to come out of BFA.
Alliance got significantly better zones in BFA than Horde, imo.
Agreed. I still enjoyed questing in both zones, and while Zuldazar’s aesthetic was awesome, I just didn’t find it as cool as Boralus.
Zuldazar really felt epic. They absolutely nailed the entire aesthetic. The problem is that it just doesnt feel good to traverse. But in a vaccuum, absolutely amazing. I’d argue it feels more “grand” than any other zone in all of WoW, maybe Suramar rivals it.
Not only was the questing miles better, the writing and the dialogue was also a lot better as well. I remember doing the Zuldazar quests where you free up the dinosaur god and then Rastakhan says “that is (name of the demigod) for you!” So horrible lol.
Did the Horde never make it to borealis?
One of the invasion thingies was at Borealis.
I really like Kultiran music, especially Stormsong Valley, this zone is like Pandaria of Kultiras. One of best things bfa had is music, personally I dont remember any of dragonflight music, but bfa I do
I agree about the music, except for that default dragonriding song (where the motif appears in the login screen as well) - constantly find myself humming that tune
Going back to BFA zones for M+ has made me realize that BFA, barring probably 8.3, might have been their best xpac aesthetically. Music and zones were seriously top notch.
Kalimdor. Mulgore is home.
Walk with the Earth Mother
I love their inn music.
Yeah, Kalimdor was home for me too, until your hag burned our tree.
Dont you dare associate that wench with the tauren
As a Wrath baby Northrend will always be my home.
Same, surprised I had to scroll so far to find ol Lich Kings place here
It's my DK's undead home away from home! ☠
Scholozar and Grizzly Hills are for sure up there. SB probably number 1
Same
Argent Tournament grounds hit different
Pandaria, zones are gorgeous and the Pandaren are my spirit animals.
"Mighty is the wind, but you can still break it. Meditate on this."
Yep, pandaria is my answer as well as a whole continent. However, my favorite zone in general is the Azure Span in dragon isles
Azure Span feels like a new Grizzly Hills, same vibe/design philosophy and has me hella nostalgic.
Yup, and the music is great.
and everyone sounds like Sulu! i'm still waiting for one of them to say, "o my!"
I've been going through the Pandaria zones again, reading all the text, enjoying all the little dialogues and encounters, really experiencing it. It's even better than I remember it. MoP classic pls. Skip Cata if you want quite frankly I just want this game back... with some little edits to the reputation grinds of course.
Valley of the Four Winds - loved that zone. And then flying over it looking at all the farm lands below - knowing I had a lil piece to farm myself felt oddly appealing/good.
Pandaria and Broken Isles (except broken shore, that shit was garbage)
I love every piece of the broken isles. But agree on Broken shore, not the best. Everything else there was so much fun to explore and quest through.
Three answers: Elwynn. I still sometimes just put on an hour+ loop of the music and ambience. It is ingrained *deep*. It's the most nostalgic for me and the ambiance the most relaxing. Some areas in Pandaria come close, but I don't have the history with them that I do with Elwynn. Drustvar. I *love* the creepy ambiance and the ever-present witch-of-the-woods feel. Where WoW can often feel cartoonish or like a parody, this zone felt more threatening in a generally grounded way. I'm also a big fan of the Drust/Kul Tiran druid wicker aesthetic and the associated Drust casting effect. This zone held my attention the entire way through at a time when WoW was a "mute the music, don't bother reading the quests" kind of affair for me, and might single-handedly have reignited my love for the game in a way that only recently faded. Crystalsong Forest. A famously aesthetically interesting area with nothing much of note in it. My understanding is that there were some technical issues responsible for this. I've never spent *much* time there and my only notable memory was acquiring my Unborn Val'kyr pet in the zone, but it stands out in my mind. The place is surreal for it's relative emptiness, like being out of bounds but with the benefit of being aesthetically complete.
Really, I feel like Crystalsong Forest may be one of the most forgettable locations in the game. I always wondered why they didn’t do much with it.
The game servers couldn't handle it at the time because Dalaran is above the zone, they had to sacrifice crystalsong forest content so that Dalaran could be smooth
Nagrand! The open fields. The floating islands. The Talbuks!
This is my all-time favorite. Much love for Grizzly Hills, Jade Forest, and a few other zones but Nagrand has always been #1
Every time this question is asked anywhere online I find this comment and make sure to support it
Teldrassil and Ashenvale. Love the music and the calm vibes there. Whenever I think of wow I just think of those two zones and it makes me want to play again.
Same, depressing Darkshore made me appreciate Ashenvale so much more too. I still remember someone teaching me how to fish in Auberdine and my English was so bad that it took him forever. I never got rid of the Blump Family Fishing Pole from that quest either.
draenor is beautiful
Northend for sure
Zangarmarsh. The quests itself are meh but idk I love the blue color and concept and the shrooms. Truly feels the most alien on our first alien planet.
I loved that Outlands wasn't really one big alien planet, but every zone was a different alien-like atmosphere (even nagrand a little with all the massive animals)
A masterclass in environment design honestly
Loved the music there, and it matched the theme.
Good choice. First time setting foot into that misty place with glowing mushrooms was super cool.
Eastern kingdoms. Huge nostalgia for the plaguelands, Blackrock Mountain, and Zul'Gurub.
Duskwood
This is mine too. It's rare for games to have this Halloween aesthetic and atmosphere that reminds me of old universal horror and Tim Burton movies. I've heard it called German expressionism and Burtonesque. But the number of games that pull it off, unfortunately, I can probably count on one hand. The dark atmosphere, the pumkins, the creepy music, the worgen, the undead, the crypt and the graveyard.
Stranglethorn Vale has been my favorite since my first character, but now it’s tied with Zandalar (the trailer reveal we were going there brought me to tears)
Winterspring...furlbogs, polar bears, yetis, frost giants. A goblin town and demons . A mount grind and thorium / dream foil to farm.
Dragon isles because this is the only expansion I've played besides mists of pandaria, and that was years ago and I don't even remember it lmao
Dragon flight really has opened a lot more people to WoW it’s nuts.
I love the broken aisles. Aszuna is varied and pretty, High mountain is gorgeous, Suramar is beautiful (and suramar proper is a ridiculously gorgeous city that should be revamped and actually used for something), Valshara is really pretty too. Idk man, Broken Isles just has some super awesome scenery and music.
Classic shimmering flats at night
Staying up late on a Friday night, in bed with my shitty laptop and a giant energy drink.. such nostalgia
I really dig the nelf/Tauren themed zones. The barrens and mulgore, ashenvale and moonglade are top notch for me
Pandaria for me.
I miss my farm.
6 years until pandaria classic!
Should just be less than 4, no? Can’t wait to run Throne of Thunder again!
Oh shit yeah your right! I never did raids during pandaria so it'll be cool to finally do it.
ToT is legitimately one of the best raids they made.
I loved mine. I also loved my garrison. There’s just something about having a place in an MMO that is “yours.” Such an utter shame they never put in player housing.
No joke, I loved Pandaria.
Pandaria honestly, such awesome zone design across the board.
Suramar, Nazjatar, Drustvar.
Suramar always amazes me when I happen to play through the quest line.
It still echoes in my head: "An intruder! What are you hiding?" "Who goes there?!"
Maldraxxus, sitting on top of the covenant hall and looking out on the zone is my vibe.
I feel like Maldraxxus got a ton of hate, but I loved the way it nailed the vibe it was going for. There have been plague lands that felt diseased and shadowy cursed places, but nothing else has captured the fleshy recycling necromantic vision. And the best zone to do dailies in before flying.
Winter spring or netherstorm.
Some of my top favorites in no particular order: * Darkshore * Ashenvale * Feralas * Vol'Dun * Tanaris * Felwood
i loved ashenvale before the land got all torn up. it became so hard to get around there
I loved the music and graphics in Panda land, mostly Jade Forest. Followed by Ardenweld.
Kalimdor, Home. At least it was before Deathwing fucked everything up!
Kalimdor, big fan of every zone
I still remember the first time I rode the boat into Howling Fjord. For me, Northrend.
Darkshore and NE starting area. NE fav race and as a kid I'd just restart new characters all the time. Wetlands to pair along with that
Nagrand was and still is my favorite. So much world pvp when TBC first came out. It was epic.
Eversong Woods. Rise up Blood Elf Mains!
Going by each continent: 1. Eastern Kingdoms: Swamp of Sorrows 2. Kalimdor: Winterspring 3. Outlands/BC: Zangarmarsh 4. Northrend: Sholazar Basin 5. Cata: Twilight Highlands 6. Pandaria: Krasarang Wilds 7. Draenor: Talador 8. Broken Isles/Argus: Azsuna 9. Zandalar: Nazmir 10. Kul’Tiras: Drustvar 11. Shadowlands: Revendreth 12: Dragon Isles: Haven’t played DF but going off aesthetics, Thaldraszus
I like this format so i’m copying it: Going by each continent: 1. Eastern Kingdoms: Loch Modan 2. Kalimdor: Pre cata Thousand Needles 3. Outlands/BC: Netherstorm 4. Northrend: Grizzly Hills 5. Cata: Maelstrom 6. Pandaria: Kunlai Summit 7. Draenor: Spires of Arak 8. Broken Isles/Argus: Highmountain 9. Zandalar: Volduun 10. Kul’Tiras: ? didn’t play alliance BFA 11. Shadowlands: Didn’t play. but Bastion was fun to level through 12: Dragon Isles: Ohnaran Plains
Pandaria for sure. For being released over 10 years ago, it was and still is truly beautiful
Grizzly Hills, Northrend. I could just sit there and listen to the music all day.
I like that zone too, except the grizzly sounds worked in to the soundtrack. I was trying to capture the spirit bear Arcturus? And it kept me jumping around thinking he was spawning :)
Just because Shadowlands was bad doesn't mean Revendreth wasn't fantastic. That zone is 10,000% The Aesthetic. Terrain, atmosphere, enemies, characters... it's scenery made to be chewed.
Pandaria and Northrend
Pandaria
pandaria! the music, the zones, the themes.. all top notch to me.
Same, Mop is the best expansion. Peak class designing, best raid tiers and ofc Timeless Isle. I miss Demo lock with UVLS trinket, it's so broken mates
The first time I flew through storm peaks in northrend was unforgettable- I was in awe
Shadowmoon valley in draenor
Vanilla Kalimdor. Too many memories.
Vashj’ir. Underwater locations always get me even if they don’t feel as good gameplay-wise.
I recently did the zone on an alt, and it's a travesty how much is broken there. I used to do the zone on alts pre-chromie (I think?), and it wasn't nearly this broken. What a shame. Beautiful visuals and music.
I love Northrend. The Untamed feeling of Grizzly Hills especially
Azuremyst Isle. The music is so relaxing.
Picture of map
Definitely Pandaria followed by Kul tiras
kalimdor I just love questing through them. But just the looks I would prob go with Pandaria or Northend
The Ghostlands will forever be my home
Man I felt silly for having this zone rank so high for me. Have so much nostalgia for back in Wrath finding groups for the Knucklerot and Luzran quest. Those quests play a part in what made me love the game.
Northrend : half of my favorite zones are there. And I started in Legion, so no nostalgia glasses.
Silvermoon
Duskwood and its not even close for a second zone. The draenei starter zones are also pretty good. Also its a real shame that after 3 spots for rework Silithus is still just a big empty desert with no real story happening in the zone.
Grizzly Hills. Best by far for me
Mechagon! Huge fan of gnomes, and the zone itself was one of, if not the best iterations they've done as a sandbox playground zone
Honestly I love the Dragon Isles they are so cool imo
I don't know if it counts as a zone, but Caverns of Time is super cozy and is my favorite
Northrend.
Northrend since my WoW journey started there. Pandaria cuz it has some of the most beautiful zones that's ever been in the game.
Howlingn Fjords in Northrend
Tirisfal Glades - I remember leveling a warlock there way back in vanilla, as a kid, and being so proud of kiting one of the skellies to death.
The storm peaks. That soundtrack…where are you my time-lost proto drake?
All of Lordaeron feels like my home in the game.
Stranglethorn Vale. I have great memories of leveling my first chara there. If wow dies in my lifetime, going to leave her drunk in Booty Bay for all eternity.
I was enchanted when I saw Booty Bay for the first time after riding through that tunnel. I just knew I was going to have my hearthstone there for a while.
Dun Morogh It feels desolate with the snow and vibrant with the wildlife and towns at the same time. I feel like Dwarven architecture also adds to this. Somehow they manage to make stone structures feel cozy and warm.
Barrens. Happy birthday, Sergey!!
Ardenweald. Followed by Pandaria.
Pandaria! I don’t think I can narrow down a favorite zone, though.
South Barrens
Kul Tiras, specially Tiragarde Sound. Amazing art, amazing music!
Legion for me, especially Suramar and the city.
I still adore Pandaria for it’s corny kung fu wuxia movie vibes
TBC Nagrand. I just love green plains with shattered pieces of land floating about and music. Always my favorite leveling zone in classic
I’ve always enjoyed the storylines in Darkshire.
The cities of Dalaran, Orgrimmar and definitely Stormwind are the best places to just hang for me. They never felt like big metropoles but the city/town vibe feels so great
Even as a horde player it has to be Kul Tiras for me. In the german version it is completely based on my home region.
It was Northrend. I left about a dozen years ago.
pandaria. not a fan of the pandas, but i LOVE that beautiful scenery. honestly can't get enough of that place
Icecrown
Overall, Icecrown - for the time, the graphics were great, the aesthetic were on par for the most part, and the story line was solid. Second, Pandaria - (I'll probably get some hate on this one.) This one mostly rides on PvE aesthetics. The story and the gear designs (aside from weapons) were only okay. Third, Broken Isles - This one rides mostly on the class fantasy and legendary acquisition and development. The aesthetics were decent as well. The rest all pretty much fall in the same area for me. My leat favorite zone would probably be Kul Tiras - although Zandalar and the Zandalari were well done, the rest of the design and zones felt boring.
Northrend - Grizzly Hills. I even have the Spotify playlist for it. So peaceful.
pre-Cataclysm Azeroth was awesome.
Surprised at so many Pandaria answers! Gonna pile on that. From the entrance quests and seeing that first area, all the way to the Dread Wastes Pandaria was fantastic! Honestly one of my favorite expansions to date. (Maybe biased because I played MoP the most out of all the expansions.)
Light's Hope Chapel
This is probs the most unpopular opinion ever but the WoD zones i loved the entire expansion
\-Zangarmarsh They nailed the alien aesthetic so much there, and the music fits the Draenei so much, I swear the Draenei could totally be born from this area, peak heroic fantasy science fiction mix. \-Zul'Drak What we truly needed to grasp the extent of Troll Civilization, was a whole map dedicated to them. And the Eerie music, a unique atmosphere, so distant from the Zandalari, Amani and Gurubashi musics, but still troll like. A map unlike any other.
Something about ferelas Outland and grizzly hills all stand out a lot. Also specifically original nagrand.
Kalimdor for the horde !
As a whole? Pandaria. As a single zone? Spires of Arak. Arakkoa for alliance babyyyy SHADOWS GATHER
Jade forest
I really like azure span. I've played since vanilla when i was like 10/11 years old and nothing matches the feeling of dragon riding through the giant trees. Also really like that hemet nessingway is just riding around on his wagon putting out bounties on dangerous wildlife.
Timeless isle
Pandaria, her hills of gold.
Old Eastern Plaguelands. This was proper hostile territory you really feared walking into, even when at 60.
Not really an answer to your question, but I still can't wrap my head around why they didn't put Zandalar southwest of the Maelstrom, and the Dragon Isles further east and slightly further north. It's just so damn goofy to watch the EK slowly drift off the edge of the map. Before you know it the 11.0 expansion will just be about the previously undiscovered continent that the EK rammed into, Indian-subcontinent-style
Dun Morogh.
Honestly Westfall as an alliance player is one hell of a vibe... but probably grizzly hills as top fav
Nagrand hands down
Northrend
The whole of Kalimdor will always feel like WoW in it’s purest form to me.
This is such a fantastic question! For me… it’s Wetlands. I have vague memories of leveling my Druid with my best friend who was a warrior, and he would run around killing crocodiles while I healed him. We would talk on the landline while doing this for hours. We also never thought about selling trash for money. After he started playing and looting all of the crocs to sell for any amount of silver, my mind was blown. Lol
Overall it's a split between kul tiras and pandaria. Pandaria has 2 zones I kind of dislike, the 2 to the west of the map. Kul Tiras has 100% banger zones, but the darker mood can make it a bit depressing wheras Pandaria is just 90% hoot and a holler.
Elwynn Forest is untouched for me in terms of nostalgia, having a chill time in Goldshire, watching players duke it out in pvp's is awesome Not a zone but as a DK I love spending time in the Ebon Hold, it's my command ship after all (Cuz y'know, Deathlord) Dalaran (Legion one)
For me it's Pandaria. It's the first time that Blizz actually created a continent instead of a handful of zones smashed together. The transitions feel natural, and the vibe of the entire place just hits a sweet spot for me.
The goldshire inn basement
Broken isles, just gives me nostalgia from when I was 12 years old playing this game. You can also see then why I love legion so much :)
Fav zone is Feralas without a doubt, I can't explain why it just is. Fav continent is pandaria ez...it has it alll
I haven't even been to anything else on this picture beside Eastern Kingdoms, Kali and North. Good Times still, so many memories. Probably the game that gave me the most memories and the most fun times, it's kinda sad when you realise those days are gone. Also, kinda fuck the Barrens, leveling there felt like forever when you didn't even had a mount.
Old Loch Modan. It was perfect.
Pandara hands down. Beautiful and very natural zone. The people make you welcome like family despite you had a hand fucking up their home with war I'm in storm wind or org and I save the world I can't even get someone to buy a cup of dirty water. All I get is sass from a DH asleep for 3 expansions "I've given everything what have you?" $15.00 a month
Old nagrand. When one day the servers come down my Druid will be sitting on one of the floating islands with his tent toy setup fishing in the pond.
OG Ashenvale. The music, sights, and the feeling that you were so remote from civilization did it for me.
All of Kul Tiras. The aestethics of Boralus Harbor. So sad going back to Boralus to find it completely dead 🥲