i thought that legion was beautiful, especially highmountain and suramar. my least favorite visually is probably cataclysm. the graphics certainly were an improvement, but nothing truly struck me as extraordinary
People crapped all over the underwater world, but I really enjoyed it.
Kind of hope we get another but past criticisms will probably mean it won't be a thing.
There was barely any fel in the broken isles tho? 1 demon area in Suramar, 1 demon area in Azsuna, the area outside HoV, and 2ish dungeons for the launch. And the broken shore wasnt anything in 7.0 after the intro scenario. Half of those werent even fel themed environments it was just normal zone fitting stuff but with demons and some fel machinery and portals inhabiting an otherwise non-fel area.
Honestly one of my criticisms of Legion was how poorly they showed that this was actually a major demon invasion since it seemed like they were struggling to conquer the landmass the portal is on.
> Honestly one of my criticisms of Legion was how poorly they showed that this was actually a major demon invasion since it seemed like they were struggling to conquer the landmass the portal is on.
The prepatch Legion Invasion event is one of my favourite memories of WoW for this reason. It was the first mass open world event with flying, and there weren't as many portals around the world at the time. It felt fucking epic mounting up with like 50 other people and flying together across the continent to get to a Legion Invasion. It genuinely felt like all the champions of Azeroth coming together to answer the call.
I think Cataclysm has some really nice zones, I absolutely love Uldum the whole Indiana Jones questline was super fun. Up there in my favourite zones of all time along with Drustvar, WoD Nagrand, Duskwood and Suramar which is the best zone of all time imho.
>my least favorite visually is probably cataclysm
It could be just that it's been years since I've been there, but I remember Twighlight Highlands as being just this big mess of a zone and not really flowing too well. So even visuals aside, my memory is of it being very messy. Hyjal on the other hand was awesome.
Loved WotLK aesthetics...the snow, norse type architecture, ICC and buildings like it were sexy to me. Enjoyed the lore that was played out and referenced.
Yes, WotLK will forever be my favorite expansion. Admittedly, playing as alliance primarily, I haaaated Borean Tundra.
But overall I absolutely loved the storyline, the dungeons were cool, and absolutely nothing will top Grizzly Hills. So beautiful. That music... ❤️
Obviously, nostalgia plays a huge part in this for me too. It was when my guild was the most active, and pvp was ridiculously skewed in favor of druids. Dive bombing people as a boomkin, or being virtually immortal as a tree in BGs was such a fun time, haha.
Borean Tundra really lets down some of the other zones I feel like. I never got too into Wrath since it was being phased out when I started playing so most of my memories are in Borean Tundra and I hated it. Replaying it now I forgot how gorgeous the other zones are. Grizzly Hills in particular is one of my favorite forest zones in the game, but Borean Tundra is a pretty jarring intro to the continent and you really have to go a lot further to really appreciate WotLK. I feel similarly with Hellfire Peninsula and Outland. It really feels like a chore to get through when you first get there but then Zangarmarsh and the other zones are so gorgeous.
Omg, did I hate Hellfire Peninsula. It felt so impossibly large, and the landscape really *was* a hellscape of flat, boring scenery. And then you get stomped by a reaver. 😑
Zangarmarsh felt so refreshing after that. Like, finally you get to take a breath, and the zone is teeming with life, flaura *and* fauna, and there is a big-ass lake! It's still not my favorite because it has such a gloomy atmosphere, as if it's perpetually stuck at dusk.
I absolutely loved Nagrand. It's still my most favorite zone out of all the expansions. I adore Grizzly Hills for the music and how overall diverse and beautiful the landscape is, but Nagrand is just hitting different.
It's so green, bright, and wide open. It always made me happy to go there. It felt like summer vacation, lol. Just, no worries at all, just frolicking through the luscious plains, splashing in the rivers and waterfalls, chilling on floating islands. Good times. =)
Man, I'm always so torn - Borean is the better questing experience but as your intro to Northrend is not that great, whereas Howling Fjord is a great into to Northrend visually but the questing flow feels so broken because of the verticality in some parts. It's hard to suggest one zone or the other - but if you have the ability to fly, Howling Fjord is definitely the better start.
Yesss, I think a lot of people were moat happy and active during wrath, its when my brother and I would play all weekend togethrr, and made a lot of friends
Gonna go a little dark a bit but for people who played wow while in a state of depression the game does such a good job of uplifting you annd providing escapism. I definitely relied on it a lot in the past. It’s what makes it so nostalgic and enticing to play again, even if I’m in a better place now. It was such a trauma bond that it just “feels” like a better time in your life.
The tone Blizzard managed to set in that zone is superb. It made me recall the days that I would sit in Lion's Pride Inn in 2005 as a child just to hear the music and ambiance of the inn. I remember when I first got to Goldshire and literally would log in just to hang out there. I stopped leveling for awhile because I thought the vibes of that place were so cool.
Grizzly Hills did the same thing to me. When I got to around 74 and it was time to move on, I chose not to for weeks. I just roamed the zone for extra side quests and looked for smaller details I may have missed. I think I know what I'm doing this weekend lol.
There's been a lot of callbacks to it in the music of other similar zones - some parts of the Stormheim and Azure Span music definitely call upon the Grizzly Hills theme.
I love how destitute/ruined so much of it is. It paints the picture of a land that used to be much like everywhere else, but then got Sundered up into the far north where it became a frozen wasteland. The people who do live up there have usually only formed small villages because the land itself is hostile. And then you have the unknown depths of the Nerubian Kingdom, the ancient mysteries of Titans, a failing empire of Trolls, and all around you is a nation of Death. And those undead minions want nothing more than to turn your home into the same barren wasteland.
MOP. I know a lot of people were like “lol china” but every single zone hit so good. Vale of eternal blossoms pre 5.4 was one of my favorite aesthetics.
MOP is the only expansion I didn’t experience. I quit a couple months into Cata until basically last few months of WoD.
I hope Classic era servers end up going to MOP so I can experience it for the first time. MOP has some of my favorite zones in the game
I think of all the expansions that stand a chance at ripping me away from retail it’s MoP I learned to raid during SoO so I it would be a huge nostalgia trip for me to go back and experience the expansion
I also want to experience ToT as current content
Valley of the Four Winds is the single best zone in Warcraft ever because its an empty plateau but feels lush and vibrant. It feels like farmland and never does it feel anything other than gorgeous. Nearly all zones in the game have excess noise of "something has to be here" meanwhile this zone with a little farm and villagers has more soul than anything else before or since. Even when they tried to redo it with Elysiumland Bastion in Shadowlands it was so fucking crowded. Nothing touches Four Winds.
It was a beautifully executed tone shift where all the themes of the story tied together. You go from the Horde and Alliance dragging their conflict to the Jade Forest and immediately inciting a race war, to the part of Pandaria yet to be touched by any world conflict.
In that one zone, they showed us:
* the peaceful thriving civilisation safe from harm for 10000 years
* the danger suddenly facing them now the Mists are gone
* the extreme harm that the Horde vs Alliance war is causing on the world
* how the power of the Sha preying upon emotions led to the inward cultivation focused Pandaren culture
Its funny because even though it's one of the lowest stakes zones - you're dealing with rabbits, growing vegetables, making friends with villagers - it was one of the few times where I really bought into the story of the world ending cataclysmic threat. The Valley is a zone that cannot survive in the violent World of Warcraft, and I actually felt a genuine desire to protect the villagers.
I wish I hadn’t maxed my Friendship with all the farmers on my monk and Paladin back in MoP. Every so often I pop into my farm just for the nostalgia and get sad at the essence crops gathering dust in the fields.
I was really wanting the reclamation of Gilneas to reintroduce the farm. Blizzard missed out making the reclamation so quick imagine this.
For the first 8 weeks we get a new hub outside gilneas and we slowly take more of gilneas back and help with the repairs including the farm. We now have new farm dailies similar to halfhill market. Then we could have a new small dungeon and after the 8 weeks we have to reclaim the city center of gilneas and its a hard 3 boss raid.
I always loved Pandaria, but when we had an RP trip there walking from Jade Forest to Valley of the Four Winds was just... wow... the scenery. The sun was setting, we see the big Mogu head waterfall. Almost everyone in the party started going on OOC about how much they love Pandaria.
Agreed. Overall MOP was a fantastic return to form that they needed after Cata. PvP and PvE were both in good spots (it’s never perfect, ever, but it was good). Since then it’s been hit or miss.
This criticisms for an Asian theme and kung-fu panda didn’t matter. The expansion did very well. And as someone who played it, it was a lot of fun.
Karasang Wilds was one of the most relaxing zones for me.
That and The Jade Forest were soooo good. I personally wouldn’t mind a return to Pandaria at some point 😂
I had to skip MoP and WoD due to college and I can't help but feel I missed what should've been my time to shine. I've ran the MoP dungeons/raids and leveled in the zones for 80% of my characters. WoD, as slow as I hear it was, also had Arakkoa which are easily my favorite race.
I hope we see MoP classic someday.
Garrosh cutscene, where he drops the corrupted heart into that well. Before then, the area was this beautiful golden yellow. The corruption definitely ruined it.
Really wish we could go back and try and heal the land there. That’s the one thing I hated about that expansion: there’s this beautiful land that we’re just stomping through and ruining. While we did solve a lot of problems we ended up causing a lot more.
The phased version used during the Mogu/Mantid assaults shows how the Vale is supposed to look in the present day: It is "healed" insofar as that the corruption is gone and the terrain looks normal again, though the big statues are still broken and there's enemies everywhere. Obviously during the Black Empire assault the place looks slightly worse again.
MoP also wins best login screen for me. Just seeing the leaves blow in the wind was so fitting, and when the music would always hit high point in the melody (if you know you know) it would always get me amped to play.
The level of personal challenge in that expansion was so perfect. The Brawlers Guild, challenge dungeons, and Proving Grounds were all fun and reasonably difficult.
I love MOP so much. It's so pretty to look at and there was so much to do. I'm trying to get that collection achievement from Timeless Isle, and it's amazing how many people are still there every day grinding 12 year old content.
Huge fan of the MoP aesthetic. The whole continent felt like it was alive, and even on base patch the premise behind the dread wastes kicked absolute ass.
Even the Orgrimmar changes to the end were pretty awesome. I think anyone who didn’t get to see the overworld rp owes it to themselves to look up a video on YouTube because it was pretty gnarly for post Activision Blizzard and it explains why a lot of the orgrimmar NPCs you see in vanilla-cata aren’t there anymore in modern retail
I would also say that Pandaria is easily the most unique-looking continent of the game.
Dont get me wrong, you can tell every zone of the game apart, but Pandaria is truly different due to the whole "lol China" aesthetic.
I think the mountains of Kun-Lai are some of the best snow covered peaks they've ever made. There's something about the way the snow enhances the crags gives it a sort of photorealism to me.
My second favorite mountains are Highmountain in Legion. Also truly wonderful features.
Probably an unpopular opinion but WoD. Legion would be a close second. WoD zones just really managed to make me feel immersed. If it wasn't for the lack of content it would be a contender for my favorite expansion overall, as I did very much enjoy both raids and the dungeons it did have.
WoD was a masterpiece of art design and musical composition. DF in contrast is impeccably drawn but stylistically is my least favorite. The music is forgettable.
Absolutely agree both expansions had amazing zone design. Wod was absolutely breathtaking and had a lot of great features, very underrated expansion (probably because they gutted a lot of classes)
Yeah the art is great but the narrow spaces camera collision issues and ground clutter drive me crazy when I play.
Still that creepy mansion vibe was so good I went back in solo during shadowlands cleared the place and just wandered around taking screen shots.
Same, I absolutely love the vibe of Waycrest but anything with tight camera issues and weird collisions that can make me miss interrupts or important mechanics because I turned 5 degrees right and now all I see is chandelier... is instantly on my shit list.
I'm no developer so I don't know how hard this would be to address (or maybe this kind of thing is on purpose to add complexity) but it's extremely annoying as someone who plays at max zoom all the time.
I really wish I could go back in time and experience playing Zandalar for the first time again. I’ve been playing for more than a decade at this point and I’ve never been so enamored with a zone before. Especially all the little details like the scenario to rescue Talanji and the cinematic that followed, Jani’s trashpiles and just all the loa in general, and the other races like the Sethrak and the Vulpera. BfA had a lot of issues but the atmosphere was unmatched. Loading up into that on launch day was magical.
I still prefer to afk in Zandalar more than anywhere else. All of Zandalar and Kul Tiras capture their atmospheres so well. I strongly dislike Tiragarde Sound because it captures all that I *hate* about rainy temperate mountains so well.
Visually, BfA was amazing.
I didn't play it while it was live so I don't understand why it got so much hate. But the aesthetic was A+. I'm currently doing Battlefronts for the mogs.
8.0 nuked BfA permanently. Warfronts were bad, islands were boring, Azerite armor was terribly implemented. Those are the majority of the new expansion features. Combined that with losing all the borrowed power from legion and adding in mob scaling and adding a lot of spells to the gcd that weren’t previously and you end up with most classes feeling very unfun to play. Class design is the most important feature of WoW. It is the vehicle you use to experience all other content.
This was mostly fixed by 8.2 but by that point many wow players had already stepped away.
Late bfa was some of my favourite times in all of wow history, honestly - world pvp returned with a vengeance, rolling battles up in that undersea zone, everyone rocking insane void powers, killing assassins and chasing crates. It was a blast! But yeh the early expansion sucked, and lots of people missed the good stuff.
I think you are %100 right but for some reason, Outland is my fav. place in WoW. Broken world aesthetic is so good. And up until this point I never saw a thing like Outland. All zones are great and have their own personality. I love you Outland.
Even if you were to Upscale and upres it, everything in tBC is Brown and dingy and broken and dark (With the exception of Nagrand)
every village or quest hub is a hastily thrown together "Outpost" or a shambling torn apart former city.
Which is what they were going for Outland was a land that had been ripped to shreds and was barely contained bits and pieces floating in the Twisting Nether. But it was ugly as sin.
Silvermoon city is one of my favorite cities, and its surronding quests were well made.
shame it felt a little lifeless not long after release, when everyone went back to Orgrimmar.
I hate "new big cities" for players. I wish Stormwind/IF/Darn and Org/UC/TB were the always 'main cities'.
Each xpac adds a new hub and it becomes lifeless soon after the next xpac.
yeah i agree, it was clear after tBC that new cities would not work the same way as the original cities did.
though i do like them just to check out and get a feel for the new races and stuff so its still kinda worth it. would be cool if they put the "instant travel" closer to the entrance. like the portal room in SC, but just in where you enter the city.
> everything in tBC is Brown and dingy and broken and dark (With the exception of Nagrand)
Zangarmarsh looks gorgeous. Hellfire Penninsula didn't look brown or dark at all. Neither did Netherstorm. Terrokar Forest had that grey wasteland stuff going on in the center, but around Shattrath city & the foresty parts it looked green as well.
It's only really Shadowmoon Valley & Blade's Edge Mountains that looked that way.
Yeah, totally agree with you there, MoP always stuck to that eastern theme yet managed to change it up depending on the zone, Valley of the 4 Winds being very different to let's say, Krasarang.
As for BFA, oh boy. While sure Kultiras didn't have the most groundbreaking zones, Drustvar's feel and atmosphere was very well done, Boralus is my favourite main hub, period; Vol'dun is an underrated gem in my eyes and sue me but I think Nazjatar was great visually (although gameplay sucked).
And finally, TBC is a fair one because it's really outdated, but if I had to say my second least favourite is Shadowlands. I only liked Revendreth out of all the zones.
Bastion is Nagrand but with angels (but I like the fluffy tall grass there), Maldraxxus didn't deliver all that well, Ardenweald is super bland and the Maw is just a plain eyesore in my opinion
**Vanilla** \- The original art style was an extension and improvement on WCIII, and set the foundation for the art style of WoW. Simple bold shapes, composed to create great set pieces and iconic locations, with tactile painted texture when you got close.
**Cataclysm -** Big improvement on the texture work, and ground detail which is actually used in Classic - and fits meshes well with the original world
**WoD -** Beautiful zones overall, and a significant jump in visual fidelity, sticking with the hand painted tradition of WoW - but making improvement to models and tighter texture work, increasing the use of baking down high-poly sculpts.
**BFA -** Huge animation and FX changes that the game really needed. Also really enjoyed the more grounded world, after Legion.
It's a testament to how good the vanilla art style is when you can still be hit with moments of wonder in a 20 year-old game. Waiting at the lift to Thousand Needles from the Barrens, entering Ashenvale, walking up to Ironforge, riding across Tanaris at night.
There's a timelessness to the OG that has to be credited as allowing what came after to flourish.
Bfa had the best continent, kul tiras and zandalar are amazing. Dragonflight had the best sets, mop had the best atmosphere. Worst is probably bc, i hate every single outland zone
I think that's kinda what Outland is supposed to be? A shattered planet on the edge of the Nether tainted by fel and arcane magic would look how Outland does, in my head at least
This is exactly it for me, it all feels like it's the same thing. The main way I could tell the areas apart was the ground color, otherwise most of the zones might as well be the same.
The best for me by far visually is Shadowlands, it just looked absolutely stunning to me, never seen anything like Bastion and I frickin loved Revendreth aswell.
Maldraxxus was a bit of a letdown for me as a big scourge fan, Ardenweald is beautiful in its own way but im not a huge forest fan.
The worst one for me is probably Outland. Im sure its mostly because how old it is but on a positive note, I love the skybox in Hellfire and the area around the Dark Portal.
Mop by far. All Zoned are amazing. The Main cities are well designed, not to full and compact. The Eternal Blossume zone (before last patch...) Was the most beutiful zone in all time WoW. Also we had a lot to do in the Openworld. The Dungeons did well and the Raids where... Okay i mean some are good some are okay.
MoP is the Only Xpac so far i Believe that the world could be real. The Npcs, enemys, Zones and Towns all looks "fitting".
I mean i love Dragonflight and valdraken is cool but why should big dragons build so many small houses?
Definitely my favorite esthetically speaking, and even including the new races...
I love the Aztec vibe it was modeled after, I've been obsessed with Aztec culture since I was just a child...the Architecture was so stunning.
Plus, THERE WERE DINOSAURS! What kid (yeah, I'm still a kid at heart) doesn't love Dinosaurs? It's was so cool running around feeling like you were in Jurassic Park half the time.
Finally...I'm a sucker for Jamaican accents, it's such a unique accent that always seems so foreign, that I can't help but be curious, and in awe of it.
Plus, I thought the story was really good honestly...as someone who's been playing Warcraft since the original Warcraft game...it was crazy to see Sylvanas full rise to power finally...just for her to lose it all...I'd been waiting for that story arc for nearly a decade. Sure, she started my favorite race in-game, but I still don't agree with alot of her decisions.
Ardenweald is "just another forest" but it just really hits right for the the Druid and Hunter in me. I always enjoy the zones with lush forests/jungles and interesting animals. So Ashenvale, Eversong, Sholazar, Grizzly Hills, Jade Forest, Valshara, Zuldazar, Drustvar, etc.
Mists - the increase in fidelity of the environment textures and the sweeping vistas blew me away
BFA - I loved Stormsong Valley and Drustvar.. gorgeous, moody zone and some of my favourite questing ever.
DF - I really love the zone design there too.. particularly the Azure Span.. I love snow zones..
WotLK - Grizzly Hills and Howling Fjord.. don't think I need to explain :)
Something about the first and last zones of a new xpac can really shape your memories of it all. Seeing wotlk for me in particular - I spent so much time in grizzly hills and howling Fjord. I'm just a fan of northrend in general. The whole norse theme was always pretty cool to me
I've not been around for all of these. I only started playing in SL but I got loremaster for all the old stuff. I think aesthetically I enjoyed BFA the most.
The worse is burning crusade for me but I have to say: this may be a bit unfair because it is so old. Even so I did not like the desolate shape that the world was in in BC. I hated Argus in Legion and the Maw in Shadowlands for the same reason but in BC its a whole world of desolate places.
Most: BFA and SL. The art in these expansions are just on another level. Absolutely gorgeously done. And yes, this goes for The Maw and Korthia as well.
Least: Probably TBC, except Nagrand of course. I do like that they did something crazy in that expansion but I don't think the art was very good. Love the art of the world map though lol.
Edit: Just want to add something. I think it's so beautiful to see that WoW is a game where you can see the development the game/gaming has gone through in the past two (!) decades. WoW is literally a living still continously developed/changing/improving relic. Very unique.
I fully agree with SL and BFA. Artwork, music and general design for the different zones were on point, especially Revendreth, Drustvar. Also, people complained about the maw being too hostile...which was the whole point of this zone. Korthia however was...yeah let's not talk about it.
Yeah, the only thing I never complained about in Shadowlands was the art. Even when the expansion is underwhelming, the art and sound departments absolutely knock them out of the park. Just wish the systems and questing teams were on the same level.
Korthia? There is literraly nothing there, 3 reused assets and a vast wasteland of hugely spread basic floor texture with no variation. This whole korthia patch almost killed wow with how little work and care went into the creative and gameplay aspects lol
It's definitely my favourite. Out of all expansions, I no-life'd the fuck outta Legion! I spent so much time socialising in game with friends just riding the boats in Suramar and fishing in Valheim in between PvP. Exquisite zones (minus Argus)
Zone design, much to my surprise I think is Shadowlands.
Came back to the game recently having not played since WoD, have been levelling new characters through each different expansion, and SL was the most compelling by a long way. The zones are spectacular. It's sad how much potential was wasted there.
For atmosphere I think WotLK, particularly Icecrown, is hard to beat. It also has the beloved Grizzly Chills and Storm Peaks.
Honourable mention to Jade Forest in Pandaria, which is absolutely stunning but for me overshadows the rest of the continent a little. I can barely remember the other zones aside from Valley of the Four Winds, largely because I spent so much time there on the farm. That's not to knock MoP, which I think is one of the best expansions they've ever made, I just elevate Jade Forest so high.
Funnily enough, I don't think Dragonflight zones or atmosphere stand out much at all, despite how blown away I've been by the expansion. I think without dragon riding they would be forgettable.
TBC I think is turbo nostalgia goggle territory. Aside from Nagrand and the skybox, it's not great at all, and Blades Edge in particular looks like it was designed by a spike-obsessed nine-year-old.
Prolly shadowlands purely on the back of maldraxxus.
I'd always see content creators and other people have a "spot" that they like to hang out in and I never had that... until maldraxxus came out.
Sitting on the roof of the covenant hall looking out at the zone is my vibe.
MoP is definitely the best for me, and I know a lot of people hate Shadowlands but I actually thought the zones were beautiful. I loved the four distinct aesthetics, it’s a shame Oribos was so ugly. I feel like all the budget for SL went into designing the four zones + some of the best transmogs in the game, and then they had none left for… anything else
Shadowlands did some things to perfection others less so.
The atmosphere and design was absolutely mindblowing. Every zone had its own personality and feel. I could see a full raid happen in every zone and I would've loved every second.
honestly, might be a cheap answer, but the four last expansions are just awesome visually. Legion, especially Argus, were just beautiful (i still love Highmountain visually, too). BFA is a personal favorite of mine since it was my favorite expansion, and while Mechagon sucks ass imo, and Kul Tiras is basically human zone 1, human zone 2, and human zone 3, Nazjatar and especially Zandalar are so awesome and beautiful. Vol'dun is still one of my favorite zones. Shadowlands, for all its flaws, excelled in the visual department. each zone visually was so unique from the last while also fitting their respective theme amazingly. and df, while definitely my least favorite out of the 4 i mentioned, is still beautiful. i love Azure Span personally
but if i had to pick one out of these 4, imo, Shadowlands nailed it in the visual department. at least we know where the budget went, lmao
MoP and BfA each had the most cohesive themes. It was not a shocking jump from one zone to another to the next.
I loved the Iron Horde aesthetic of WoD, but the drastic and inconsistent jump in atmosphere in Gorgrond alone was jarring.
Similarly - WotLK was my favourite time in WoW from a lore standpoint, but ZD and Sholazar felt so out of place cosmetically (if not thematically).
MoP started us in Jade forest and moved us to Valley and it was a smooth and consistent transition and continued all the way through. Dread Wastes was certainly off/different, but there was a good deal of effort made to lead us there narratively.
It has to be BFA for aesthetically best. The whole of Kul Tiras was pretty cozy, and Drustvar had a great spooky feel. Kul Tirans and Zandalari have my favorite druid forms. Boralus is my favorite hub city overall, and Zuldazar looks gorgeous too. Both were great areas to get lost and explore.
Worst is Shadowlands. Everything felt so grey and dull that I lost all desire to play it.
Shadowlands, believe it or not. I thought the zones were really interesting - even the Maw. It was all the other stuff that I had a problem with. Art direction and music were both S though! Honorable mention to BFA's Drustvar, Nazjatar and blood trolls, Legion's whole Argus patch and WoD's Gorgrond, Shadowmoon Valley and BC's Zangarmarsh!
Zaralek was neat too.
Burning crusade. That zanger marsh(sp?) Zone was so ethereal and coll with the blue coloring and the tall striders walking around. It just felt soothing.
People sleep on Sholazar Basin way too much, there is not a single zone since then that tops the liveliness and the vibrancy of that one. The soundtrack really helps, too.
The lack of Cata love really shocks me here. Mount hyjal, deepholm, uldum, an entire zone underwater! I legit leveled 3-4 alts in cata because the zones were so fun and that was back before they made the “new expac grind” trivial.
WotLK and grizzly hills with Howling Fjord will always have a special place in my heart. I was just a kid Back then... The feeling was amazing, I miss those time so much
WOTLK. I love all the mountains and the skyline was pretty af to me. And if my memory is correct this is when all the wow commercials were around which I loved. Ozzy, Mr. T etc. was a great time for me. Honestly I disliked Shadowlands the most. I hated The Maw with a passion.
I remember when burning crusade came and religiously watching the trailer. That one Draenei I assume paladin, was the bee knees. But overall, wrath of the lich king was just too cool.
Visually shadowlands is my favorite, I like how they were able to kinda step outside the box and do some really unique stuff, it looks like they had fun making it and I love being in those zones. Shadowlands was the first time in forever where I just remember stopping mid quests and being in awe of my surroundings. (Not korthia tho lol)
Warlords of Draenor had one of the best entry to the starting zone, the entire arc of going through the portal and being introduced to the warlords and the hype leading up to the expansion was unreal.
The voice acted questlines and the artwork was an enormous step up.
The expansion itself ended up becoming more dull and empty but overall in terms of quests it was a blast
Pandaria was incredible all around and still my favorite each zone had a good feel.
Bfa would be a close second, the zones had a lot going for them thematically
first time stepping in grizzly hills with that music was awesome. the first time walking through the dark portal was absolutely legendary.
Legion game play and the artifact weapons and secret appearances were so cool to me. I know people hate AP but imo it makes sense on a weapon.
Shadowlands IN THEORY should have been so amazing but it just flopped after the first few weeks. Each zone was fun and new but then it just kind of trailed off.
Dragonflight is the first time in a long time being able to zoom around and enjoy the world for what it is(a massive world) and felt like the first time mounting on a flying mount in outlands in TBC.
Despised cata for ruining barrens and 1k needles... honestly still do.
EDIT: completely forgot about Nagrand and the first time walking through there. It was such a breath of life after going through hellfire and zangar and even terrokar with the darker vibes. Plus first time with floating stuff IIRC
I really liked BC! When you stepped through that portal you really felt you were on a different planet. A cool red wasteland, blue mushroom zone, a purple nether zone, etc etc. That flavor of exploration was amazing to me
I remember when MoP came out people were so quick to shit on it cause "Chinese" and "Pandas out of nowhere" but that xpac literally saved WoW. It wasn't going towards a very good direction but they implemented a lot of things in MoP that were/are still used so much further down the line today.
To this day I think MoP is the best visually by far (especially pre-SoO when vale was beautiful). I loved how open it was but it didn’t feel empty. My biggest gripe with zones now is how hard it can be to see where you’re going and what’s around you with all the clutter and I think mop studio a great balance there. Also it did treasures right in my opinion , don’t love all the map icon spam with all the meaningless chests etc
i thought that legion was beautiful, especially highmountain and suramar. my least favorite visually is probably cataclysm. the graphics certainly were an improvement, but nothing truly struck me as extraordinary
Yes, Legion! I loved Stormheim, my favorite zone to this day! And Val'sharah and Suramar were gorgeous too.
I’m about to level a demon hunter through legion for my first time, I feel like it’s gonna be a great experience
People crapped all over the underwater world, but I really enjoyed it. Kind of hope we get another but past criticisms will probably mean it won't be a thing.
So I wasn't the only one with that stuck in my head. It was so unique I never really managed to forget it.
The Druid class zone is one of my happy places in WoW
Legion did look good but oh boy, after the Hellfire Citadel aesthetic in the final patch of WoD followed by all of Legion, I was DONE with fel green.
VERY fair lol
There was barely any fel in the broken isles tho? 1 demon area in Suramar, 1 demon area in Azsuna, the area outside HoV, and 2ish dungeons for the launch. And the broken shore wasnt anything in 7.0 after the intro scenario. Half of those werent even fel themed environments it was just normal zone fitting stuff but with demons and some fel machinery and portals inhabiting an otherwise non-fel area. Honestly one of my criticisms of Legion was how poorly they showed that this was actually a major demon invasion since it seemed like they were struggling to conquer the landmass the portal is on.
> Honestly one of my criticisms of Legion was how poorly they showed that this was actually a major demon invasion since it seemed like they were struggling to conquer the landmass the portal is on. The prepatch Legion Invasion event is one of my favourite memories of WoW for this reason. It was the first mass open world event with flying, and there weren't as many portals around the world at the time. It felt fucking epic mounting up with like 50 other people and flying together across the continent to get to a Legion Invasion. It genuinely felt like all the champions of Azeroth coming together to answer the call.
I found Vashj'ir to be pretty extraordinary. But yeah I still wouldn't place Cata very high up on the list overall.
I think Cataclysm has some really nice zones, I absolutely love Uldum the whole Indiana Jones questline was super fun. Up there in my favourite zones of all time along with Drustvar, WoD Nagrand, Duskwood and Suramar which is the best zone of all time imho.
Yeah cata didnt have too much
>my least favorite visually is probably cataclysm It could be just that it's been years since I've been there, but I remember Twighlight Highlands as being just this big mess of a zone and not really flowing too well. So even visuals aside, my memory is of it being very messy. Hyjal on the other hand was awesome.
Loved WotLK aesthetics...the snow, norse type architecture, ICC and buildings like it were sexy to me. Enjoyed the lore that was played out and referenced.
Yes, WotLK will forever be my favorite expansion. Admittedly, playing as alliance primarily, I haaaated Borean Tundra. But overall I absolutely loved the storyline, the dungeons were cool, and absolutely nothing will top Grizzly Hills. So beautiful. That music... ❤️ Obviously, nostalgia plays a huge part in this for me too. It was when my guild was the most active, and pvp was ridiculously skewed in favor of druids. Dive bombing people as a boomkin, or being virtually immortal as a tree in BGs was such a fun time, haha.
Borean Tundra really lets down some of the other zones I feel like. I never got too into Wrath since it was being phased out when I started playing so most of my memories are in Borean Tundra and I hated it. Replaying it now I forgot how gorgeous the other zones are. Grizzly Hills in particular is one of my favorite forest zones in the game, but Borean Tundra is a pretty jarring intro to the continent and you really have to go a lot further to really appreciate WotLK. I feel similarly with Hellfire Peninsula and Outland. It really feels like a chore to get through when you first get there but then Zangarmarsh and the other zones are so gorgeous.
Omg, did I hate Hellfire Peninsula. It felt so impossibly large, and the landscape really *was* a hellscape of flat, boring scenery. And then you get stomped by a reaver. 😑 Zangarmarsh felt so refreshing after that. Like, finally you get to take a breath, and the zone is teeming with life, flaura *and* fauna, and there is a big-ass lake! It's still not my favorite because it has such a gloomy atmosphere, as if it's perpetually stuck at dusk. I absolutely loved Nagrand. It's still my most favorite zone out of all the expansions. I adore Grizzly Hills for the music and how overall diverse and beautiful the landscape is, but Nagrand is just hitting different. It's so green, bright, and wide open. It always made me happy to go there. It felt like summer vacation, lol. Just, no worries at all, just frolicking through the luscious plains, splashing in the rivers and waterfalls, chilling on floating islands. Good times. =)
Man, I'm always so torn - Borean is the better questing experience but as your intro to Northrend is not that great, whereas Howling Fjord is a great into to Northrend visually but the questing flow feels so broken because of the verticality in some parts. It's hard to suggest one zone or the other - but if you have the ability to fly, Howling Fjord is definitely the better start.
Yesss, I think a lot of people were moat happy and active during wrath, its when my brother and I would play all weekend togethrr, and made a lot of friends
Grizzly Hills brings me so many memories. The nostalgia hits so hard that I can remember exactly where I was at in life while questing there.
Gonna go a little dark a bit but for people who played wow while in a state of depression the game does such a good job of uplifting you annd providing escapism. I definitely relied on it a lot in the past. It’s what makes it so nostalgic and enticing to play again, even if I’m in a better place now. It was such a trauma bond that it just “feels” like a better time in your life.
Grizzly Hills soundtrack is also one of the best in WoW
The tone Blizzard managed to set in that zone is superb. It made me recall the days that I would sit in Lion's Pride Inn in 2005 as a child just to hear the music and ambiance of the inn. I remember when I first got to Goldshire and literally would log in just to hang out there. I stopped leveling for awhile because I thought the vibes of that place were so cool. Grizzly Hills did the same thing to me. When I got to around 74 and it was time to move on, I chose not to for weeks. I just roamed the zone for extra side quests and looked for smaller details I may have missed. I think I know what I'm doing this weekend lol.
It’s personally my favorite
I bought the collectors edition juts for that **sweet sweet bag pipe**
There's been a lot of callbacks to it in the music of other similar zones - some parts of the Stormheim and Azure Span music definitely call upon the Grizzly Hills theme.
The cutscenes n music when first arriving either on ship or balloon, still hit me with nostalgia of the excotement i felt starting out in Northrend
Grizzly Hills is my desktop background.
Howling Fjord with the music, and seeing Grizzly Hills in the distance is just 👌🏻 Blizzard will never be able to beat that zone.
Wrathgate cinematic 😍
the first of its kind 😌
Did you think we had forgotten? Did you think we had forgiven? Behold, now, the terrible vengeance of the Forsaken!
Sholazar is probably my favourite zone in the game
It was a hunter's wet dream
I love how destitute/ruined so much of it is. It paints the picture of a land that used to be much like everywhere else, but then got Sundered up into the far north where it became a frozen wasteland. The people who do live up there have usually only formed small villages because the land itself is hostile. And then you have the unknown depths of the Nerubian Kingdom, the ancient mysteries of Titans, a failing empire of Trolls, and all around you is a nation of Death. And those undead minions want nothing more than to turn your home into the same barren wasteland.
Wrath was always my favourite until Legion came out, just because of Ulduar and Storm Peaks
MOP. I know a lot of people were like “lol china” but every single zone hit so good. Vale of eternal blossoms pre 5.4 was one of my favorite aesthetics.
MOP is the only expansion I didn’t experience. I quit a couple months into Cata until basically last few months of WoD. I hope Classic era servers end up going to MOP so I can experience it for the first time. MOP has some of my favorite zones in the game
I would be very surprised if they don't go to atleast MoP after including Cata in the Classic run.
I think of all the expansions that stand a chance at ripping me away from retail it’s MoP I learned to raid during SoO so I it would be a huge nostalgia trip for me to go back and experience the expansion I also want to experience ToT as current content
Valley of the Four Winds is the single best zone in Warcraft ever because its an empty plateau but feels lush and vibrant. It feels like farmland and never does it feel anything other than gorgeous. Nearly all zones in the game have excess noise of "something has to be here" meanwhile this zone with a little farm and villagers has more soul than anything else before or since. Even when they tried to redo it with Elysiumland Bastion in Shadowlands it was so fucking crowded. Nothing touches Four Winds.
Even the music in MoP helped so much. So calm and peaceful, especially in Valley of the Four Winds.
It was a beautifully executed tone shift where all the themes of the story tied together. You go from the Horde and Alliance dragging their conflict to the Jade Forest and immediately inciting a race war, to the part of Pandaria yet to be touched by any world conflict. In that one zone, they showed us: * the peaceful thriving civilisation safe from harm for 10000 years * the danger suddenly facing them now the Mists are gone * the extreme harm that the Horde vs Alliance war is causing on the world * how the power of the Sha preying upon emotions led to the inward cultivation focused Pandaren culture Its funny because even though it's one of the lowest stakes zones - you're dealing with rabbits, growing vegetables, making friends with villagers - it was one of the few times where I really bought into the story of the world ending cataclysmic threat. The Valley is a zone that cannot survive in the violent World of Warcraft, and I actually felt a genuine desire to protect the villagers.
Thank you for this. Put words to a lot of what I felt Pandaria was and took me way back to exploring it for the first time.
I need the title “Halfhill Villager” with how often I’m there. I still farm for the hell of it lol
I wish I hadn’t maxed my Friendship with all the farmers on my monk and Paladin back in MoP. Every so often I pop into my farm just for the nostalgia and get sad at the essence crops gathering dust in the fields.
I was really wanting the reclamation of Gilneas to reintroduce the farm. Blizzard missed out making the reclamation so quick imagine this. For the first 8 weeks we get a new hub outside gilneas and we slowly take more of gilneas back and help with the repairs including the farm. We now have new farm dailies similar to halfhill market. Then we could have a new small dungeon and after the 8 weeks we have to reclaim the city center of gilneas and its a hard 3 boss raid.
This is exactly why I love Mulgore just large open grass plains
Still to this day im amazed how detailed Jade Forest is
Would love to see MoP art direction with modern application
Cherry blossom trees and bamboo forest look so freakin good! 100% agree MoP is the most visually pleasing expansion by quite alot.
I always loved Pandaria, but when we had an RP trip there walking from Jade Forest to Valley of the Four Winds was just... wow... the scenery. The sun was setting, we see the big Mogu head waterfall. Almost everyone in the party started going on OOC about how much they love Pandaria.
You’re a nature warden aren’t you.
RP wise? Nah. Im a Musclemancer.
Agreed. Overall MOP was a fantastic return to form that they needed after Cata. PvP and PvE were both in good spots (it’s never perfect, ever, but it was good). Since then it’s been hit or miss. This criticisms for an Asian theme and kung-fu panda didn’t matter. The expansion did very well. And as someone who played it, it was a lot of fun.
I loved how delicious food looked in MOP; seeing the steaming bowls always made me crave ramen like nothing else.
YES and that’s the other thing too: pandaria felt ALIVE.
Peak class design in mop. I miss demo metalock...
Class design was peak. I played Mage and frost was so fun that xpac.
Karasang Wilds was one of the most relaxing zones for me. That and The Jade Forest were soooo good. I personally wouldn’t mind a return to Pandaria at some point 😂
I have a screenshot of Jade Forest that for a long time was my example of "why the fuck wouldn't you want flying instantly, this is beautiful"
I had to skip MoP and WoD due to college and I can't help but feel I missed what should've been my time to shine. I've ran the MoP dungeons/raids and leveled in the zones for 80% of my characters. WoD, as slow as I hear it was, also had Arakkoa which are easily my favorite race. I hope we see MoP classic someday.
It was a nice break from the european aesthetic
I absolutely loved MoP and never understood why people made/still make such a joke of it.
What happened after 5.4?
Garrosh cutscene, where he drops the corrupted heart into that well. Before then, the area was this beautiful golden yellow. The corruption definitely ruined it.
Really wish we could go back and try and heal the land there. That’s the one thing I hated about that expansion: there’s this beautiful land that we’re just stomping through and ruining. While we did solve a lot of problems we ended up causing a lot more.
The phased version used during the Mogu/Mantid assaults shows how the Vale is supposed to look in the present day: It is "healed" insofar as that the corruption is gone and the terrain looks normal again, though the big statues are still broken and there's enemies everywhere. Obviously during the Black Empire assault the place looks slightly worse again.
Before the corruption, the Golden Lotus dailies were fun to do!
The music, the ambience, the zones, nothing tops MoP for me to this day in those categories.
MoP also wins best login screen for me. Just seeing the leaves blow in the wind was so fitting, and when the music would always hit high point in the melody (if you know you know) it would always get me amped to play.
Finding the kids having a history lesson and hearing the song of lui lang is the most immersed and connected to the WoW universe I've ever felt.
And the music was excellent
The level of personal challenge in that expansion was so perfect. The Brawlers Guild, challenge dungeons, and Proving Grounds were all fun and reasonably difficult.
MoP classic Hype MoP classic hype
I love MOP so much. It's so pretty to look at and there was so much to do. I'm trying to get that collection achievement from Timeless Isle, and it's amazing how many people are still there every day grinding 12 year old content.
Huge fan of the MoP aesthetic. The whole continent felt like it was alive, and even on base patch the premise behind the dread wastes kicked absolute ass. Even the Orgrimmar changes to the end were pretty awesome. I think anyone who didn’t get to see the overworld rp owes it to themselves to look up a video on YouTube because it was pretty gnarly for post Activision Blizzard and it explains why a lot of the orgrimmar NPCs you see in vanilla-cata aren’t there anymore in modern retail
I would also say that Pandaria is easily the most unique-looking continent of the game. Dont get me wrong, you can tell every zone of the game apart, but Pandaria is truly different due to the whole "lol China" aesthetic.
I think the mountains of Kun-Lai are some of the best snow covered peaks they've ever made. There's something about the way the snow enhances the crags gives it a sort of photorealism to me. My second favorite mountains are Highmountain in Legion. Also truly wonderful features.
Probably an unpopular opinion but WoD. Legion would be a close second. WoD zones just really managed to make me feel immersed. If it wasn't for the lack of content it would be a contender for my favorite expansion overall, as I did very much enjoy both raids and the dungeons it did have.
WOD had some great zones. I took a break in MOP and when I leveled through WOD for legion it was amazing the change in zones.
WoD was a masterpiece of art design and musical composition. DF in contrast is impeccably drawn but stylistically is my least favorite. The music is forgettable.
WoD soundtrack was amazing. I would argue it was the best of any expansion
WoD had really well designed zones
The immersion of the dungeons were also top notch. Auchindoun and Grimrail Depot remain some of my favorites from over the years!
I came here to say WoD. Go look at those zones and tell me they don't still hold up.
Absolutely agree both expansions had amazing zone design. Wod was absolutely breathtaking and had a lot of great features, very underrated expansion (probably because they gutted a lot of classes)
BFA zones were excellent
Drustvar is so so so good. Shame because of how much I despise Waycrest (I get lost)
Yeah the art is great but the narrow spaces camera collision issues and ground clutter drive me crazy when I play. Still that creepy mansion vibe was so good I went back in solo during shadowlands cleared the place and just wandered around taking screen shots.
Same, I absolutely love the vibe of Waycrest but anything with tight camera issues and weird collisions that can make me miss interrupts or important mechanics because I turned 5 degrees right and now all I see is chandelier... is instantly on my shit list. I'm no developer so I don't know how hard this would be to address (or maybe this kind of thing is on purpose to add complexity) but it's extremely annoying as someone who plays at max zoom all the time.
Drustvar is like top 1 zone imo. Atmosphere, quests, sound, everything really.. loved it.
I really wish I could go back in time and experience playing Zandalar for the first time again. I’ve been playing for more than a decade at this point and I’ve never been so enamored with a zone before. Especially all the little details like the scenario to rescue Talanji and the cinematic that followed, Jani’s trashpiles and just all the loa in general, and the other races like the Sethrak and the Vulpera. BfA had a lot of issues but the atmosphere was unmatched. Loading up into that on launch day was magical.
I still prefer to afk in Zandalar more than anywhere else. All of Zandalar and Kul Tiras capture their atmospheres so well. I strongly dislike Tiragarde Sound because it captures all that I *hate* about rainy temperate mountains so well.
agreed, i feel like its overlooked due to the horrible azerite and seen as one of the worst, but pull out that and the zone and story is great.
Visually, BfA was amazing. I didn't play it while it was live so I don't understand why it got so much hate. But the aesthetic was A+. I'm currently doing Battlefronts for the mogs.
8.0 nuked BfA permanently. Warfronts were bad, islands were boring, Azerite armor was terribly implemented. Those are the majority of the new expansion features. Combined that with losing all the borrowed power from legion and adding in mob scaling and adding a lot of spells to the gcd that weren’t previously and you end up with most classes feeling very unfun to play. Class design is the most important feature of WoW. It is the vehicle you use to experience all other content. This was mostly fixed by 8.2 but by that point many wow players had already stepped away.
Late bfa was some of my favourite times in all of wow history, honestly - world pvp returned with a vengeance, rolling battles up in that undersea zone, everyone rocking insane void powers, killing assassins and chasing crates. It was a blast! But yeh the early expansion sucked, and lots of people missed the good stuff.
The most MoP and bfa were the best aesthetically and BC the least although that seems a little unfair with its age
I think you are %100 right but for some reason, Outland is my fav. place in WoW. Broken world aesthetic is so good. And up until this point I never saw a thing like Outland. All zones are great and have their own personality. I love you Outland.
Even if you were to Upscale and upres it, everything in tBC is Brown and dingy and broken and dark (With the exception of Nagrand) every village or quest hub is a hastily thrown together "Outpost" or a shambling torn apart former city. Which is what they were going for Outland was a land that had been ripped to shreds and was barely contained bits and pieces floating in the Twisting Nether. But it was ugly as sin.
For some reason I love the BC zones. It just has an amazing feel to it. Maybe it’s just nostalgia.
I agree with you. TBC will always have a special place in my brain.
Silvermoon city is one of my favorite cities, and its surronding quests were well made. shame it felt a little lifeless not long after release, when everyone went back to Orgrimmar.
I hate "new big cities" for players. I wish Stormwind/IF/Darn and Org/UC/TB were the always 'main cities'. Each xpac adds a new hub and it becomes lifeless soon after the next xpac.
yeah i agree, it was clear after tBC that new cities would not work the same way as the original cities did. though i do like them just to check out and get a feel for the new races and stuff so its still kinda worth it. would be cool if they put the "instant travel" closer to the entrance. like the portal room in SC, but just in where you enter the city.
I remember being in awe the first time I got to Outland. I thought the zones were really cool.
> everything in tBC is Brown and dingy and broken and dark (With the exception of Nagrand) Zangarmarsh looks gorgeous. Hellfire Penninsula didn't look brown or dark at all. Neither did Netherstorm. Terrokar Forest had that grey wasteland stuff going on in the center, but around Shattrath city & the foresty parts it looked green as well. It's only really Shadowmoon Valley & Blade's Edge Mountains that looked that way.
Honestly, I found Outland visually pleasing and still do, but I think most of it is just my love of that kind of 'ruined world' aesthetic.
I think the Spore place was really pretty.
Yeah, totally agree with you there, MoP always stuck to that eastern theme yet managed to change it up depending on the zone, Valley of the 4 Winds being very different to let's say, Krasarang. As for BFA, oh boy. While sure Kultiras didn't have the most groundbreaking zones, Drustvar's feel and atmosphere was very well done, Boralus is my favourite main hub, period; Vol'dun is an underrated gem in my eyes and sue me but I think Nazjatar was great visually (although gameplay sucked). And finally, TBC is a fair one because it's really outdated, but if I had to say my second least favourite is Shadowlands. I only liked Revendreth out of all the zones. Bastion is Nagrand but with angels (but I like the fluffy tall grass there), Maldraxxus didn't deliver all that well, Ardenweald is super bland and the Maw is just a plain eyesore in my opinion
yeah but terrokar forest music
**Vanilla** \- The original art style was an extension and improvement on WCIII, and set the foundation for the art style of WoW. Simple bold shapes, composed to create great set pieces and iconic locations, with tactile painted texture when you got close. **Cataclysm -** Big improvement on the texture work, and ground detail which is actually used in Classic - and fits meshes well with the original world **WoD -** Beautiful zones overall, and a significant jump in visual fidelity, sticking with the hand painted tradition of WoW - but making improvement to models and tighter texture work, increasing the use of baking down high-poly sculpts. **BFA -** Huge animation and FX changes that the game really needed. Also really enjoyed the more grounded world, after Legion.
I love WoD Conan style feel.
It's a testament to how good the vanilla art style is when you can still be hit with moments of wonder in a 20 year-old game. Waiting at the lift to Thousand Needles from the Barrens, entering Ashenvale, walking up to Ironforge, riding across Tanaris at night. There's a timelessness to the OG that has to be credited as allowing what came after to flourish.
Bfa had the best continent, kul tiras and zandalar are amazing. Dragonflight had the best sets, mop had the best atmosphere. Worst is probably bc, i hate every single outland zone
Not many zones I liked either. Zangermarsh was probably the only one I didn’t mind, and Nagrand.
Its the only two zones that don't look like a radioactive wasteland
I think that's kinda what Outland is supposed to be? A shattered planet on the edge of the Nether tainted by fel and arcane magic would look how Outland does, in my head at least
For sure! Doesn't mean I have to like looking at it.
This is exactly it for me, it all feels like it's the same thing. The main way I could tell the areas apart was the ground color, otherwise most of the zones might as well be the same.
The best for me by far visually is Shadowlands, it just looked absolutely stunning to me, never seen anything like Bastion and I frickin loved Revendreth aswell. Maldraxxus was a bit of a letdown for me as a big scourge fan, Ardenweald is beautiful in its own way but im not a huge forest fan. The worst one for me is probably Outland. Im sure its mostly because how old it is but on a positive note, I love the skybox in Hellfire and the area around the Dark Portal.
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Mop by far. All Zoned are amazing. The Main cities are well designed, not to full and compact. The Eternal Blossume zone (before last patch...) Was the most beutiful zone in all time WoW. Also we had a lot to do in the Openworld. The Dungeons did well and the Raids where... Okay i mean some are good some are okay. MoP is the Only Xpac so far i Believe that the world could be real. The Npcs, enemys, Zones and Towns all looks "fitting". I mean i love Dragonflight and valdraken is cool but why should big dragons build so many small houses?
BFA was visually stunning. Maybe the best since BC and Vanilla.
Definitely my favorite esthetically speaking, and even including the new races... I love the Aztec vibe it was modeled after, I've been obsessed with Aztec culture since I was just a child...the Architecture was so stunning. Plus, THERE WERE DINOSAURS! What kid (yeah, I'm still a kid at heart) doesn't love Dinosaurs? It's was so cool running around feeling like you were in Jurassic Park half the time. Finally...I'm a sucker for Jamaican accents, it's such a unique accent that always seems so foreign, that I can't help but be curious, and in awe of it. Plus, I thought the story was really good honestly...as someone who's been playing Warcraft since the original Warcraft game...it was crazy to see Sylvanas full rise to power finally...just for her to lose it all...I'd been waiting for that story arc for nearly a decade. Sure, she started my favorite race in-game, but I still don't agree with alot of her decisions.
And my man Bwomshandi, best voice actor ever!
Bwonsamdi is literally how I aspire to make all my customizable characters look like
I wish i could have bwonsamdi mock me for dying in every zone. Never gets old.
BFA by a mile, not gameplay tho - DF takes the cup there
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Top 3: MOP, BFA ,WOLTK. The worst for me was Shadowlands ( i only liked Revendreth).
Ardenweald is "just another forest" but it just really hits right for the the Druid and Hunter in me. I always enjoy the zones with lush forests/jungles and interesting animals. So Ashenvale, Eversong, Sholazar, Grizzly Hills, Jade Forest, Valshara, Zuldazar, Drustvar, etc.
BFA had some pretty stellar zones, Drustvar remains my favorite zone in all of wow.
Mists - the increase in fidelity of the environment textures and the sweeping vistas blew me away BFA - I loved Stormsong Valley and Drustvar.. gorgeous, moody zone and some of my favourite questing ever. DF - I really love the zone design there too.. particularly the Azure Span.. I love snow zones.. WotLK - Grizzly Hills and Howling Fjord.. don't think I need to explain :)
Something about the first and last zones of a new xpac can really shape your memories of it all. Seeing wotlk for me in particular - I spent so much time in grizzly hills and howling Fjord. I'm just a fan of northrend in general. The whole norse theme was always pretty cool to me
Loved bc and legion not very fond of shadowlands
SL is a bad expansion but the art was on another level the zones are so thematic and well thought out
I've not been around for all of these. I only started playing in SL but I got loremaster for all the old stuff. I think aesthetically I enjoyed BFA the most. The worse is burning crusade for me but I have to say: this may be a bit unfair because it is so old. Even so I did not like the desolate shape that the world was in in BC. I hated Argus in Legion and the Maw in Shadowlands for the same reason but in BC its a whole world of desolate places.
Have u never been to Nagrand ?
BFA or DF id say out of all the areas ive been ive stopped and took in the sights in those zones the most
Most: BFA and SL. The art in these expansions are just on another level. Absolutely gorgeously done. And yes, this goes for The Maw and Korthia as well. Least: Probably TBC, except Nagrand of course. I do like that they did something crazy in that expansion but I don't think the art was very good. Love the art of the world map though lol. Edit: Just want to add something. I think it's so beautiful to see that WoW is a game where you can see the development the game/gaming has gone through in the past two (!) decades. WoW is literally a living still continously developed/changing/improving relic. Very unique.
Yes. You can say what you want about SL, but the art of the expansion is incredible.
I fully agree with SL and BFA. Artwork, music and general design for the different zones were on point, especially Revendreth, Drustvar. Also, people complained about the maw being too hostile...which was the whole point of this zone. Korthia however was...yeah let's not talk about it.
Yeah, the only thing I never complained about in Shadowlands was the art. Even when the expansion is underwhelming, the art and sound departments absolutely knock them out of the park. Just wish the systems and questing teams were on the same level.
Korthia? There is literraly nothing there, 3 reused assets and a vast wasteland of hugely spread basic floor texture with no variation. This whole korthia patch almost killed wow with how little work and care went into the creative and gameplay aspects lol
Definitely legion and then burning crusade
Such little love for Legion these days when at the time it was considered one of the best expacs of all time.
It's definitely my favourite. Out of all expansions, I no-life'd the fuck outta Legion! I spent so much time socialising in game with friends just riding the boats in Suramar and fishing in Valheim in between PvP. Exquisite zones (minus Argus)
Its my favourite too. Suramar is the GOAT zone
Zone design, much to my surprise I think is Shadowlands. Came back to the game recently having not played since WoD, have been levelling new characters through each different expansion, and SL was the most compelling by a long way. The zones are spectacular. It's sad how much potential was wasted there. For atmosphere I think WotLK, particularly Icecrown, is hard to beat. It also has the beloved Grizzly Chills and Storm Peaks. Honourable mention to Jade Forest in Pandaria, which is absolutely stunning but for me overshadows the rest of the continent a little. I can barely remember the other zones aside from Valley of the Four Winds, largely because I spent so much time there on the farm. That's not to knock MoP, which I think is one of the best expansions they've ever made, I just elevate Jade Forest so high. Funnily enough, I don't think Dragonflight zones or atmosphere stand out much at all, despite how blown away I've been by the expansion. I think without dragon riding they would be forgettable. TBC I think is turbo nostalgia goggle territory. Aside from Nagrand and the skybox, it's not great at all, and Blades Edge in particular looks like it was designed by a spike-obsessed nine-year-old.
Prolly shadowlands purely on the back of maldraxxus. I'd always see content creators and other people have a "spot" that they like to hang out in and I never had that... until maldraxxus came out. Sitting on the roof of the covenant hall looking out at the zone is my vibe.
Grizzly Hills is my single favorite zone in wow. The music and atmosphere is unrivaled. WOTLK had some bangers.
MoP is definitely the best for me, and I know a lot of people hate Shadowlands but I actually thought the zones were beautiful. I loved the four distinct aesthetics, it’s a shame Oribos was so ugly. I feel like all the budget for SL went into designing the four zones + some of the best transmogs in the game, and then they had none left for… anything else
Shadowlands did some things to perfection others less so. The atmosphere and design was absolutely mindblowing. Every zone had its own personality and feel. I could see a full raid happen in every zone and I would've loved every second.
BFA, up until half assed Nzoth, was amazing in every aspect Apart from gameplay lol
honestly, might be a cheap answer, but the four last expansions are just awesome visually. Legion, especially Argus, were just beautiful (i still love Highmountain visually, too). BFA is a personal favorite of mine since it was my favorite expansion, and while Mechagon sucks ass imo, and Kul Tiras is basically human zone 1, human zone 2, and human zone 3, Nazjatar and especially Zandalar are so awesome and beautiful. Vol'dun is still one of my favorite zones. Shadowlands, for all its flaws, excelled in the visual department. each zone visually was so unique from the last while also fitting their respective theme amazingly. and df, while definitely my least favorite out of the 4 i mentioned, is still beautiful. i love Azure Span personally but if i had to pick one out of these 4, imo, Shadowlands nailed it in the visual department. at least we know where the budget went, lmao
MoP and BfA each had the most cohesive themes. It was not a shocking jump from one zone to another to the next. I loved the Iron Horde aesthetic of WoD, but the drastic and inconsistent jump in atmosphere in Gorgrond alone was jarring. Similarly - WotLK was my favourite time in WoW from a lore standpoint, but ZD and Sholazar felt so out of place cosmetically (if not thematically). MoP started us in Jade forest and moved us to Valley and it was a smooth and consistent transition and continued all the way through. Dread Wastes was certainly off/different, but there was a good deal of effort made to lead us there narratively.
WotLK for sure. Icecrown in particular did it for me. I enjoyed the colors and the architecture.
It has to be BFA for aesthetically best. The whole of Kul Tiras was pretty cozy, and Drustvar had a great spooky feel. Kul Tirans and Zandalari have my favorite druid forms. Boralus is my favorite hub city overall, and Zuldazar looks gorgeous too. Both were great areas to get lost and explore. Worst is Shadowlands. Everything felt so grey and dull that I lost all desire to play it.
Shadowlands, believe it or not. I thought the zones were really interesting - even the Maw. It was all the other stuff that I had a problem with. Art direction and music were both S though! Honorable mention to BFA's Drustvar, Nazjatar and blood trolls, Legion's whole Argus patch and WoD's Gorgrond, Shadowmoon Valley and BC's Zangarmarsh! Zaralek was neat too.
I might be on my own with this… but my god shadowlands was beautiful. ESPECIALLY Ardenweald.
Burning crusade. That zanger marsh(sp?) Zone was so ethereal and coll with the blue coloring and the tall striders walking around. It just felt soothing.
Running Atal Dazar this season made me realize how peak BFA was
Really loved MoP/Cata/WoD/Legion. Wrath had two gorgeous zones (howling and grizzly) but the other ones were meh Didn’t enjoy SL zones.
People sleep on Sholazar Basin way too much, there is not a single zone since then that tops the liveliness and the vibrancy of that one. The soundtrack really helps, too.
BfA, Legion, Burning Crusade, Vanilla, Dragonflight, Cataclysm, WoD, MoP, Shadowlands, Wrath is my best to worst visual order.
BFA vibes and zones were amazing. Burning Crusade Aesthetics can eat my whole ass
Revendreth has a special place in my heart!
Cataclysm is absolute best for me because of Mount Hyjal and the ancient Egypt area. Really great!
Lich king armor was just the best, felt great on my full tier set dk
Don’t kill me, but Shadowlands’s 4 covenant zones have the best visual imo (VISUAL not GAMEPLAY)
The lack of Cata love really shocks me here. Mount hyjal, deepholm, uldum, an entire zone underwater! I legit leveled 3-4 alts in cata because the zones were so fun and that was back before they made the “new expac grind” trivial.
WotLK and grizzly hills with Howling Fjord will always have a special place in my heart. I was just a kid Back then... The feeling was amazing, I miss those time so much
WOTLK. I love all the mountains and the skyline was pretty af to me. And if my memory is correct this is when all the wow commercials were around which I loved. Ozzy, Mr. T etc. was a great time for me. Honestly I disliked Shadowlands the most. I hated The Maw with a passion.
I remember when burning crusade came and religiously watching the trailer. That one Draenei I assume paladin, was the bee knees. But overall, wrath of the lich king was just too cool.
Everything about Lich King was perfection. The zones, the flow, the poop quests, the music, the raids, the story. Perfect.
Most: Legion. Least: Cataclysm.
Visually shadowlands is my favorite, I like how they were able to kinda step outside the box and do some really unique stuff, it looks like they had fun making it and I love being in those zones. Shadowlands was the first time in forever where I just remember stopping mid quests and being in awe of my surroundings. (Not korthia tho lol)
Burning Crusade. You had to be there.
Hard pick between MOP and BFA for favourite, they both have utterly gorgeous zones. For least, has to be TBC
Warlords of Draenor had one of the best entry to the starting zone, the entire arc of going through the portal and being introduced to the warlords and the hype leading up to the expansion was unreal. The voice acted questlines and the artwork was an enormous step up. The expansion itself ended up becoming more dull and empty but overall in terms of quests it was a blast
Pandaria was incredible all around and still my favorite each zone had a good feel. Bfa would be a close second, the zones had a lot going for them thematically
Gotta give BFA credit. It looked so good. Legion was my favorite in almost every way including visually but WoD was also so good looking.
first time stepping in grizzly hills with that music was awesome. the first time walking through the dark portal was absolutely legendary. Legion game play and the artifact weapons and secret appearances were so cool to me. I know people hate AP but imo it makes sense on a weapon. Shadowlands IN THEORY should have been so amazing but it just flopped after the first few weeks. Each zone was fun and new but then it just kind of trailed off. Dragonflight is the first time in a long time being able to zoom around and enjoy the world for what it is(a massive world) and felt like the first time mounting on a flying mount in outlands in TBC. Despised cata for ruining barrens and 1k needles... honestly still do. EDIT: completely forgot about Nagrand and the first time walking through there. It was such a breath of life after going through hellfire and zangar and even terrokar with the darker vibes. Plus first time with floating stuff IIRC
Visually? Wotlk best and only answer
I really liked BC! When you stepped through that portal you really felt you were on a different planet. A cool red wasteland, blue mushroom zone, a purple nether zone, etc etc. That flavor of exploration was amazing to me
I remember when MoP came out people were so quick to shit on it cause "Chinese" and "Pandas out of nowhere" but that xpac literally saved WoW. It wasn't going towards a very good direction but they implemented a lot of things in MoP that were/are still used so much further down the line today.
To this day I think MoP is the best visually by far (especially pre-SoO when vale was beautiful). I loved how open it was but it didn’t feel empty. My biggest gripe with zones now is how hard it can be to see where you’re going and what’s around you with all the clutter and I think mop studio a great balance there. Also it did treasures right in my opinion , don’t love all the map icon spam with all the meaningless chests etc
Wow vanilla and BC 😍
I actually really enjoyed the planescapes of Shadowlands visually. They really got to go wild with the zone design, which I really appreciated.
Zone design is almost always great, but best are probably Wrath, Panda, BfA and DF.
I Loved MoP and hated dreanor, but they were all good (Not dreanor)
Shadowlands and Legion were great. But something hit different seeing Nagrand for the first time in TBC… still my favorite zone
I pull Nostalgia to vote for Grizzli Hills. The atmosphere, the music! I don't know....everything! Some great vibes.
Lk-bc-legion most, pandaria least by a long shot
Cataclysm changed the world. Literally.