Nostalgia concerning pre Cata vanilla zones.

[simpleton]

I like what Blizz did with zonal levling flow and cohenrent zone questing however I miss the pre cata zones look and feel. I would ove to see the world "whole" again and recoverd from the cataclysm and for these zones to lose the apocolyptic nature they have now. Does anyone else fell this way? Just curious.

[McNeil]

I also miss the old zones, they felt a lot more atmospheric with a lot of mystery in some of the zones. I like some of the updated questing experience, but having all this natural damage like volcano's coming out of the ground, leaving huge scars behind only ruins these once good looking zones imo. I would've liked if they can make it possible to revisit the old zones with phasing, like how they ccan bring back Theramore and Nethergarde. Or they can just make a legacy server.

[Esandarius]

Are you kidding? Yes, I miss the old zones. Not only were they not broken environmentally (Stranglethorn, Darkshore, Barrens, Westfall all definitely come to mind), but the changes that were made in Cataclysm make very little sense. They added flight paths everywhere, to some very minor places. They disrupted the timeline so all of Azeroth and Kalimdor are in a time after Outland and Northrend and in perpetual conflict with Deathwing and his minions, whereas before it was a generic any time after WC3. But worse, the decisions made by the Alliance and Horde are just AWFUL. The Alliance invades the barrens and Stormtalon peaks for some reason. Alliance and Horde are in each other's starting zones. The Horde slime and wipe out Southshore and Alterac Mountains as Alliance zones. Gilneas is created and removed. It's a lot of faction on faction war in places that either don't make sense (Kalimdor) or in ways that the players don't get to experience it (Alliance in Lordaeron).

Look, I get it. Leveling in Classic was grindy. There were fewer quests. It took a long time. It didn't "flow". But it was more open to adventure and exploration. You basically had to travel the world to level. The worst thing about Cataclysm isn't what it added. It's what it removed. It removed history :/

[Vineri]

I really miss the sense of danger. Some places you would never go alone, or if you ever did, it would be a friend you would correspond with. Danger was everywhere, NPC's used the same abilities players had, like blind, or fear. They could even spawn new enemies if the encounter took too long, all open world. They didn't just melee, no, they spoke of your doom.

Blizzard did much damage to their original fans.

Leveling was hard, earning money was difficult. It was hard and difficult for everyone though, so it was fair.

I liked the older maps, personally. There existed shortcuts through the mountains, and I thought that was cool.

[SteveRocks]

I like what Blizz did with zonal levling flow and cohenrent zone questing however I miss the pre cata zones look and feel. I would ove to see the world "whole" again and recoverd from the cataclysm and for these zones to lose the apocolyptic nature they have now. Does anyone else fell this way? Just curious.

I would prefer the zones to not be ripped open like in the Barrens, but I know that another revamp would take way too many resources and time away from more important content.

Somewhat related: I HATE what they did to Darkshore. It used to be my favorite zone. I feel bad for the players who never got to experience the original Darkshore. It used to be such a cool, dark, almost creepy zone and the music was perfect. Now the zone is all flowery and lame and the music while nice, just doesn't create the same atmosphere that the older version did.

[-Ethos-]

I dont really know how to desribe it but some of the revamped zones feel ...overdone? Or just irrelevant now that DW isnt relevant?

[Tackhisis]

I miss the pre cata zones look and feel.

Those are exactly the same zones, with exactly the same landmarks and all same quests. There is nothing to feel nostalgia for.

[Low Hanging Fruit]

I dont really know how to desribe it but some of the revamped zones feel ...overdone? Or just irrelevant now that DW isnt relevant?

Yeah I feel they designed the whole orginal world to around the cata expansion with the remake.

[Darklurker]

I do miss them as well. Also, I really really miss the old versions of dungeons such as Scholomance.

[Otimus]

I don't know, but there definitely needs to be something done about the story flow of the game right now.

For everyone except pandas, DK's and Demon Hunters, your story goes:

Cataclysm - Burning Crusade - Wrath - Cataclysm - Pandaria - WOD - Legion


For DK's
Wrath - Cataclysm for a brief second - Burning Crusade - Wrath - Cataclysm - Pandaria - WOD - Legion

For Pandas
Pandaria - Cataclysm - Burning Crusade - Wrath - Cataclysm - Pandaria - WOD - Legion


If they had no intention on revamping everything up to that point and later on, they either should of not done it, or revert things, because as is, it's entirely broken.

But they know now they don't have to fix anything anymore now that paid character boosts exist.

[Vineri]

Those are exactly the same zones, with exactly the same landmarks and all same quests. There is nothing to feel nostalgia for.

Of course Nostalgia will kick in, because they are not exactly the same. Saying the quests are the same is like saying a daredevil jump from a building is the same as a jump from a diving board into a pool of water. Ah, no, the pre-Cata quests were rather difficult, sometimes requiring a team of others to complete. Social stuff, eh? I liked the social aspect, it was an easy way to make friends, and of course enemies ... but without CRZ, this was meaningful.

[ro9ue]

I dont really know how to desribe it but some of the revamped zones feel ...overdone? Or just irrelevant now that DW isnt relevant?

That's exactly how I would describe it actually. Most of WoW is that way in a lot of ways. Puts the player on such a linear "on rails" path that it kills the sense of mystery and exploration.

[anon5123]

That's exactly how I would describe it actually. Most of WoW is that way in a lot of ways. Puts the player on such a linear "on rails" path that it kills the sense of mystery and exploration.

Yeah, one of the things I love about Vanilla is that you need to travel around between zones in order to quest properly. You can't just step into Westfall at level 10 and come out at level 20, you need to travel back and forth between Westfall, Loch Modan and Darkshore to level efficiently with quests, because there aren't enough quests in each individual zone in order for you to just do one; you have to do at least two full 10-20 zones in order to level from 10 to 20.

Nowadays though, you get halfway through the zone and outlevel it and then just mosey on over to the next zone, repeat until max level. Blegh. Feels way too on-rails, yes.

In classic WoW it doesn't take long to feel starved of quests and without a quest helper or good knowledge of the game, sometimes it can feel like you're missing out. This encourages exploration, not just of the zones but the towns within them. Visiting every room in an Inn and scouring every building often leads to much-needed quests. Adventuring outside of towns and towards quest objectives is rewarding in an of itself, but scattered about the zone are caves, towers, and other small areas that often yield quests. I find myself scanning the environment far more, and trying to reach higher ground to see if there's something in the distance worth checking out.

Indeed. Through questing in Vanilla, I found so many quests that I never even knew existed. The low EXP gain really forces you to do as many quests as you can, and as such, you end up really exploring the world and finding lots of quests in places you'd never expect.

Vanilla encouraged exploration of the world; modern WoW encourages sitting in town and spamming dungeons...

[sheggaro]

I HATE what Cataclysm has one to a once beautiful world.

Always have, always will.

It's not just the zones' look though, the new quests and the whole 'questing on rails' suck too!

[Smank]

Alliance and Horde are in each other's starting zones.

The BLACKROCKS are in the alliance starting area. #Notallorcs

[Terahertz]

Or just irrelevant now that DW isnt relevant?

This is my biggest issue with the revamped zones. The situation of the zones are becoming more and more entangled. As a Horde you're leveling through the zones, seeing Garrosh as the warchief. Then you enter MoP and see Garrosh go on a rampage. Begin WoD Vol'Jin is now the warchief and Garrosh is dead. Now with Legion Sylvanas is the warchief.

Horde will have seen 3 different warchiefs over the course of leveling up. Then there's also going to Outland and Northrend which happens before you even create your character story-wise.

The world kind of feels like it's being kept together with bandaids at this point with how sporadic the story is.

[Einzweidrei]

The worst thing about Cataclysm isn't what it added. It's what it removed. It removed history :/

It'd be fun to see archeology include items that can be triggered while in a zone and you get a flashback to what it used to be.

[Charge me Doctor]

I wonder if its possible to make some sort of "vision of the past" item, that warps old zones into what they were before and allow you to wonder around it on foot, without any mobs spawning (or let us "see" them as ghosts). Off course everything should be in ghostly vision like when you retrieve your corpse

[Packing an i5]

All they needed to do was make some quests easier and change the quest rewards to make sense. Often you would have to choose between say a wand or a shield and your class couldn't use either and the money rewards from quests at a low level were an absolute joke. There was strange stats on gear like strength and spirit together etc.

Just a touch up would of been fine. I think adding flying and changing Azeroth for the sake of 1 expansion that is now 6 years old was a mistake. You know they realize flying was a mistake why else would they impose new restrictions on it? Flying takes away from the experience it makes questing and gathering too easy.

[Charge me Doctor]

As one who may or may not have satisfied the craving for Vanilla WoW by using a private server, I have to say that while the questing is certainly better in shattered Azeroth, vanilla invokes far more adventure and mystery. I've played since launch and recently I had been attributing my appreciation of Vanilla to nothing more than mere nostalgia, but after experiencing it again there's a lot to really like about classic WoW zones, or more accurately, how one experiences them.

In classic WoW it doesn't take long to feel starved of quests and without a quest helper or good knowledge of the game, sometimes it can feel like you're missing out. This encourages exploration, not just of the zones but the towns within them. Visiting every room in an Inn and scouring every building often leads to much-needed quests. Adventuring outside of towns and towards quest objectives is rewarding in an of itself, but scattered about the zone are caves, towers, and other small areas that often yield quests. I find myself scanning the environment far more, and trying to reach higher ground to see if there's something in the distance worth checking out.

The world also presents far more danger in classic WoW. Murlocs became famous for a reason: they were a nightmare to a new player, aggroing in large packs and decimating full-health players in little time. Even in the starting zones, mobs present a real threat and will slaughter the average player who pulls more than 2. You learn very quickly to scout a new area with care and to use the environment to your advantage, pulling mobs one or two at a time to the nearest safe spot.

Overall this results in the world feeling far more massive and immersive. Even as one who experienced this at launch, revisiting it today I realize how much I have forgotten. Perhaps the Quest Helper add-on and eventual baseline integration happened far longer ago than I remember. Maybe I'm just getting old. Either way, it's a blast exploring the world of classic WoW and feels more like an adventure than not only modern WoW, but most other RPGs.

Zones are exactly the same, it's datamining and data websites and forums that "ruin" the "old" feeling. You mentioned quest helper - that's when WoW started breaking down. Because all you have now is built-in and much more developed quest helper (minus the arrow). And yes, it ruins the immersion. Quest helper literally showed you where and at what level you can get any quest you need, just like modern wow does, but without an addon. So.. Yeah, that's just nostalgia talking to you. If WoW would be released in its current state right now (without any human being on earth except of those who tested 7.1 Kara (read: actual beta testers, who work on a company and don't dump all the info about interesting stuff into web)) you would have exactly same feelings about it as you had about vanilla.

In short, it's people, industry and technology what "ruined" this experience. People no longer want to explore, they just want to wowhead stuff and get it fast (murlock egg for example).People are entitled about their free time ("i don't want to waste my time on this" while playing a fucking video game, yay logic). And people want the good stuff without really doing anything (rewards for trying).

I did enjoyed Cata exactly because it had things shaken up, so i have "new" old world to explore, because i was bored of old world years ago. Did you know about dwarfs sledding drunk in dun morogh? There is plenty things like this around the world, you just have to look for it, instead of alt+tab while auto-walking somewhere