Do you miss the pre Cata Zones?

[Whitedragon]

I just flew through some old vanilla zones where i started this game 11 years ago and it just breaks my heart, like many times before, to see what blizzard did with the Cataclysm Expension to them.

I wish there was something like zoning for them...that the cataclysm would only take place at level 85

Yes I miss them very much. The thing that always comes to my mind as a parable for Cata is that one point when you where a kid and you got to destroy your built model Lego set. It was fun to do, and you got to imagine fun stories about what destroyed it, but at the end of the day you will always miss the pristine world you had before instead of the mess you have now.

I wont say that the old world didn't needed some smoothing over as it goes for questing / art, but after awhile I have grown sick of the destruction that consumed a good chunk of the world. I guess i'm one of the few who hopes they actually do another world revamp, maybe add legion level scaling, and give us a timeless world again rather then the story of survival that we have now.

[Schattenlied]

Yes, Yes I do.

[Izalla]

Thousand Needles, Darkshore, Eastern Plaguelands (why Blizz whyyyyy), Redridge (didn't really love Redridge before but I actively avoid it now after the first few quests -- once it hits Rambo I'm outta there), Azshara (yeah I know there was almost nothing there but what they put there instead is so painful for me I've never managed to level anyone through it), kinda miss the old Desolace with the centaur stuff, Duskwood with the proper Stitches who scared the shit out of me and made me afraid to walk the road, Silverpine Forest and Tirisfal used to look and feel more haunted to me, even if they look graphically better now (I like the Silverpine story a lot though), Stranglethorn, Ashenvale, I miss the wide open huge Barrens without the scar across the middle but not really the quests or how they were set up, I think I prefer old Stonetalon too but I honestly can't remember too much of it, I just know the new one doesn't thrill me, Tanaris, I remember doing an elite quest in Tanaris on my paladin while way too low and managing to kill it, was proud of myself... nothing like that in Old World Azeroth anymore (Belf and Draenei zones, on the other hand... which is the reason they are still my favourite starter zones even after the vanilla ones got fixed up).

I do appreciate the questing changes that made it so you actually get the item from the NPC that you needed (I'm looking at you, zhevra hooves) and getting more useful quest rewards, but I also miss getting quest rewards that look like garbage at low levels because I liked the feeling of seeing my power level go visually from peasant to badass. It doesn't really do that for me anymore.

Glad Silithus got left alone for the most part, I actually like it there for whatever reason. And I like new Westfall's story more than the old one, even if the CSI stuff is annoying and jarring.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

The way you present it still sounds biased and subjective. The flow of zones can definitely be held as truly better, but artwork is almost entirely subjective unless you're an authority on it (which I doubt you are).

The art is higher quality as they have gotten better as they have gotten better as time has gone on higher Polly count and all that in that way it is objecivly better. Quest are also more varied there's no debating that and as you said the flow is better, the only subject thing is the story.

[Arbs]

Alittle bit yes, but only some zones like Thousand Neeldes.

[A dot Ham]

I just flew through some old vanilla zones where i started this game 11 years ago and it just breaks my heart, like many times before, to see what blizzard did with the Cataclysm Expension to them.

I wish there was something like zoning for them...that the cataclysm would only take place at level 85

The truth is, even in WotLK I had no connection to any of those places, because I had no reason to visit them. (Nostalgia is a terrible reason btw)

When Cataclysm hit... I actually didn't have any reason to experience the "new" zones either.

It wasn't until Mists of Pandaria (leveling a monk) that I even had a reason to experience the new zones. While yes, I remember my firestoned melee lock in Silverpine. I can't say that was an amazing experience, or one that is worth repeating. I actually found it quite refreshing that while leveling a monk I got to experience something new... rather than something I had already seen 10 times over.

I do think phasing or something similar would have worked well experiencing the "story" from level 1-110. To see the world old, and then the world torn asunder. I also understand that at this point though, it effects very few people, and the goal of the game is to get you to level cap and relevant content asap.

My personal experience with the "new" zones in cata, is a shared experience by many. So in that regard Cataclysm fell flat. The bottom line is, it isn't worth the development time.

[jettzypher]

The art is higher quality as they have gotten better as they have gotten better as time has gone on higher Polly count and all that in that way it is objecivly better. Quest are also more varied there's no debating that and as you said the flow is better, the only subject thing is the story.

I think what you're referring to is the improved graphics and that things look better, but not that the artwork has necessarily changed.

[Netherspark]

I mostly would want back the eastern kingdoms as they were. Kalimdor on the other hand, has had massive improvements imo.

I wouldn't call putting a giant volcano in the middle of Ashenvale Forest an improvement.

[Kazlofski]

I want to see Silverpine forest again... That Son of Arugal walking around killing newbs like me back in the days :P

[Spl4sh3r]

Darkshore had the most memories for my since I started playing. I was there a lot during the Beta and I remember much from it. The new Darkshore is so boring in comparison.

[Deleted]

i play wow for 1 year now. what i see most and what annoys is me most are those threads of players who cant get over the past. maybe u guys r right "everything was better" maybe or maybe not. but it is rlly rlly rlly rlly annoying to see every day u guys crying bout it. its like u lost the wife/love of ur life or even more than that. everytime i come here to the forum i see anything that u guys keep missing. "i miss this and i miss that" can u pls grow up

[Akka]

Given that Barrens and STV was some of the worst zones, I think everyone rejoice they were destroyed and remade..

STV was my single most beloved zone in all WoW. Don't try to speak for others, especially to say such stupidities.

And yes, I utterly despise post-Cata world. When I do an alt, I rush through it in the quickest way possible while pinching my nose. I rank Cata in the worst expansions mainly due to what they inflicted on the WoW world.
Bleuargh...

Better art in a lot of zones better story more veried quest much better levelling flow. Most of this stuff isn't even up for debate it's just flat out better you can like the old Zones more but the new ones are objectively better.

Sorry, I think you're making a confusion between your shitty tastes and objective truth.

[Pull My Finger]

I just flew through some old vanilla zones where i started this game 11 years ago and it just breaks my heart, like many times before, to see what blizzard did with the Cataclysm Expension to them.

I wish there was something like zoning for them...that the cataclysm would only take place at level 85

I think after 11 years, it's high time to move on. You need to ask yourself what's really going on if you still have these melancholic feelings about a video game after all this time.

What makes it even worse is the fact that the zones have just been altered, and in many ways improved. It's not as if they were removed from the game.

So, please. It's getting ridiculous.

[Rampant Rabbit]

Given that Barrens and STV was some of the worst zones, I think everyone rejoice they were destroyed and remade..

I loved those zones, and they have been completely ruined. Blizzard knows nothing about aesthetics.

[Lorgar Aurelian]

I think what you're referring to is the improved graphics and that things look better, but not that the artwork has necessarily changed.

Oh your right I do mean graphics my bad.

[Kazlofski]

I want to see Silverpine forest again... That Son of Arugal walking around killing newbs like me back in the days :P

They could always make up some story like with Chromie soon about our time line being torn apart in a weird way, effectively replacing some of the cata zones to the old zones while keeping some of the new ones, having best of both worlds :P or an access to the old world with this same reasoning.

[Lady Dragonheart]

I don't miss them, per se. However, I do often mis-remembered areas that were changed for their old counterparts. Such as leveling and getting Sunken Temple, expecting both old mazes to be the same only to be surprised by the new alterations (both before the instance and inside it), or Scholomance, until I descend into the main first area of the instance, or when questing in some more obscure areas such as Felwood, which looks similar to what it used to, but has different quests (the main one being the Jadefire area, I remember descending deep into that barrow to free what appeared to be a Night Elf paladin, however that entire questchain has been removed for a different one that is much smaller and easier to understand). Also, I still feel like I need to do odd things like level in Desolace before attempting Scarlet Monastery dungeons... old habits die hard... >.>

[Izalla]

Darkshore had the most memories for my since I started playing. I was there a lot during the Beta and I remember much from it. The new Darkshore is so boring in comparison.

When I was still low level I had my hearth set to Auberdine so I could take whichever boat I wanted. I spent so much time there, I miss the dock and all the boats =(

[Deleted]

I prefered old stonetalon mountains, it was a much more peaceful place. I also liked the old thousand needles and plaguelands. I wish they stirred up the wetlands though, instead of sinking menethil harbour, it's still a large boring zone.

[emilylorange]

Yes. In WoD I leveled *a lot* of alts, and finished right before they started nerfing dungeon XP. The disconnect between the game I remembered and the game that existed irritated me enough I queued most of the way to 58 on each character. The dungeons are also changed, but not quite as drastically.

Ashenvale and Darkshore in particular could have really benefited from streamlining, rather than all-out destruction.