which faction offers the BEST classic experience?

[AcidicSyn]

Alliance.

Horde questing in Vanilla Barrens is absolutely brutal.

But if you can somehow stomach it, or power through it, or ignore it, or by some twist of fate you actually like the aesthetic of the barrens; then Horde picks up a lot in the coolness factor after.

- - - Updated - - -

Beside the visual differences and paladin/shaman exclusivity they are the same

mud, spikes, red, "im a big ugly MF killing everything but secretly thinking im the good guy" VS clean, organized, nice looking, blue, "im the saviour of the world"

Horde wasn't the bad guy in vanilla. The factions weren't pidgeonholed into good and evil back then.

[Ersula]

horde or alliance?

You realize they've been extremely vocal that the Horde experience as it exists in Classic/Vanilla was unfinished & rushed, right? And it feels that way.

[Kyphael]

Horde wasn't the bad guy in vanilla. The factions weren't pidgeonholed into good and evil back then.

How I wish that was still the case in Retail. I would dare say The Horde wasn't written as the bad guy faction even as far as Burning Crusade. It all started in Wrath with Sylvanas' bullshit, clearly lying through her teeth in Battle For Undercity following Wrath Gate, and then really ramped up in Cataclysm as Garrosh took over, continued nuances with Sylvanas raising new Undead behind Garrosh's back, and Mists of Pandaria cemented The Horde as the bad guy faction in Retail with Garrosh going full retard, of course. Sylvanas just turned it into a parody of itself in BfA to an extent no one could take it seriously considering how bad the writing got.

[CostinR]

Alliance easily. They have the better questing experience, the better storyline flow, the better PvE bonuses, are closer to most of the major raids etc.

You only just have to deal with Alliance Players.

[Nobleshield]

Personally for me Alliance. The Alliance quests in Classic were very dealing with external threats, there was very little that I recall that was fighting against the Horde, it was all third-party groups like Defias, hostile Trolls, Venture Co, demons and undead etc. Meanwhile the Horde quests start off as being very self-contained with a "trying to survive" vibe, dealing in a harsh land with harsh things, and a few minor threats (Burning Blade, Scourge, Centaur or Quillboars) but then goes into "Let's attack the alliance because mwa ha ha ha" sort of stuff.

Now granted my Horde character only got to 35 before I got burned out leveling again but the quests definitely felt more aggressive/"bad guy" than alliance where you felt mostly like you were going around helping people against threats, rather than shit stirring because lol war.

[narendal94]

I could never play Alliance, they just feel so bland/generic fantasy. I once leveled an alliance character to level 35 back in wrath and I never touched that character again because I was bored out of my mind with alliance questing.

Also from what little I've interacted with the alliance community they seem a lot more rabid

To each their own I guess. People seem to still play Alliance, LUL.

[Magnagarde]

The Alliance. I however originally enjoyed the Horde one a lot more simply because I liked the Horde's presentation in W3 more than the Alliance one. The story in W3 is largely Horde-centric when it comes to factions as we know them, with all the Alliance stuff being a showcase of how it is crumbiling and how everything's basically going to hell. Whoever played W3 and moved onto WoW afterwards surely held Thrall's Horde, the night elves and the Scourge in higher regard than the Alliance, which was just being pushed around.

[MrHorner]

I don't know what you mean with classic experience, but horde is easier.
Better racials,
Better and safe travelling, zeppelings are great and you can also board alliance boats, since they are defended by low lvl guards.

[Will]

There is no best, it's different depending on what you do/like and what kind of server you play on.

But there is, it's widely known Blizzard fleshed out the Alliance side considerably more in Vanilla.

[jackofwind]

I could never play Alliance, they just feel so bland/generic fantasy. I once leveled an alliance character to level 35 back in wrath and I never touched that character again because I was bored out of my mind with alliance questing.

Also from what little I've interacted with the alliance community they seem a lot more rabid

To each their own I guess. People seem to still play Alliance, LUL.

Skeletons, orcs and trolls aren't bland/generic fantasy?

[Xykotic]

Whatever you like the theme of. They're not different enough where one is majorly better than the others. Personal preference definitely has the biggest impact on your enjoyment.

[Vrinara]

It really depends on the server.

[VinceVega]

I think the story and the general involvment of the alliance was better in Vanilla... so Alliance^^

You just feel more... immersed. I played both btw originally.

[Naraga]

Alliance

Why? simple reason. The Alliance questing experience is more fleshed out and complete. They worked on Eastern Kingdoms 1st before going to Kalimdor which is where the majority of Horde content is located. There is a reason Silithus and Azshara have next to no quests in their zones. They ran out of time.

So if you want a more complete experience leveling, go alliance. However if you want to PVP and don't care that much about lore and the journey, go Horde.

That's funny, my experience is the opposite. As a undead, the leveling experience is really immersive and coherent. Meanwhile when I level'd as a human for the first time I thought it was retarded. Elwyn was ok but questing in Westfall and Redridge was a dreadful experience.

[Stabbyfists]

That's funny, my experience is the opposite. As a undead, the leveling experience is really immersive and coherent. Meanwhile when I level'd as a human for the first time I thought it was retarded. Elwyn was ok but questing in Westfall and Redridge was a dreadful experience.

Undead starts in Eastern Kingdoms too.

[Nokura]

None, classic doesnt have any good experiences

[Kikazz]

horde or alliance?

for playability - Horder (Due to less chance at getting Ganked as the overwhelming playerbase is horde)
For Storyline - Alliance (due to better quests in majority of the zones.

For raiding - Horde, they have better flightpaths to all raid Locations in classic, and easier access to all locations through natural horde flight paths/zepplins.

[Soon-TM]

horde or alliance?

After having rolled Horde in Vanilla back then, I've decided to roll Alliance this time. And the questing experience is definitely better, even when it comes to flight paths and general quest flow. That's why the revamp in Cataclysm (craptastic as it may have been, all things considered) gave a lot of territories and FPs to the Horde.

[ydraw]

That's not true at all.

Alliance have far more quests than Horde, more complete zone quest chains, and better positioning for raid access. Horde have an extra world buff.

Horde have far better access to all leveling dungeons and a much better leveling experience in the actual difficult period of 30-50 thanks to Stranglethorn Vale hub.

[jackofwind]

Horde have far better access to all leveling dungeons and a much better leveling experience in the actual difficult period of 30-50 thanks to Stranglethorn Vale hub.

Yet are still far worse overall, go figure.