Originally Posted by
wolftech
You are correct, you had to unlock the Island to even unlock the Sunwell Plateau. On reflection, I think that part of the reasons why I remember it so fondly is because I was one of the first players into the Sunwell Plateau (advantage of being in a Australian based raiding guild on Proudmoore, the first US server to unlock everything on the Isle). But you are right, there really is no reward for Isle of Thunder (heck, even the last quest after unlocking everything where you charge the staff gives you only a crap vanity banner) and that is why it is not as satisfying as it predecessors.