Originally Posted by
Niter
You know, I enjoyed the way flying worked because you could get dismounted and fall to your death. I wish that were still in the game, as flying without any sort of danger is a bit boring, although I will concede that ground mounts make the world feel more alive.
I disagree that TBC was the best expansion for raiding. I'd say that WotLK was better in that regard with raids that did not require attuning to them and with the first tier of the expansion being accessible. TBC offered Karazhan (which is one of the best raids ever made) as the easy option. I know how easy it was because I tanked many bosses and trash as a Bear Druid and I wasn't completely immune to crits yet, and Bears were far from where Warriors were. SSC had, in my opinion, disappointing bosses and heavy hitting trash. To be honest, TBC had extremely hard hitting trash and a few very hard bosses. TK had some interesting mechanics, but only Kael'thas felt like a hard encounter. Hyjal was the first kind of ToC raids, in my opinion. It was very much arena-like. Some bosses, however, were strong. BT was a let down for the most part, even if some of the bosses were nice, and facing Illidan was cool. Finally, Sunwell was a long and difficult raid, and lots of choreography was required to do well here.
If you think about WotLK raiding, Naxxramas was an entry level raid, and although not challenging enough to long time raiders, it was way more challenging than LFR has ever been and I saw countless PUGs get destroyed. Sartharion was easy, but everyone pushed for the achievement and mount, and that was hard before the next raid tier came out. Malygos was an afterthought and it is sad to see an Aspect die in a raid that was easier than the Occulus. After that, Ulduar came out and it was probably one of the best raids ever, and some fights were tough and could get even tougher. ToC was a nice idea, but considering the Onyxia revamp and the dungeons that were released with ICC patch, and even before, the dungeon that came out with ToC, all of that amounted to a raid that was not that challenging because gear upgrades were abundant. Every single new wing in the VoA also provided excellent rewards, making ToC even easier. Still, some fights were nasty with PUGs. ICC was a great raid, and some bosses proved to be a challenge. Even some minor ones such as Rotface and Festergut, and their respective dogs, wiped the floor with PUGs on a regular basis. The Lich King, up to this point, was only second to M'uru in difficulty.
WotLK felt like there was more to do that was not farming.
I would disagree with you on PvP though. In my view, TBC had one of the best PvP balances in the game. You could play most classes and be useful. It is true that being a Resto Druid with an Arms Warrior beside you meant you would dominate the arena, but classes had quite a bit of utility. I remember it was the most fun I've ever had playing a Feral Druid, as I could CC enemies, tank a bit, land some emergency heals and so on. As a Paladin, I felt like I was like a captain of sorts as I made everyone around me that much better. Hunter pets could dish out some big numbers at times. Warlocks were extremely strong, and Mages had nice damage and tools. Shadow Priest was a cool spec. Starting in WotLK, and it remained pretty much the same afterwards, PvP felt like a game of bursting someone down as soon as possible. In TBC nothing hit so tremendously hard that you could be finished without being able to react. Well, Rogues and stuns and Warlocks with their fears, Frost Mages with their kiting abilities, those could wear you down quickly, but what came after that was so bloody disappointing... WotLK bridged the gap between PvE and PvP a bit more by including Wintergrasp, but it was so easy to outright destroy almost any class that it just wasn't that much fun. In TBC fights were longer, and I loved that. I don't think the game ever came close to that since.
TL;DR
Of course a lot of people can disagree, and they should as we all get to experience things differently, but I'd say that TBC was just Vanilla on steroids considering both the good and the bad, and the biggest improvement was the classes and specs which were a lot better. PvP was better in TBC than in other expansions and PvE was not better than WotLK, MoP or Legion.