So after a talk with some friends of mine that still play WoW / which plays WoW on and off; I figured it would be interesting to bring the topic of our conversation to this forum. Not only because I enjoy seeing other people's opinions but also because good golly could we have use of a more "strictly positive" tailored thread around here.
As the title suggests; Explain what is your favorite aspect from each installment of WoW (Yes, I say instalment as to include vanilla since that ain't a expansion) Being specific can be hard when talking about things you enjoy; so anything from a big overarching subjects like "I enjoyed PvP all throughout this expansion" to smaller points like "This one ability made me fall in love with X class" are fine, no need to use sandpaper if you have a hard time pinning down "a singular X" - If you have happened to have skipped over or missed out an expansion? Why not tell if there was something from said expansion you heard of or know of that you perhaps would have wanted to see when it was current content. And if you are the type of wisecrack that feels the need to go "There was nothing good about this expansion" then please refrain from commenting at all. Since I am the creator of the thread I figured I can go first:
Vanilla - The sheer scale of the world: I am one of those "lunatics" who loves leveling and how the World of Warcraft felt so massive back then was a feeling that had me in awe for the longest time. I thoroughly enjoyed spending all my time after school just stomping around the big world, discovering the sights it had to offer while leveling my Warlock. Thanks to my father capping a Warrior Tank relatively quick: I did get to experience end game PvE and PvP but even something as grand as fighting Onyxia (The whole, WOW BIG DRAGON thing) honestly fell behind just wandering the open world for me.
TBC - Flying: I did not play a lot of TBC back when it was current content but even now that it's back; I still find flying to be my biggest enjoyment out of this expansion. How some zones is created WITH flying as a key thing in mind, how it literally "opened the skies" and set a president for future traversal in the worlds to come just had me giddy all throughout TBC as I soared around, doing dailies and gathering materials.
WoTLK - Late game Blood DK PvP: I mained a Death Knight throughout WoTLK but I honestly did not really enjoy how RIDICILOUSLY broken they were out the door, it kind of killed the fun - And while still strong even in 3.3.5; I just had a lot more fun with Blood DKs in PvP then. Their playstyle of a Melee-Focused Damage-Eating Self-Healing truck just was nothing but a blast, honestly I think my time with Blood DKs in PvP at the end of Wrath is the most fun I have ever had in PvP all throughout WoWs current span.
Cataclysm - The Dungeons: Cata marked when I began leveling all classes to cap; and unlike the expansions after Cata; I would never sigh when the LFD tool put me into any of the Cata dungeons, I loved them all and especially the later ones - End Time is still one of my top 3 dungeons to this day and all in all I kind of wish they had come up with the Keystone feature all the way back then as I think it would have been glorious with those dungeons.
MoP - Powershot: This ONE ability made me re-roll Hunter for my main and dip back into PvP after Cata had me mostly doing PvE. I have always loved the aspect of "Environmental kills" but knockbacks was usually limited to Melee range (Thunderstorm, Blast Wave, Dragon Roar) or they were kind of medium range and / or did not really have that much knockback (Carrion Swarm, Typhoon) - But then came Powershot and just threw all that out the window and cemented itself as my favorite ability in the game to date, I miss it sorely and todays MM Hunter Bursting Shot and Explosive Knock Back trap; while fun - Just does not hold a candle to Powershot. I just had a blast with this ability all trough the MoP expansion, AB and EoS was great fun!
WoD - Blackrock Foundry: Going back to PvE this expansion and BRF still stands to this day as one of my best raiding experiences, I am so grateful that I got to experience it in it's Mythic glory, it also marked one of my most stressed out moments of my raiding in WoW as I got the Cutting Edge for Blackhand during the last week it was obtainable. Truly a fantastic raiding experience.
Legion - The Artifact System: I just adored the concept, for us adventurers to finally become more akin to the other heroes from Warcraft 3 and get our own signature weapon(s) that would stick with us. Sure the AP grind was a bit of a let down but all in all: the theme - Passives - Abilities and general idea behind the Artifact Weapons was grand to me and it is to this day my most cherished "Expansion feature" - Shame we did not just flip them over in BFA and went "Oh snap, this side has talent points too?!" It's not like we needed to sacrifice their power either since... Wait, why did we sacrifice their powers again... ? Eh, I'm sure it was for something that isn't relevant anymore.
BFA - Horrific Vision: I will not elaborate on this any more than simply saying that I got 13 Cloaks to rank 15 and were still working on maxing out 12 more as the expansion drew to a close. I just REALLY enjoyed the horrific visions in it's entirety and hope it returns in some time walking style later down the line.
Shadowlands - The "Style" of the Legendary system: While a bit too grindy and resource focused, I like the concept they had for the Legendary System, it kind of put my mind back on the Artifact wave with the "We choose ourselves what powerful item we will craft" as opposed to Khadgar just putting a ring on my finger. This spot WOULD have been given to Torghast IF Blizzard had held up their original reveal-trailer promise of having a "Endless" section of the tower that never ended and infinitely scaled. I do like Torghat in it's current iteration but the fact that it has an END is what kills it for me, I wish it had a section that truly just never stopped until you reached like a 100th layer or began having the Tarragrue just start chasing you 5 seconds into a floor.
So what about you? What is your favorite aspect from each installment of WoW?