Most Immersive Zones?

[Falu]

I allowed myself to include 2 zones under the "classic" due to the vast quantity of zones it had to offer.

Classic (Pre Cata): Un'goro Crater & Felwood
Classic (Post Cata): Azshara & Silverpine Forest
TBC: Blade's Edge Mountains
WoTLK: Grizzly Hills
Cataclysm: Uldum
MoP: Hard choice... probably Dreadwastes or Townlong Steppes.

[ChadBroChill17]

The Old Plaguelands.

[Deleted]

Vanilla: StrangleThorn Vale
No matter what others say... Hemet Nesingwary quests feeling like subchapters of JungleBook... Motherf*ckin Pirates~! Zone filled with head hunting trolls. Caves, camps, crocodiles and most importantly... endless World PvP... True meaning of danger and uneasiness

TBC: Blade's Edge Mountains/Shadowmoon Valley
Going through a tunnel to find a massive canyon filled with bad-ass spikes... Just when you thought that it's all about ogres... You look up in the skies and you see an Impaled Dragon... You ask yourself.. Who the hell did that?! ultimately ending up fighting that thing's sons if you're a casual... or Gruul if medicore player...

WOTLK: Grizzly Hills/HowlingFjord
It's hard to come up with anything immersive when it comes to his expansion...
I'd say Grizzly Hills/HowlingFjord since they were the least Scourge influenced zones (ones that did not end up with undead related quests)

CATA: Vashj'ir
No need to explain why... that randomness and unexpecting turn of events... No Cliche storylines...
No idea why people were so obsessed with Hyjal. It was a failure... To many sparks, fires, ashes and green trees growin out of nowhere...
The whole ancient revival thing seemed really repeatable. All in all it destroyed the way I percieved the whole Druid Community... It supossed to be an invasion... And it felt like killing a bunch of pilgrims goin to Polish Częstochowa...

MOP: Jade Forest
Just cuz it was redesigned and done in a more interesting way than other zones...

[Keoren]

Ashenvale made an impression on me when I was leveling through it for the first time. It actually felt like a place, a thick forest. Running through the area on foot was also a factor. The place felt massive and you didn't get a mount until level 40.

Over the years I've been impressed by several different zones, but I don't think that any other in this game have managed to come off both as 'real' and as huge. I haven't played through the zone since Cataclysm so I have no idea whether it suffered from the change.

In general I like both thick forests and areas that come across as open. Darkshore, Feralas, Elwynn Forest, Grizzly Hills and many others have made an impression on me. As far as the 'open' zones go, even with zones like Vash'jir, Zul'Drak, Eversong Woods, Valley of the Four Winds and Storm Peaks existing in the game, nothing has come close to Tatooine in SW:TOR. It might be my favourite zone of all time in any MMORPG.

[Orby]

Classic
Mulgore. Those roiling green fields, that on high settings make you feel lost int he true awesomeness that only blizzard can give you, the music is great the atmosphere is greater. I could just get lost in my mind there

The Burning Crusade
Zangarmarsh: Most would say Nagrand, and I am sure that's what most will go with but theres something about living under the shadow of giant mushrooms in a swamp that really makes me feel relaxed. the colors and the atmosphere are great here.

Wrath of the Lich King
Grizzly Hills: I have a soft spot for the whole mountain lumberjack, log cabin scenery, alpine trees and just forest areas. Considering it inst the oldest area I remember playing, for some reason its the one I enjoy going to the most.

Catalysm
Vashj'ir: an underwater zone that captures some of the best features you'd expect from such a place. Its haunting exciting and rich in lore, I have always hated water zones in computer games, and dreaded them but this one always makes me feel so engrossed in being there. There's such a feeling of trying to escape too which I like. Alot of people didn't like this zone, personally I want more like this.

Pandaria
Valley of the Four Winds: I really didn't know what to choose, alot of the zones in MoP have been some of blizzards most beautiful. But I find myself choosing Valley of the Four Winds only because of that calmness and tranquil-ness it offers. Those long drawn out plains and farm lands reminds me of more flushed out Westfal. I'd be happy just living there personally.

[ro9ue]

Classic has too many for me: Ashenvale, Blackrock Mountain, Winterspring, Stranglethorn Vale, Feralas, Felwood. God.... all of them were so cool. I think the biggest thing about Ashenvale was as a Durotar-spawning horde character you basically spend your first 10-15 levels in a barren wasteland and then you go through those gates in the North Barrens into a thick forest and it just feels amazing.

TBC: Zangarmarsh if I had to pick. TBC didn't really do it for me.

Wrath: Another bunch of good ones. Giving the edge to Howling Fjord. Was close between HF, Icecrown, ZulDrak and Grizzly Hills

Cata: Vashjir no question. Uldum was great too.

MoP: I actually didn't like any of the MoP zones until they put in the Isle of Thunder.

[nintendo5998]

Classic: Mulgore; i fell in love with the prairie landscape and was the very first zone i've fully explored. Pre-cata barrens; loved the Savannah themed zone and those weird giraffes and kodo's. Lordaeron; ( tirisfal glades, both plaguelands, silverpine forest and hillsbrand foothills), simply because i love the lore about the scourge and how it spread, reminded me of the black death from the 17th century in Europe. Duskwood; same reason as the plaguelands. Deadwind pass; the only zone that really felt dead and desolated. Pre-cata Stranglethorn vale; awesome jungle like theme + booty bay. Elwynn forest; a beautiful ordinary forest.

TBC: Nagrand; the zone reminded me of mulgore but much larger with more water and floating isles. Shadowmoon valley; awesome demonic zone, if the zone was fully orange and flamy you could call it hell. Hellfire peninsula; not really hell like but i loved the dark portal and the path leading to it. Ghostlands; The dead scar + deathholme and zul' aman makes it an awesome zone to quest in.

WOTLK: This is a very hard one but the zone i love the most is icecrown; because of the scourge and apart from the argent tournament, the floating gunships and the argent crusade camp at the beginning there was no safe place because the zone is filled with scourge minions and behemoths, the zone also reminds me of mordor. Dragonblight; because of the wrathgate, the wyrmrest temple, naxxramas and the 5 dragonshrines. Grizzly hills; It is just an astonishing zone and almost perfect. Storm peaks; Simply because i love Norse Mythology. Sholazar basin; i loved the music there and the landscape is just breathtaking. Zul'drak; i like the Aztec like theme.

Cataclysm: This is also a hard one. Gilneas; i love the sinister environment and the ghost towns. Vashj'ir; these 3 zones are a masterpiece, i love the feeling you have when swimming around and how the reefs and the depths look like. Uldum; I love Egyptian Mythology. Deepholm; Aside of the temple i love the idea of being underground and exploring a new world in a existing world. The lost isles; i didn't like kazhan very much, but the lost isles were very beautiful and i find it sad that we can't visit it anymore after creating a goblin. The maelström; i like the sight of a giant whirlpool churning and possibly sucking any unlucky ship nearby, but like the lost isles i find it very sad that we can't visit it anymore after those few quests( aside from the DS raid).

MoP: Jade forest; it is a beautiful forest with the jade temple and the high spires. Vale of the four winds; Also reminded me of mulgore with more farmland and a brewery (i love beer). Kun'lai summit; the yaungol advance, the neverest, the vale of emperors and the peak of serenity makes this zone a one of a kind beauty. The great wall; not really a zone, but i love the concept and the gates between the vale of eternal blossoms and townlong steppes is just massive.

[zanzan28]

Gilneas, and Ironforge

[Deleted]

Hellfire peninsula hands down for me.

[Gimlix]

Classic: Elwynn Forest/ Dun morogh, both zones i was just amazed how good they looked, and i still do each day i visit it.
TBC: Nagrand, i'm not that much of TBC fan if we look at zones just give me azeroth kinda zones, but Nagrand is doing fine if i have to choose.
WOTLK: Howling fjord, It is so amazing i remember my first time going there, so amazing.
Cata: Uldum, I love deserts.
Pandaria: Valley of the Four winds, it's so open and unique, i like it alot.

[MrUrthor]

Classic: Duskwood.

TBC: Nagrand. I still go there on occasion.

WotLK: Sholazar Basin.

Cata: Uldum

MoP: Kun-Lai Summit.

[Tyrannica]

Classic: Eastern Plaguelands
This zone was intimidating because it was the end game of the end game. EPL was greatly populated with threatening undead and roaming elites ready to end your life. Floating above was the doom fortress, Naxxramas.

Good points, but i have to disagree. Blackrock/Burning Steppes all the way, Neferean Raid was awesome, too. But nothing beats Naxx, yeah. But this was about Zones. ;>

TBC: Netherstorm
This is where the devastation of Outland really struck me. The chaotic floating rocks, severe thunder storms, and ambient music sucked me right in. Even outskirt "islands" crawling with ghosts of the past added to the apocalyptic mood.

Yeah kinda agree, if it weren't for Shergrat, just look up into the sky its red painted full with stars. And there is the nice sightseeing tour at Gruul's Lair with all those impaled Black Dragons. The Zangar Marshes need a honorful mention, too. Good atmosphere all around.

WOTLK: The Storm Peaks
I really only need to mention two things about this zone that attract me; the music and the battlefield of giants forever frozen in time near the sons of hodir quest hub.

Yeah i kinda agree, if it weren't for IceCrown that easily puts it down, with its ENDLESS quests, endless undead armies and stories and that incredible haunting music with that big citadel in the center of the map. On top of all that there is a massive tournament. Storm Peaks never got a chance, the most power it got was by doing the Hodir Quests, i'll grant that.

Cataclysm: Vashj'ir
Vashj'ir is almost entirely why I mentioned to exclude gameplay aspects from this list as the 3D disorientation is very much a reality. With that aside, however, I totally felt like I was 10,000 leagues under the sea within this landscape. The underwater caves sealed the deal.

Now we agree. Its my favorite zone overall, not just cata xpack. Too bad they did not realize the Neptulon raid, the gate to that raid is still next to the Throne of the Tides Dungeon. Firelands need to be mentioned, too. And i even liked Deepholm, cause i am simply a Jules Verne fan.

MOP: The Jade Forest
Hozen, Jinyu, and Tigers oh my! There's only so many ways you can design a forest level over and over but this zone definitely feels like its own entity. The lush color scheme along with the jade-oriented operations going on here (statue, mine) add to the theme overall. Also love the music.

Dunno, i find that zone kinda boring. Too greenish for my taste. Not so impressed by Pandaria Zones, overall. I like the Thunderking Isle best here.(pretty easily) it adds more atmosphere than the other zones combined. Kun Lai summit can be mentioned, too.

[Noorri]

Vanilla: Burning Steppes, both before and after Cataclysm. I still remeber the first time I ran into this zone and got one-shot by one of those fire elementals that was on the border to Redridge Mountains. The experience of meeting Keeshan again after the nice questline in Redridge was awesome as well. He really should be used more in next exapansion or something, he's much cooler as a character then Varian Wrynn will ever be.
TBC: Shadowmoon Valley, the music and feel of the zone is fantastic. Too bad the questing is crap.
WotLK: The Storm Peaks. The music is just fantastic, so soothing at one point and awesome at the next. All the Titan stuff in the zone was really nice to experience as well.
Cataclysm: Vashj'ir. Best zone they have ever made. I hope they make another underwater zone in a later expansion, especially if we are going after Queen Azshara.
MoP: Hard to say. None of the zones really stand out to me as better then the others, they are all at about the same level. All of them feel really good. Right now I'll say Dread Wastes just to have said something, but if you ask me tomorrow I might have changed my mind.

[Ambulatory Cube]

The amount of love for Vashj'ir in this thread has put the biggest smile on my face. It's one of my favourite zones in all of WoW. The attention to detail in the coral, the way the algae has grown over the ruins, kelp forests, thermal vents, the little schools of background-fish zipping around... really awesome. Wasn't Ghostcrawler a marine biologist at some point, too? Great stuff, relevant to my interests, etc. I was immensely impressed with the aesthetic of Deepholm too but the quests there just turned me off to the zone, it's a real shame.

The Storm Peaks is my favourite zone, possibly of all time. The haunting music, the sense of mystery surrounding the Titan complexes, seeing the sheer scale of Ulduar's mighty face looming on the far horizon... And also, perhaps most importantly for me, no damned Scourge. Vikings and frost giants and iron dwarves and all that awesome stuff.

[Auloria]

I've always kind of liked Moonglade, it was such a mysterious area, this far away place that only my druid could teleport to.

[Lemp]

Nilla: Winterspring, Ive always found it very peaceful and is probably my favorite zone overall.
TBC: Hellfire I guess, you kinda step in and say wow... at least for the first time.
Wrath: Storm peaks/Sholazar Basin, loved both zones. Loved the mountains in SP and loved the jungle in SB (felt like the wild and an escape from the scourge).
Cata: Vashj- Its a shame I skipped it all but once while leveling (Hyjal questing was much faster and more linear I felt) but it was beautiful. Wish they would have done more with it.
MoP: Jade Forest I guess? dont really like any of them too much.

[Neotokyo]

Classic : blasted Lands
TBc :Terrokar
wrath : stormpeaks
Cata : vashjir
Mop : dread wastes.

[Deleted]

Classic: Burning steppes and Blackrock mountain. Just epic.

TBC: Karazhan and Hellfire peninsula.

WotlK: I haven't really enjoyed the landscape of Wotlk, but my favourite was Dragonblight.

Cata: Twilight highlands, and Grim Batol. Uldum and Vashir were nice too, but Uldum turned me off with the Indie references, and Vashir was annoying to quest in.

[Zaelsino]

Cata Silverpine IMO. It ticks all the right boxes.

[Tomana]

Classic: Hinterlands (tied with Feralas)
BC: Eversong Woods
WOTLK: Zul'drak (even if I hate that zone with a passion, it was mind-blowing the first time)
Cata: Uldum
MOP: Dread Wastes (again, even if I hate it )