I think that’s part of the reason why I approve of SoD so much in spite of some of the issues.
Phase 1 had the launch version of the Ashenvale Event which was pog, as well as having BFD in the zone. We had constant world PvP in this zone, it was really an amazing and memorable time.
In Phase 2 the Ashenvale quest was turned into a daily, making it a good way to get rep on your alts. Park them in Ashenvale, log in once a day and do the event. Not only that, BFD was now a leveling raid and Pearl was still a good trinket so it was worth doing on lower level alts. We got to continue to enjoy the Ashenvale vibes.
In Phase 3, Incursions revived interest in Ashenvale, turning the north east of the zone into a questing hub. The Emerald Dream area and Satyrs etc have a strong Classic Ashenvale. Just overall feeling like what you’d expect to see in a Classic+. Setting aside the gameplay aspects, it felt good to be back in the zone.
Just my opinion of course, but I think that has played a role. The zone is just a nice vibe, it feels very “Warcraftian” so to speak, and spending time in that zone for such a large amount of time rather than living in Blackrock Mountain has been great.
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Westfall is better than Ashenvale
It sounds like they used Ashenvale better in SoD than they did in original Vanilla. I always thought it was a shame that it was such a cool zone but was underutilized by Alliance because of how remote it is from the human/dwarf areas.
Pretty much everything they did with Ashenvale from Cataclysm onward I have disliked.
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lol
Azeroth’s own TX v CA boogaloo.
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Westfall is not better than Ashenvale by the way. Westfall is fine but it’s not close to S-tier let’s be real about that.
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Agreed.
Just the comparison is funny.
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incursions are also the best pvp battleground
The best zone in WoW is the Timeless Isles.
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I think redridge/duskwood is the best.
You end up bouncing between these zones a lot in that level range so I consider them partner zones.
You are the perfect level where you are starting to unlock your key abilities, but are still weak enough to get yourself into trouble if you over pull.
Plus it’s just classic fantasy vibes all over, an orc castle, undead crypts, a town beside a lake
And clearly a lot of dev time was spend on them compared to other zones
Honorable mention goes to aszhara, one of the most under developed zones, but my vote for the coolest vibe, love the color palette and the collection of mobs that populate it. Ghosts, naga, elk, etc.
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Eww. Redridge. That zone is pretty awful. I sometimes forget it exists.
Duskwood and Azhara are cool though.
I agree. Ashenvale has an aesthetic unmatched by any other part of the game. As alliance when you ride from Darkshore and enter Ashenvale for the first time your senses are immediately greeted and overwhelmed by the colors, unfathomably large trees, and those huge Torii-like gates that signify this is a place of ancient spiritual depth. Perfection.
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Westfall is a whole slog for any quest not related to Defias brotherhood questline, the only interesting quest line in the whole zone. it’s ugly and barren, go kill murlocs, go kill gnolls, go get boar livers etc.
Westfall is not even remotely close to Ashenvale in terms of being a cool interesting zone that looks good
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Thematically, Westfall is pretty pedestrian, but I think that’s by design. I always got a strong Wizard of Oz Kansas vibe from that setting, and I think its meant to be more similar to familiar IRL settings. Most of the quests, mobs, and story-lines aren’t very fantastic compared to other zones. Then when you get into Duskwood you start seeing more zombies and spooky ghosts.