played the hell out of both but in the end i feel the old starting zones give the game more flavor compared to Exiles Reach. to me Exiles Reach feels too “Disney’d” out meaning like although say im 28 years old it makes me feel as if im 3 years old. the dialogue’s that is.
i think it’s great for new players as it teaches them some simple stuff about the game like treasures, rares, class abilities, etc… but outside of that i feel like the old starting zones would of been better story driven wise. i really like the class quest in exiles though and all the hidden exploration stuff was cool the first time i went around just exploring the entire island.
right now im leveling a new orc decided to go the old starting zone. it’s slower to level through but i just like how it feels more immersive to me.
What about you?
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questwise, i prefer the old, like classic old. The Cata revamp has one good line, the Undead and few interesting fun goblin quests.
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More or less agree, the starting zones as they were in Vanilla and TBC are overall some of the best, especially Elwynn, Mulgore, and Eversong. Thankfully Eversong is still in tact but the first two got chunks destroyed in Cata which really detracts from them.
In terms of story I don’t think any of the groups of zones work together with each other as well as Vanilla Elwynn, Westfall, Redridge, and Duskwood do. They paint a picture of dysfunctional kingdom that grows progressively more dire as you progress through the zones, with the leaders even sending you to ask each other for assistance. Even better, that plot isn’t just thrown out as soon as you outlevel the zones - in the form of The Missing Diplomat in the early 30s and the jailbreak questline in at 50-60, those first few Defias miscreants you deal with at level 3 end up culminating with slaying Onyxia.
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You know originally I thought Exile’s Reach was neat, but not something I’d want to do repeatedly. I liked the old zones more for the better lore flavor and uniqueness.
But Exile’s is so fast and smooth to level 1-10 through that I kind of keep going back to it. I’d still rate the vanilla zones as more interesting though. So I like to switch it up. Sometimes do one and sometimes the other.
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Exile’s Reach is pretty good, and I would much rather do it than the starting area for Draenai or Night Elf, but probably not over the Dwarf or Gnome starting areas (because it’s been a long time).
And I am sorry for any new Orc players who miss out on the Lazy Orc quest. Likewise, the Troll starting area ties into later quests, and people miss out on that as well.
So, yeah, a mixed bag.
I prefer the new one. Though the pre-cata starting zones were pretty solid in their own right
yea the only reason i do exiles is mostly because of the faster leveling but outside of that it bores me. first few times it was cool but i make a lot of toons and delete um so i am constantly going back.
i mean its good to have as well something different as before i’d run the old zones and same issues i get bored of um after doing the same one over and over again. like 99% of my toons created are orc/trolls mostly for min maxing reasons.
I liked Exiles reach very much it has a very Holly “Windstalker” Longdale feel to it even though she is supposedly working on classic, but the classic starting zones feel the most cohesive as far as story telling.
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Old.
New one’s fine for newbies, but old one’s great because you can immediately go to Stormwind and do transmog or customization or whatever, whereas the new zone doesn’t allow any of that until you leave. Wouldn’t even let me use Katy to get gold from my mail. Not a big deal since there isn’t anything to spend gold on, but I think the old zones just let you get going faster for veterans.
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I mean Exile Reach looks pretty, but it’s pretty bland in colors and themes compared to the originals and the story is a bit of a wash.
If it’s not for the mogs, i would have no reason to go back to Exile’s reach otherwise. And efficiency isn’t enough to keep me coming back if the zone and story attached really isn’t interesting, or if there’s any more incentives outside of just mogs.
Especially since Azuremyst Isles exist, the best continent in the game. 
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depends on the race.
like, worgen starting zone? hate it. goes on too long. orc starting zone? dig it. good starting-point. draenei starting zone? dig it. tauren starting zone? i dig the world-building, but the quests take too long.
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the old one is classic but the new one is a great tutorial
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I don’t listen to NPCs or read quest text, exiles reach is more efficient than any other starting zone so it wins in my book. Although, I don’t like the 40-50 bracket so I won’t be leveling anymore I’ll just be buying boosts whenever I make a new character.
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Exile’s Reach is fantastic as far as efficiently going from 1-10 is concerned. I can’t imagine it being any better.
That said, I am with you, I think the older starting zones, even if they took longer, or meandered more, were quite a bit nicer overall as far as world building and all that. Tbh, I think I miss a lot of the zones while leveling, it’s weird to say but leveling is just too efficient now (lol)
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The first ten levels in classic are the quintessential RPG experience. Struggling to afford new talents and being ecstatic when you get a bag or a grey piece of gear that’s an upgrade.
I understand what they’re trying to do with exiles to BfA. It’s just awkward as hell. Sergent teaches you how to swing a sword and poof, hero of the alliance and neck deep in the ruling families intrigues.
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In general I have no preference. Old starts hold your hand less, on account of being less tutorial oriented; which for a veteran takes away some annoyance brought by being forced to do basic stuff at the beginning. Exile’s Reach flows much better; and to me it feels like you get further in less time, though I’m too lazy to verify that.
The story of Exile’s Reach is ok; not great, not terrible. In some ways I feel like it’s a decent introduction to what Warcraft stories are typically like, and as such I feel I can’t really fault it. I admittedly might be somewhat biased as Exile’s Reach also features bonified class quests, which I very much wish there were more of.
Older zones have a few narrative advantages. They’re more racially focused and give the player more insight on what each race is about, unlike Exile’s Reach which seems to focus more on the Alliance/Horde as a group. You also technically have more freedom in where to go and am able to leave if you want, which is more or less good. Quests in some areas, for one reason or another, can get tedious if you’re interested in actually finishing the zone, or at least the main plot attached to it, which I typically am. Compared to Exile’s Reach the latter feels like a tighter plot.
Overall, when making a new character, it really depends on the race I play whether I choose ER or the racial start. The former doesn’t take long to do, and gives me a taste of something I sorely miss, but is heavily constrained; whereas the latter is more open and holds your hand less but is also potentially more tedious, especially if you aren’t in the right mood.