If you have never done so, now is the perfect time. Don’t zip around at 310% speed, and if you insist on riding, walk it. It’s going to be worth the time.
I finally did an actual walk through last night and it was eye-opening. I hadn’t realized how indepth they had actually gone in constructing the city with such detail. It’s bigger than anything I’ve seen in WoW, it’s more detailed than anything I’ve seen in WoW, it has more interesting nooks and crannies, named NPCs, and cozy locations than anywhere else I’ve seen. The only other place that I’ve seen come close is the utterly unused and possibly unfinished Gilneas City and Shattrath(WoD version). Boralus wins by a landslide, however, with the attention to detail and the fact it feels like, and is, a living city.
People working at their jobs, drunks and party goers at the bars and clubs(yes there are clubs!), children running around playing, and yes, even hostile criminals waiting to pounce in certain places. There are markets and vendors I never even would have thought to exist, since they are so far from the player hub. Gawk at the architecture and visit some cat lady’s house(there are at least two). Discover that war has a cost by swinging by the orphanage and seeing the hard working and competent matron doing her best. Talk to anyone who has the option to discover several have unique dialogue and text.
Walk through every part you can. Take the tour, start at one end and try and see everything there is to see there. Go into every open door, climb every stair. I’ve explored basically every inch of the place(so I thought) and even now am finding things I’ve never seen before. It is pretty, it is cozy, it is wonderful.
Thank you, people who made it. I wish all of my sub money could go to you.
Seconding this. If Boralus wasnt an xpack zone subject to sharding / warmode phasing it would have been BY FAR the best RP hub in the game with everything it offers.
For everyone else, its definitely still worth just exploring at least once. So much of the city was easy to totally ignore in bfa since everything relevant was crowded into the trade area, but its such a good town, all around, and the trade area is the most lackluster tbh.
I did exactly this fairly frequently back in BfA, because as you’ve said, it’s quite atmospheric.
These days, when I teleport from Oribos to Boralus the difference is so great I almost get whiplash. The former is cold and hollow while the latter warm and alive.
BFA had some of the best zones and 2 of the greatest cities they ever added in my opinion. It’s the #1 thing I miss about it is just hanging out in Boralus or Dazar’alor. Really hope we can get similar feelings/vibes from Dragonflights new city and zones.
And speaking of plate, the Alliance Arathi warfront plate is one of the best looking plate sets in the game. I can’t see my Alliance warriors and paladins wearing much else for the next few xpacs… it’s just that good.
We experienced a very different Zuldazar. Admittedly, navigating Zuldazar may have been tedious, but the design and presentation of the city was nothing short of magnificent, and there’s many design flourishes that should be commended.
Bottom line: You can’t say that the developers didn’t fulfill the fantasy of what the Zandalari represent in an amazing way.
While I made this post to encourage people to explore Boralus in depth, I also want to mention how nice the lands around the Zandalari city are. The city isn’t to my liking, but the lands themselves are fascinating to explore. I even like Nazmir, due to my recent interest in the Vampire Coast faction from Warhammer Fantasy.
