The Burning Steppes. I like that zone, plus the added bonus to grief alliance hunters doing their demon quests.
I never have understood the dislike of it. It has the best leveling setup. You can get more exp than the other Alliance starting areas and it is a lot more tranquil. Also, if you are a druid, it is just this side of perfect.
The only downside is that you are annoyingly far from the deadmines.
Yes, it is one of my favorite zones.
Because I grew up in real life mountains like them, Stonetalon is another favorite.
STV or Winterspring
Any quality ERP location is a location for me
You read my mind
I think it’s largely due to not being near to Deadmines as you said, potentially questlines with weaker rewards (the Defias questline has good items for pretty much everyone), and not having a strong item to hunt for in VC that can last quite a long time.
And distance from the Westfall/Redridge/Duskwood area that is preferred.
Duskwood. Creepy, moody and with lots of hidden things. Interesting little zone quests. Defending the town with the guards is fun.
Barrens! Crossroads had constant ganks and Chuck Norris jokes.
Alterac Mountains was great, as part of the series including Hillsbrad and Arathi, all accessible via Tarren Mill.
Elites ogres in Alterac.
PvP and some of my favorite quests in Hillsbrad, such as Hecular’s Revenge.
Arathi Highlands had a great atmosphere somehow. And AB vendor was there.
There’s so many great zones, hard to say those are my absolute favorites, but Tarren Mill was my favorite town.
Westfall, Ashenvale and STV
Don’t forget Stiches