Flying through today, was thinking… why as a community is The Barrens so often remembered fondly?
Is it because back in vanilla a large amount of time was spent there and it was for many, the first true zone outside the starting area?
Is it the clashing scenery of the “barren” plains mixed with the lush tropical oasis and mountain back drops?
Is it because it reminds us of our own world with its “Africa-like” setting?
Is it because the zone feels more alive than some? The plains allowing us to watch predators chase after wild animals and hunt them down?
Is it the long gone Barrens chat and the chuck norris of old?
Is it the world pvp and raiding the crossroads?
Why do YOU love the barrens?
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Hur hah haha do u giys remember barrens chat??? LAWLLLLLLL
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I don’t love the barrens in fact I hardly ever go there because it is a boring place.
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I always favor desert and arid locations, so I remember it for being pleasing in that regard. I also remember it because I spent a lot of time with auto run on while typing in my chatbox. Every other zone was very quiet.
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back in 2009 when i was leveling up there, the infamous barrens chat was more raucous than city trade channels. barrens chat died out on my realm with cataclysm, aside from the occasional Crossroads raids (because now alliance was flying/HGWT in, instead of riding in from Ratchet)
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Was the first zone i went to after eversong and ghostlands so was a really nice change. So i will probably always have a fondness for it, but tanaris is still my favorite zone from classic.
Mostly this. A lot of people remember the chat more than the zone itself.
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A lot of time was spent in the barrens back then since it covered around 18 levels. The Crossroads was a bit of a low level capital town players from all races meeting up in high concentration. The barrens also had WC, one of the most iconic instances from vanilla, along with RFK and RFD. Barrens chat, we all know about it. Ratchet was a memorable town as well, it let newbies experience likely their first interaction with the opposing faction and they could travel to Booty Bay for exploration.
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I levelled as alliance so to me elwynn is the place i always remember fondly, going to hangout and duel in between levelling and questing
I never experienced barrens/old horde
I could never understand the nostalgia for eyesores like the barrens and westfall.
It’s because it was a really long zone that most Horde players had to go through. Simple as that.
You guys remember the bonus campaign in WarCraft III? The one where you play as Rexxar and go around different places like Durotar and The Barrens doing quests, slaying mobs, and collecting gear/loot? It was a pretty fantastic experience, even from a perspective like mine.
The Barrens in WoW back in the day had a lot of the same feeling of exploration and adventure. And Barrens chat of course. Many other zones of the same level in other areas were more aesthetically pleasing, but none had quite the impact that The Barrens did. I’m not going to give the credit all to the chat shenanigans. There was something more to it.
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Pretty much this. As an you’re there from idk 11 to 21? 22?
It’s a very long time in one giant zone
I don’t think people actually liked the barrens. it’s more of a it’s so poorly designed and took so long to level through in the formative years of the wow community that it’s very distinguished and remember.
I don’t know that I “love” The Barrens, but it does carry a lot of nostalgia thanks to the time spent leveling characters with friends, the variety of content (and dungeons) that ensured lots of people were always about, and the absolute ton of world PVP that used to go on around it. A large area in which something was always going on, or would be soon.
Today I never think about it other than when I fly over and remember how different everything used to be.
Because during vanilla that used to be the most active zone as it has a couple of dungeons I believe , it is similar to Westfall on the Alliance side