Personally mine is Ghostlands by far.
the spooky, ominous, scary look and feel. The somewhat sad music. The entire gloomy somber feeling. All of these align with me and my personality perfectly…If one day we can choose which zone our player housing will be for me it would be Ghostlands 1000%.
Oh that one is hard. It is a tie between Eversong Woods, Nagrand and Silverpine forest.
yep all great zones…Eversong and Nagrand are probably on my top 10
I’ve always liked Winterspring because the snowy landscape is just so pretty to me. I also enjoy Storm Peaks for the same reason.
Grizzly hills, Tirisfall and yes same vibes from ghostlands. Thats a good shout
When I’m on my nelf druid, it’s Storm Peaks. Turn the music up, pop into (steady) flight form, and just fly around above the snow as a giant purple bird. Whoever did the music in that zone did an amazing job.
For the rest of my alts, it’s either The Wandering Isle, Valley of the Four Winds, or The Jade Forest. For the convivial company and the pleasing vistas.
Aesthetic-wise, Ardenweald. With Emerald Dream being close second. Except for the flamey bits.
For me it’s Outland Nagrand. I think it’s the only zone that no matter how many times I go back to it, it somehow makes me feel like a kid again, just like I was when I first saw it. I think it’s the mix of open fields, the floating waterfalls in the sky, and the skybox itself that just gets me reminded of why I love this game. The sense of adventure, a never ending horizon, the quiet moments of just sitting admiring an open view etc.
Tossup between Drustvar and Ardenweald.
Stormpeaks or original Darkshore
I love Mechagon Island…
… but the Undermine gave me a car.
Grizzly hills, but honorable mention for Teldrasill and Ashenvale.
Just esthetically? WoD Shadowmoon Vale. The sky, the music. The perpetual twilight. That one spot with the giant glowing willow tree.
This question is like someone asking me my favorite song or favorite movie for me it’s impossible to name an ultimate favorite as I have too many.
However easy zones that are high on my list for either vibe aesthetics quest flow or all three- grizzly hills, ghost lands (and I play alliance more than horde) nagrand (particularly OG nagrand but I like both) … man I forget the names of two zones I wanted to mention one is from BFA another is from mists … I might have to come back and edit after work.
It’s tough since I have a number of favorites for very different reasons.
Valley of the Four Winds had Halfhill which has some of my favorite music in the game and I enjoyed the little farm. I also got server first cooking there back in the day. Westfall had a lot of memories in it early on in the game and it had the first dungeon I ever ran which was an incredibly fun experience. Drustvar had a great vibe and Waycrest Manor was a fantastic theme for the dungeon with a lot of little details when it came to sound and music.
I’m sure there are many others, but I tried to go with things that popped up first.
Eversong Woods. I guess it’s partially nostalgia and it’s a bit dated now but I think it still hold ups. Music is excellent.
Honorable mentions:
Dun Morogh. This is tinted by nostalgia of course. But I still remember going “wow” when I saw the sunlight reflect off the frozen lakes.
Teldrassil. This one didn’t age so well. I remember it being a lot darker and bits of sunlight reflecting off the leaves on the ground - yes, I was easily impressed. Either the switch to LCDs (from CRTs) destroyed the contrast or Blizzard brighten up the place in Cata - maybe both.
Hallowfall. Looks nice and has an interesting concept - an underground world lit by a giant crystal.
Valley of the Four Winds. The relatively peaceful and idyllic atmosphere is sometimes just what you need.
That’s tough… but Drustvar or Duskwood jump to mind. As for pre-Cataclysm zones, I loved old Desolace and Azshara. They just aren’t the same since the revamp.
For me it’s a tough call between Howling Fjord and Drustvar. If I had to pick just one though, gonna have to go with Howling Fjord for the Vrykul/Viking theme and epic music. Can’t wait until Last Titan when we go back to Northrend.
the Barrens.
probably, more specifically, the classic version.
Alot of memories there (and alot of time spent leveling).
I think Drustvar gets a close second. I loved that zone, from the lore, to the spooky forest, to the mansion.
A number of folks named some great zones.
My heart will always be around the starting areas around the original Undercity, having started my first toon there, a Forsaken warlock. The tone, the music, set the stage for me.
Pandaria with the farmers is a second. Even the music of the entire zone de-stresses me.