There's A Whole World (of Warcraft) Out There!
Posted by 
Bastosa on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 - 39 Comments Tags: Instances, classic dungeonmaster, dire maul, maraudon, old world, wailing caverns
Bastosa on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 - 39 Comments Tags: Instances, classic dungeonmaster, dire maul, maraudon, old world, wailing caverns 
While spending my days gearing a level 80 toon, it is pretty easy to get a bit of tunnel vision. Some days it feels like my whole world consists of the inside of Naxxramas, The Obsidian Sanctum, and the walls of Dalaran. It is very easy to take for granted the enormous amount of content that Blizzard has already created. It is largely ignored because it is not all geared towards players at the level cap.I really started to appreciate this recently as I have been helping a friend earn her Classic Dungeonmaster achievement. While I had done all these dungeons before, for some of them it had been a long, long time. This is especially true of the instances that are more accessible to horde, or were simply so long or difficult the first time around I had little desire to go back.
Given, there is no longer any challenge in these instances, I can take a step back and enjoy them from an aesthetic or even design perspective. Blizzard has done some really cool stuff that is all but forgotten.
Remember the temple stair event in Zul'Farak? The giant waterfall in Maraudon? Or tracking down the Archmage in Shadowfang Keep? Neither did I.
Furthermore, taking the time to go back and check out these instances really gives you the opportunity to witness the evolution of Blizzard's game design. “They sure don’t build 'em like they used to.” Now if this is a good or bad thing is debatable, but the way instances flow is very different now.
Instances seem much more linear, you really don’t get lost in them very often, and I’ll tell you, I got lost in Dire Maul. The events in instances also seem to flow differently. You don’t see things like the druid event in Wailing Caverns very often anymore. Given, I hate the druid event in Wailing Caverns, but it is interesting to see the path that Blizzard has ultimately chosen.
What do you guys think? Are there any old instances that hold a special place in your heart? Or are you more content with the way things are now? I’d like to hear your thoughts on the old world. And if you haven’t seen all these places, go check them out! There’s even an achievement in it for you.
Reader Comments (39)
My fave BC Instance/raid has to be Kara because the boss fights are pretty fun and i like the whole castle idea:)
My fave PreBC Instance/raid.. I dont really have one, I like most of them except for Dire Maul and Scholo.. So yeah ttyl and GJ PL Crew :D Kthxbai
SFK and ST were my favs of the old world. The worgen theme of SFK would always make it my favorite of the early dungeons. Then ST well if the theme of green dragons were good the fact of being only skinner in group makes this very profitable back then. Being the first real dungeon encounter against dragons be another plus.
SCHOLOMANCE!!!! AND STRATHOLM.
Ahh, i love scholo. I have ran it so many times its literally impossible to count. I still to this day run it alot. Its an AWESOME place to get runecloth for rep grinding toward mounts and its just a great instance. Also at geared level 80 there is alot of gold to be had in there and strat.
:)
aaaaaaah the good old days of gnomer and stuff
Stratholme FTW its my favourite instance in the game! i also like Sunken Temple (once i finally knew my way inside that fucking maze lol) and blackrock depths! ... oh.. uldaman is nice too... too bad that not much people like ulda!
I have to say that I think blizzard has really gone downhill in the new dungeons and raids. Don't get me wrong, the new content is great, but thinking back to the mechanics of the older stuff a simple trash pull required precision and planning, now it is just AOE. But to stay on topic, RFC FTW, nothing was better then killing the trog boss, then making then when no one was looking, casting an instant cast dot on one of the trogs below and wiping the group. Good times, good times
Yeah i agree, I did ZG a while back (never raided pre-BC) and was completely lost in that jungle xD. But I always liked the fact u had ti find your way to the bosses, unlike the new dungeons, where it's jsut straightforward.. :(
MC, SFK, and ZF my fav from classic. I have to say im not a huge fan of the BC instances i do enjoy ramps and BF tho. I think blizzard did a great job on the instances of Wrath....since the first time i saw UK on project lore during beta i knew it would be one of my favorite instances ever. I prolly run it daily and not just for the easy emblems :)
Uldaman is prolly the easiest instance i have ever gone through since i could solo it while the elites were yellow to me xD
The first time I was called a "Landlubber" by Mr. Smite was an event in my Wow career I'll never forget.
And spending a whole weekend exploring every corner of Blackrock Depths is something I wouldn't want to do very often, but it surely felt very epic back then.
Well black rock depths holds its place in my heart while me and my friends were leveling our toons we ran this istance..... I suckz! I took us a frickin 3 hours to do this place, mabye more! I hated that place, but i loved the memories of the wipes, when we got lost, and the time we spent in real life curseing this place to hell.. it was great.
SFK ftw, my all time favorite, even now. I have a special place in my heart for BFD because that's where I met my mates, but I must say....
I prefer instances short and sweet. AN. VH. <3
But I also love more epic instances such as HoL!
rfd is great to run my friends through. one day imma go back and finish BFD cause my group always fell apart towards the end
I loved Sunken Temple. Great for skinning! :D
And SFK will always be one of my favorites because of the werewolves. I just really hate the Wailing Caverns because it's a maze in there and BFD because I always have trouble finding the entrance... XD
And LBRS holds a special place in my heart because me and two others (2 hunters and 1 feral druid) ran stealth missions in there trying to get that special worg as a pet XD
So instead of doing the whole run, we'd be using invisi potions and jumping off of ledges and timing pats, etc. It was awesome :)