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the fact that all the starting zones are fun despite being quite different from one another is a testament to how well they were made back in the day.

Deadwind pass goes in the "oh yeah i actually forgot" section

Imo Elwynn Forest is iconic to vanilla/classic. The music, atmosphere, mobs, and the quest… adore it all

I think Tanaris is liked by a lot of people because it was almost a reward for finishing the Shimmering Flats grind. Back at the start when no one knew what they were doing I could take a very long time to get that done and when you finished you went to an awesome goblin town. Pretty cool.

5:32 "Centaurs smell bad, centaur rep grinds stink" 10/10 writing

As someone who only played as undead or blood elf, silverpine, hillsbrad, and arathi highlands hold special places in my heart as I progressed through them as a kid. I will always love those zones. This video also made me realize how many zones I have completely avoided 😂

Hinterlands is unironically one of my favorite zones in classic World of Warcraft. Very high quest density that lets you complete multiple quests with minimal backtracking. Also a lot of quests started in other zones send you there anyway, so you can knock those out too. There are memorable quest chains like Shadra, the egg of Hakkar, and mallet of Zul'Farrak that intersect with other parts of the world (which you can always skip if you don't want to invest the time). There's also a lot of sweet loot you get from doing the quests there.

I must defend Tanaris as a fun zone. The vast desert, with the classic music (not after cataclysm changes ), that kind of weird serenity in this place... Also Zul'Farrak is there and thats a very good dungeon, fun to do with loads of nice rewards from quests inside. Mallet quest sends u for an adventure. Caverns of Time are later in TBC (does TBC count as classic nowdays?). There are hints of titans far in the south. There are pirates quests here and they are always fun to do. Escort quests with turtle and robot chicken are always a pain in the butt, still they are memorable. Bugs quests are long and i always skip them but they are important from the story perspective, u know that looming threat in thte horizon.

Silverpine Forest is amazing, even though its not leveling efficient is a really memorable zone that is worth doing

I used to think Mulgure wasn't fun, due to all the running and the empty plains, but as I got older I learned to love it. It's a very comfy zone when you realise there isn't *as much* running as your impatient kid-self thought, and the quests themsleves are enjoyable, evoking a "rite of passage" feel.

Tanaris is nice questing fighting pirates, trolls and insects

Great Episode!

The dark shore part is interesting since it’s considered one of the best zones for questing by xp per hour in the level range

i hope we can see more parts of "FUN / NOT FUN", I mean like zones of different expansion (I know thats a lot of work, but I realy love your WoW content Nixxiom.) Also, thank you for all the hard work and content.

Desolace is a great zone. Shitton of variety, kodos, wildlife, satyr, orcs, demons, naga, centaur, undead, almost every type of mob imagineable, and a ton of quests to see you through the entire zone.

I never played classic, started in TBC. But so many memories, such good ones. I wish I could go back in time, to be in school again, rushing home to log in with my guild, discovering this world and its wonders. So nostalgic. I miss the Barrens the most. Thanks for this nostalgic video. Nixxiom videos: FUN

I think it sounds really rough that almost half the zones „suck“ But then again, you don‘t need to go there and I think thats what made the whole experience much better. You explore new zones because you don‘t enjoy the current one. You travel the whole world to see if the „other“ zone is more appealing. You explore this giant world

A few corrections I would make: - Hillsbrad: Fun - Horde quests are pretty good I'd say and the Alliance side I don't think is too bad either. I've always enjoyed my time in that zone. - Tanaris: Fun - Might be some weird nostalgia but I just really like Tanaris, good world pvp, the quests aren't annoying like in other zones, the pirate area is great, the map fragment/Cuergo's gold questline and going to Land's End Beach is pretty cool also, beach part to the east and Steamwheedle Port are nice, overall chill and good vibes from that zone. - Wetlands: Fun - Super chill zone as well, quests are decent, Menethil Harbor is a really good town, the crashed ships with the human ghosts are cool, killing the Dragonmaw orcs is cool and the road leading to Grim Batol is cool also even though you can't really go there at low levels because the elite 60 mobs will wreck you. Also cool lore connections to Warcraft 2. - Feralas: *Not* Fun - Not that fun of a zone imo, yeah sure Dire Maul and the mystery around Isle of Dread are cool but that's just not enough, I've tried to follow along and read quest text multiple times but I always end up switching to autopilot and getting out of that zone asap, not a bad zone exactly but just reaaally boring.

I agree pretty much, but I also LOVE Hinterlands, Silithus and Tanaris. I guess I like the latter two because they really did the Ahn'Qiraj lore really good. The qiraji lore begins way back in the Barrens if you are Horde, with the silithid eggs quest. It then continues in the Shimmering Flats, Feralas, Tanaris, Un'Goro and finally, Silithus. You should definitely read the quest texts, I think it's a great way of foreshadowing. Really enjoyed reading about it and questing, with the epic finale to that lore coming in Patch 1.9. I love how those little quests start from local quest NPCs wondering why some bugs are appearing in the southern barrens, then sending your findings back, then going to shimmering flats to check it out, etc etc all the way to Silithus, where you finally learn that this is where the Qiraji/Silithid originate from.

Ah man! Darkshore was great 👍 👌 yes... the running around sucked but man, nostalgia hits hard when going back there to level. Unique quests and such a stark contrast coming from Teldrassil. It has such a cool vibe to it imo.

Winterspring and Eastern plaguelands are one of the best zones, Stranglethorn vale as well, one of the best! For starting zones, I like human starting zone and dwarf/gnome.

As a Tauren and Night elf enjoyer I would have been very sad if you didn’t put their starting zones on the fun side, great video keep them coming🤙🏽

Great video! As someone who played on a crappy college network on a dell laptop, I had no choice but to level up in underpopulated zones like desolace and stonetalon…they are huge nostalgia hits just hearing about them 💕

My time with playing through Vanilla wow was spent when i was about 10-11. I played with my family, My bro, Dad, Mom and even my Grandmother rounded out a 5 man group. At that age virtually every zone, especially the mid level ones, were so memorable. Looking at them now more objectively I would generally agree, but for me the only zones that I ended up disliking were Burning steppes, Felwood, Silithus and the hinterlands. Everything else to me was a fantastic time.

I think you may need to fully explore ALL the quests in Classic and then make a determination for which zones are made more fun or less fun from trying to complete them. Tanaris, for example, might have you find a key hidden inside a pirate's personal treasure chest you get from looting them occasionally, which leads you into one of their ships for some extra loot. Then theres also Cuergo's Gold which has you explore the far southern beaches, fight some more pirates to access that sweet treasure. I think thats really fun to discover. There's also that continuation quest if you completed Uldaman's questline after beating the dungeon, which takes you to Uldum and it kind of just leaves you hanging there until Cataclysm. Small little moments like that can really spice up a zone, especially if you never knew about them on your first go around and finally discover them again on your next go around. Blasted Lands has no redeeming qualities unless you're rich enough to afford all the quest materials off the Auction House, then you just do that and pair it with the really easy quest where you start a huge chain, but you kind of just leave it there. That all on its own is worth like, 35k-40k exp I think, and can be done at level 50 after you wrap up Searing Gorge. But then at that point, you're not really "doing" the zone, you're skipping it, which in itself is fun, but is just an extra kick in the balls to how bad the zone is.

The End Game zones are were the fun is at, especially on a PvP server. Got into playing Classic WoW when it came out and it was a constant heart attack. "Oh shit i'm gonna die!" "Oh damn a warrior saved me" "Oh shit the warrior died!" "Oh damn, a rogue saved me." "Oh shit, the rogue left me?!"

I've totally forgot all those years ago when I first realized I was on a big ass tree I was mindblown, such joy just remembering

Overall I agree. Though would love to see you rate the starting zones from favorite to least favorite. Could be a fun list.

I generally agree, though I do really love wetlands though it's always been my favorite zone due to just the music, design and ambiance of it. Also big fan of Desolace, Darkshore and Feralas due to just the atmosphere of them.

Imagine not liking Tanaris

I had a blast in most of them back in vanilla tbh. I think there's a lot to be said for the myriad of social interactions you have in each zone, whether that's teaming up, or fighting the other faction. Even "bad" zones can have memorable dungeon parties.

Nuanced take on Stonetalon and I agree. One of my top favorite zones (Duskwood, Dead Wind, and EPL/WPL all tie for #1) and I love that you're actually climbing the mountain over the course of questing but it's hard to say that it's outright fun.

Darkshore is really atmospheric and spooky espescially when classic wasn't overly brightly lit at night

I loved darkshore... I get why ppl don't though them walks were long as hell but it was so memorable. Loved the lore and trying to heal the land

Definitely do one for each expansion man. Would be great. Or more Classic wow lists.

No MMORPG I've played has come close to the sense of adventure of Classic WoW. When everyone is weak, you have to band together. It's simply amazing.

The classic leveling experience: 1-45: fun 45-60: a slog of half finished quests that make you run across the map to finish

I do remember Azshara as one of the most fun zones in the game, the quests were so immersive and for the Light, I still remember the Goblin trying to exorcizate the engineering thing I never laugh so loud on a World of Warcraft campaign like that

Just for the record, these videos remind me so much of when I first got in to WoW many years back. I would just love watching content that explored and showcased the world and the sense of adventure it brought to the table. As cynical as I can be about the game, I genuinely loved the experience it gave me, and I'm glad that the classic servers do still preserve the original vision of the game.

Tanaris is cool. Also, you forgot about the Deadwind Pass. Maybe not fun, but I remember how amazingly creepy it was when I first found myself there.

Hoping for/looking forward to reviews of all the xpac zones and Cataclysm reworked-zones!

Cool video. More like this please! Maybe quests next?

Overall I agree. Even after playing through vanilla, private servers, classic, and season 1 seeing these kinds of videos still fills me up with nostalgia reminding me that resubscribing is only a few clicks away. That music can move me to tears at times. I look forward to your next video.

I actually liked how Cataclysm managed to make many of the unfun zones fun again. Cata Azshara is hilarious with the various goblin experiements and the highway. I loved the boat in Cata Thousand Needles. Cata Silverpine was freaking badass with the all-out war between the Forsaken and the worgen. And I loved the caravan story of Cata Eastern Plaguelands.

I love Darkshore and am proud of it.

I love your classic videos!!

Love these kinds of videos

Burning Steppes is my favourite zone. Super lore heavy and so close to BRM, which is really the heart of the game for me, especially as you get close to level cap or just hit it. I find it epic. Also, it's a great zone for gathering materials (herbing and/or mining and even black dragonscale as skinner). But hey, to each their own. A lot of agreement, but quite a bit of disagreement, which is healthy I guess and a testament to the variety of the game and it appealing to different tastes. :) Enjoyed the video as well otherwise, as well as the other Classic (Vanilla) vids!

Darkshore is my favourite 1-20 zone. Great amount of quests, unique vibe, great enemy variety.

Awesome vido @Nixxion ... however I wonder if some rankings would be different based on Alliance or Horde. I would also love an expanded version like you did for most fun class to play... explaining the comparison criteria... Also, I personally take off the equation all starting zones as they're all memorable and legendaries

IDK about Loch Modan being fun... Last year during my return to WoW, I played TBC Classic. Gnome warlock.. I know, you can punt me now. But during my Loch Modan grind I got extremely bored and realized there was a lack of quests there compared to Westfall or Darkshore. So I was just begging someone to punt me to Westfall or even Darkshore.. Darkshore sure has a lot of walking but there 's a lot of quests there to keep me busy at least.

Agree with all really but Arathi and Hinterlands… easily two of my top 5 zones.

Let's make this a series. Love it.

I have been playing WoW on and off since a month before tbc came out, that's 15 years. A decade and a half. And today, thanks to your video I've realized it's Burning Steppes and not Burning Steps. Not a single person has ever corrected me.

This is great, hope you can make more vids with different xpacs

Please do a retail version. I'm interested in your opinion on every zone

There were some wack ones but I think we can all agree Blizzard was a king of the starter locations. Every single one of them was S-tier fun, each one was very different and each one had lots of memorable moments. And it's not even a nostalgia thing, those would be great even in a modern MMO.

Very fun video to watch!

Silverpine is awesome. Sure it's a means to an end before getting funneled into The Barrens, but the zone itself was a lot of fun and the lore is great!

I really wish blizzard would use the modern graphics in classic, add some new quests and content, maybe some world quests, but keep the play style exactly the same as classic that would be my dream come true.

I do want to see your opinion on all the expansions now. Great vid as always Nix

Hence the name, starting zones really are so good and I think most of that is because that's where we all began our journey.

"now up next we have, StrangleThorne Vietnam" "fun or not fun? ... it depends" lol

As someone who's new to Classic WoW: I'd still like to visit old school Azhara just to see Archimage Xylem

I can tell you why I like Tanaris even if the quests aren't fun: it's a desert. I love deserts. Especially with some of the early hints of Old God shenanigans with those giant bug nest things.

My opinion on the zones: Starting zones: Tirisfal glades 6/10 - gloomy, atmospheric and a nice zone overall, feels abit too lonely though Dun morogh 7/10 - a very frosty place where I wouldn't wanna be IRL, nice zone though Mulgore 10/10 - a lot of walking yes but such a beautful zone with the best city in it too. Best vanilla zone. Teldrassil 8/10 - loreheavy and a good place, props for hosting the best race, slightly lonelyfeeling Durotar 7/10 - A wee bit barren, somewhat not nice looking but definetely theme based so that's the purpose I guess, nice zone Elwynn forest 9/10 - Can't go wrong here, it's just a perfectly balanced forest, thematically good and feels cozy to be in. Extra points for Hogger. Early adventure zones: The barrens 7/10 - a bit the same as Durotar. Lots of quests which is good and hosting WC too. But so very long to walk everywhere. Silverpine forest 5/10 - honestly not that bad. A bit gloomy which is fine contextually, but also very lonelyfeeling. Takes so long to walk everywhere. Westfall 9/10 - open, nice looking, autumny feel and hosting deadmines. It's just overall great. Loch modan 8/10 - open and nice looking zone, very nice thematically. A bit of a downside that the zone forces you to go elsewhere after a short while then come back. Darkshore 6/10 - I think it's better than Silverpine forest but ohh God the walking... the damn walking everywhere... Stonetalon mountains 7/10 - I like the zone overall, it has a nice feeling to it. However, so far to walk across. Redridge mountain 9/10 - Packed with quests and it doesnt take long to go everywhere, also good looking. What's not to like? High energy zones: Duskwood 7/10 - Quite a nice zone, a bit gloomy and dark, somewhat lonely but also plenty of quests and stuff to do Ashenvale 8/10 - I like it. Plenty of quests, good chance of some pvp action and a relatively pretty zone. It's a long-stretched zone though. Wetlands 6/10 - Though I might argue for 7/10, but I don't have that much opinion on this zone. It's not the best looking zone but decent to lvl in. Hillsbrad foothills 8/10 - I think it is a zone that looks good and plenty of chance for pvp action which I love. Probably not all that much questing to do here but oh well. Thousand needles 7/10 - Haven't been here much but I think it's a fine zone. Alterac mountains 7/10 - zone itself is decent enough but yeah, not that much to do here and I hardly think of it as seperate from hillsbrad foothills really. Desolace 5/10 - I mean.. it just feels very desolate. I can't really feel that much at home here, and wanna move on relatively quickly Arathi highlands 8/10 - I like this one, I like it's openness and appearance. Swamp of sorrows 3/10 - I just don't like this, it feels so lonely and not cozy to be in. STV 10/10 - Awesome zone, visually appealing, lots lots lots of quests and several iconic quests as well, booty bay is awesome, pvp is awesome, second only to Mulgore because Mulgore is sheer beauty Badlands 7/10 - I think it's just a decent zone to be in, quite a bit to do here and chances for pvp action which is a plus Dustwallow marsh 5/10 - Somewhat better than Swamp of sorrows, and about on par with desolace. Don't like it that much, but it's ok. Closer to lvl cap zones: Hinterlands 8/10 - I don't get the hate, it's got plenty quests and visually appealing, a nice foresty zone. Tanaris 9/10 - A cool goblin town, plenty of quests, lots to do, zul'farrak and lots of pvp, FUN! Felwood 4/10 - SOOO MUCH WALKING/RIDING! Not very stimulating otherwise either. Azshara 6/10 - has so much potential though, but feels like a waste of time since not much to do Un'goro crater 10/10 - memorable, plenty of pvp action, very distinct from the rest, LOTS of quests with buffs and stuff, you can stay here for a while Searing gorge 7/10 - definetely not the worst zone to be in, stuff to do and not that far between everything WPL 6/10 - A bit the same as Tirisfal glades only in a higher lvl fashion, decent enough but u wanna move on to EPL Feralas 6/10 - Feels like I get lost here sometimes, also abit on the lonely side of things Burning steppes 7/10 - I think it is very similar to searing gorge Blasted lands 6/10 - very cool with the dark portal and design otherwise is ok, but it feels empty I dunno Final zones: EPL 8/10 - feels alot more homely and open than WPL and Tirisfal glades even though they are the same genre, also being a late game zone gives opportunity for pvp Silithus 1/10 - I just gave 1/10 for all the damn bugs, but the zone itself is mostly around 5 or 6/10. Good amount of quests, pvp action, some reputation items if you care to grind. Overall including bugs, maybe about 4/10 Winterspring 8/10 - good zone with some quests here and there and it has a chill vibe over it literally. Also chance for some nice pvp action in the furlborg village ^^ Moonglade - I won't rate it cuz I don't consider it a zone, it's just the hangout place for druids. More like a small town.

One of the reasons why I was an Alliance player was because I liked their zones better. I think especially the human leveling path Elwynn > Westfall > Redridge > Duskwood was just the best in the game and it seems like Blizzard put the most effort into that.

I don’t really remember most of those later level zones. I mostly played Alliance in the Eastern Kingdoms so I didn’t really get to see the Horde zones. Also when I started playing WoW, Burning Crusades came out so I was in a mad dash to get to Outland.

You nailed it Nixxiom! I couldn't agree more

Ultimately the rating gives the vibe that 1. you are nostalgic of warcraft, 2. you have played the game countless times to know of the hard grinds or easy spots. For the typical player who will be levelling 1-3 characters within 1-2 years, most zones should be fun.

I was going to complain if you didn't put searing gorge as fun but you did so nice video.

I am one of those people that love Tanaris AND the Burning Steppes, one for the sandfury quests / Zul'farrak and the other because of the black dragons and all the Dark Horde shenanigans. Plus, to this day I find Blackrock mountain to be one of the best areas in the game.

love this series

Do more of this. This was fun.

You always nail it bro.

You neglected to mention that Desolace and Hinterlands have two of the BEST Troll villages. I've spent countless hours fishing and chillin' at both. Great place to take a minute before raid, and smoke your bowls before the inevitable drama unfolds.

I really like both Silverpine Forest and Hillsbrad Foothills but there aren't enough quests so forsaken players have to keep traveling to Kalimdor back and forth

Mulgore is literally my happy place. It's just so calm and peaceful.

This video literally got me from 1-60… now I’m in TBC but there’s only a Fun/Not Fun for classic and wrath. Now I’m lost 😢

Man, you did Thousand needles dirty. It's top tier just for the memorability and uniqueness, totally one of the my zones.

Thanks for the video. I think I agree with most of that, but I like MoonGlade.

This could be series on its own, and I hope it will be

The Eternal War of Stranglethorn forever in my heart.

I like The Barrens but I hate Razorfen Kraul and Wailing Caverns.

I see now why no matter what I play on alliance, eventually I'll end up going through the southern zones all the way until booty bay

6:25 I think the Dwarf Fortress that the Dark Irons invaded is also fun

I'm one of those folks who really like "Tanaris". The beaches are awesome. And imo, it's lovely, for a desert region. Also, I like Gadgetzan.

Lol @ the relics of awakening reverence. At that quest on turtle wow atm and my cloth ass priest is struggling whahaha

Really like wetlands coziness. Dont think its very pretty, but its flat and easy to go through and knock out all quests at once. I have so many good nostalgic memories from silithus and tanaris. I like the idea of those bug kingdoms and their hives alot idk why.

Really enjoying the fun/not fun

Gotta say - the summoning lords thing in silithus was great as an Endgame thing tho. but that's probably the only redeeming quality

Agreed on all but one, I Love Tanaris! I've always enjoyed the desert aesthetic.

Bro what is that shimmering flats ranking. Its one of the best zones to level in, no annoying quests and a central hub just great

Only one I disagree with is Tanaris. I've always liked Tanaris because getting there was always a big milestone, and leveling starts to pick up again following a bit of a slump in the mid to late 30s. ZF is nearby, and you (probably) just got your mount, so the open dunes are great for riding around from quest to quest. That being said, if you don't have a mount when you get to Tanaris, you probably won't have a great time.

Are there other editions of this?

Idk, Burning Steppes seems fun to me. I mean that's where the 2nd war occured, where all the blackrock orcs and the black dragonflight live. Also is fun to quest and collect the dungeon quests there to then, find a group for BRD/LBRS and hit 60

Man, kinda makes me wanna roll Horde just to go through Durotar/Barrens again

Clarifying; Feralas and Swamp of Sorrows - Fun IF your horde. Moonglow is only useful to a druid who needs a shortcut to Teldrassil

Would have liked your answers placed over the world map so I could better visualize the areas you talked about...certainly would help me for those areas I haven't really played in. Otherwise good review