Posted by iTZKooPA on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 - 42 Comments
Tags: art appreciation, dun niffelem, favorite area, favorite zone, sons of hodir, storm peaks, thunderfall, wrath, wrath of the lich king
Snow, what a wonderful way for water to return to the earth. Snow, in all its forms, makes everything more beautiful. Formerly gnarled and bare trees take on a new luster when they are covered in a few inches of snow. Better yet, when the trees are encased in slowly melting ice, giving them an eye-closing glow. How I miss the Northeast sometimes…so I go to Northrend.
Perhaps now you may understand why the frozen tundra of Storm Peaks is home to my favorite area in the game. I can actually narrow it down far further than that though. I do enjoy Storm Peaks as a whole, but the area surrounding the destruction caused by Thorim “misplacing” his hammer, and now Blowing Hodir’s Horn, struck me more than anything. I distinctly remember saying “Wow, this is awesome” into Ventrilo when I ventured into the area during my opening Sons of Hodir quests. It took me close to 30 minutes to finish what should have been a 5 minute quest. That is how entranced I was by the frozen war scene.
I can get even more granular though. The shot you see below is currently my favorite bit of art presented in World of Warcraft. While the overall mayhem that was caught in time by Thorim’s butterfingers is incredibly awesome, the moment captured here encapsulates the battle perfectly.
The Forefather lays waste to the Dwarves directly in front of him. Little does he know that a pair of their brothers in arms take the opportunity to flank him from his left. In the flanking party we can see one dwarf in mid-leap, dagger at the ready. The second is crouched as he prepares his footing for his jump from his bear’s haunches to the unsuspecting forefather. We will never know if the collection of ants managed to topple the massive spider.
The frozen struggle, its surrounding lore and the overall presentation of Thunderfall just does it for me. Since Wrath of the Lich King launched I have been unable to find an area that captivates me so much, from a broad spectrum and then at a microscopic level. Also, the amount of clouds, honor and mining I get in Thunderfall doesn’t hurt.
What is your favorite area and why?
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By Taskun on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
1st! …crap now i have to shoot myself
By Heim on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
2nd!! mine’s Zangarmarsh btw
By Kaminye on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
MIne is by far Stanglethorn, home to the best city in the world (of warcraft), Booty Bay!
By HerofTime on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
2nd. thats just awesome. i love thunderfall. my favorite area though is Zangarmarsh, hands down. nothing like flying through a forest of mushrooms and picking a mushroom on a giant mushroom.
By Alex F on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
I would have to agree with iTZ on this one. Thunderfall is the most artistic place in WoW and thus, my favorite place. This depicts an epic battle going on from the misplacement of a hammer. How they were able to position everything to make it look in a way as it does is truly amazing.
By Aguzar (Darkspear EU) on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
SFK,
Shadowfang x6 in 2 months, selling for 6-10k gold on my server.
there is no where else
By PatrickD on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
My favorite area is a mountaintop in southwestern Elwynn Forest that looks out over the ocean. I like mountain climbing in WoW and enjoy the views.
By Varren on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
Borean Tundra, but I still have to see Scholazar, Icecrown and Storm Peaks coz im lvlin in Zul’Drak now.
By Aldei on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
I have to say, Thunderfall is my fav so far, I actually zoom in and out to look around for every detail, it gave me that awesome feeling like when your standing to something so majestic you just sigh.
Nagrand was another, a heavenly paradise amidst a destroyed world.
By zolbin on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
NO WAY i just did this last night and i was so amazed at the frozen battle blizz did a great job on this
i ventured around for 15 minutes seeing all the frozen guys b4 i completed the quest
By Conxcore on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 3:13 pm
my top 3
1.Nagrand (beautiful sky and waterfalls, very fun place to just cruise around on ur epic flyer)
2.Elwynn Forest (love the music, very pretty on a sunny day, good memories)
3.Daggercap Bay, Howling Fjord(the most amazing thing to see when riding the boat to NR for the first time)
I also love to mountain climb. been on pretty much every mountain range in the game.
By Gerandor on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
i was also quite amazed by Storm Peaks, but i’d have to say, the time i was most amazed in my wow history, was when going through the Dark Portal for the first time.. it was so huge, and with the battle going on just down the stairs.. i was blown away
By Razius on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
/sigh,just can’t wait to ding 58 and 68,so I can explore new horizons.But with my current guild,I’m sure to be getting there soon enough
By Carlos on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Before patch 2.4.0, it was Nagrand.
After the patch 2.4.0, it was Quel’Danas.
Now, with the release of WotLK, it’s definitely the Storm Peaks.
By Alayea on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 5:11 pm
Storm Peaks is a nice place, but Nagrand and Grizzly Hills will always be my favorites because they feel just like home.
By Juggynaut on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Silithus. Just kidding.
I really do enjoy Un’Goro Crater for all of the video game references. Every time I go into the gorilla cave and they drop an empty barrel, I can’t help but enjoy it.
If we’re talking about pure visuals, the architecture of Uduar in Storm Peaks is awesome. And of course the area you talked about is just plain breathtaking.
By Hartley Nauss on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
My favorite place is Zul’Drak.
I love the early part of it the area thats war torn and just becoming infected by the scourge its so cool
in outland my favorite is the non instance area around Black Temple
In azeroth my favorite place is the plague wood around stratholme
By Nalamin on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 6:00 pm
Tanaris hands down I was wandering about so long i had to wait for my hearth to come up even with my map I couldn’t make my way back to Gadgetzan.
By sevink on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
My favorite place in Northrend would be Ice crown Corp Rethar to be precise.
In Outlands it would be Nagrand
In Azeroth it would be Dun Morogh just because my first real character was a Dwarf and it gives fond memories
By Mike Fahy on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 6:28 pm
My favorite is Dragonblight. Partly for the scenery, but mostly for the questing. almost every quest just blew me away. Especially Wrathgate, of course.
But based on pure scenery, my favorite zone in the old world was Azshara.
In Outland, i loved Nagrand and Netherstorm.
In Northrend.. Scenery - Storm Peaks.
Fun/Questing favorite - Dragonblight
By Hank on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
^^^ Wat iTZ said.
By Flannigan on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 8:00 pm
Top 3 by far:
1) Nagrand- Takes your mind away from the killing because it is so pretty.
2) Stranglethorn Vale- Because “time is money friend”
3) The Barrens- Where legends are born and raved about.
By Tribulations on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 8:08 pm
I’m surprised no one has said Howling Fjord, im on my second character leveling their now, and i just turn up the game music and went running around looking over rivers and oceans. And sometimes id stop to genocide a herd of passing boars.
By Punkyniko on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 8:51 pm
OK, i think blizz does a pretty good job with all their zones, but the ones that really are a sight for me are Ashenvale Forest, Tanaris, Eversong Forest, Nagrand, Netherstorm, and Howling Fjord. My all time favorite place to see, and still puts me in awe is Caverns of Time….its just amazing!
By Fladon on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
I’d have to say that my favorite zone is definitely mulgore. Because it’s just so captivating and when you just run around in it and sometimes watch the roaming kodos it just seems so calm and majestic.
By L on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
id have 2 say howling fjord is mine because its where i have had the most fun in the game… its very good… i think its the only zone that had snow and grassy warm areas
By bold on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
personally i like the event is epl where you have to defend the town from waves of undead i was pretty epic
1. eastern plague lands
2. duskwood
3. searing gorge
these area seem to be the most calming to me probly because there so hellish it makes everything else seem calm
By Veit on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Call me crazy, but I love the plague lands. Probably has to do with the fact that I grinded Argent Dawn rep during BC, when it wasn’t relevant.
By Hatell on Tuesday, February 10th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
I have to say the area around Ulduar and inside Halls of Lightning. I don’t know, they’re just stunning to me.
And this may sound rather sad (as in pathetic) but I like the Temple of Elune. Yes, I really do. Especially when someone turns in the spider quest and you have her crawling around in the well there. XD
By Josh(the Original one) on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 5:46 am
I would have to say that my top 3 are
-Nagrand- I remember never wanting to leave there and I was so hoping i could obtain 70 there (i wasnt able to)
-Nexus- I know this is just an instance but it was my first instance in wotlk and I was absolutley blown away by the visuals in there and being the tank the others didnt like me taking 5 minutes to admire the ceiling
-Grizzly Hills- Definately not for the quest but for the environment itself is just absolutley breathtaking.
Well thats my 3
Honorable mentions go out to
-Elywnn Forest (great memories and you just feel like you are starting something that will go on for a long while)
-Thousand Needles (Because no one else will even mention your name and I know why but i feel like giving you a confidence boost)
Well thats my list
Cheers
-Moroloth
By theone on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 7:26 am
mine is definately scholazar basin by the beach x)
its so cozy
By Warfather on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 8:07 am
My top 3 must be…
1)Nagrand
2)Scholazar basin (bcuz the backround music)
3)Dragonblight
By Hadrinus on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 9:21 am
Northrend: Grizzly hils was the best for(coolest achievemnt name, yo)
Outland:Nagrand, green and lush. Just a place to chill.
Old world: THe grasslands in front of silvermoon. If the game would be real i would build a house there for my belf paly
By andy25100 on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 9:45 am
Mine is the plaguelands because of the and what i would be like if it survived the plague plus its gothic style ruined buildings is cool
By Fergal on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Westfall. Austere, wild, serene. That run South along the road past Saltdean’s farm to Sentinel Hill still makes the hair stand up on my arms at level 80.
By Ironhoof on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 10:17 am
Crystalsong Forest, the first time i saw it i was speachless. Those trees are mindblowing. I was ” oh my god, is this real or am i dreaming?” Storm Peaks are great. I always loved snow, and to see so much of it aranged so nice on the huge peaks is a must see. GG to blizzard for the scenes they offerd us in Wrath. Can’t wait for what is to come.
By Dayrius on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 12:32 pm
totally Amberpine Lodge
its soo woodsy
@conx
yea me and you have pretty much climbed every mountain in the game
By Jeyzi on Wednesday, February 11th, 2009 at 1:02 pm
Ashenvalle for me is the best place
By Muradun on Thursday, February 12th, 2009 at 5:53 am
Well i love most of the areas in WoW blizz has done a fantastic job in creating the zones but for my top 5 it would be:
1:Nagrand(the only lasting beatiful area in a wartorn world)
2:Mulgore(its just so magestic with the kodos roaming free)
3:Storm peaks(the frozen battle is magestic)
4:Howling Fjord(The scenery and wildlife are beautiful)
5:Crystalsong Forest(The scenery is magical and beautiful)
By nick on Sunday, February 15th, 2009 at 8:26 am
surprised no ones said deadwind pass dont really know why i like it there i just do
By Dalinus on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
umm.. id say
old world
Elwynn Forest
Silverpine Forest and tirisfal(their kinda the same)
SIlithus (the first time i saw the giant hive in the middle of the zone i could only think my god, this is a hopeless fight.E
Undercity and exodar
Outland
Shadowmoon valley is pretty epic
Zangarmarsh is really alien and somewhat eery…
Northrend
Borean tundra
All alliance inns.
By Gloodaa on Tuesday, February 17th, 2009 at 12:57 pm
i would say for
Old World: Winterspring, it’s like an epic winther up there.
Outland: Netherstorm, dude…. “Eco-domes” ’nuff said
Northrend: Crystalsong Forest, it has crystal trees!!!