Posted by Bastosa on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 - 39 Comments
Tags: classic dungeonmaster, dire maul, Instances, 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.
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By AggroLord on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Yep pretty bad most of the old content is ignored nowadays…even though some do it for the ach points…oh well…guess that’s good enough
By Ronaldinho on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Molten Core, ZF, and a few others are still my favorites.
By Barrager ( Area 52 ) on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
I like seeing the old dungeons now and then, would like to see a heroic MC or something ( 10man MC sounds good to me etc )
By Himi on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Zul Farak best instance ever. I would love to see it remade for lvl 80. The stairs event is the best event . (i think i made it from lvl 40 to level 50 like 20 times)
By jenjen on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
I still have nightmares about healing MC runs.
By Micah on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 1:57 pm
thats what i hated about old instances is that you could get lost in them soooo easy like Sunken Temple for example i hate that place soooo much
By Smalls on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Maraudon and ZF might just be the two greatest instances ever.
i think blizzard should give all the low level instances a heroic mode.
By Kyle Harrison on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I really loved the warlock mount quest in DM. Although i did it during tbc and it was a nightmare getting a group it was a fun experience. Although i doubt i would ever want to go back.
Karazhan will remain my favourite instance for a long time. It felt like it really had depth and i really enjoyed exploring from time to time, even if it did result in a wipe from exploring medivhs quarters ^.^
By Sean on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
I really like doing Razorfen Downs. And DM. And RFC. And WC.
Really, I like most of the pre-tbc instances, I regularly boost random people outside them just for the kicks and funsies of running it again, aggroing everything within a 10 mile radius, and raining volley down.
By Sno on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
ZF even compared to raid best off all time imo
By JV on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 2:31 pm
one of my old favorites was Shadowfang keep. being a lock the first time around i was confused as to why some of “those dog looking thinks” were immune to everything but my immolate.and when
Arugal kept blinking around the room it was fun watching the melee have to run over and find him again.
Now its lost its touch taking me 5 min to finish it but its still my favorite.
By Halcath on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
SFK for life! Maybe it is just because my favorite toons were cloth users, but I would do that instance as many times as I could. That and DM/VC when my mage was high enough I was giving free runs, I liked it so much. I still haven’t gotten that dang cat off of Cookie though.
By BobCharabini on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 2:45 pm
Even though its not Vanilla content, Kara has got to be my all time favorite instance. The music, the whole place just had an awesome atmosphere.
As to “noob Vanilla content”….I’d have to say Deadmines, Razorfen Downs.
And even though I never ran this instance or liked it much, I just have to mention BRD, it’s just so huge and epic n stuff.
Never got to do MC, BWL or most of the other Vanilla raids, I would definately vote for heroic mode of all dungeons.
By Gerandor on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
SFK is awesome
i’ve recently been making small instance teams with the goal of lvling up from 1 to 80 through instances… we failed, but it still gave me a chance to experience some of the lower lvl instances as RFC, SFK, WC and the likes 
it was much more enjoyable to do instances at lower lvls.
At higher lvls it’s something you do because you have to, to get gear so you can join your guild in that naxxramas run. You dont do them because you want to anymore, which is a shame.. always liked instances
By Larna on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
…..Gnomeregan…. -_-”
By Starets Sayas on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 3:15 pm
Those Zul’Farrack stairs were great before they got nerfed and you barely stood a chance. Anyone else remember that far back?
By HerofTime on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
The way things are now make more instances more accessible to more people. This can be good. However, I will always remember the 30 minutes I have spent riding around ZF trying to find the ext. Also, downing Gahz’rilla for the first time was really fun because it was the first time I had tanked an instance.
By yhyl on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
Freakin’ Ulda man. It’s just pure love for me anyway
By Cyo on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
MC is the real deal, you can see the effort blizzard put into mc. I dont think one instance come close. The way Rags emerges is fantastic, the only thing on par is the way Saph rises from his bones. Its a shame the “newbies” will never go through the frustration and enjoyment of getting a 40 man together and the teamwork that is needed.
MC is best!!
By Aramathis on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
The Deadmines or “Van” as I remember it from years back in Westfall (I’ve been horde the better part of two years now, but started out as an alliance paly to 70) was by far my favorite instance.
The scope of that place just seemed awesome and as it was the first instance I ever ran in WoW back in 2004; with pirates, goblins and ghostly spectars…. Walking into that huge cavern toward the end with the ship parked inside…. Using the cannon to blow open the doorway to the caves. I just loved the VC run.
By Percolatte on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
I personally love Deadmines and Zul’Farrak. I will never forget seeing that ship, or the stair event for the first time. So, so epic…
By churchill on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
my favorite vanilla wow instance would have to be deadmines, because as a lvl 80 death knight, i cant help but smile when fighting a hundred pirates that cant put a dent in my health
By PatrickD on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 6:06 pm
Heroic Deadmines raid anyone?
By Troter on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
started playing have way into tbc, dint get todo classic dungeons/raids pretty much lvled to 70 as fast as i could..
doing them now though at 80, some of the art work is amazing aq40 is so pretty , so im in the middle of the septer q line now…not so pretty.great lore bud all that flying by flight paths n walking, not mentioning the mats u need respect for those who did that at 60
By elion on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
i havent experienced much of the the vanila content until higher levels so i guass i never got to injoy running SFK or WC i have bad momories of my first time of VC it was a nightmare finding a group for ZF the stair event was realy fun if your low level not that much fun one shoting all of them on my mage never done DM but i ran Maraudon numorous times for geared and world events aand i failed to see he amusement of it ghomeragon i dont realy renember it to well but one thing i will never forget the hell i went though in it i never done kara or any of the BC raids uldaman is so boring i guass if you done as much as i have the magic just fades the dungeon that iam gointo renemebr is stocks not that thier anything so special about it i jsut done so much i go thier to level to get gear mats at one point to test out my power to level up my wapon skills you name it i done some vanila raiding at 70 and 80 beat both at 70 and 80 ZG AQ just went though the motion wasnt that much fun but it was intresting to see the great AQ whats in it see what the 60s had to fase and to know a bit more about the vanilla raids
By Dudeofdeath on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 7:30 pm
My fave BC Instance/raid has to be Kara because the boss fights are pretty fun and i like the whole castle idea:)
Kthxbai
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
By Zaraken on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
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.
By Reeper on Wednesday, February 25th, 2009 at 10:46 pm
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.
By Athelias on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 12:04 am
aaaaaaah the good old days of gnomer and stuff
By Owaka on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 12:05 am
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!
By Kimeghale on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 2:04 am
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
By Simon on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 5:08 am
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..
By Scott on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 6:15 am
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
By hai on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 6:21 am
Uldaman is prolly the easiest instance i have ever gone through since i could solo it while the elites were yellow to me xD
By Naqaj on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 6:39 am
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.
By Deidare on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 9:34 am
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.
By Nebyula on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 at 10:42 pm
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!
By dalinus on Friday, February 27th, 2009 at 6:54 am
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
By Bianca on Saturday, May 30th, 2009 at 2:19 am
I loved Sunken Temple. Great for skinning!
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