Wotlk was the most fun, and it was also the expansion that kept growing in players.
Once cataclysm hit, that's when WoW started losing players. They tried to revamp the world and failed miserably. Yes, the revamp was needed, but it made leveling such a pain. Overuse of Phasing, Vehicles, and Broken paths for traveling made it worse, and an incoherent leveling system where players would outlevel the zone. Leveling with heirlooms made it even worse.
Wotlk had better stories too, with Arthas, Brann, Death Knights, Forsaken & Wrath Gate, etc.
The dungeons and raids might've been easier than previous expansions, but they were a lot more fun. LFG tool made it easier, and the elimination of CC didn't exclude any class.
Overall, wotlk was better with lore, pvp, dungeons, raids, balance, armor/weapon design, and so on.
edit: I also had many friends that quit because of the radical changes to the talent system, which is still so terrible today.
I much preferred vanilla, but TBC as some have said still had a lot of in world PvP going on. I hate arenas, and except for AV which I love, hated BGs. For me in world PvP is what put the "warcraft" into the "world."
I miss the old back and forths between Astranaar and Splintertree post. My guild always had our hearths there hoping for a fight that was usually almost nightly....
Also back in TBC it seemed harder and slower. I have come to respect that now and miss it actually. Back then I experienced the world and the dungeons because they were worth doing for the gear. Now, with heirlooms and a sped up 1-60, it seems the lower levels are just something in the way to hurry to max.
I don't miss the lag, esp after a patch, though lol
WotLK, loved the lore, quests, dungeons, Ulduar and long nights raiding with my guild in ICC
Cata was a Cata-strophe, Hogger moved, the old world destroyed, old dungeons remade, old talent tree gone, small and narrow dungeons, we lost half of our guild, I left during Cata
Panda, well It is ok, not as bad as Cata, it have some ups and downs, had some fun raiding moments
Wrath for sure was the best. After wrath I'd go BC>cata>mop. I didn't like mop at all, but I feel like the developers know a lot of the playerbase didn't so I have high hopes for wod.
I came into WoW a month after BC came out. Honestly I loved the design of BC but not the experience I had dealing with the community on the server I played on. Wotlk was my favorite time in WoW. First time I ever got the chance to raid and actually see all of then current content.
I started losing interest during Cata. Liked the redesigned world and new quests in old zones but lost most of my ingame friends to grind it out with. Pandaria, I don't really have opinion about this one yet since I just came back to the game a month ago.
Overall, Burning Crusade was the best. I liked it more than vanilla even (blasphemy right?).
For story and lore though, I have to go with Mists of Pandaria, and Wrath of the Lich King a very close second. The main reason is that Mists of Pandaria was a new story that nobody knew about. Wrath of the Lich King, we all knew what was going to happen.
For gameplay mechanics, I'd have to go with Burning Crusade. It was before the dreaded (and stupid) gearscore thing, and each class was totally different from the next. In Wrath of the Lich King, you started to have too many skills, and ranged dps was ranged dps, melee was melee dps, and you could interchange classes easily.
Best Raiding, I'd have to go with Burning Crusade again. Everyone's favorite raid, Karazhan was so great, and Wrath of the Lich King really only had Icecrown that I liked. Cataclysm had Firelands, which I liked, but Dragon Soul was probably the worst raid to date, except maybe Heart of Fear (I like the fights, but just seemed out of place).
PvP-wise, I couldn't tell you. In my almost 10 years of playing WoW (started in beta), other than Tarren Mill, I maybe have 1000 HK across all my characters, and most of those were from the Legendary Cloak Quests lol. Some of my PvP-loving friends say that Wrath of the Lich King and Vanilla were the best. I agree with Vanilla, I loved Crossroads and Tarren Mill PvP
Best Zone to level in would have to go to Jade Forest (personal opinion). Before Mists of Pandaria it was Icecrown Glacier. It seemed as though the world changed in these zones as you progress through the quests. You made new allies and enemies. Second would be Valley of the Four Winds. I really enjoyed Chen's Questline, as it wasn't really about playing the hero (which I'm really all about). Halfhill was also something new and I spent and still spend a lot of time on my farm
Comments
WotLK. Epic story, epic landscapes, epic music.
Wotlk was the most fun, and it was also the expansion that kept growing in players.
Once cataclysm hit, that's when WoW started losing players. They tried to revamp the world and failed miserably. Yes, the revamp was needed, but it made leveling such a pain. Overuse of Phasing, Vehicles, and Broken paths for traveling made it worse, and an incoherent leveling system where players would outlevel the zone. Leveling with heirlooms made it even worse.
Wotlk had better stories too, with Arthas, Brann, Death Knights, Forsaken & Wrath Gate, etc.
The dungeons and raids might've been easier than previous expansions, but they were a lot more fun. LFG tool made it easier, and the elimination of CC didn't exclude any class.
Overall, wotlk was better with lore, pvp, dungeons, raids, balance, armor/weapon design, and so on.
edit: I also had many friends that quit because of the radical changes to the talent system, which is still so terrible today.
TBC
I much preferred vanilla, but TBC as some have said still had a lot of in world PvP going on. I hate arenas, and except for AV which I love, hated BGs. For me in world PvP is what put the "warcraft" into the "world."
I miss the old back and forths between Astranaar and Splintertree post. My guild always had our hearths there hoping for a fight that was usually almost nightly....
Also back in TBC it seemed harder and slower. I have come to respect that now and miss it actually. Back then I experienced the world and the dungeons because they were worth doing for the gear. Now, with heirlooms and a sped up 1-60, it seems the lower levels are just something in the way to hurry to max.
I don't miss the lag, esp after a patch, though lol
Started to play with Lich King, so I missed BC
WotLK, loved the lore, quests, dungeons, Ulduar and long nights raiding with my guild in ICC
Cata was a Cata-strophe, Hogger moved, the old world destroyed, old dungeons remade, old talent tree gone, small and narrow dungeons, we lost half of our guild, I left during Cata
Panda, well It is ok, not as bad as Cata, it have some ups and downs, had some fun raiding moments
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For me there was not a single bad expansion, all were great and had a blast playing them ... but agree, I also think Wotlk is still my preferred. :-)
I came into WoW a month after BC came out. Honestly I loved the design of BC but not the experience I had dealing with the community on the server I played on. Wotlk was my favorite time in WoW. First time I ever got the chance to raid and actually see all of then current content.
I started losing interest during Cata. Liked the redesigned world and new quests in old zones but lost most of my ingame friends to grind it out with. Pandaria, I don't really have opinion about this one yet since I just came back to the game a month ago.
It depends really.
Overall, Burning Crusade was the best. I liked it more than vanilla even (blasphemy right?).
For story and lore though, I have to go with Mists of Pandaria, and Wrath of the Lich King a very close second. The main reason is that Mists of Pandaria was a new story that nobody knew about. Wrath of the Lich King, we all knew what was going to happen.
For gameplay mechanics, I'd have to go with Burning Crusade. It was before the dreaded (and stupid) gearscore thing, and each class was totally different from the next. In Wrath of the Lich King, you started to have too many skills, and ranged dps was ranged dps, melee was melee dps, and you could interchange classes easily.
Best Raiding, I'd have to go with Burning Crusade again. Everyone's favorite raid, Karazhan was so great, and Wrath of the Lich King really only had Icecrown that I liked. Cataclysm had Firelands, which I liked, but Dragon Soul was probably the worst raid to date, except maybe Heart of Fear (I like the fights, but just seemed out of place).
PvP-wise, I couldn't tell you. In my almost 10 years of playing WoW (started in beta), other than Tarren Mill, I maybe have 1000 HK across all my characters, and most of those were from the Legendary Cloak Quests lol. Some of my PvP-loving friends say that Wrath of the Lich King and Vanilla were the best. I agree with Vanilla, I loved Crossroads and Tarren Mill PvP
Best Zone to level in would have to go to Jade Forest (personal opinion). Before Mists of Pandaria it was Icecrown Glacier. It seemed as though the world changed in these zones as you progress through the quests. You made new allies and enemies. Second would be Valley of the Four Winds. I really enjoyed Chen's Questline, as it wasn't really about playing the hero (which I'm really all about). Halfhill was also something new and I spent and still spend a lot of time on my farm
Short Story: Burning Crusade :P
Got to agree too.