This. It really does happen that way. Teleports round the game world killed off 95% of the geography in the MUD I ran.

Much of Northrend's geography is already bypassed by anyone with an 80 alt, as they fly from quest hub to quest hub and drop in directly on the quest zones. More is never seen - why should I care how to get to Utgarde Pinnacle when I just teleport straight in? Why would a Horde player ever try to sneak into Stormwind to run Stockades? Or even bother with the run to Deadmines?

Ah well. Beam me up, Scotty, I've got next week's episode of Loot Trek to get to.

There are only a few dungeons that a free teleport really makes sense.

ToC: Run by the Argent Crusade
Wailing Caverns: Maybe, the Cenarion Circle has a few people there
RFC: Only for Horde
Stockades: Only for Alliance
Caverns of Time: An easy matter for a bronze dragon
Violet Hold: For obvious reasons

There may be others I missed, but my point is that teleporting randomly round the world not only spoils gameplay, but immersion as well.

i can't agree strongly enough with you Bossy.

I still tool through BRD just because it's cool. I still fly to the highest points in Azeroth to look around. I think World Explorer should be way harder, and should reward something more awesome than a Tabard.

I just finished the War of the Shifting Sands quest chain. largley by myself, but with some help from good friends and guildies who didn't mind exploring BWL for the first time (can you believe some people have NEVER set foot in BWL? Mind boggling!) or travelling around to find the four Emerald Dream bosses (still tricky fights by the way)

even tho the AQ stuff has long been done on my realm, i loved heading to the Gong at the end of the chain with most of my entire guild. We took a few cool screen shots posed against the gong and even tho nothing 'happened' it was still a hoot.

I really hope there are still enough players who play this way and who value these kinds of stories.

I think that the idea of reducing the experience gained from killing mobs and dungeons is quite selfish. I understand that you enjoy doing world quests and experiencing the world and all that. But there are people who want to get the leveling over with as fast as possible and have more fun running dungeons.

I think the system that is present right now is pretty good since both kinds of players can enjoy. If you wanna do more quests and explore the world and all that, then there are certainly avenues and incentives for you to do so (Quel delar, Loremaster Achievement). Remember, that no one is forcing you to run dungeons, and if you want to immerse yourself in these dungeons you can form a group of like minded people to do so.