Breakfast Topic: What starting zone do you love?
by Amelia Ramstead 
Aug 31st 2011 at 8:00AM
Lure me in with a beautiful location and great storyline, and I'm yours. I've been sucked in by the Blood Elf and Draenei starting zones and was loathe to leave. I also loved my time in the Goblin and Worgen starting zones, although being plopped out into the world with no real skills was a tad frustrating. I've also enjoyed starting Night Elves and Tauren. Despite this, my favorite zone is the Undead zone. That's right, Tirisfal Glades. Although it doesn't meet my "beautiful" requirement, the story more than makes up for it. And actually, on second thought, it is beautiful, in its own special way.
There's just something about Tirisfal Glades that feels so ... good. Maybe it's the slightly gothic feel. Maybe it's the tragedy that permeates the zone, the loss that is evidenced everywhere. And Sylvanas is one of my favorite characters, so having the opportunity to play next to her feels like an honor. I liked the undead starting zone from the beginning, but the changes in Cataclysm really added to the atmosphere. Being evil is so fun.
What about you? What starting zone really gets your juices flowing? Do you find yourself constantly making the same race over and over again just so you can watch the cinematics or do the same quest? What is it about that zone that makes it so very awesome for you?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Revnah Aug 31st 2011 8:06AM
Draenei for me. Azurmyst Isle and Bloodmyst Isle are beautiful, unique, and have tons of fun quests. When I was still Alliance, I levelled every single one of my characters on Bloodmyst.
Teldrassil is lovely, too, and I LOVE the new Troll starting area on the Echo Isles! Finally the trolls got an appropriate starting area reminiscent of their South Seas island home :-)
DracoX93 Aug 31st 2011 10:20AM
I'm sensing that you might like islands...... Go, Coldridge Valley
Revnah Aug 31st 2011 10:57AM
I do like islands, I'm actually living on one irl (Ireland) :-)
Possum Aug 31st 2011 8:07AM
Undead for me as well. Cataclysm just made it better.
Rezai Aug 31st 2011 8:27AM
Heck yeah cataclysm just made it better. It gave us Lillian Voss.
Possum Aug 31st 2011 8:29AM
Ah Lillian, what on earth are they going to do with her?
Nick Aug 31st 2011 9:24AM
Despite now having 10 alliance characters at 85 I agree that prior to cata the Forsaken start was the best. My first ever character was Mannimarco the undead shadow priest, kept him through all of vanilla. Since moving to alliance nothing has felt the same as tirisfal, and repeated journeys in tirisfal still feel great. When I'm home I'll maybe take a trip through revamped tirisfal.
Tremelizzer Aug 31st 2011 8:09AM
Mulgore looks awesome and I liked it at least pre-cata but I haven't done it lately. Goblin starting zone is awesome already just for the looks but quests are fun as well.
Nina Katarina Aug 31st 2011 8:32AM
If you re-do the Mulgore starting zone, do it without heirlooms. There are some nice bits with Baine later on in the questline.
razion Aug 31st 2011 8:54AM
I have mixed feelings about Mulgore.
I liked how Mulgore was peaceful and uncorrupted. It felt the tauren had a real hold on the land and that it was really theirs. Now, the land is scarred in various areas, and it feels tainted. Not only this, a particular NPC that old players will remember from the old Mulgore is gone, as is made evident early on in the questing experience. On one hand, I grieve for the loss of this NPC, but on the other hand, it makes the nemesis in the area that much more hate-able as villains, and it was sorely needed as the quilboar have never really seemed deserving of malcontent until now.
It all evens out in its own way, somehow, and I do believe it was well done. I do of course recommend every Tauren finish the zone completely, if only to see the ending quest with Baine, as it really changes your perception of the guy.
gavinsdaddy1912 Aug 31st 2011 8:10AM
I really liked the worgen starting zone. Everything from starting out, then being bitten, and learning to deal with both sides was awesome!
Ikatsu Aug 31st 2011 8:38AM
This. Gilneas is beautiful, not only visually but there's also a nice aura on it, it just feels good.
The story is pure awesome, touching on nice details such as your transformation into a worgen.
Not to mention, if you roll a forsaken you can lvl on Silverpine and see the rest of the story, how the alliance and the worgen kicked the invaders out of Gilneas and started to strike back invading silverpine, only to flee back to gilneas and the events leading to the new battleground... I just wish we had more of it....
writh Aug 31st 2011 8:13AM
Its all about bloodmyst isle. To this day still one of my favorite zones in the game
Simandl Aug 31st 2011 8:15AM
Elwynn Forest always. Its such a serene, beautiful and familiar place. I always hate leaving it to go to ugly-ass westfall.
Fathertouk Aug 31st 2011 8:18AM
Tirisfal. You come out of that zone feeling like an important Forsaken, one who really helped the cause. Sylvanas sitting you down for a friendly chat in the next zone makes it even better.
Dark Lady watch over you.
Possum Aug 31st 2011 8:39AM
Another thing that is great about the Forsaken starting zones are how good of a job they do of indoctrinating you into the Forsaken. Though I know there are dedicated white hatters out there who wouldn't agree on this, to me the zones make all of the Forsaken's paranoia, revenge lust, violence and creepy methods of 'reproduction' seem the only reasonable response to events.
Spleenrippa Aug 31st 2011 4:54PM
Hands down, hurling a boomerang at lazy/sleeping peons in the orc/troll starting zone is my favorite
Nina Katarina Aug 31st 2011 8:21AM
I still love the blood elf starting zone, though it's starting to look a bit dated. I love the background noises, the quiet feel of the trees, the leaves drifting down. It's not 'on rails' like the other racial starting zones, which adds to its charm for me.
I have about a dozen level 10 blood elves scattered around random servers; if I have a really bad day at work and need to cool down I'll roll up a baby blood elf, usually a paladin or a rogue, and run through the starting zone.
Zabre Aug 31st 2011 11:22AM
Blood Elf was my first toon ever so I will always love that zone. It brings back so much nostalgia for me. It is so beautiful and I love the music. I also love the Goblin zone because it is so over the top funny and crazy.
Caelaza Aug 31st 2011 2:34PM
Me too! I love the Blood Elf Zones, for the environment AND the architechture. To see the craftsmanship in the impossible-looking buildings are absolutely surreal in my eyes. I love the art nouveau stylings of the trees, the buildings, and even the pond outside of Silvermoon. Even though it looks a bit dated compared to the other updated starting zones, Eversong Woods will always be my home.