"Exploring new regions isn't often one of those things that you say you do. You say that you raid or you PvP or you level alts. But, the more that I reflect upon it, the sense of wonder and exhilaration that comes with stepping into this fantastic new land and having your breath taken away at the scope and the beauty and the possibilities is really what makes the game for me."

I really think that what makes good dungeons so memorable and exciting isn't even necessarily the mechanics or the dungeon in and of itself, but the atmosphere of the new continent and how the dungeon is built into that.

Hellfire Peninsula was menacing and stark, and particularly jarring (in a good way) as it was the inaugural zone for Outland. Whereas in 1-60 our greatest fears were maybe a rogue wandering elemental or band of murlocs, in Hellfire we had 200ft tall Fel Reavers belching fel smoke and grinding skulls into the dirt, and blood lusting fel orcs carving people to mince meat in berserker rages. In that context, the Hellfire Citadel dungeons/raids just felt *amazing*. You really felt like killing all those damn orcs mattered.

I could say the same thing about the dungeons in Zangarmarsh, the same about Howling Fjord with UK and UP. The three icecrown dungeons especially!

It's the engrossing mood and atmosphere coupled with the dungeon design that makes them so much fun. Playing through Scarlet Monastery in Zangarmarsh wouldn't be any fun, and Shattered Halls in Borean Tundra would just feel out of place.