So I’ve been playing WoW Classic now for a while, and I ended up revisiting an old area; Ashenvale.
When I was playing my Nightelf so long ago, I spent tons of time in this area. I had forgotten a lot about it, and playing on the Horde side now made it take a while to recognize.. but once I did, once I went past the eastern area, it finally hit me.
I had to make sure, so I visited the area north of it as well, Darkshore, and sure enough. These were my first areas, outside of the starting zone of Teldrassil, Darnassus. These were the areas that made me actually fall in love with the game.
The sounds, the music, the area, the feel of everything being alive.. and then the demonic scourge that plagued the area, how irrationally angry I was, almost as if I took it as a personal affront that these demons invaded my territories.
The nostalgia hit hard this time around. I guess that the reason it didnt when Vanilla came out, was because I played Undead, Horde, and stuck a lot of my time over there, in Tirisfal Glades, Silverpine Forest, Hillsbrad Foothills, and then just ported over to Orgrimmar which was another big city I barely had visited before. Running around in Durotar, The Barrens and Mulgore probably took its toll because they’re vast areas with almost nothing to do, they’re empty, steppes-like. There wasnt anything to keep me there, old empty ruins of human civilizations and the savannah.
But the living forests of druidic culture, night elf lore, the living, breathing, colourful vegetation, the sense of danger from actual wildlife, the music, the local animal life sounds..
I was reminded why I love this game. Now it’s almost a shame I’m a horde character, opposite faction from these beautiful areas.