I recently found myself talking about this in a forum I go to – namely, the really unique sense of exploration that was to be found in this game all those years ago when I was new and the world was young.
Back then, a lot of stuff was blocked off, gated behind walls or doors or what-have-you. I’m talking about the Timbermaw Fortress in Azshara. Or old Grim Batol guarded by dragons. Or the gate to Uldum down in the bottom of Tanaris. Or the Greymane Wall in Silverpine Forest. Or Mount Hyjal, which you could barely glimpse through an instance portal in Winterspring.
There was something about all of this stuff that you couldn’t get to. Something compelling. Despite the fact that I knew that this stuff wasn’t programmed into the game, it almost felt like it was. Almost felt like if you could just squeeze through a hole in the wall, you could break in, and discover an amazing new unexplored world ahead of you. Did anyone else ever get that feeling? I got it a lot.
Although we went on to get most of those locations actually in game, we did lose the mystery. Not saying that’s a bad thing, but I kinda like a little mystery sometimes. And sometimes I kind of miss it.
Or the underground area of Karazhan which…I actually did get into!! =O =O
On the day before the revamped ZA/ZG patch went live, a guildie and I were talking about it again, and we talked ourselves into seriously trying to get in. We settled on the “hole in the world in STV” method, and lo and behold, it was still there!! The tricky part was maneuvering into just the right spot once you got to the crypt to end up back in the real world, but after about 5 tries, we managed it.
And the next day, when the patch went live? Well, that entrance got patched with it, lol. I don’t know if there’s any way to get in there now, but I’m thankful to have been able to do it (even if the Room of the Upside-Down Sinners gave me nightmares).
The funny thing is, I’m usually NOT the kind of person who’ll actually go through with it and do something like that, but, hey, put in the effort, reap the rewards.
And, as a Belf-o-phile, the one area of the world still locked off that I’d really, really like to see is that one province adjacent to EPL and Ghostlands. The lover of hijinks in me would like to imagine there’s a provinve of High Elves there untouched by Arthas and the destruction of the Sunwell, having a grand old time. =)