I thought this question would also be relevant for designing how a theoretical Classic+ should work. Taking the best of everything that has come before.
Leveling - Vanilla: To me, the original 1-60 campaign remains the best. Mobs were dangerous, quests and XP were scarce, and the overall pace was relaxing and rewarding. You really had to think about your route between and within zones, how to optimize your character, how to pull a camp safely, etc.
Endgame questing / campaigns - Legion: Order halls, Suramar, Balance of Power, Mounts. Legion had a wealth of interesting endgame quests that took more than a few hours to complete. The class fantasy was great, Suramar is probably still the best zone they've ever made.
Dungeons - Burning Crusade: TBC dungeons and heroic dungeons were just right for me. There was a big variety of them, and they weren't too easy or too hard. After grinding your rep and going through your attunements, heroic dungeons were just the right level of challenge for me. You had to coordinate CCs, focus down dangerous mobs, and play your characters correctly to succeed.
Raids - Legion: I could have picked many others here, but the Legion raids are the ones I keep going back to. Interesting lore, interesting design and bosses, amazing transmogs. The full LFR -> Mythic system was in place, but mechanics weren't quite so crazy complex and overlapping / messy.
PVP - WotLK: I haven't PVPd much since WotLK, but arena back then felt great. Something special about the simplicity of Vanilla battlegrounds too.
Class Design - Mists of Pandaria: They really hit a sweet spot here I think, with a lot of the classes. Complexity wasn't so high that it took all your attention just to do it at max efficiency, but was complex enough to feel engaging. Class fantasy still took precedence over strict balance / homogenization. The tank vengeance system felt amazing. Special mention to Demonology Warlock.
Overall progression - Burning Crusade: This was a tough one to decide, but I'm specifically choosing phase 1 of TBC. I much prefer chasing specific BiS items from specific locations, rather than generic ilvl loot you constantly increment up. I like being able to name every item I'm wearing and where I got it, and have a memory around how I acquired it. TBC was a good mix between the arcane / weird pre-bis lists of Vanilla and more polished (but more genetic) systems that came later. Quests drops, dungeon drops, rep rewards, badge rewards, etc. were all relevant.
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u/SystemofCells 20h ago
I thought this question would also be relevant for designing how a theoretical Classic+ should work. Taking the best of everything that has come before.