I'm not even talking about outward appearances, because I loved Badlands. I'm talking about quest lines. I think it's mostly because humans are the most villainous of the Alliance and Undead are the most villainous of the Horde, so having a continent in which they're facing off the whole time is awesome. Regardless of which side you choose, it feels like you have an actual coherent storyline. Undead are all about expanding their territories, or at least trying to keep humans/worgen from encroaching further into their territory, and you get to watch the Undead do their thing through the entire northern half of the continent, and once you finish that, you advance to the Deathwing plot that leads all the way to the Dark Portal. Humans, I don't know entirely thus far, but they're dealing with their own problems and it's a unique and enjoyable storyline.
Kalimdor, you have the orcs, who are a******s occasionally, especially with Garrosh, but Tauren are generally peaceful, trolls are generally peaceful, and goblins are puntable. Up against them you have draenei and night elves, which are two of the more peaceful Alliance races. So really throughout doing Kalimdor quests, most of the time I felt like a complete a****** for doing them. I was either sabotaging Alliance diplomacy, or destroying nature, or detonating a massive bomb. And then the endgame zones for Kalimdor start this new war with the silithids, but honestly, they aren't all that threatening and it completely ruins the flow of the zone (plus the other endgame zone, Wintergrasp, is f***ing pointless).
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Captain Tracy Mombaro and Agent Mirasuke Inhara: Two of the toughest, hottest furrs you'll ever meet.