A while back I went through every pre-BC zone in the game on one of my Horde alts to get the Loremaster achievement, and just recently, I started playing an Alliance alt on a new server, and having only completed three zones (Elwynn, Westfall, Redridge) thus far, it seems like a FAR superior continent, regardless of alignment.
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Captain Tracy Mombaro and Agent Mirasuke Inhara: Two of the toughest, hottest furrs you'll ever meet.
Agree. I have some nostalgic feeling for stuff like Darkshore and all having started as a Nelf my first time, but they just paint storylines a lot better in EK and do the questing a hell of a lot better.
Well what criteria are you using to make the comparison, or is it just in general? I like Kalimdor better, so Disagree. The Eastern Kingdoms have some cool spots, but Kalimdor has more of an untamed, undiscovered wilderness feel. Note that I have -quested through- pretty much every single zone (pre Cata), with many characters on both factions. Well except Deadwind Pass, which doesn't have quest hubs.
Just finished Duskwood and honestly, I don't get all the hype. I mean, yeah, Cataclysm probably changed things a little, but still, it was a weak zone, especially following Redridge and Westfall. To me, it was a lot like Feralas (old-school Feralas) in that it has a bad layout, with the main quest hub being one one side of the map without a really solid quest hub outside of that (Raven Hill does not count towards anything).
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Captain Tracy Mombaro and Agent Mirasuke Inhara: Two of the toughest, hottest furrs you'll ever meet.
Atmospherically, Kalimdor is either dead, dying, or an oasis in the middle of a dead/dying area (or it's the northwest corner, with the islands and Moonglade). It's just not a very fun continent, especially with a poor storyline, IMHO.
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Captain Tracy Mombaro and Agent Mirasuke Inhara: Two of the toughest, hottest furrs you'll ever meet.
D.... I probably a bit biased because I'd say Horde>Alliance and Troll>Goblin>Tauren>Orc>Undead>BElf, so I have to go way out of the way to experience EK on any character I'd enjoy playing, but I've certainly had more fun with Kalimdor.
Two major posts: one at the very north end of the zone, and one at the very south with nothing in between, which means long-ass treks to get to quest objectives and back again.
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Captain Tracy Mombaro and Agent Mirasuke Inhara: Two of the toughest, hottest furrs you'll ever meet.
Atmospherically, Kalimdor is either dead, dying, or an oasis in the middle of a dead/dying area
Well, EK have the undead zones. That's deader than dead (though they're cool). And Blackrock's surroundings are cinder and ash. But I get what you're saying. EK do have the nicer, more traditional forest and grass atmosphere. With Kalimdor you have to appreciate a sparse landscape, yes. The contrast between the lush and the barren is what makes it beautiful.
I admit I'm slightly biased towards Horde as well, but I did play both factions pretty equally.
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.
You do bring up two good points that I have to admit. One is that the Human (and also Forsaken) storylines are pretty well developed. This is no coincidence, after all both have been main foci of the franchise's story, more so than some other races. The other is that EK do trump Kalimdor in the endgame department.