In my honest, and most sincere opinion, Sunwell Plateau was the greatest raid Blizzard ever created. I'm making this post as both a tribute to it, and as a note to any who may see this as a reminder of what makes a real raid.

1. The Storyline. It might just be because I'm a blood elf, or it might just be cuz it features so much good lore, but the Sunwell storyline is the clearest and most defined raid plot I've ever seen. Its not like ICC, where half the bosses are random people you've never encountered before in WoW and don't know a thing about (eg. Professor Put., Marrowgar, Deathwhisper) and the people you have met before are just the same as always. (LK: Muahaha! Ive got you now! It took 5 hours for you to clear this place, and now you are finally, FINALLY MINE! Fury of Frostmourne UBER PwNaGE! *Evil cackle*) No, the Sunwell characters are made of some of the best lore characters in BC, and Kil'jaeden as the last boss was a stroke of genius. And even when some of the bosses were not too familiar (The Eredar Twins, Brutallus etc.) the game didnt rush in and try and make up with a quick coverstory like half the ICC quests do. It introduced them nice and slowly, and didnt try and make them big fancy wont-shut-up bosses. Storylines like the Sunwell's just didnt come back in WotLK.

2. The Scenery. I've only got 1 word for the Sunwell. Beautiful. Notice that when you leave places like Drak'tharon Keep and ICC that all the places you have visited inside the instance don't fit inside the main world buildings they're entered through? The Sunwell used a combination of a nice big raid design slowly but satisfyingly spiralling towards the huge and magnificent epicenter, but they also made sure it looked realistic. They didn't try to fit the mountain inside the molehill. The whole place looked majestic and blood-elfish, but sensible at the same time. And while the Sunwell could have been a bit bigger, the Inner Chamber at the centre was still a big moment for me.

3. The Gates. A thing I love about the Sunwell. By the time WotLK had been run through, lvl 80 characters could simply stroll through half of the classic raids, solo the main bosses, and leave with all the loot without experiencing any real adventure, and the other bosses just floating around like headless chickens waiting for the adventurers that had already left. With the Sunwell, you can't just go in, sneak past and smash KJ back into hell. When Cata and successing expansions come and go, the Sunwell will remain as a bastion of glorious lore and graphics, that can only be experienced through teamwork and dedication. (And even if you can solo it, youll have to go through all the bosses first, and thats good enough for me):)

4.The Music. There aren't many words that describe the beauty of the Sunwell soundtrack. The raid itself may have been sinister, but I could bear running the worst-made, longest 40-man in Vanilla if I could listen to this music track while playing. The Sunwell Theme adds a flair of simple glory to the whole thing that other raid just don't have. Doing the Sunwell without these sounds is like going to Sizzler and just eating the desert. Delicious and appetising, but completely boring.

Blizzard: You don't need to try and make increasingly huge, difficult raids that take hours to complete and don't cater to only those that like to spend hours getting hammered by bosses. WotLK was a bit of a fail to be honest, but if you'd just go back to the Simple Ways of Raid Creation, then the world would be a better place. Oh, and whoever says Black Temple was better ending to BC than Sunwell is just sad.

If anybody's got anything to add about their experiences in this wonderful place, please feel free to do so.

Oh, and as a final testament to the Blood elves: "REMEMBER THE SUNWELL!

Zillen of the Nightfall