What updates would you like to see in Azeroth?

Next year brings both a new expansion — if we expect the cadence of the past several releases to hold — and the 20th Anniversary of World of Warcraft. As a lot has changed since the last major world revamp during Cataclysm, there have been increasing calls for a similar update to Azeroth, especially now that Dragonriding is on its way to the original continents.

One thing I don’t believe needs to happen is to revamp every single zone including questing from scratch; that feels like a ton of work for little gain. Not every zone needs an update — Stranglethorn Vale and Swamp of Sorrow are probably the same as ever, and Tanaris and Un’goro Crater could conceivably be left as is, unless Gadgetzan was updated to match its Hearthstone lore. Instead what I’d like to see is more use of phasing technology to update zones to their present condition once Chromie Time is exited and/or characters reach the minimum level requirement for the new expansion zones.

My personal wish is for Dun Modr and the Thandol Span in the Wetlands to be restored to a normal appearance and usage when you’ve reached the post-Battle for Azeroth appearance of Arathi Highlands. Similarly while the Night Elves are getting a new World Tree to call home sometime soon, an updated post-BFA Darkshore would likely be well-received. Don’t eliminate the BFA versions of these zones, of course, just give Zidormi an extra option.

The big ones, though, are the Burning Crusade starting zones for Draenei and Blood Elves. There’s a solid argument that it’s not worth the effort to revamp those zones and attach them to the main continent maps as they tend to have a paucity of players, but I think that the reason players don’t go there is because they can’t fly around easily. Allowing flight and perhaps even giving the Exodar and Silvermoon an update to reflect the current timeline rather than how it appeared 15 years ago may bring a lot more players to those zones.

What do you think? Should the Old World get another refresh? Do you want it phased so that players can easily swap between present and Cataclysm versions, or remove those versions in anticipation of a Cataclysm Classic? Or would you rather the World of Warcraft team focus exclusively on developing new places?