What time periods would you like to visit in World of Warcraft?

If the past really is a foreign country, I’m terribly disappointed at the lack of good travel agents to facilitate visits to the most intriguing locations. But, regardless of the tyranny of the one-way arrow of time in our physical universe, the past (and future) of fictional settings is fair game for a little chronal tourism.

I jumped at the chance to play World of Warcraft Classic in order to experience a version of Azeroth unblemished by The Shattering, but I’m hungry to see more of the past. I’m drawn to the idea of wandering Northrend before the Scourge rose or perambulating the great cities of Argus prior to their falling to the Burning Legion.

Visiting other time periods in the Warcraft universe doesn’t have to be confined to books or through random campaign scenarios within WoW itself. Azeroth, both past and future, could serve as an awesome setting for other genres of games. It would be fun to play a darkly humorous city-building game set in Icecrown in the decade after Ner’zhul first crashed down into the icy wastes. A resource management game could be set during the Ordering of Azeroth with the players taking the roles of mid-level bureaucrats in the Titanic Keeper hierarchy.

Heck, I’d love to play a cozy farming simulator set in Westfall during the decades before the First War, complete with trading visits to the Grand Hamlet. Or how about a visual novel/dating simulator set in Old Southshore, romancing the notables of the Silver Hand and Kirin Tor or captivating NPCs before the Fall of Lordareon?

So, how about you? Tell us about the time periods you’d like to visit in the WoW universe. Are you ready to explore the Black Empire at its height? Do you ache to visit a future New Southshore and learn how life has unfolded 20 years onward in game time? Let us know in the comments!