World PvP Events
One massively popular feature from Season of Discovery was its world PvP events. They were so well received that players were actually disappointed that more weren't added following the Blackrock Mountain Event during Phases 4 and 5. The first event in Ashenvale mimicked that of Alterac Valley, where raid teams had to take down the opposite faction's bosses, and whoever was the first to do so would win the event. Although players did criticize that, similar to Alterac Valley, there was a huge focus on PvE in a PvP game, the large-scale battles that would occur when raid teams would cross paths were nothing short of epic, and who doesn't love large-scale world PvP?
Image taken from a Reddit Post highlighting the Ashenvale Event
Along with Ashenvale, we also got the infamous Bloodmoon Event, where players, no matter the faction, would hunt each other down and turn in their blood for rewards. This bloodbath answered the complaints players had from its predecessor, and was so popular it was brought back at level 60!
Finally, the Blackrock Mountain PvP event was another smash hit. Already a pinnacle for world PvP, this event capitalized on that by giving players a massive increase in Honor gained from kills here. Maybe not all events were loved or executed properly in the eyes of the players, but having World PvP events that players, even on PvE servers, can participate in was a very popular feature in SoD that we'd love to see in Classic Plus.
New and Reimagined Dungeons and Raids
A feature that almost doesn't even need mentioning because it's an obvious one; Season of Discovery capitalized on providing players with either new or reimagined dungeons throughout its entirety. We would first see the reimagined side through "Level Up Raids", with Blackfathom Deeps, Gnomeragan, and Sunken Temple. Even if each phase wasn't perfect or had its flaws (looking at you, incursions), the level-up raids that came from the level-bracketed phases were very well done.
DUST TO DUST
The level-up raids not only brought a new scope to these classic dungeons, but they also provided players with something a lot of them hadn't seen in a while: a challenge. Encounters like BFD's Kel'ris, Gnomeregan's Mechanical Menagerie, and Mekgineer Thermaplugg, and several encounters in Sunken Temple, actually provided players with meaningful mechanics and not just a mob with a unique name and some BoP loot. It made players have to think, react, and move throughout several of these boss encounters. And maybe there's a little bias here, but that is way more fun than just standing still and practicing your rotation on a boss!
And then, of course, we got new content with the infamous Karazhan Crypts and Scarlet Enclave. Although we did get some changes to the endgame raids, and also got a new dungeon with Demon Fall Canyon before, the content and creativity we saw from the developers were the pinnacle of new content in Season of Discovery, and a fantastic way to send off this seasonal server. The Dungeons & Dragons-inspired Karazhan Crypts had players searching every nook and cranny for any clue, item, or easter egg that may have been hidden throughout. From Dark Souls references, class-specific unlockable bosses and rooms, Zul'Farrak easter eggs, challenging boss encounters, and a unique "torch mechanic", this made for such a fun first playthrough, and players still had more to learn the more they cleared this dungeon!
The final raid tier of the server, Scarlet Enclave, gave players what they've wanted for so many years: a Scarlet Crusade-themed raid. And this raid did not disappoint (with the exception of it being a little overtuned at launch). All boss encounters were fun, unique, and gave players a challenge in Classic content. Encounters would shoot players out of cannons, allow them to pick which mechanics a boss would have, have them kill protodrakes, fight resurrected Scarlet Monastery bosses, all the way to fighting the Ashbringer itself! On top of that, we had incredibly lore-important characters such as Balthazar and Lillian Voss, and the developers gave us great backgrounds on new enemies such as Beatrix and Caldoran, with quest chains that gave us a reason to want to take these Scarlet zealots down (this one's for you, Bartholomew!)
Screenshot taken from this Reddit Post showing their appreciation for this raid
Class Tuning and Class Quests
One of the most championed aspects of Season of Discovery was the class tuning through runes and class quests. Now, do players want a 1:1 copy of runes in Classic+? We're not so sure of that. That said, the adventures players went on to acquire these runes were very fun and focused a lot on class fantasy.
Rogues had to stealth through unique dungeon ID's to complete missions from a mysterious and anonymous quest giver; Paladins assisted Gregory the Truthbearer, and the list goes on. These rune quests could be an inspiration for new class quests for Classic+.
The Truthbearer
The balance that SoD had made it so every class and spec was viable. Class balance can seem important, but players often say the phrase "everyone shouldn't get to do everything". Although players would like to see Protection Paladins, Retribution Paladins, Balance Druids, Shadow Priests, etc, be more viable in a Vanilla Azeroth, the extent to which they got it in SoD may have been too much. Rotations and abilities often become much larger, feeling more like Wrath of the Lich King, and for some classes, feeling even closer to modern WoW than to classic.
However, most players would agree that class adjustments would be welcomed, and SoD definitely experimented with that. Perhaps a happy medium could be found between original Vanilla and SoD, perhaps something more similar to that of The Burning Crusade? Regardless, SoD gave people that opportunity to feel what "meme specs" would feel like if they were more viable and even optimal in a raid setting.
