Some one said that: Recently my wow guild decided to return to the original (level 60) Naxxramas to experience the instance in all of its glory before it was removed forever from our access. PreBC, none of us had ever experienced the latter half of the instance, having cleared at best two wings, and none of us had had any experience at all with Sapphiron or Kel'Thuzad. I am extremely glad that I was able to experience Naxxramas-60 in its original fullness, because in my opinion it certainly has lived up to its reputation as the most novel, fun, and fully formed raid instance Blizzard has ever created.
Arguments may be made for the vaunted Black Temple or Sunwell Plateau as being just as good or better quality instances than Naxxramas, but it is my opinion that anyone who has experienced all three instances must bow to the sheer epic beauty and creativity of Naxxramas, especially Frostwyrm Lair. Architecturally and graphically, nothing I have seen thus far in Azeroth or Outland can compare to the frozen, menacing beauty of Sapphiron's chamber, and nothing, not even the C'thun encounter, can stand up to the epic feeling of fighting the Lich in his lair.
For those that have not had the experience of Kel'Thuzad: imagine an encounter with the dramatics of Illidan, the continual %26quot;battle%26quot; feel of the waves of enemies in Mount Hyjal, and the epic, grandiose aspect of 40 raid members coordinating their efforts over a huge area. It really is a boss fight that combines all of the great aspects of Blizzard's other end-bosses into one spectacular experience.
Interestingly, clearing through Naxxramas as a level 70 character and having experienced nearly all of the content that the Burning Crusade has to offer provides a fascinating lens into the thought processes of the Blizzard designers. So many aspects of boss encounters in the dread citadel were reused or borrowed from in Burning Crusade instances (both raid and dungeon) that it is obvious that the Blizzard folks thought both that these mechanics were very cool (they are) and that not nearly enough of the player base was able to experience them. For example, it becomes clear that Mechano-Lord Capacitus and his attending mini-bosses in the Mechanar were inspired by the Thaddius encounter, and that aspects of Loatheb's encounter were reused to create Reliquary of Souls' Essence of Suffering and Gurtogg Bloodboil's %26quot;Insignificance%26quot; component.
While it is somewhat saddening that no one will again be able to experience the original glory of Naxxramas-60 (and dispatch that despicable Highlord Mograine) or to attain the very cool items therein (I was really hoping for a [Corrupted Ashbringer]), clearing the instance has given me great understanding as to why the Blizzard developers decided to reuse it for Wrath of the Lich King. As the most creative and fun instance ever produced [world of warcraft gold and wow power leveling] for the World of Warcraft, it really is a place that should be experienced by a much larger portion of the player base. Would I say that my WoW experience would have been an incomplete waste without experiencing Naxxramas? No, but without a doubt my experience has been greatly fortified due to having the opportunity. So, hats off to Blizzard for taking strides to ensure more people get to experience this very cool instance.
So long Naxxramas, and beware, before long you will have oh so many more heroes knocking at (or down) your door. How about you?
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