So getting away from the usual theorycrafting and loot discussion I thought I'd start a thread about the best quest and encounter you've seen so far in TBC.

For me as far as quests go I think its the cow escort in Netherstorm. It shows how the devs are able to take a typical, common quest and make it completely fun again. And watching a cow fight ghosts is just a total blast.

As for encounters, I think the best I've seen so far is the Opera event. The whole event is awesome, with all the little details being there, especially if you haven't murdered the audience. I haven't tried any 25-people raid yet but so far I think that's the best as far as 'fun' and 'awesome' factors go.

Being the lore junkie of my guild, Shadowmoon Valley's various epic quest lines are some of the best things in the world. I'll do Cipher of Damnation just about any time to see the Torn-Heart guys come down and kick ass. Really, Shadowmoon Valley seems like one of the perfect quest zones to me. Interesting encounters, just about every kind of drop you could want (all types of elementals, Sunfury Signets, Marks of Sargeras, cloth, beasts), and really good quest rewards all add up. They did a wonderful job here.

Encounter... I would have to say Warbringer in Shattered Halls. As much as I'm beginning to hate hearing it on vent "WHAT ARE YOU DOOOOING" does get a chuckle out of me.

The most entertaining encounter so far has been Big Bad Wolf in Karazhan. I dont think I have laughed that much when playing wow before.

The most intense encounter so far is probably the last boss in heroic mana tombs. The rate that adds spawn is fairly crazy and it was really hectic to try and keep up.

Most interesting encounter is harder as there are several encounters that I think are both innovative and original. Of those High King Maulgar, Shade of Aran and Netherspite seems to stick out from what I have seen so far.

And I really think blizzard has outdone themselfs on some of the encounter design, while some of the other encounters are amazingly stupid (read the anti-melee dps thread).

I really like encounters that are based around interrupts; stopping thousands of damage with a pummel or even reflecting it is a hell of a lot of fun, so my favorites so far are Aran and the endboss of Tombs.

Aran's voice acting is pretty amazing. I got a good laugh out of it the first time we fought him. Otherwise, I like Murmur's room and how it's all set up.

Maulgar, although not terribly difficult, is possibly my favorite encounter thus far. It combines a great variety of encounter-design ideas while at the same time throwing established pre-TBC raiding paradigms out the window. It makes me excited to see what the next five 25-mans have in store for us all. Wizard of Oz also falls under this category of throwing convention to the winds while still allowing for creativity and adaptation depending on group composition.

The SMV quest to control a Fel Reaver is fantastic, as mentioned above, but rather than any particular quest that stands out in Outland, I find interesting the way that quests are structured and how lore from the entire Warcraft universe is integrated into the game. The Akama questline, Zuluhed, Teron Gorefiend, Danath, the way that Pathaleon the Calculator rears his head starting at level 61 and continues to hound you all the way up until you go knocking on his doorstep and bring him to his knees, and so on. I could ramble but for someone who enjoys the universe lore like I do, the flow and history of the continent is fascinating.

I would assume it does, but I figure it's worth asking.

Is SoC subject to the "damage is reduced on >10 targets"? I've yet to use it on any significantly large number of enemies, but we've been having serious issues with Illhoof 2.0(AoE damage/mana cost just isn't working out, especially with 20-30 pissed-off imps pelting you with firebolts and interrupting your AoE).

You're really finding it that effective to control the imps with SoC?

While not technically an "encounter" nor a quest, I did enjoy fully exploring Karazhan for the first time, mainly by taking the side tour through Medivh's room. The artwork and size of that instance is just astounding. Plus, it's fun getting jumped by a flesh beast or two.

By far my favorite Horde quest is bringing Thrall to Nagrand. The entire zone is one big buildup toward bringing Thrall in to tie up some loose ends from Warcraft 3 and two of the novels. The dialogue with the Greatmother in Garadar is great (cheesy, but still wonderful). It's a shame that many Alliance players will never do this questline, because it's one of the parts of the expansion that makes the game feel like a story.

This quest also benefits from continuity. The questline's big revelations are all things that were documented years ago in Warcraft 3 and the Champion of the Horde novel. This is a pleasant change from the old "He's not the leader of the Scarlet Crusade - He's that guy we killed in TFT" idea of plot twists at the expense of lore. It's a shame that weren't as consistent with Draenei lore (In the 'Rise of the Horde' novel, they basically give the Draenei credit for Orcs becoming shaman).

1. Everything about Nexus-Prince Shaffar. He runs around, he spawns adds, it's always going to be a fun, frenetic fight.

But MOSTLY his voice acting. What a gentleman! All the ladies in my guild have a crush on him, I think. There was this conversation:

ME: I love this guy!
PRIEST: He's a Prince!

2. The Miniwing Quest in Terrokar. Mostly because it's so unexpected. I accepted a quest from some bird flapping around outside a new area. Suddenly, I'm jumping from platform to platform high above the ground, just behind a bird with a deathwish. And at the end... superb non-com pet!

3. The Introduction to the Mag'Har in HFP. The way that you go to Thrall, and he gets so excited about it he is about to ride to Outland that very moment. His advisors need to talk him down. Thrall is one of the rare characters that have gotten individual plot development since release, and his yearning for a family and a past have tugged at the heartstrings.

4. Seconding the way the Calculator shows up to bug you. I wish every boss mob had appearances like this. Sure, it's fine to go in and kill some Aarakoa for some NPC, but how much better when it's PERSONAL?

Pathaleon the Calculator also shows up when you're doing the Firewing Point quests in Terokkar Forest: As you climb the tower to kill the named NPC and grab the final code, he's talking to the NPC from a hologram generator.