There are several zones and notable quest chains which have to be opened with a quest or quest chain and I’m trying to make sure all of my 70 characters have completed them all (yes, I’m that insane). So I have made a list of “one does not simply walk to Mordor” zones and now I want to know if I have forgotten something.
cata
twilight hl
vashj’ir
hyjal
uldum
pandaria
jade forest
isle of thunder
timeless isle
draenor
garrison
tanaan
legion
broken isles
class hall
argus
bfa
tiragarde/zuldazar
mechagon
nazjatar
shadowlands
intro
zereth mortis
undercity restoration
dragonflight
intro
gilneas liberation
war within
intro
Note: In the bad old days accessing Deepholm required a short quest but that has been removed and nowadays you just jump into the abyss. Therefore it’s not on the list anymore. Also the “choose which zone to go to” from scouting maps have been omitted.
Depends on what you count as “simply walking in”. For the vast majority of them, you can in fact just simply walk in if you need to access like the dungeon, herbs/mines, treasures, etc. Quests, world quests, etc. of course can vary.
There are only a few places where you actually cannot go without doing the intro quests rights, it used to be more, but now the portals are universally accessible, and you can also fly (like all the base zones of of MoP, WoD, Legion and BFA)
I wish to be in a position in which I can start doing quests and world quests as well killing bosses for epic loot and reputation. A good example is Timeless Isle where you can snuff everything right away but to gain rep you have to do the short intro around the isle.
edit: And achievements of course, must not forget achievements.