The World of Warcraft Townhall/Dungeons

This article is a copy of "The World of Warcraft Dungeons", an official article by Blizzard Entertainment. It presented the dungeons to be implemented in the game. The original article did not survive the overhaul of the World of Warcraft Official Website, but can still be viewed through online archives (see below).

Dungeons
Players will come across two types of dungeons while playing World of Warcraft: micro dungeons and world dungeons. There are more than a hundred micro dungeons throughout the world of Azeroth, ranging in relative size from small to quite big. Micro-dungeon locations will include tombs, haunted mines, ice caves, and sunken ships to name a few. The transition into and out of these dungeons will be seamless, and you'll be able to run into other players anywhere along the way.

World dungeons, such as Medivh's Tower, the Westfall Deadmines, and the Scarlet Monastery, are grander in scale than micro dungeons and are specifically designed for more epic encounters. All these locations have common areas where players can meet up and fight together. But, deeper in the dungeons are areas set up specifically for more private group (or sometimes guild) adventures. These areas, called "instanced zones," allow you and a group of friends to have a more personal experience, exploring, adventuring, or completing quests in your own private dungeon. You also have the ability to invite others into your instanced zone to join you. This relieves many of the camping, kill-stealing, and farming issues that MMORPGs sometimes face. The monsters in instanced zones are typically more powerful, so groups of players will have to work together to defeat them, but with greater dangers come greater rewards!

The Deadmines
World Dungeon - Westfall

Allegedly, the Deadmines are a network of tunnels and caverns that have been taken over by the Defias Brotherhood and transformed into a complex base of operations. No one knows if the underground complex really even exists, and if it does, specifically what is contained there, but rumor has it that the way into the Deadmines lies through Moonbrook.


 * The Defias Brotherhood has taken over the small town of Moonbrook, and they guard the area heavily. Rumor has it that the entrance to the Deadmines lies somewhere within the town's borders.
 * Having discovered the secret entrance, a large group of Dwarven adventurers explores the mines in search of fortune.
 * One of the Dwarves finds the rare Blood Ring and graciously awards it to one of his comrades.
 * The Defias have quite an operation here. In the background is the gateway to the instanced area. Up to that point, many players can fight together without being in the same group.
 * The Ogre foreman Rhahk'Zor guards the door. Perhaps he also has the key.
 * The Dwarves allow themselves a short break to toss back a few pints and pose for a group picture. The sods back in Ironforge will never believe this!
 * What are Goblins doing in Alliance lands? They've converted this room into a colossal woodworking shop, where they carve and saw giant timbers that come in from the surface. They do not seem pleased at the intrusion.
 * This isn't a simple mine, it's an engineering operation! Huge, constantly burning furnaces are at work melting an iron ore mixture into a molten hot alloy. This metal is then moved to the molding area of the refinery by huge iron cauldrons suspended on adamantium chains. Hordes of Goblin workers scurry about, tooling their iron and monitoring all of their outlandish machinery.
 * This door is guarded by one of the Elder Defias - a wizard of great arcane power and cunning. Why is the cannon pointed at the door? Perhaps if you had some gun powder...
 * What are the Defias really up to? Why have Ogres and Goblins allied themselves with thieves? What true purpose lies within the depths of the Deadmines? Will our heroic Dwarves ever make it back to the surface? Can Dwarf females have beards? If so, what styles and accessories are available? The answers to (some of) these questions and more await you in the dungeons of Azeroth...