Blizzard has begun the latest microholiday for the modern version of World of Warcraft, Battle for Azeroth! Players are able to head out to their favorite site to join in on the festivities, taking flight in a balloon to take in the scenery.
World of Warcraft‘s microholidays provide a pleasant and casual bridge between the more major events of the title. While there’s rarely much to really lose from missing out, you can normally snag a few cosmetics or other such rewards during their duration.
Of course, some of them just exist for a little bit of fun, which is the category the Spring Balloon Festival fits into. Active between May 10th and May 12th, players can take a moment away from slaughtering the minions of N’Zoth to instead sit in a balloon for a moment and admire the view.
As you float around the zone, your guide will give you little tidbits of lore and small talk to help it feel like you’re going on a cute little tour. It’s not the sort of event that’s going to get you your favorite new mount, and you aren’t going to be increasing your item level or getting any unique appearances, but you’ll get to take a bit of a break and have some fun!
There are seven ballons all in all, each with a guide to give you your tour. These balloons are split up amongst Pandaria, Kalimdor, Northrend, and the Broken Isles. The following zones are available:
- Crystalsong Forest, Northrend
- Uldum, Kalimdor
- Valley of the Four Winds, Pandaria
- Azsuna, Broken Isles
- Suramar, Broken Isles
- Stormheim, Broken Isles
- Highmountain, Broken Isles
Obviously this split is a little strange on the surface, with none on the Eastern Kingdoms and four in the Broken Isles. In fact, every zone in the Broken Isles has a balloon except for Val’Sharah, which makes sense given that the forests of that zone would make hot air balloons just a bit impractical.
Additionally, there are none on the alternate planets of World of Warcraft, either. Argus, Draenor, and Outland all are completely without any sort of the balloons – which, again, sensible, as these aren’t exactly the safest locales for a tour as far as the game goes.
The reason for this is actually quite simple: the Spring Balloon Festival began with the previous Legion expansion, which takes place primarily in the Broken Isles. Because it was the relevant content at the time, Blizzard focused their efforts therein.
Uldum and Pandaria are also both currently relevant content, with both zones being returned to prominence with 8.3. As such, Blizzard seems to focus their efforts there, rather than sending players to now-obsolete zones.
This has a bit of a double-edged sword for some of the player base, as those that are devoted to the game are often saddened to see the older, still-beautiful zones falling out of import. These holidays would make a great opportunity to return players to those zones and show newer players the areas that they may never have needed to visit.
