So I started the game in April, long after the BC made much of Vanilla WoW obsolete. All my friends pressured me to run to outland as soon as I could (I finished most of the Plagulands anyway, to much derision:)). While I find the Outlands and the instances there a blast (i've run Ramps, BF, SP, ManaT), I find myself harboring regrets that I've done so little of the pre-BC lvl 60 content.
So, I've run tiny fragments of Strat, Scholo, and Dire Maul to get my Pally epic mount, but not much else of the instances in that range and none of the lvl 60 raids. My question, then, is what old world instances and raids are still worth running, and why? Which I guess breaks down to a few key reasons: Any instances with good loot? Any instances that are just plain fun/interesting to experience? Any benefit to learning how to raid to try the old raids?
And I guess, related, are there any lvl 60 raids worth running with a reduced raid size of 70's?
Running the lvl 60 Raids at this point is pretty much either A) To see & experience the content or B) For vanity's sake for T1-T3 Gear Sets (or AQ/ZG Gear Sets). It can be fun if you aren't pushing to see the "current" end-game content and simply want to experience as much of the game as you can.
Stat-wise the gear is all far beyond obsolete. The itemization scaling into BC from Azeroth content left most people dumping their raid Purples with the first Quest Green upgrade. Many, a many raiders cried tears of anguish when BC was released...
Most well geared 70's can solo old lvl 60 instances, obviously some better than others.
Most money is made from either stealth runs to the bosses for the Large Brilliant Shards (enchanters only), or being able to kill the trash quickly (AoE: Pallys/Druids or Mages) for the loot or both (druids mostly).
I have been doing the whole onyxia chain solo on my druid for fun, currently clearing ubrs having got my seal of ascension
It's worth it to solo instances if you can disenchant the items and can do it all without consumables. It took my druid a while to reach that point in Stratholme (needed season 1-2 equivalent gear). Doing raids aren't worth it for the rewards alone unless some 70s are running a 60ish character through, say, Naxx. Naxx gear is around 70 blue - Karazhan quality, so it might be worth it (again, if you're getting a run through).
Onyxia I hear is fun to run through with 5 people. You'll get like 20 gold each from it, plus the epics you can shard.
