Lordaerons

To start if this topic exists already I apologize, I searched for it though.

I'm torn between Lordaeron and Icecrown, I see it like this from what I've read

Icecrown is more populated and has better xp rates for faster leveling; something that appeals to me considering time constraints; and has the RDF which I feel like might make things a little easier in the eyes of a filthy *** casual like meself as well. I suppose the whole donation con for Icecrown doesn't much offend me either, mostly because I see overly geared people that potentially donated and just assume they been playin' the game.

Lordaeron has bull**** raid boss difficulty which excites me, but makes me think that not a ton of gametime/no-donating/rarely-remembering-the-points-collection might not allow me to enjoy the endgame happenings with much success, and with the RDF disabled its a lot longer to 80 as well. But, the fact it's 1x makes things in my opinion mean a ton more, all the elements that make the character something I feel I can dig as mine with things i worked for and whatnot.

How far off am I, and what's the general like/dislike towards both these realms?

Come to icecrown. Become a scrub like me.

Recently,both Icecrown and Lordaeron were affected by a couple of bugged quests in Northrend,especially Borean Tundra and Dragonblight,making Veteran of the Wrathgate unavailable.

Icecrown

* is the realm where you can see instant 80s,yes there are a lot of them,Warmane offered a free 80 character as a compensation for the loss after the hijack.
* x7 rates makes your experience way different than an authentic one,like Lordaeron could offer.
* Icecrown can be considered a lab rat for Lordaeron,because the raids that are about to be released are now tested on Icecrown,so Lordaeron should receive a better version from the very beginning,unlike Icecrown .
* Icecrown is more populated just because it is the latest realm and people are always willing to experiment,however this effect will soon fade,especially when Trial of the Crusaders and Icecrown will be released on Lordaeron
* Icecrown's economy is pretty much screwed because of the obscene rates
* Most of the Icecrown's population is 80,while on Lordaeron,every single zone is crowded with players working to progress,you can always find someone in General Chat to speak and ask for help and information
* Icecrown is full of players that received their items through the donation system
* Icecrown is a x7 realm,which means that those players cannot be as comited as those from Lordaeron.

Lordaeron

* The staff tries to emulate the way the patches were implemented,this explains why there's no Isle of Conquest,all the Argent Tournament quest givers or Random Dungeon Finder.
* It's the last realm across the globe where you can experience the most authentic replica of a retail realm.
* Considering that Naxxramas was too easy and had no heroic mode,the dev team decided to buff the content.However such decisions should not occur in the future,as all the other raids come with a HEROIC MODE available,so there's no need to screw the bosses HP and damage again.
* Consider that new patches will be "released" so all your efforts put into farming gear,will be almost fruitless,especially when the Furious gear will be available for Honor Points and PoS,FoS and HoR will come into scene.

Personal note: Just like you,I do not have enough time to clear every raid and farm BiS items over and over,so I decided to stop at 79 and level other characters,so I would have more 79s when Icecrown Citadel will be released.
Like most of you,I'm here for the Lich King and maybe Ruby Sanctum,which means that I could use my time in a more efficient way,studying and leveling my other characters at my own pace,and when the time will come,I will focus on gearing them as I did on the old Lordaeron.

***I'd rather use my time to level other characters than to farm gear that will become obsolete in a few months and will be replaced by 5man dungeon items.So Instead of farming items that will be sold to a vendor,I'd rather do something important,like leveling characters,for the real challenge ,Icecrown Citadel.

***I would rather stop playing this game than playing on a x7 realm,either Lordaeron or nothing.