The enhancement from the Onyxia head mission is quite a ritual in World of Warcraft, but it has not been particularly relevant or popular for some time now, even in the Classic version. However, Hardcore mode is changing all of that, and more!
Classic Hardcore has been quite popular in general, but players may not have anticipated such a high level of overcrowding in Stormwind! Professional-Ad-7405 stumbled upon the massive gathering of players, even causing their FPS to drop below 15! With the challenges of Hardcore mode, the Onyxia enhancement, which provides 140 attack power and a 10% increase in melee damage and 5% increase in ranged damage critical strike chance, is highly desired and sought after! It may also make players overly confident and lead to their demise once the enhancement wears off. That is definitely not a personal anecdote at all!!1
Source: Onyxia enhancement in Hardcore mode.
Scenes like this were not uncommon when Classic was first released either, and this particular one is from the Defias Pillager server. Players usually learn about the upcoming enhancements from Classic streamers and gather for them. Some enhancements are actually missed because the quest is completed on a layer that has the 6-hour cooldown active, resulting in no enhancement being granted at all.
It is wonderful to witness the hustle and bustle in the streets like this, and as Articulated mentioned in the reddit thread, it is truly amazing to see a massive crowd welcoming a group of adventurers carrying a dragon’s head after defeating it.