Howdy, Stranger!
It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!
Quick Links
General: Bill's Five Favorite MMO Zones
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com's Bill Murphy continues his series of "Bill's Favorite" list by jotting down five of his favorite MMO Zones.
We’re continuing the trend of “Bill’s Favorite” lists again this week. I apologize in advance for the offense I’m bound to commit in the following paragraphs but this week we’re going with my favorite zones from any number of games. This isn’t MMORPG’s definitive list of the Best Zones Ever, but rather just a collection of some of my own most memorable. Even if you’ve only ever played one or two titles in the genre, you’re bound to have a favorite area within that game. Some place that holds sway with your memory of adventures had and challenges tackled.
Whether it’s the Barrens or Luclin or Millennium City (okay, maybe I’m the only person who would mention that last one), our favorite zones are part of what makes these games so important to us. Nostalgia drives the desire to hold tightly onto specific places in MMOs, I think. It’s like remembering fondly your elementary school even though you dreaded the sight of the place in your younger years. Here are five of my most favorite zones on a nostalgic sort of day. Be sure to toss your own favorites onto the pile via the forums when you’re done reading.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
I think my most favorite would have to be EQ1's Kithicor Forest. Certainly the most dynamic and frightening experiences one may come across in a MMO Zone... at least in my opinion.
"They essentially want to say 'Correlation proves Causation' when it's just not true." - Sovrath
It was definitely memorable, though I was always too scared of dieing to actually take in any of the zones scenary as I ran through it on whatever mad errand I was on when I played.
My favorite would probably be Connell's Valley in Age of Conan, when you round that first corner and come to the waterfall looking not only down into the valley but also into the distance where it rises back up into the mountains. A truely breath-taking view and I've not seen any vista to beat that in all my years of gaming. Then you get down into the valley and start cracking skulls in true Conan fashion, the whole experience is just fantastic.
It is hard to talk zones in WOW cause many are so bound together. TBH I thought TBC did a great job and offered new dimension into zones that not many games were able to do before. Terrokar Forrest is one of the best maps with a huge city on many levels + pretty intresting questing zone. But ye.. WOW defenetly has the best zones
It's wierd that out of all the iconic zones in LOTRO my most memorable one is one that was only a blurb in the appendix of the books.
I'm talking about Forochel. I LOVED that zone. It was the zone I always look the most forward to taking all my alts through. Firstly, I loved the look. I'm a sucker for snowy zones and I've never seen one done as aesthetically well as Forochel in any MMO. There's just so many little touches that makes this zone awesome: The Northern Lights in the night sky that bask the whole zone in an errie glow, the way the igloos in the town light up at night from lanterns within, the whole culture and look of the natives there.
Plus the zone was HUGE, centered around a humongous ice bay. Everything about the zone felt truley epic. The flow of the zone quest-wise was also spot-on, with quests laid out in orderly patterns with very little backtracking required (which plagues some of LOTROs other zones).
My top 5 favs:
5. The Windhurst side of the world in FFXI - I started the game in Windy on my first character and since I had to learn so much it will always sit in my memory. Plus it was SO different from the other 2 starting areas with all the greenery and canyons.
4. Naboo - SWG - This one planet was my nostalgia zone for SWG. This is where I first saw a giant Dinosaur chasing another player on the outskirts of town. The ground shaking laser blasts flying behind the player running for his life. Was good times. That was before the Jedi debacle, by the way and LONG before the CU or NGE.
3. Yhoator/Yhutunga Jungles - FFXI - I had such awesome summer nights leveling here. I loved how you had to take a chocobo into the second jungle and you basically didn't leave that zone until you had hit a certain level. You couldn't really warp back or chocobo back, in a sense you were dug in. Such a unique feel to that I've never felt before. This also has a lot to do with how tough mobs are in FFXI, they really envoke a true sense of danger that modern MMOs miss.
2. Stonetalon Mountains - WoW - When I first ventured here, I hated it. But then the layout, the music, the pvp battles I had here(back when world pvp was prevalent) just made this zone stand out so much to me. Close second is Grizzly Hills.
1. Valkyrm Dunes - FFXI - I know this sounds nuts but it was the first zone you start the party aspect of the game in. Where you learn the ropes, essentially, and for that fact, has a ton of nostalgia for me.
1) EQ - Old Sebilis - Seriously just awesome
2) DAoC - Avalon City
3) WoW - WotLK - I really liked all the zones I visited. Choke full of story and lore.
4) DAoC - Darkness Falls - Great zone despite the ganking. I was always the first one in there trying to get seals or xp on alts.
5) EQ - East Karan - Lots of different things going in. One part of the zone is bandits, the other is undead gnolls, the other has a big eye, and finally you have a cyclops. Really unique zone with a lot of lore.
The Northrend zones blow anything previously out of the water.
Butthead: "Heheheh...he said 'Dildo'...hehehehe..."
If I was to pick a favorite zone in WoW, I'd pick Duskwood. It's creepy, spiders, undead...and...OMG it's Stitches!!!
1: Asheron's Call: Obsidian Plains. Call it a zone, call it a continent, the Obsidian Plains were huge and filled with the nastiest of the nasty. Around every corner was danger. You either lived to reap the glory and rewards, or you died and lost everything. With FFA PvP, no item storage, no bound items and no corpse finding system the early days of AC Darktide was about as hardcore as you get, and the Obsidian Plains were where the hardest of the hard would hang their hats.
2: Dark Age of Camelot: Darkness Falls. A zone that belonged to whatever realm could control it Darkness Falls was the most dangerous and rewarding place to grind.
3: City of Heroes: Croatoa. A huge swampy marsh taken straight from a Grimm fairy tale and filled with an assortment of strange ad savage creatures... and lawn gnomes.
4: Asheron's Call: The Town of Arwic. Known affectionately as 'lagging f*n Arwic' back in the day, Arwic was the most heavily trafficked place in Dereth due to the conviniece of being located near a portal complex known as 'The Subway'. So heavily trafficked it was that several months into the game the devs had it destroyed in a cataclysm. Talk about wearing out your welcome.
5: Star Wars Galaxies: Mos Eisley. You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy... and hairstylists.
5. Aion - The Abyss: Keep your head on a swivel (and don't forget to look up)....
4. EvE - Jita: Sure, it's a lagfest, and not exactly exciting, but so active it's one place that makes the universe feel both alive and huge.
3. WoW - Hillsbrad: The Southshore - Tarren Mills battles were truly epic. The zone was like a tinderbox. Some would gank someone else, and before long, it was on, baby!
2. WAR - Praag: Some of the most fun oRvR I ever had was consistently in this zone.
1. LOTRO - The Old Forest: What a great setup - Turbine captured the eerie and disorienting feeling perfectly, especially if you went in at night. The Barrow Downs are great too. Truth be told, my entire list could have probably been LOTRO areas - its setting is really just that good.
Hell hath no fury like an MMORPG player scorned.
Yeah.Great place; really excellent flowing layout with the vistas and all.
The Trollshaws in LOTRO. Beautiful hilly forests with all sorts of things hiding in every steep valley and behind every tree. Especially as you get there after the Lonelands which I hated; and at the end you get to Rivendell.
My most recent one was completely accidental. I was feeling pretty miserable with hayfever (ah, the spring),took some pills and decided that PVE in STO was about as complicated as I could handle. I was on the Klingon side in one of the new PVE nebulas when I went down to a planet with great clouds of pollin everywhere and I had is kill the evil weeds that were causing it. The perfect quest at the perfect time. As it was one of those nebula/random/Genesis things I'm not really sure if it even was a quest but I sure enjoyed killing those weeds.
Vanguard: Infineum and hidden forest too...
EQ2: nearly everywhere:)
LoTRO : the shire
I think I actualy have to say Stranglethorn Vale from wow, maybe becouse it's such a long time since iv'e played it. And only on a pvp server. Personaly I have never had that feeling of constantly having to be aware and on my toe's from any other game. The endless ganking and camping and the posibilty of danger coming from any direction. Looking back I really think it was the most exciting zone to level in from any of the mmorpg's that I have played. Also have to say The Old forest from LOTRO. I was very unconvinced by the game untill I started the Old Forest quests. After questing for a while It just hit me about how atmospheric and well done it was. it's definatly the point where Lord Of The Rings online turns from a good game into a true AAA title.
I absolutely HATE the Shire. Hobbits just annoy the hell out of me, and way too many FedEx quests there.
5) SWG, Naboo - Any zone where I got to kill Gungans had to make the list.
4) LotRO, Old Forest - Very creepy and easy to get lost in the first time.
3) DAoC, Darkness Falls - One of the best places to level, get cash, and get in hit and run PvP battles.
2) SWG, Tatooine - Going to Mos Eisley Cantina and /slapping a stormtrooper and then getting incapped, and going Jabba's Palace and seeing the big slug and Boba Fett were memorable gaming moments.
1) DAoC, New Frontiers - I know, it's heresy to prefer NF over OF, but I didn't start playing DAoC until SI, so I didn't have much exposure to OF. I liked that NF added towers and catapults/trebs so you could take out walls to enter the courtyard instead of just relying on rams on the doors. I've yet to find PvP in a game I've enjoyed as much as some of those all day campaigns in NF.
I would have to say most elf areas and Guild Wars- Presearing Ascalon and the Shiverpeaks
<a href="http://profile.xfire.com/n45vrsa9"><img src="http://miniprofile.xfire.com/bg/sh/type/0/n45vrsa9.png"; width="440" height="111" /></a>
Dark Astoria. Okay fine, it is part of my name in RL, but I ALSO loved the zone. You cant see more than a few meters in front of you except for the glow of magic zombie hearts.
"Never met a pack of humans that were any different. Look at the idiots that get elected every couple of years. You really consider those guys more mature than us? The only difference between us and them is, when they gank some noobs and take their stuff, the noobs actually die." - Madimorga
hmmm, lot of games I've played I didn't care for any of the zones so I quit them.
By far and away my favorite place in any game has to be Darkness Falls in DAOC. It had all the cool stuff in the game when I first started playing. I had left behind a couple of garbage games only to run into the coolest, darkest dungeon I had ever thought of. It had demons to slay, epic boss battles, pvp fights basically everything I wanted I found there.
5. Tatooine - SWG - Same as the OP really. It just felt so Star Wars. Actually feeling alone and lost in the Dune Sea (before vehicles/mounts) on the way to Jabba's and finally getting to the palace, working your way through the quests to access the main throne room... epic.
4. Yew forest - UO - the orc fort on Siege Perilous with my murderous brethern will always be a memory I cherish
3. Tier 1 Greenskins - WAR - I agree with the OP here, the whole zone just felt right.
2. Ulduar - WoW - I know it's a raid zone but I just loved everything about the look and feel and encounters - from crazy robots with temper tantrums to all the old-god stuff and a vehicle siege.. I loved it.
1. The Storm Peaks - WoW - I loved the sheer scale of everything, so verticle, pain in the butt without an epic flyer for sure, but amazing quest lines and encounters, great stories, lots of foreshadowing to the eventual Ulduar encounters.. I certainly don't miss the dailies for rep though hah.
If I had to make a list, this would be it almost zone for zone.
Surprised theres no Tortage there.
Great idea for an article!
My favorite zones, in no particular order are:
EQ2: Pretty much everywhere....but I do have a few faves - The Feerrott, Enchanted Lands, and Greater and Lesser Fay, Shimmering Citadel
WoW: Stranglethorn Vale, Nagrand, Azshara (autumn is my favorite season in RL), Sholazar Basin, and Howling Fjord
LotRO: The Shire (omg...who could argue?), Bree-land, and Rivendell (another who could argue...lol) oh...and I forgot the name of it (maybe Lothlorien) the one elf starting zone.
Guess that's quite a lot more than five, but...oh well.
President of The Marvelously Meowhead Fan Club
Personally i don't think Mythic nailed the look of Warhammer at all...infact i think they utterelly botched that side of the game. The feel however, they nailed that and Mt Bloodhorn was a great zone.
As for Westfall being no1. In my time in WoW there where far better zones around the place and i highly doubt that Westfall should top the shire. The zones in Lotro (particularly in the Shire area) are just plain awesome to behold and are so full of life and lore.
Still, good list.
MMO wish list:
-Changeable worlds
-Solid non level based game
-Sharks with lasers attached to their heads
1. Chaos Wastes - Warhammer Online
2. Tattooine - SWG
3. Valley of the Dead - AofC but any zone in Conan could make the list it is just so stunning
4. Omni1 Entertainment + the orginal backyards - Anarchy Online just for purely sentimental reasons being my first wowww moment in an MMO
5. The Shire - LotRO, edited my list forgot totally about the shire because I didn't play much LotRO at all but that area is just so beautiful and alive feeling.
so just honorable mention for Eve Online instead :P
lotro: the shire under some apple trees/mines of moria:
Wow; Altrac Valley
Vanguard: The Ruins of Trengal Keep
Fallen Earth: S1
I7@4ghz, 5970@ 1 ghz/5ghz, water cooled||Former setups Byggblogg||Byggblogg 2|| Msi Wind u100
EQ - Blackburrow. "TRAIN TO ZONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" It would also be my most hated zone for the same reason.
EQ - Greater Faydark. Started a Wood Elf in beta and it was the most awesome thing I'd ever seen - gigantic trees with a town in the canopies, straight out of Tolkien. Beware the edges of the elf-home...no handrails = dead n00bs.
EQ - wisp isle - loved the music. Hated the sharks swimming on the boats, though.
As long as I've played WoW, I can't think of a single instance or area (except maybe gnomergon - watching the gnomes fly out and get crushed by their machines never gets old) I'd really want to go back to to experience again. By the time I've left a WoW area, I'm pretty sick of it. I can see myself levelling yet another toon - "not this crap again."