Trinsic and Britain in UO were my favorites. With multiple banks and entrances/exits in several directions, they were built such that little communities could form within each town. In Trinsic, for example, you had the south bank crowd, the mage shop crowd, the central bank crowd and even an entire society that pretty much existed exclusively on the roof of the central bank. Everything you needed was readily accessible and, combined with the recall/gate system, gathering and grouping up for adventure was very easy to do.
I agree. i loved how uo had those little communities that always formed up in certain spots. early on i used minoc alot then moved on to trinsic and vesper. never was much a fan of britian, there were just to many people and my 26.4Kbps modem couldnt take it. if u spent much time on the roofs u know the hours people spent mocking the noobs that couldnt figure out the tele trick. the best part was each town had its own feel and style to it which is pretty amazing considering the graphics engine that thing was using.
I have to say EQ. The cities were multidimensional. Anyone recall the sewers in Qeynos? My favorite city was Kelethin. I remember some sadistic guilds would hold drunk races there, seeing who would not fall off the platforms. Since EQ was my first MMO, I could just be nostalgic
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
I also absolutely loved AO's cities in all their futuristic glory. From the corporate towers of OT1 and Rome to more outpost-like environs of Borealis and Newland City. Pretty awesome.
Oh and Mos Eisley in SWG of course.
CoH and MxO don't really count as the entire gameworld is a city...
Rift wins award for worst cities ever. I mean, you can fit what 50 people into those "capital cities"? And they'd have to sleep where, on bookshelves? ... terrible design.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall Currently Playing: ESO
I have to say EQ. The cities were multidimensional. Anyone recall the sewers in Qeynos? My favorite city was Kelethin. I remember some sadistic guilds would hold drunk races there, seeing who would not fall off the platforms. Since EQ was my first MMO, I could just be nostalgic
there's nothing quite like that opening week in March of '99, where it would literally rain newbs all day from Kelethin! lol
I remember hanging out at the newbie lift and just watching it pour players down from above and litter the ground with corpses.
Out of all the games I've played, it's easily Age of Conan. They actually seem like cities or towns. Every other game they are a courtyard with vendors and trainers.
Mos eisley in SWG was just amazing for a much younger me addicted to the universe of SW's. All the other games had some ok places to hangout. World of Warcraft had a few but they always shifted when an xpac came out.
SWG had the best cities because you felt like you where in the movies, from the reconginised towns.
But all the towns where uniquly laid out with culture representive architecture, they varied in size from outposts to townships to capitals, so when you where in a capital city you could appreciate the scale of it.
But the best thing about SWG cities was they where living, not just a series of object placements. Livley cantinas with music and dancing, functioning hospitals (although droids deminished this) Wait times for transport meant you always got people grouping up. Not to mention all the trade.
Also in terms of adventure, because the planets had a real scale to them 15x15km you felt that you where rearly heading out into the wild lands once you left the confines of a city.
I really liked Neocron (which is in that russian list) because it had several districs and zones per district. Come to think of it, almost half the world was that mega city. The great thing about it was that it had lot to explore but also much of it was funcional. There were globally known places to go for player services, the lawless pepper park where you always had to be on your guard because of the constant PvP, tons of places for low lvls to level up and explore, and most of the player apts were there.
For fantasy setting I'd have to say Vanguard again because of how large they where and the amount that could be explored.
I loved EQ for the sheer number of cities and the diversity of their design, although in many cases they were a pain in the a** to navigate.
EQ2 and DAOC had wonderful cities with a lot of "life" to them, which contributes to them being my top pick.
WoW's citiies always looked generic to me (I only played through BC) and somewhat sterile. Low marks here.
Rift... as much as I love a lot of the elements of Rift, the cities were pathetic. They lacked any concept of "life" outside of the very specific areas of focus. Given that there were really only a few major cities, these should have been expansive, populated with general NPCs, homes, and other facets of life. Instead, they were just bastions of millitary NPCs and trainers.
EQ 1 cities and Rivendell in Lotro. Each EQ 1 city had a distinct flavor to them. And Rivendell was absolutely beautiful. As much as I hate to give WoW credit I will give Ironforge an honorable mention. The dwarven city was pretty cool.
Vanguard hands down. Some of the cities are huge and there are multiple buildings you can walk in, go up and down stairs, and talk to all kinds of NPCs.
I did like the look of SWG at the time, but that has been years.
The more I think about, the more I have to say Vanguard by a landslide. I honestly think you could play everyday for a month and only walk around towns and find all kinds of new and interesting things.
“It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money - that's all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot - it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”
I came to think immediately about Iron Forge! When I saw it for the first time, I was litterely in awe. I also like that Dwarven City in Ered Luin in LOTRO (forgot the name) of it.
What I do look forward to see is Minas Tirith in LOTRO sometime in the future....
I liked some cities from Asheron's Call. Every city has a story or special meaning to it. Holtburg goes down as my favorite of all time. Holtburg was a PK dream for newbies and high lvls. Very very good times and good memories.
Everquest 2's south qeynos at night, the only city i can remember that was actually relaxing to visit just to take some time off from the constant monster slaying. From the soft glow the lights gave off making each building its own even in darkness to that damn elf that yelled out "greetings adventurer..." every time you ran past him to get somwhere. It was all perfect and felt so life like. (in the sense of a fantasy setting)
Wow's cities were pretty cool the first time, but after about 10 mins of trade chat they were all ruined for me.
Comments
I have to say EQ. The cities were multidimensional. Anyone recall the sewers in Qeynos? My favorite city was Kelethin. I remember some sadistic guilds would hold drunk races there, seeing who would not fall off the platforms. Since EQ was my first MMO, I could just be nostalgic
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
This, absolutely. I've never seen cities so beautiful or detailed in a video game.Ad far as released MMOs, EQs were pretty awesome. I think AoC had the most real feeling ones
Bree in LoTRO is probably my favourite.
AoC cities are excellent as well.
I also absolutely loved AO's cities in all their futuristic glory. From the corporate towers of OT1 and Rome to more outpost-like environs of Borealis and Newland City. Pretty awesome.
Oh and Mos Eisley in SWG of course.
CoH and MxO don't really count as the entire gameworld is a city...
Rift wins award for worst cities ever. I mean, you can fit what 50 people into those "capital cities"? And they'd have to sleep where, on bookshelves? ... terrible design.
"Id rather work on something with great potential than on fulfilling a promise of mediocrity."
- Raph Koster
Tried: AO,EQ,EQ2,DAoC,SWG,AA,SB,HZ,CoX,PS,GA,TR,IV,GnH,EVE, PP,DnL,WAR,MxO,SWG,FE,VG,AoC,DDO,LoTRO,Rift,TOR,Aion,Tera,TSW,GW2,DCUO,CO,STO
Favourites: AO,SWG,EVE,TR,LoTRO,TSW,EQ2, Firefall
Currently Playing: ESO
there's nothing quite like that opening week in March of '99, where it would literally rain newbs all day from Kelethin! lol
I remember hanging out at the newbie lift and just watching it pour players down from above and litter the ground with corpses.
Those were the days
Out of all the games I've played, it's easily Age of Conan. They actually seem like cities or towns. Every other game they are a courtyard with vendors and trainers.
Mos eisley in SWG was just amazing for a much younger me addicted to the universe of SW's. All the other games had some ok places to hangout. World of Warcraft had a few but they always shifted when an xpac came out.
SWG had the best cities because you felt like you where in the movies, from the reconginised towns.
But all the towns where uniquly laid out with culture representive architecture, they varied in size from outposts to townships to capitals, so when you where in a capital city you could appreciate the scale of it.
But the best thing about SWG cities was they where living, not just a series of object placements. Livley cantinas with music and dancing, functioning hospitals (although droids deminished this) Wait times for transport meant you always got people grouping up. Not to mention all the trade.
Also in terms of adventure, because the planets had a real scale to them 15x15km you felt that you where rearly heading out into the wild lands once you left the confines of a city.
Just checked Lion's Arch in GW2 vid. Stunning city
Best:
Sanctum in Aion. No others have reached that level of "WOW!!" factor for me. Bree, and Rivendell were nicely done as well.
Eh:
The major cities in Rift.
Bad:
Warcraft cities. Pick one.
I second Shizz
Mess with the best, Die like the rest
Okay, what's bad about Silvermoon City?
I really liked Neocron (which is in that russian list) because it had several districs and zones per district. Come to think of it, almost half the world was that mega city. The great thing about it was that it had lot to explore but also much of it was funcional. There were globally known places to go for player services, the lawless pepper park where you always had to be on your guard because of the constant PvP, tons of places for low lvls to level up and explore, and most of the player apts were there.
For fantasy setting I'd have to say Vanguard again because of how large they where and the amount that could be explored.
Best - EQ1, DAoC
Worst - RIFT (if they even count as cities)
When I was in Vanguard beta and first overlooked the capital city of Khal from a cliff I was like wowwww... I also loved all of Daoc cities and SWG.
I loved EQ for the sheer number of cities and the diversity of their design, although in many cases they were a pain in the a** to navigate.
EQ2 and DAOC had wonderful cities with a lot of "life" to them, which contributes to them being my top pick.
WoW's citiies always looked generic to me (I only played through BC) and somewhat sterile. Low marks here.
Rift... as much as I love a lot of the elements of Rift, the cities were pathetic. They lacked any concept of "life" outside of the very specific areas of focus. Given that there were really only a few major cities, these should have been expansive, populated with general NPCs, homes, and other facets of life. Instead, they were just bastions of millitary NPCs and trainers.
EQ 1 cities and Rivendell in Lotro. Each EQ 1 city had a distinct flavor to them. And Rivendell was absolutely beautiful. As much as I hate to give WoW credit I will give Ironforge an honorable mention. The dwarven city was pretty cool.
Vanguard hands down. Some of the cities are huge and there are multiple buildings you can walk in, go up and down stairs, and talk to all kinds of NPCs.
I did like the look of SWG at the time, but that has been years.
The more I think about, the more I have to say Vanguard by a landslide. I honestly think you could play everyday for a month and only walk around towns and find all kinds of new and interesting things.
--John Ruskin
I came to think immediately about Iron Forge! When I saw it for the first time, I was litterely in awe. I also like that Dwarven City in Ered Luin in LOTRO (forgot the name) of it.
What I do look forward to see is Minas Tirith in LOTRO sometime in the future....
Make us care MORE about our faction & world pvp!
I liked some cities from Asheron's Call. Every city has a story or special meaning to it. Holtburg goes down as my favorite of all time. Holtburg was a PK dream for newbies and high lvls. Very very good times and good memories.
Everquest 2's south qeynos at night, the only city i can remember that was actually relaxing to visit just to take some time off from the constant monster slaying. From the soft glow the lights gave off making each building its own even in darkness to that damn elf that yelled out "greetings adventurer..." every time you ran past him to get somwhere. It was all perfect and felt so life like. (in the sense of a fantasy setting)
Wow's cities were pretty cool the first time, but after about 10 mins of trade chat they were all ruined for me.
C