Your Favorite Setting?

Amaranthar

I'm just curious what kind of settings for MMORPGs people here like the best. In a general "feel" sort of way. 
Mine is medieval England, mostly peaceful with flutes and lutes, taverns and knightly halls, with a D&D flavored game behind it all. 
(Although in Sandbox, not Themepark.) 

One thing I hate is rock music in such a game. The orchestra style to match LoTR and Conan the Barbarian (original, didn't see the newer one) movies, etc., is good stuff, though. 

eoloe

I like the overdone classic medieval fantasy (elves and shit).

I used to like darker stuff (D2) but nowadays, I wouldn't mind if ER would be less dark.

I believe this why currently my favorite setting is the universe of Conan: high fantasy with lovecraftian horrors and ancient civilizations.

WhiteLantern

Steampunk.
The Iron Kingdoms from Privateer Press is perhaps the best example. I could live in that world.

Sovrath

I prefer Fantasy. Not sure why but with the exception of 4x games I quickly lose interest with anything Science Fiction though I love Science Fiction movies/books.

As for what type of Fantasy, it depends. I love the darker and weirder Dark Souls/BloodBourne "esqe" settings.

I tend to not like "wacky." So, some of the Dungeons and Dragons creatures or settings (hate the overly "magical")

Also like the Conan setting.

BLNX

Though not my favorite, I wish there were more/better games in the Western genre.

Just like Red Dead, the genre is a great representation of a more modern era (guns and swords were still used), but you can still feign a certain lawlessness to make a good game from it.

Scorchien

Warhammer-  RoR hits the sweet spot for me .. The Classes and races in Order and Chaos are really well done for my liking ..

Mendel

I'd like a really hard SF setting.  Mystery, science, where the emphasis is on discovery and with a tiny little bit of military.  Give me a futuristic world where I have to study a specific plant on a specific world to discover a biological secret.  Enter the mysterious realms of academia and publishing!  Visiting futuristic cities!  Excursions to primitive jungle worlds!  Field trips to study alien societies!  Attending lectures on obscure subjects and cultures!  Math not entirely necessary, given the right curriculum.

cameltosis

I generally have two guiding principles when it comes to setting:

It has to spark my imagination

It has to not be depressing

In terms of imagination, this generally means moving away from reality and as far into fantasy (or sci-fi) as possible. It also means avoiding anything too generic.

In terms of not being depressing, I have found that my mood IRL can be quite easily affected by the media I consume. If I watch something too serious (like homeland) or depressing, I end up feeling bad. I can take it in small doses, but not for any length of time. This means I have to avoid games which are too dark (literally and figuratively), for example I really disliked the Mines of Moria expansion because so much time was spent underground in dimly lit areas.

Amaranthar

Mendel said:

I'd like a really hard SF setting.  Mystery, science, where the emphasis is on discovery and with a tiny little bit of military.  Give me a futuristic world where I have to study a specific plant on a specific world to discover a biological secret.  Enter the mysterious realms of academia and publishing!  Visiting futuristic cities!  Excursions to primitive jungle worlds!  Field trips to study alien societies!  Attending lectures on obscure subjects and cultures!  Math not entirely necessary, given the right curriculum.

I always wanted a game world that was so deep that Players could organize colleges for resource of knowledge as well as organizing excursions to find answers. 
A few of us thought about that in UO, but it just wasn't deep enough in practice (although it had some depth for theory crafting). 

Amaranthar

cameltosis said:

I generally have two guiding principles when it comes to setting:

It has to spark my imagination

It has to not be depressing

In terms of imagination, this generally means moving away from reality and as far into fantasy (or sci-fi) as possible. It also means avoiding anything too generic.

In terms of not being depressing, I have found that my mood IRL can be quite easily affected by the media I consume. If I watch something too serious (like homeland) or depressing, I end up feeling bad. I can take it in small doses, but not for any length of time. This means I have to avoid games which are too dark (literally and figuratively), for example I really disliked the Mines of Moria expansion because so much time was spent underground in dimly lit areas.

I know what you mean about being too "dark."
I've spent time in dark, underground places where I get to the point where I really want to get back to the world of "sunlight and fresh air." 
It's fine to have some of those places, but definitely not the game world as a whole. 

maskedweasel

I'm weird. I like science fantasy settings. There are so few of them. That's why I really liked tabula rasa. 

But I don't like space games. Like the whole ship battle and mech thing turns me off. 

Weird right? 

Rungar

i generally only like high fantasy but i don't mind a little steampunk mixed in. 

BLNX

maskedweasel said:

I'm weird. I like science fantasy settings. There are so few of them. That's why I really liked tabula rasa. 

But I don't like space games. Like the whole ship battle and mech thing turns me off. 

Weird right? 

Oh Mech battles! Forgot about those. Something arcade-y but with high customization, like Armored Core.

Quizzical

Anisotropic filtering.

What, that isn't what you meant?

Amaranthar

I know this wasn't my finest effort, and it's been done plenty of times before, but I was trying to get a little conversation going that's related to game play.

I like the few comments that were placed here, though. 
I think a good game needs a feel to it that appeals to enough gamers to make it a success. 

Aeander

Renaissance Fantasy. Mostly medieval with some burgeoning arts, sciences, and philosophy. Decreased emphasis on religion.

Adamantine

I prefer high fantasy for its rich variance in possibilities thanks to the concept of magic.

Namely for classes you typically get something like Warrior, Berserker, Paladin, Dark Knight, Ranger, Thief, Bard, Monk, Priest, Shaman, Druid, Wizard, Summoner, Enchanter, Necromancer.

And for races typically something like Humans, various types of Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, Halflings, Orcs, Giants, Goblins.

While for example in Star Wars you get Jedi, Sith which is just Jedi but dark, and Non-Jedi, like Bounty Hunter, and thats basically it. And consider yourself lucky if you can pick any race besides human. Sure you can bloat up Star Wars whatever, but thats basically it.

Some games like Mass Effect tried to marry magic and technology, which is fine, but still doesnt result in the wide variance that classic fantasy offers.

P.s.: Oh, and it can be as dark / lovecraftian as you want to, as long as its done well.

AlBQuirky

Cheap answer: Depends on the game.

Real answer: I generally prefer fantasy settings that have no connection to the real world. Strange races and monsters, magic (either lots or little, but there), lands I've never seen before, and interesting skill sets that hold my interest all help to create that illusion of escapism.

I do enjoy Sci-Fi, too. Space ship building can be a real treat along with becoming a "mobile home" Ship to ship fights can be fun, too, but I struggle with the 3D fights.

Real World, Current Time, Mechs, and Steampunk would be my least favorites but there are always exceptions, right

KnightFalz

Superhero. They have excellent character customization for the most part, in both abilities and appearance, and can accept the widest variety of concepts.

I also miss the convenience of travel powers in any other genre I play, as there seems to always be bothersome terrain between A and B chewing up my time.

TheDalaiBomba

All-time favorite setting eas City of Heroes/Villains.  You had everything from magic to technology.

I will always be more intrigued with Sci-Fi, especially if it does a good job of keeping things within theoretical possibility.  Something about the thought of all the fantastical things being actually possible makes it feel almost like time travel.

DigDuggy

I like a lot of them to be honest.  I really like 40k, but games are very hit and miss.  They sell their IP to the lowest bidder I think.  I really like supernatural like settings.  Secret World comes to mind.  I would love a game to come out like that...maybe cthulhu based.  As far as fantasy is concerned, I like medieval style games.  I prefer them to have 'traditional' style graphics as opposed to anime or cutsy that seem popular now at days.

anothername

SciFi like Star Trek Online is fine. The visual style of EVE is also appealing (the rest not though). Over the top fantasy or better fantasy mix settings are nice too. Love Black Deserts visuals even though the MTX & PVP centric gameplay is offputting at a ceratin level range. On the other hand a game like Elder Scrolls Online while having all the great gameplay choices looks so bland and visually unappealing I never can play it anymore for extended times regardless of how many times I get lured back into.

The more down to earth medieval it looks the less interesting it is I guess. *looks at posts above* Oh yeah, cutesy anime style would probably even worse.

About music (or rock music) it depends. I don't expect it in a game like ESO and it would not fit its style. On the other hand should Mattel suddenly decide that they like money and make a make/issue a Masters of the Universe MMO I would think some metal tunes on occasion would suit it well.

Which probably is the best answer to the thread title: A Conan/SciFi mix like Masters of the Universe (including Filmations Princess of Power) would be my favorite setting.

Truvidienn

Superhero and Fantasy for me.

I loved the superhero theme since I was a little kid and my uncle who collected the Marvel or DC action figures and comics then that got me into movies and the rest is history so I’m hoping the Marvel MMO is amazing.

Fantasy because I love the whole aesthetic about it and you really can’t go wrong with bow and arrows with the optional choice or being some sort of Elf.

Scot

I stick with SF for FPS, for MMOs it is high fantasy.

Akulas

Newbie planes or jungle in a fantasy setting.

Kyleran

Surprised to see I'm the first to say it, post war apocalyptic is my favorite by far.

Since I first saw the bomb shelter built into the basement of a childhood friend back in the 60s I've wanted to retreat into the underground and emerge into a brave new world one day in the future.

Fallout games are my all time favorite setting and ones I've spent the most time in, many thousands of hours over the years.

I enjoyed Fallen Earth, the lack of players at higher levels drove me away or I'd have stayed for years.

Second place would be science fiction, would love to play a Mech Warrior MMO set in it's original universe, or perhaps blend light sci-fi with fantasy such as the Dragon Riders of Pern.

Fantasy settings, Arthurian is my favorite, DAOC nailed it for me.