I loved Tatoeene. My houses still exist somewhere on starslider server out near the old sarlac pit. I have not played swg in years but I do miss that planet, was a great place to grind before the cu especially up near the Tuscan bunker, used to pull o load of force cyrstals out of that place when grinding jedi.
Dildo Saggins? Sounds like the author watched The Lord of the G-string!
For LotRO, while there are so many excellent zones to choose from, my favorite has to be the Rivendell section of the Trollshaws.
In Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, my favorite area was the High Elf home areas.
In SWG, it was definately Tatooine.
In WoW it would be the Moon Elf area; I loved the beautiful setting that was mixed with a hint of corruption.
In CoH/CoV, hands down it was the villain tutorial area; there's nothing cooler than starting your villainous career with a jailbreak!
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
Downtown - MXO : Great place filled with epic pvp battles (when the game wasnt dead). Always feared that agents would come out and wdfpwn you. The buildings downtown were fairly unique as well, and had lots of mobs around them that were all pretty much hostile. The clubs downtown were also much cooler than the slums clubs.
I still remember when we had a huge pvp battle there and an agent came in and killed off an entire faction, and people had to relocate the fight to the tops of the sky scrapers by hyper jumping up there. Just really cool.
Just a cool place in all with lots of matrix locales.
All of SWG's zones were very well done, though I agree the best was Tatooine with Lok a close second. The original SWG devs did a great job conveying the cities, as well as the vast wilderness that would have been the vast majority of SW planets. The music on Tatooine and Lok especially was mind blowing.
My favorite other zones - Stonetalon in WoW, Solsar in Planetside, AoC Tortage was great (rest of the game, not so much).
Why do you sound so apologetic when you wrote about westfall? You have nothing to apologize about. We read this article expecting your opinion and not anyone elses. Plus westfall was a great zone but i think barrens hits the nostalgia bone more with me.
I absolutely HATE the Shire. Hobbits just annoy the hell out of me, and way too many FedEx quests there.
/applaud - only good thing I have to say about the Shire is that it 'looks' right. So sticky sweet I want to barf - until I think of the only thing worse - Greater Faydark/Kelethin starter area EQ2. OMG they even made betraying the city a lame quest.
But for my favorites, in no particular order, with too many to give honorable mention of:
Who keeps letting Bill write these retarded top five lists? Not one mention of EQ1. Suck it Bill.
I don't know....perhaps they want to develop a healthy discussion about our favorite zones and a good way to get that discussion going would be to pick a writer with non-conventional opinions.
EQ - Karnor's ... as someone said earlier TRAIN TO ZONE!!!!!!!!
EQ - Kithicor ... never, ever travel it at night....
LOTRO - Rivendell ... first time at the top of the hill, looking over at Elrond's house, very much a geekgasm moment.
LOTRO - The Shire ... I mean, it's where the story begins and ends, and you can even poke around inside Bag End if you like, although Lobelia might not be too happy.
Two of my favourite MMO zones are LOTR The Shire and WoW Duskwood. The Shire is so folksy and homey, my character wanted to live there forever. Duskwood is a huge, atmospheric, treat for a new paladin first venturing from Elwynn and into the bigger world.
Honourable mentions go to:
CoH Croatoa because it had kind of the same atmosphere as Duskwood.
AoC Tortage, best starting zone in a game ever.
FFXI Valkrum Dunes, just for remembering all the great parties I teamed up with there. Oh no, a gob! Ruuuun!
FE Boneclaw because it is such a neat little starting city. I love the idea of putting a town in an abandoned strip mine.
Originally posted by DinendaeIn CoH/CoV, hands down it was the villain tutorial area; there's nothing cooler than starting your villainous career with a jailbreak!
Agreed, I loved that aspect of CoV, it also put the Hero starting zone to shame. Who wants to wander around in stupid Outbreak stupid.
Nektulos (EQ2) : For being appropriately dark and creepy. I spent a lot of time in the EQ1 Nektulos too. Dark Elves.
The pre-revamp Plane of Hate (EQ1): Kept you on your toes back in the day. Now it is a cakewalk.
Tatooine (SWG): For pretty much the same reasons as in the article.
Wildlands (Jade Dynasty): Mainly for being a relief from Doom Bog in the levels before. It's a very linear game.
Nadox (EQ1): Spent a lot of time grinding there when it came out, and the named popping out of things we killed kept us on our toes. Always enjoyed sweeping through the Broodmother and (the other) Innoruuk there back in the day too.
I really won't go into a list of zones because I really couldn't grade them in any particular way, and most of the fun I had in MMORPG"s were back in old DAoC, the old frontiers, and Darkness Falls, it didn't have the best graphics, it was just awesome to go to. Whenever your realm gained control, everybody went to DF and had a blast with the battle that ensued. That zone actually meant something to me where as no other zone had except for a place to level through.
Back when I played Vanilla WoW, I always had a liking for Booty Bay. I was simply amazed when I first saw it. Goblins running the joint, both alliance and horde mixxed together, the fear of leaving solo, the named tiger that I kept trying to tame, the amazing water scenery, etc etc...
I enjoyed the first time I went to Pandaemonium in Aion during open/closed beta. The sheer size and how well it looked amazed me.
In Vanguard, I suprisingly liked the last dungeon in the Isle of Dawn the most. It was just a neat way to enter a open dungeon with the flying and such. I probably took 25-30 alts through it just because I liked it so much.
In Tibia, I enjoyed the Black Knight lair. This was a long time ago, but this spot was just pretty damn cool.
Rivendell. Always enjoyed Elf lore and this was the place I spent the majority of the limited time I played LOTRO. I would just float around the city.
5. Lufaise Meadows (FFXI) - One of the main explorable regions of the Tavnazian Archipelago, this zone is just full of atmosphere. Whereas a great deal of the older zones in FFXI feel very claustrophobic and walled in, Lufaise Meadows really gives you that sense of scale and distance. Top it off with some amazing views of the ocean from the cliffs, of rivers thousands of feet below the rope bridges you're walking on, and of course the Tavnazian kingdom from the opening cinematic, this zone was one of my all-time favorites to just visit for the sake of it.
4. The Old Forest (LOTRO) - A lot of the people who listed this one already said just about anything I could. The layout, the enemy encounters, the treants that look just like normal trees, this zone is all sorts of creepy and confusing.
3. Duskwood (WoW) - Take LOTRO's old forest, themepark it up but in a way that screams Disney Villains, and you have a wonderfully thematic zone that fits into WoW's style without doing away with the 'creepy' bits.
2. Castle Zvahl (FFXI) - Very few games have really maintained the idea of traps and mazes in dungeons, particularly with all the instancing going on nowadays, but FFXI did a great job with it, particularly in Castle Zvahl. Scaling the castle through obsidian halls filled with beastmen and demons, fighting varying NMs and figuring out the portals on the way up, and finally reaching the highest tower where you cross a snowy bridge to face off against the Shadowlord...simply epic.
1. Elysium (Anarchy Online) - Really I could list most of the Shadowlands zones here, but Elysium easily tops out as my all-time favorite. Maybe its because its the first zone I visited when the expansion released, but seeing the vortex in the sky, the vast graphical differences between the Rubi-Ka and this zone, and the music direction all made it feel so alien and yet still familiar enough to be, in some way, a part of AO. The layout of the zone lends itself to some pretty interesting diversity as well, which can be attributed to the fact that all the Shadowlands zones were hand-crafted, leading to a lot of nice exploration elements throughout.
I believe no.1 being Westfall is kinda lame..but it does deserve a top 5. I honestly believe it is the mixture of ambiance and geography. You can hear the wind and the bugs chirping..which blends the setting nicely. The Shire is also a great selection.
5. Westfall- WoW
4. Greater Fay- Eq2
3. Unrest- Eq1
2. Mt. Bloodhorn- WAR
1. Shire- Rivendale (tie)
I would also like to state that WAR could easily have more on this list if not for a few persistent factors that keep it from being quite good. No.1- it wastes so much of its beautiful spectacle because scenery is superfluous and linear. No. 2 very little is interactive (due to no.1). If they actually encouraged exploration or pve (other than for titles and such), more people would see some of the awesome designs. As it is, it’s just relegated to the occasional traveler who happens upon it. So much of it is buggy and serves little purpose.
Ryzom - The Prime Roots, My favorite sci fi fantasy land. I've never gotten to super high level in this game but I have "stealth trekked" many times through that one Prime Roots zone from the jungles to the desert for crafting materials and exploration purposes. Giant bugs guarding the entrance, all high lvl creatures, running around making it hard to dodge them, simply carving a path through death itself. The glowing tips of plants and glowing leaves, the blueish ground and cave walls. It's like Avatar plants and world, except it's a giant cave. I love all the zones in that game, they are "alive".
I Don't have a list, heh, I don't get to play MMOs much although I love the time that I get too.
1 EQOA - Nektulos forest, around Neriak, collinridge cementary and towards Klick'Anon. Magical times...... This game had a WORLD feel, without zoning!!! (Not to be mistaken with EQ1).
2 EQOA - From High Pass Hold running true the mountains towards Merry by water.
3 Vanguard -Thestra mountains and swamp areas.
4 Wow - The Hinterlands (when the sun comes down). Other good zones in wow; Stonetalon Mountains, Mulgore, Un Goro Crater, Feralas and Darkshores.
5 EQ2 - Antonica and the City of Freeport (altough far to much zoning).
Playing: TESO (great!) ************** Most looking forward for: Everquest Next ************** Have Played: World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, Vanguard, Everquest Online Adventures, Everquest 1, EverQuest 2, Dungeons & Dragons Online, The Chronical of Spellborn, Warhammer Online, Age of Conan, Aion, CoH, Loong, Dragon nest, LoL, Alods, Diablo 3, NWN, Tera, Poe, Guild Wars 2, Rift Most favorite; Everquest online Adventures (EQOA, 2003, PS2)
In almost all MMO's are cool zones here and there, but none of them can compare to the desing of Everquest dungeons, Chardok for example was awesome... just think a dungeon where the moment that you get in the exit disappears xD
Comments
I loved Tatoeene. My houses still exist somewhere on starslider server out near the old sarlac pit. I have not played swg in years but I do miss that planet, was a great place to grind before the cu especially up near the Tuscan bunker, used to pull o load of force cyrstals out of that place when grinding jedi.
Aww man this is a tough one...some great zone in some good games. I guess I'll take a shot here..
5) Thorins Gate (LOTRO), this city is just what I imagined a dwarf city looking like. I was in awe first time I went inside.
4) Undercity (WoW), ruins above an underground city populated with undead. WIN!
3) Stormpeaks (WoW), having thought Ulduar was the best instance Blizz released in a long time, SP just fit the story perfectly.
2) Netherstorm (WoW), purple zone with bio-domes. Very cool.
1) Moria (LOTRO), amazing look to the area.
Dildo Saggins? Sounds like the author watched The Lord of the G-string!
For LotRO, while there are so many excellent zones to choose from, my favorite has to be the Rivendell section of the Trollshaws.
In Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, my favorite area was the High Elf home areas.
In SWG, it was definately Tatooine.
In WoW it would be the Moon Elf area; I loved the beautiful setting that was mixed with a hint of corruption.
In CoH/CoV, hands down it was the villain tutorial area; there's nothing cooler than starting your villainous career with a jailbreak!
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
Downtown - MXO : Great place filled with epic pvp battles (when the game wasnt dead). Always feared that agents would come out and wdfpwn you. The buildings downtown were fairly unique as well, and had lots of mobs around them that were all pretty much hostile. The clubs downtown were also much cooler than the slums clubs.
I still remember when we had a huge pvp battle there and an agent came in and killed off an entire faction, and people had to relocate the fight to the tops of the sky scrapers by hyper jumping up there. Just really cool.
Just a cool place in all with lots of matrix locales.
1: Tattoine/Mos Eisley SWG
2: Vale of Mularn DAOC
3: Bree and environs LOTRO
4: Tortage AOC
5: S1 Fallen Earth
honorable mentions-----
a: any space zone Earth and beyond
b: Camelot Hills DAOC
c: Freeport EQ2
d: Firion Vie EQ
e: Tier 2 Human vs. Chaos lands Ostland/Troll County WarHammer
SWG: Yavin IV (White sand beaches, Ruined Temples, Giant praying mantis)
WoW: Sholazar Basin/Azshara (Tropical Rainforest/Autumn + Grizzly bears and Naga+Ruins on beaches)
Allods: Holy Lands ( Floating Rainforest island, Contested zone, temples)
Who keeps letting Bill write these retarded top five lists? Not one mention of EQ1. Suck it Bill.
All of SWG's zones were very well done, though I agree the best was Tatooine with Lok a close second. The original SWG devs did a great job conveying the cities, as well as the vast wilderness that would have been the vast majority of SW planets. The music on Tatooine and Lok especially was mind blowing.
My favorite other zones - Stonetalon in WoW, Solsar in Planetside, AoC Tortage was great (rest of the game, not so much).
Why do you sound so apologetic when you wrote about westfall? You have nothing to apologize about. We read this article expecting your opinion and not anyone elses. Plus westfall was a great zone but i think barrens hits the nostalgia bone more with me.
/applaud - only good thing I have to say about the Shire is that it 'looks' right. So sticky sweet I want to barf - until I think of the only thing worse - Greater Faydark/Kelethin starter area EQ2. OMG they even made betraying the city a lame quest.
But for my favorites, in no particular order, with too many to give honorable mention of:
Kithicor EQ
Lower Guk EQ
Gnome city - Mekalia - VG
Blackrock Depths - WoW
All WotLK zones - WoW
I don't know....perhaps they want to develop a healthy discussion about our favorite zones and a good way to get that discussion going would be to pick a writer with non-conventional opinions.
Or would you rather just be a giant ass?
Here's my 5, in no particular order:
EQ - Karnor's ... as someone said earlier TRAIN TO ZONE!!!!!!!!
EQ - Kithicor ... never, ever travel it at night....
LOTRO - Rivendell ... first time at the top of the hill, looking over at Elrond's house, very much a geekgasm moment.
LOTRO - The Shire ... I mean, it's where the story begins and ends, and you can even poke around inside Bag End if you like, although Lobelia might not be too happy.
EQ - Halas ... Barbarian women, nuff said!
Two of my favourite MMO zones are LOTR The Shire and WoW Duskwood. The Shire is so folksy and homey, my character wanted to live there forever. Duskwood is a huge, atmospheric, treat for a new paladin first venturing from Elwynn and into the bigger world.
Honourable mentions go to:
CoH Croatoa because it had kind of the same atmosphere as Duskwood.
AoC Tortage, best starting zone in a game ever.
FFXI Valkrum Dunes, just for remembering all the great parties I teamed up with there. Oh no, a gob! Ruuuun!
FE Boneclaw because it is such a neat little starting city. I love the idea of putting a town in an abandoned strip mine.
5) Ultima Online - Verity Isle (home to Moonglow city)
4) DAOC - Midgard lands
3) Asheron's Call - Olthoi Dungeon
2) SWG - Tatooine
1) SWG -Talos
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
What did you expect? Unless they are on adventures, Hobbits are incredibly lazy people. :P
Agreed, I loved that aspect of CoV, it also put the Hero starting zone to shame. Who wants to wander around in stupid Outbreak stupid.
Nektulos (EQ2) : For being appropriately dark and creepy. I spent a lot of time in the EQ1 Nektulos too.
Dark Elves.
The pre-revamp Plane of Hate (EQ1): Kept you on your toes back in the day. Now it is a cakewalk.
Tatooine (SWG): For pretty much the same reasons as in the article.
Wildlands (Jade Dynasty): Mainly for being a relief from Doom Bog in the levels before. It's a very linear game.
Nadox (EQ1): Spent a lot of time grinding there when it came out, and the named popping out of things we killed kept us on our toes. Always enjoyed sweeping through the Broodmother and (the other) Innoruuk there back in the day too.
I really won't go into a list of zones because I really couldn't grade them in any particular way, and most of the fun I had in MMORPG"s were back in old DAoC, the old frontiers, and Darkness Falls, it didn't have the best graphics, it was just awesome to go to. Whenever your realm gained control, everybody went to DF and had a blast with the battle that ensued. That zone actually meant something to me where as no other zone had except for a place to level through.
In no particular order:
Back when I played Vanilla WoW, I always had a liking for Booty Bay. I was simply amazed when I first saw it. Goblins running the joint, both alliance and horde mixxed together, the fear of leaving solo, the named tiger that I kept trying to tame, the amazing water scenery, etc etc...
I enjoyed the first time I went to Pandaemonium in Aion during open/closed beta. The sheer size and how well it looked amazed me.
In Vanguard, I suprisingly liked the last dungeon in the Isle of Dawn the most. It was just a neat way to enter a open dungeon with the flying and such. I probably took 25-30 alts through it just because I liked it so much.
In Tibia, I enjoyed the Black Knight lair. This was a long time ago, but this spot was just pretty damn cool.
Rivendell. Always enjoyed Elf lore and this was the place I spent the majority of the limited time I played LOTRO. I would just float around the city.
5. Lufaise Meadows (FFXI) - One of the main explorable regions of the Tavnazian Archipelago, this zone is just full of atmosphere. Whereas a great deal of the older zones in FFXI feel very claustrophobic and walled in, Lufaise Meadows really gives you that sense of scale and distance. Top it off with some amazing views of the ocean from the cliffs, of rivers thousands of feet below the rope bridges you're walking on, and of course the Tavnazian kingdom from the opening cinematic, this zone was one of my all-time favorites to just visit for the sake of it.
4. The Old Forest (LOTRO) - A lot of the people who listed this one already said just about anything I could. The layout, the enemy encounters, the treants that look just like normal trees, this zone is all sorts of creepy and confusing.
3. Duskwood (WoW) - Take LOTRO's old forest, themepark it up but in a way that screams Disney Villains, and you have a wonderfully thematic zone that fits into WoW's style without doing away with the 'creepy' bits.
2. Castle Zvahl (FFXI) - Very few games have really maintained the idea of traps and mazes in dungeons, particularly with all the instancing going on nowadays, but FFXI did a great job with it, particularly in Castle Zvahl. Scaling the castle through obsidian halls filled with beastmen and demons, fighting varying NMs and figuring out the portals on the way up, and finally reaching the highest tower where you cross a snowy bridge to face off against the Shadowlord...simply epic.
1. Elysium (Anarchy Online) - Really I could list most of the Shadowlands zones here, but Elysium easily tops out as my all-time favorite. Maybe its because its the first zone I visited when the expansion released, but seeing the vortex in the sky, the vast graphical differences between the Rubi-Ka and this zone, and the music direction all made it feel so alien and yet still familiar enough to be, in some way, a part of AO. The layout of the zone lends itself to some pretty interesting diversity as well, which can be attributed to the fact that all the Shadowlands zones were hand-crafted, leading to a lot of nice exploration elements throughout.
I believe no.1 being Westfall is kinda lame..but it does deserve a top 5. I honestly believe it is the mixture of ambiance and geography. You can hear the wind and the bugs chirping..which blends the setting nicely. The Shire is also a great selection.
5. Westfall- WoW
4. Greater Fay- Eq2
3. Unrest- Eq1
2. Mt. Bloodhorn- WAR
1. Shire- Rivendale (tie)
I would also like to state that WAR could easily have more on this list if not for a few persistent factors that keep it from being quite good. No.1- it wastes so much of its beautiful spectacle because scenery is superfluous and linear. No. 2 very little is interactive (due to no.1). If they actually encouraged exploration or pve (other than for titles and such), more people would see some of the awesome designs. As it is, it’s just relegated to the occasional traveler who happens upon it. So much of it is buggy and serves little purpose.
Ryzom - The Prime Roots, My favorite sci fi fantasy land. I've never gotten to super high level in this game but I have "stealth trekked" many times through that one Prime Roots zone from the jungles to the desert for crafting materials and exploration purposes. Giant bugs guarding the entrance, all high lvl creatures, running around making it hard to dodge them, simply carving a path through death itself. The glowing tips of plants and glowing leaves, the blueish ground and cave walls. It's like Avatar plants and world, except it's a giant cave. I love all the zones in that game, they are "alive".
I Don't have a list, heh, I don't get to play MMOs much although I love the time that I get too.
1 EQOA - Nektulos forest, around Neriak, collinridge cementary and towards Klick'Anon. Magical times...... This game had a WORLD feel, without zoning!!! (Not to be mistaken with EQ1).
2 EQOA - From High Pass Hold running true the mountains towards Merry by water.
3 Vanguard -Thestra mountains and swamp areas.
4 Wow - The Hinterlands (when the sun comes down). Other good zones in wow; Stonetalon Mountains, Mulgore, Un Goro Crater, Feralas and Darkshores.
5 EQ2 - Antonica and the City of Freeport (altough far to much zoning).
Playing: TESO (great!)
**************
Most looking forward for: Everquest Next
**************
Have Played: World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI, Guild Wars, Lord of the Rings Online, Vanguard, Everquest Online Adventures, Everquest 1, EverQuest 2, Dungeons & Dragons Online, The Chronical of Spellborn, Warhammer Online, Age of Conan, Aion, CoH, Loong, Dragon nest, LoL, Alods, Diablo 3, NWN, Tera, Poe, Guild Wars 2, Rift
Most favorite; Everquest online Adventures (EQOA, 2003, PS2)
Lotro - Forochel. pure quest class with a feeling for a culture rarely seen in MMO's.
AoC - Aquilonia's capital, Tarantia. Wonderfully realised, giving a real feel of the Conan world.
In almost all MMO's are cool zones here and there, but none of them can compare to the desing of Everquest dungeons, Chardok for example was awesome... just think a dungeon where the moment that you get in the exit disappears xD
This is Chardok