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Which MMORPG had/has the best cities and why?
Creslin321
Member Posts: 5,359
Self explanatory, what MMORPG do you think has/had the best cities and why? I would make this a poll, but there are so many options I'm sure to leave out somebody's favorite.
For me, it's Everquest. No other game I've played has come close to EQ in terms of capturing the "feeling" of the world's culture with its cities. Almost every race had a fairly large city and they were all extremely unique, each even having unique music.
Are you team Azeroth, team Tyria, or team Jacob?
Comments
I have two. WoW had some great inner city exploration. I can still remember my first dwarf getting lost in Iron Forge. Still to this day I haven't walked everywhere in the cities.
My second would be EVE's Jita. Sure its a solar system not a city. But any EVE player knows Jita as the unoffical trade center of the game. And any trader worth his salt knows why this 'city' is one of the best. No other game can pull off a actual sense of danger or excitement just when you walk into a market place. The very enviroment says 'danger... and profit'
WoW has great cities.All totally differant and really cool looking.I also liked EQ2's cities back when it first came out.Qeynos was really great looking back then, especially at night when it lit up.Maybe its just nostalgia.
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.
There isn't a "right" or "wrong" way to play, if you want to use a screwdriver to put nails into wood, have at it, simply don't complain when the guy next to you with the hammer is doing it much better and easier. - Allein
"Graphics are often supplied by Engines that (some) MMORPG's are built in" - Spuffyre
Vanguard has some amazing cities. Qa and TK are 2 of my favorites (though I hate navigating TK).
My fave from UO was Moonglow, but I think that's only because it was my fave in all the single player Ultima games. I also liked the whole "roof bank" crowd and teleporting through that fence in the middle.
And once T2A came out, it was really convenient because it was right next to that recdu place.
Are you team Azeroth, team Tyria, or team Jacob?
EQ hands down
Neriak and Qeynos especially
WoW had the worst... Ironforge was a piece of crap, i hated that place
My favorite cities were in EverQuest and Dark Ages of Camelot. In EQ I enjoyed seeing the difference in each town from the last, such as Freeport and Kelethin. Also the fact that just because you're from the city of Freeport does not mean you're safe everywhere. It was fun exploring the underbelly of the city and seeing these NPCs in the distance which would like nothing more than to kill me. Also the first time I was going to Crushbone and wanted to get bound to the city, I was a tad confused on where the city was, only to find these lifts that took me up to a treehouse city, pretty amazing the first time. Also upon entering Ak'Anon the first time and the music that played at the front gate was pretty cool too.
As for Dark Ages of Camelot, I only explored Albions city really well, but I thought it was rather cool too. Seeing these side streets where the Infiltraitors would train, to the church, to the crafting distract, it was all rather great to take in.
EQ2 Freeport and Qeynos were amazing. However, Paragon City in COH ruled simply because of all the minor details they included, billboards, shops, houses, slums, even pedestrians walking the streets minding their own business.
(My son speaking to his Japanese Grandmother) " Sorry Obaba, I don't speak Japanese, I only speak human."
EQ1 probably has the most in variety of towns.
Surprising, given how old the game is.
EQ 1 & 2. AoC isn't so bad either.
But sadly does no MMO really make a city actually feel like a real city. Anyone who actually been in a real well preserved medieval town know what I am talking about.
Sadly is still AoCs Tortage the only MMO town that actually really looks like people living in it together with some realism.
Real towns tend to be built in certain ways, I wish more MMO devs visited places like Wiby and Valletta (Kings landing in Game of thrones is filmed there) and looked a bit on the city planning, it would make the towns feel more real.
Of course you can't do that with treetop towns or similar fantasy towns but you can still learn a few basics even for them.
I'd have to say EQ1 had the best cities. I especially loved Neriak and it's neon underground glow. Too bad after the first expansion the city emptied and nobody was ever there.
I also loved TOS in Meridian 59 because of Familiars pub. Was a great hangout.
Archlinux ftw
Many people hate this game but some of the cities in Runescape ive always loved, for example Catherby. seeing everyone on the shore fishing. it was really tranquil. Zanaris was also a fun city with turning into things etc xD. From WoW I personally loved Thunderbluff. That whole area was beautiful. I love large plains
. Bree in Lord of the Rings online was amazing at night when its all lit up aswell.
Here is the link to my old article on this topic (russian language though):
http://forums.goha.ru/showthread.php?t=288903
How could you get lost in Ironforge? Isn't it just one big circle?
The place I never got a hang of myself is Freeport. I hated it so much I didn't even go back when they revamped it. Also, I hated Kelethin, constantly fell off the bridges to my doom. That one is my fault though for trying to autorun my way to the bank while watching tv. Awesome music drew me back there many times however. My favorite was Qeynos. My very first city in an MMO ever. At one point in my first sitting, I thought that Fippy Darkpaw was just an ill tempered RPer.
Vanguard features amazingly detailed cities in terms of architecture and aesthetics.
Lion's Arch in GW2 is looking to be increidbly impressive. As well as Divinity's Reach (Hopefully all the other big cities are as detailed)
UO, EQ1, AC1, Camelot... I loved the cities and villages in all 4 of them. Even in AO...
Then came my least favorite ever, WoW, EQ2, etc...
Then in 2007 VG brought back amazing cities again.
If I was forced to pick a favorite though... it'd be EQ1
I really liked Qeynos in EQ2. It had some great streets, there were levels of adventure right inside the city. The NPCs were fun and the quests moved you about just fine. Then you hit level 20 and got shoved out into dullsville.
Still Freeport and Qeynos fully imagined in EQ2 was a lot of fun.
I really liked pre-cata Ogrimmar too for a similar reason, tho' there were less quests within the city itself. Still it had a good population and there wasn't too many dead areas. I just played Cata for a day or so for a "please come back" promotion and just didn't care for all the blank space in new Ogrry.
City of Villains "Rogue Isles" as a whole is worth noting. That's probably the best use of 'streamlined questing design' done in a modern MMO thus far. Each area was populated with enemies that were logical to the look of the areas. That's important.
I really liked how the Bloodaxe Clan decorated and had their city layout done. It was best when myself and a coalition of fellow Mourning Shadowbaners decided to wipe it off the map.
dynamic player driven city building.
I can't complain about Bree either in LotRO. It's lively for a static location. But it feels like an area from Tolkien's book and has some character of its own in contrast to many other areas in Middle-Earth. A lot of games recycle their city assets, but I think they did a good job making each their own.
Daoc, Vanguard, AoC.
This games gave the best impression of virtual cities, each of them has their own style, first time seeing Old Tarantia or Khemi (AoC) from outside is overwhelming.
"Torquemada... do not implore him for compassion. Torquemada... do not beg him for forgiveness. Torquemada... do not ask him for mercy. Let's face it, you can't Torquemada anything!"
MWO Music Video - What does the Mech say: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FF6HYNqCDLI
Johnny Cash - The Man Comes Around: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0x2iwK0BKM
Hmm, hard one, I'll base these answers of games I've actually played.
Visually (that still impress me today) :
A lot of people have their say in FFXIV about this and that, but the cities are diverse from eachother and also visually impressive imo. I had a hard time deciding which city I actually like the best, as they were are all well done.
AOC, Vanguard,LOTRO also get some nodding in this area.
Others:
SWG and UO were neat because of all the choices you had of where to start, or even "move" to later if you couldn't start there.
Vanguard,EQ 1/2: These games have a lot of town variety based off the amount of races they have available which lead to a bunch of unique starting areas for towns, or even whole towns with their own stories and quests, based off your chosen race. This is neat and also improves replay value greatly, for me.
There was just something about running around Butcherblock in EQ1, usually seeing a bunch of dwarfs and only very rarely some of the other races that started much farther way. Like a a dark elf, hiding somewhere killing dwarf npcs *evil grin*. There was also a lot of RP going on due to things like this, which is sometimes fun to see. All together it just creates an "experience" that really adds to areas/towns, and for me the game as a whole.
Beyond just towns:
Seems like in most MMO's nowadays it's all about everything being the same. Starting areas,races,items,classes and most other features feel more "lazy/rushed/copy+pasted" on the developer end, rather than built for a "true and unique player experience" . It's all about how much content I have available to me in these types of games. The deeper I can get into the world, the longer I play.
I'm likely in the minoirty with this last opinion though, after all, times are changing
Heck, even forum users, are a minoirty!
Winner :
Overall I'd say EQ1/Vanguard are tied for the Op's question because I can't decide which is better!
Take the Magic: The Gathering 'What Color Are You?' Quiz.
WOW, hands down. Here is why:
- cities are places well to function as social hubs
- they are interesting enough designed esp. after Cata
- they have these many small animated things going on, like a Kindergarden walking by, NPCs talking, Guards exchange asf.
- they have a functionality (AH for instance) which makes people come there regularly
- they represent their factions quite well
- they have a rich history established through the Warcraft lore
People don't ask questions to get answers - they ask questions to show how smart they are. - Dogbert
ever since Cata, most the cities are deserted of players
except Stormwind and Ogrimmar
EQ2 fan sites
Aoc and Lotro Rivendell
Rivendell
Rivendell
Rivendell
Currently playing: Elder Scrolls Online
MMORPG experiences:EQ2, AoC(pre f2p), Lotro,GW1,DDO, Aion,WoW( stop with wotlk),Allods, GW2
Eu,War, Secret World
Waiting On: WoD Sometime Maybe: Elder Scrolls MMO, Might and Magic
Altdorf, I fell in love with this city. Really was a shame mythic never went with the original plan and made all 6 major cities in Warhammer.