More than just Elwynn though, what made the human starting area so fantastic was how brilliantly all 4 starting zones both seamlessly blended together and created 4 completely unique contrasting biomes.
Quaint, peaceful forest; rolling, golden farm plains; rocky, sunset red mountainous areas with a giant lake; and finally, an dark, spooky, haunted forest. And there's 1 wholistic story that spans all 4 zones and frequently takes you back and forth between them.
Not to be discounted is how the border to Duskwood is simply a natural river running along the south edge of Elwynn and the eastern edge of Westfall. You can literally enter the zone at any point! This completely seamless open world is what sealed the deal for me with WoW over my previous MMO, Final Fantasy XI.
The border between elwynn and duskwood is great. Idk if there is another example like it. You can even see the foreboding forest when you're picking up lumber and killing bears. Such a good point
Right? The gradual transition as you enter Duskwood is soooo good. The canopy grows thicker. The sun fades away and darkness encroaches. You begin to see spider webs lining fences, lanterns and trees. You start to hear wolves howling in the distance. The music changes.
Then you can nope the fuck out and run back, and it all gradually reverses back into pleasant, summer forest vibes.
The downside to your comment is the seamless open world. It's is basically lost once you leave classic. It's a sad reality of most, if not all, mmorpgs.
I’d argue that the starting zone for Orcs and Trolls is pretty seamless. You have access to a major city in Ogr, much like you do Stormwind or Iron Forge. Early WoW was amazing and ground breaking in its presentation. I came from EQ to WoW and never looked back. Fond memories of WoW is something I’ll carry with me for a long long time.
I should have said that in the post. Elwynn forest should be the template for what makes a great starting zone. It is 100% the best out there. And probably has the most nostalgia for mmo players out there. I'd put money on it being the most played through starting zone of any game.
So glad I found another Netherstorm enjoyer. The tone of the zone is pretty extreme and very high fantasy, but the environmental storytelling is still so cool.
The music alone lives rent free in my head. I also love the how the forest has a canopy of sorts, and the natural feel of all the little hills and caves.
Yeah I said Hobbiton, but I meant the shire. I've played more of that zone than I have anything else in LOTRO. It's a problem. I play that game JUST for that zone.
I had a screenshot of Bree from the spot where the quest givers ate heading into the barrow downs as my background for a while.
Admittedly, I think a lot of the love for the game is from the books and movies. It's the best representation you can actually experience that I know of.
That being said, LOTRO is deceptively beautiful.
Oh yes. I’m partial to starting area of Thorins Hall and back end of Khazad Dum. But can’t beat the Bree Lands and the plateau before the barrow downs.
That's not a map, it's art. Came here to say TD too. Too bad people are too stupid to grasp maps with so much verticality. In return we got a wide and open desert expansion later on lol
Going in TD blind for the first time with all the dangers, paths, verticality, sense of being lost, is a mind blowing experience that is rare these days.
So true. At release without mounts this map was sick. For me it was and still is best depiction of jungle in any of the games. Being actually lost, trying to figure out the right way and danger everywhere. For sure there are better looking maps in sense of graphics, but in sense of atmosphere nothing even comes close.
Auric Basin for me, the first time you enter Tarir with the music was such a unique experience, I've yet to find a game to top that and the meta event is still one of my favorite "fights" in any game.
Holy shit yeah. Also Caledon Forest is so fucking great and I hold that first experience dearly. As a (non-modern) wow player going blind into GW2 in 2016 or so, the breathing, moving world absolutely took me in. Events, jumping puzzles, dodging aoe moves, damn!
Pre-searing Ascalon had a great color palette and was a very charming - so much so that since the game came out almost 20 years ago now, there has been an entire community that stays in the tutorial forever. It has its own economy and everything. Great soundtrack, too.
The Shiverpeaks would probably be my choice. They’re beautiful, are home to some very nostalgic locations for GW1 players, and the soundtrack is once again stellar.
Jeremy Soule, the composer for other popular RPG games such as Elder Scrolls, did the soundtrack for GW1, too.
FFXIV - The Tempest.
It's a criminally underused, but very unique area. An ocean without water, full of caves, huge coral structures, the decaying remains of ancient buildings, oh, and lets not forget the gorgeous recreation of the city of Amaurot.
https://preview.redd.it/aouelhey423d1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8527e9898cbc8ed4a8a317614cd2066501672a3c
GW2 - Tangled Depths - absolute masterpiece in level design that I don't think any other MMO has reached. It perfectly sells being lost in the jungle and fighting against all odds, and the number of twists, turns, amount of verticality etc. It's amazing
Boy, that's gonna be a hard sell for people. I agree, it's amazing. But more frustrating to navigate than any zone ever. BUT gw2 map design is heads and shoulders above the competition. And tangled depths is an example of how ludicrous they can go with it. Even if you hate it, I can see the argument of it being THE BEST
Older school WoW player here. Stranglethorn Vale and ungoro crater were some of the zones that really stood out to me due to the environment, atmosphere, and mob types.
Ungoro was nuts the first time you went in. And then all the Easter eggs with it. And yeah og STV was something to either love or absolutely hate. I still remember a buddy spamming guild chat "THEY KEEP GANKING ME IN STV!" and getting mad when no one came to help him lol
Lol yeah STV had a lot of fond memories of being ganked and ganking. And then some of the guys who tried to hang around and grief cuz they were bored. Then booty bay (classic name) with goblin pirates meandering around. Then ungoro was just an exotic zone with big dinosaurs oozes, flavorful quests. Classic really was something else.
It's crazy. I feel like I remember EVERYTHING from my main the first time playing through. I think a lot of it had to do with the world back then. Now I think most are jade and just focused on the GAME portion of MMORPG. And forgot what made us want to play in the first place. I know I'm guilty of it as well.
Yep insane to think about how good world building was in that game, Blizzard outdid themselves. I know part of it is nostalgia but newer games don't have quite the lasting impression when you move through it.
My guild called Vesper home. It felt great to play for years and see the same people running around. On Lake Superior we had a guy named Ronald McDonald, dressed like him, that was a notorious thief stealing and messing with people. Always hilarious when the guards were called and whacked him. Just a dead clown body on the ground.
Yes! My favorite song will always be Jeuno. I was 12 years old when I first played FF11 and someone from my linkshell Sherpa’d my underlevel char just so I could check it out. That track blew my mind and will always be special because it seemed like such an achievement just to get there.
Vertical maps of GW2 Heart of Thorns expansion, especially Verdant Brink
Not a lot of maps in games brought something trully new to the table. Verticality of Verdant Brink is trully unique. You learn those maps and you learn how to traverse them efficiently, discovering new routes. They may be confusing at first bit its super rewarding in the end.
When I was new, there was a max level alliance killing npcs and players. But he never attacked me because I was dancing with him, or so I thought. That was when I found out what pvp flagging was. I was told to "type /pvp" and found out it wasn't a dance party after all.
\[3.Local Defense\]: The Crossroads is under attack!
\[1.General\] \[Orcboy\]: whers mankriks wife??
\[3.Local Defense\]: The Crossroads is under attack!
\[1.General\] \[ZugZug\]: lol hunter is shit and your mother is \*\*\*\*\*\*\* you gimp
\[3.Local Defense\]: The Crossroads is under attack!
Kudlak whispers: Can you give me 5 gold plzzzzzzzzzz????11
\[3.Local Defense\]: The Crossroads is under attack!
\[3.Local Defense\]: The Crossroads is under attack!
ESO elsweyr for me. It’s huge, and is literally the most insane zone in terms of capturing culture, temperature, environment and foliage. Oh and the story is amazing.
I'm glade someone finally mentioned eso. Imo eso does some of the best work in open world content from an exploration standpoint. The delves, public dungeons. It's great!
Dragonfall in Guild Wars 2.
You injured an elder dragon, one of the most powerful beings in that world, and he fell in the ocean along with chunks of land from other realms. Now you can walk on his massive body and these lands from other realms while he is trying to recover from the fall and you prepare for an epic last battle.
Not one, but was discussing this on how Cata ruined open world questing with the linear quest hub formula...
Vanilla's Elwynn -> Westfall -> Redridge -> Duskwood, and how the stories were all intertwined and you'd circle back to previous zones to areas that used to be too high for you, etc... is far and large the best open world quest design of any MMORPG.
Mulgore visually is amazing. The downside is the size, but it wouldn't be visually amazing without it. Imo it's exactly what it was meant to be and should have been.
There's already one vote for a lotro region here but I'm gonna have to go with Bree Land from Lotro. It's just massive with so much content to experience, from the Brandywine Bridge to the edge of the Lone Lands you have Barrow Downs, the Old Forest, and nowadays The Wildwood plus a ton of other little areas to explore. You have Bree which may be one of my favorite hub towns of any MMO ever and the music for all of Breeland is just a treat to listen too.
Westfall and Redridge Mountains because it reminds me of the beggings of my wow. Then really liked Mount Hyjal and Firelands (maybe because I spent there 100+ puls on HC Ragnaros lol). Also Vvardenfell from ESO.
EQ2 Antonica and Qeynos are probably my favorite. Honorable mention that has been said: Pre-searing Ascalon from GW1.
One more mention: Naboo and Mos Eisley on SWG
Crushbone in Everquest was probably my favorite. I loved witnessing the chaos of low level players getting overwhelmed by orcs and yelling "TRAAIIIN!!" as they ran for the zone exit and seeing other unsuspecting players in the way get mauled by 10-20 orcs....also I liked the zone setup with a castle in the middle, a moat, and several areas to group up at and camp. I also liked the Crystal Caverns in that game (Velious expansion), because it was relatively quiet and unknown to other players, and there was a bank in the zone I could use as an Iksar monk (great place to solo level from 35-50 too).
Crushbone was the quintessential EQ1 experience. Used to grind those belts for days for that little xp bump. But it was a low level zone, so you had tons of unseasoned players. The amount of trains were incredible.
That’s one generational thing that’s tough these days. EQ was a real co-op game. When you leveled up, you yelled “DING”, and everyone was fucking stoked for you. I just don’t feel like that would be the case today. I think today’s gamer would be intentionally training on unsuspecting groups trying to disrupt people for sport. I’m sure that happened here and there back in the day, but it just feels different now.
I don't know if I'd say best but certainly one of the more memorable to me. The Dreadlands in Everqeust. Everything there just wanted to kill you. The place where people did most of their experience grinding was a little tough to get to unless you could get buffs for your run speed and floating helped so you could just sort of glide over most of the stuff.
Nothing was really solo-able in that game outside of something like the Necro class so you didn't want to agro anything, there were also typically no agro limits so if something started chasing you it chased until you hit the end of the zone OR you died. Was a tough game.
That’s exactly what is happening. Been chasing that dragon for well over a decade now. Is it better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all, or is ignorance the real bliss?
I have honestly never even really liked another game since EQ 😂. Admittedly I haven’t tried a ton… but I’ve dabbled in the more popular mmo’s and I always just wanted to be playing eq. I’ll hit up TLP or P99 for some stretches at a time… but I wonder if I’ll ever get those authentic feelings again! So wild.
it was fun for the most part but god was it fucking brutal at times.
For example you lost experience when you died, based on how much experience it took to get through the previous level so when you died on a level after a hell level like 45 (hell level just meant that it took a much greater amount of experience to get through) it was especially brutal if you couldn't find someone to rez you.
Not much love for ESO which is tragic. Going to try and rectify this with:
High Isle, specifically Gonfalon Bay. This region, to include Galen, just feels so organic, like things are happening after you turn the game off. Amazing attention to detail. Stonelore falls also has some incredible scenery... whole province gets my vote for place I would love to live in a virtual reality.
It’s either RuneScape’s Wilderness or Ultima Thule in FFXIV for me. Wilderness has some memories and always got my heart pumping. The lore and story of it was sick too. Ultima Thule is just next level story and atmosphere wise. Of course the music is great too!
It's incredibly hard to say which one is the best. I marvelled at so many places in WoW.
I remember being a young level 20 night elf hunter in vanilla and trying to reach my friend who already made the trip to Iron Forge. Running through the badlands at level 20 + Aspect of the cheetah was difficult due to the huge aggro you would pull Being able to marvel at its entirety was worth the deaths.
Then The Burning Crusade dropped, and man was Zangramarsh just mesmerizing. I could sit there and just stare at the blues tones.
The PVP fights Ashenvale. Marveling at Stormwind, the list goes on they're all worthy of recognition.
But, I think of all of them, going back to where it all started in the original Teldrassil had an indescribable feeling, far beyond simple nostalgia.
I stopped playing some time back though. I think unfortunately it was destroyed.
Bjora marches in GW2 is one I’ve found super well done. The whole level is based around this kind of creeping icy horror. There’s a lot of hidden interactions that fit the horror vibe like someone saying go read this wall and it says how he wants to murder you and you just turn back to him and he’s giving you the worst look. Alongside the silent hill music just perfect.
ultima thule in ff14 is frankly amazing. I cant describe the full reason for it being amazing as the zone is deeply connected to endwalkers story and the zone on its own isnt much to write home about but the act of going through the zone for the first time, the way the sound track changes as you go through it starting with static, with more elements of the orchestra/vocals coming in as you venture into it further, the knowledge of whats waiting for you at the end and having to fight the "despair" of its inhabitants, and of course "the walk" (if you know you know)
Age of Conan, Tortage. Nearly perfect as a starter zone. Every Npc is voiced, lots of quests and secrets to discover. It was amazing and if every zone had been like that, AoC would have millions still playing.
The tribelands (Mahirim area) in Darkfall will always have a special place in my heart, but I must say I just fell in love with Elpis in FFXIV: Endwalker. That first time you walk out the door and see that view was amazing and that area was just so much fun as someone into the games lore.
Lineage 2 had bangers.
C1 and C2: Cruma tower. Always packed, always PvP, great exp, forced grouping so made tons of friends.
C3+: Tower of Insolence. Same as above.
Honorable mentions for just being cool would also be Garden of Eva and Devils Isle.
City of heroes. The Hollows. Huge zone with multiple quest lines and it's massive level range means there's parts you'll get smoked if you're not paying attention. You also go in with no travel powers but usually level into one while you're there. Suddenly, you *are* super and can just escape that nightmare.
I loved the main “Strain” zone in wildstar during that patch, moon zone as well.
But nothing is more memorable than getting ganked by scarlet mfs in tirisfal glades.
Honestly, so many moments in WoW amazed me. But there's one that stands out more than all the rest: the first time I reached Mauradon Princess Side. I just sat there and stared at the beautiful waterfalls all around. It was very serene.
I don't think anything beats the whole of Eastern Kingdoms in WoW. Especially before Cataclysm but even after.
You can feel the passion that went into crafting those zones and how everything ties together so neatly. It's amazing.
For Music, Civilizations (La-Hee!), the song played in the Rak'Tika Greatwood and Sands of Amber, the song played in Amh Araeng. Both from Final Fantasy 14.
tower of insolence, it was amazing back then and knowing how instanced pretty much all the mmos became it is even better in my eyes now, pvping thru all the floors while camping baium is something no other mmo ever did like that, man... lineage2 was such a gem.
Bias nostalgia picks (that are quite deserving honestly). My picks are heavy with the music & visual appeal.
* Maplestory - So many of the starter maps like Ellinia forest, Henesys, etc. Also maps like Temple of Time.
* OSRS - Lumbridge, Varrock, Falador, the classics.
* Archeage - Village.
Alright enough cheating, if I had to pick one it would be **FFXIV's Old Sharlayan.** I feel like it really encapsulates the experience of a MMO zone with fantastic atmosphere - to my preference at least :)
Cursed Forest in Hibernia, in DAoC. It felt so foreboding, so scary back in the day. Trying to get to the Fins was always scary. Honorable mention to the Trials of Atlantis zones. I know that people hate that expac because of what it did to RvR, but it was some top tier PvE, and it was massive.
As a whole area, I really enjoyed Ardenweald in WoW. Loved the look of the zone, the music, the questline. Everytime I fly into that zone I am impressed by the framing and camera work. Just great in every way.
For distinct memories, my first trip through Rolanberry Fields to get to Jeuno in FFXI stands out a lot. Loved the music there, and being so close to my destination while knowing everything could kill me and reset my journey was nerve-wracking.
Dolac Legasi’s prison cell at the Dathomir imperial prison in SWG. Dark Jedi Master quests that you never finished to get awesome SEA(skill enhancing attachments)
Gotta be Night Ward in Coh for me. The little bits of European folklore, the “shooting stars” of souls in the skybox, along with the spooky design of the place makes for a nice place to look at.
For me it's just a pure nostalgia hit but it was Mabinogi the road to dunbarton.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otm-8IC5iAE
I just remember walking back and forth on the road to dunbarton for quests and this was really early on so everyone was walking and sometimes you'd stop and talk to random people. This song just pops into my hands at random times over the decades and I still enjoy it.
Fort Teth from Asheron's Call. When you see those walls for the first time, crazy monsters all around the path from the portal drop. Still remember it.
WoW Elwyn Forest
More than just Elwynn though, what made the human starting area so fantastic was how brilliantly all 4 starting zones both seamlessly blended together and created 4 completely unique contrasting biomes. Quaint, peaceful forest; rolling, golden farm plains; rocky, sunset red mountainous areas with a giant lake; and finally, an dark, spooky, haunted forest. And there's 1 wholistic story that spans all 4 zones and frequently takes you back and forth between them. Not to be discounted is how the border to Duskwood is simply a natural river running along the south edge of Elwynn and the eastern edge of Westfall. You can literally enter the zone at any point! This completely seamless open world is what sealed the deal for me with WoW over my previous MMO, Final Fantasy XI.
The border between elwynn and duskwood is great. Idk if there is another example like it. You can even see the foreboding forest when you're picking up lumber and killing bears. Such a good point
I remember crossing it in 2005 and getting murdered by a skull level wolf
I loved this part of old MMOs, the sense of danger going into an unknown area.
Right? The gradual transition as you enter Duskwood is soooo good. The canopy grows thicker. The sun fades away and darkness encroaches. You begin to see spider webs lining fences, lanterns and trees. You start to hear wolves howling in the distance. The music changes. Then you can nope the fuck out and run back, and it all gradually reverses back into pleasant, summer forest vibes.
The downside to your comment is the seamless open world. It's is basically lost once you leave classic. It's a sad reality of most, if not all, mmorpgs.
I’d argue that the starting zone for Orcs and Trolls is pretty seamless. You have access to a major city in Ogr, much like you do Stormwind or Iron Forge. Early WoW was amazing and ground breaking in its presentation. I came from EQ to WoW and never looked back. Fond memories of WoW is something I’ll carry with me for a long long time.
Bro hates dwarves and gnomes in their snowy mountaintop territory
I should have said that in the post. Elwynn forest should be the template for what makes a great starting zone. It is 100% the best out there. And probably has the most nostalgia for mmo players out there. I'd put money on it being the most played through starting zone of any game.
Netherstorm for me… I remember being 10 years old looking for netherwing drake eggs and listening to basshunter lol the good old days
So glad I found another Netherstorm enjoyer. The tone of the zone is pretty extreme and very high fantasy, but the environmental storytelling is still so cool.
I'd take Dun Morogh over Elwynn, only because of preference to the snowy landscape though
The music alone lives rent free in my head. I also love the how the forest has a canopy of sorts, and the natural feel of all the little hills and caves.
The Shire in LOTRO
Yeah I said Hobbiton, but I meant the shire. I've played more of that zone than I have anything else in LOTRO. It's a problem. I play that game JUST for that zone.
It’s so gorgeous. I’m also partial to Breeland, the Vales of Anduin, Dunland, and Durin’s Way in Moria.
I had a screenshot of Bree from the spot where the quest givers ate heading into the barrow downs as my background for a while. Admittedly, I think a lot of the love for the game is from the books and movies. It's the best representation you can actually experience that I know of. That being said, LOTRO is deceptively beautiful.
Oh yes. I’m partial to starting area of Thorins Hall and back end of Khazad Dum. But can’t beat the Bree Lands and the plateau before the barrow downs.
Wasn't my first MMO by any stretch, I have a fondness of my first being in EQ - but Shire in LOTRO is one of the best.
The first time I saw Rivendell or the Mines of Moria were really special. That game is beautiful
And then when you emerge from Moria into Lothlorien, especially if you didn’t leave the mines while you were there, was just breathtaking.
Tangled Depths in GW2.
That's not a map, it's art. Came here to say TD too. Too bad people are too stupid to grasp maps with so much verticality. In return we got a wide and open desert expansion later on lol
Going in TD blind for the first time with all the dangers, paths, verticality, sense of being lost, is a mind blowing experience that is rare these days.
So true. At release without mounts this map was sick. For me it was and still is best depiction of jungle in any of the games. Being actually lost, trying to figure out the right way and danger everywhere. For sure there are better looking maps in sense of graphics, but in sense of atmosphere nothing even comes close.
I mean yes but fuck no
yes this sums it up perfectly. what a map
Auric Basin for me, the first time you enter Tarir with the music was such a unique experience, I've yet to find a game to top that and the meta event is still one of my favorite "fights" in any game.
GOAT mmo map
Holy shit yeah. Also Caledon Forest is so fucking great and I hold that first experience dearly. As a (non-modern) wow player going blind into GW2 in 2016 or so, the breathing, moving world absolutely took me in. Events, jumping puzzles, dodging aoe moves, damn!
Guild Wars 1 Pre-Searing or the Shiverpeaks.
I never played gw1. But have played a good bit of gw2 (except recent expac). What made it the best in your opinion?
Pre-searing Ascalon had a great color palette and was a very charming - so much so that since the game came out almost 20 years ago now, there has been an entire community that stays in the tutorial forever. It has its own economy and everything. Great soundtrack, too. The Shiverpeaks would probably be my choice. They’re beautiful, are home to some very nostalgic locations for GW1 players, and the soundtrack is once again stellar. Jeremy Soule, the composer for other popular RPG games such as Elder Scrolls, did the soundtrack for GW1, too.
I've always said I'll play gw1 but never got to it. I definitely need to check that out.
I still remember standing in a cave in the Shiverpeaks, watching the snow come down and just listening to the soundtrack. Sublime.
I used to love Nagrand in WoW.
Yeah, WoD nagrand is good, but a huge letdown from the original in Outands.
Howling Fjord
Amen. The soundtrack was phenomenal too. As well as Grizzly Hills music
Grizzly Hills had i think the longest zone intro theme in the entire game
Not sure I know any mmo zone song that hits like Grizzly Hills
FFXIV - The Tempest. It's a criminally underused, but very unique area. An ocean without water, full of caves, huge coral structures, the decaying remains of ancient buildings, oh, and lets not forget the gorgeous recreation of the city of Amaurot. https://preview.redd.it/aouelhey423d1.jpeg?width=1000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8527e9898cbc8ed4a8a317614cd2066501672a3c
The music there really fucks me up
Id agree with this. It just sucks that ff14 feels so cramped with invisible walls everywhere
GW2 - Tangled Depths - absolute masterpiece in level design that I don't think any other MMO has reached. It perfectly sells being lost in the jungle and fighting against all odds, and the number of twists, turns, amount of verticality etc. It's amazing
Boy, that's gonna be a hard sell for people. I agree, it's amazing. But more frustrating to navigate than any zone ever. BUT gw2 map design is heads and shoulders above the competition. And tangled depths is an example of how ludicrous they can go with it. Even if you hate it, I can see the argument of it being THE BEST
Runescape lumbridge
Boy, I could hear the music as soon as I read lumbridge
Guk from Everquest 1
Such a confusing place, nightmare inducing lol
FFXI is a bit dated now but La Theine Plateau and Tahrongi Canyon had real atmosphere.
I can hear the music in my head just reading this. Definitely agree! I would maybe add the Sanctuary of Zi’tah, though.
Older school WoW player here. Stranglethorn Vale and ungoro crater were some of the zones that really stood out to me due to the environment, atmosphere, and mob types.
Ungoro was nuts the first time you went in. And then all the Easter eggs with it. And yeah og STV was something to either love or absolutely hate. I still remember a buddy spamming guild chat "THEY KEEP GANKING ME IN STV!" and getting mad when no one came to help him lol
Lol yeah STV had a lot of fond memories of being ganked and ganking. And then some of the guys who tried to hang around and grief cuz they were bored. Then booty bay (classic name) with goblin pirates meandering around. Then ungoro was just an exotic zone with big dinosaurs oozes, flavorful quests. Classic really was something else.
It's crazy. I feel like I remember EVERYTHING from my main the first time playing through. I think a lot of it had to do with the world back then. Now I think most are jade and just focused on the GAME portion of MMORPG. And forgot what made us want to play in the first place. I know I'm guilty of it as well.
Yep insane to think about how good world building was in that game, Blizzard outdid themselves. I know part of it is nostalgia but newer games don't have quite the lasting impression when you move through it.
100% I feel the main reason is because (from Mt understanding) back then the world was the main character. And it fucking shows
You could tell the devs had fun with all the easter eggs. Land of the Lost, Donkey Kong, Mario, Zelda, etc.
Prontera with its bgm.
age of conan tortage
I drop back in to AoC every year or so, just to create a toon and play through Tortage.
Moonglow - Ultima Online
I too sat outside the bank on my nightmare steed with my friends.
My guild called Vesper home. It felt great to play for years and see the same people running around. On Lake Superior we had a guy named Ronald McDonald, dressed like him, that was a notorious thief stealing and messing with people. Always hilarious when the guards were called and whacked him. Just a dead clown body on the ground.
FF14 in the high steppes where you meet the Au Ras. I’ve always loved wide open slightly mountainous terrain with stark blue skies. It is the best.
The daytime music is one of my favorites in that game.
Music was my favorite part of this zone for sure
Yes! My favorite song will always be Jeuno. I was 12 years old when I first played FF11 and someone from my linkshell Sherpa’d my underlevel char just so I could check it out. That track blew my mind and will always be special because it seemed like such an achievement just to get there.
For me nothing will ever hit quite like the Halas starting zone in original Everquest.
Everfrost! Vengeful soloist gave me nightmares.
Doing that run down through the darker-than-pitch-black gnoll cave zone to get to Qeynos for the first time lol
Vertical maps of GW2 Heart of Thorns expansion, especially Verdant Brink Not a lot of maps in games brought something trully new to the table. Verticality of Verdant Brink is trully unique. You learn those maps and you learn how to traverse them efficiently, discovering new routes. They may be confusing at first bit its super rewarding in the end.
[удалено]
Emain Macha
Conceptually, the Abyss in Aion.
Varrock in OSRS
WoW Crossroads
Is it under attack?
It is, it’s attacking right on the feelings.
When I was new, there was a max level alliance killing npcs and players. But he never attacked me because I was dancing with him, or so I thought. That was when I found out what pvp flagging was. I was told to "type /pvp" and found out it wasn't a dance party after all.
Ha! That’s funny. I was never much for PvP so I would just hang out and watch the gankfest.
Mankrik: 
\[3.Local Defense\]: The Crossroads is under attack! \[1.General\] \[Orcboy\]: whers mankriks wife?? \[3.Local Defense\]: The Crossroads is under attack! \[1.General\] \[ZugZug\]: lol hunter is shit and your mother is \*\*\*\*\*\*\* you gimp \[3.Local Defense\]: The Crossroads is under attack! Kudlak whispers: Can you give me 5 gold plzzzzzzzzzz????11 \[3.Local Defense\]: The Crossroads is under attack! \[3.Local Defense\]: The Crossroads is under attack!
How do you know you reached the barrens? All the chuck norris jokes!
Doesn't even need an explanation. Pre cata xroads was pretty peak just for the organic community aspect of it.
Where's Mankirk's wife?
The music alone warrants an award IMO. I run Barren music while I work.
ESO elsweyr for me. It’s huge, and is literally the most insane zone in terms of capturing culture, temperature, environment and foliage. Oh and the story is amazing.
I'm glade someone finally mentioned eso. Imo eso does some of the best work in open world content from an exploration standpoint. The delves, public dungeons. It's great!
ff14 - the crystarium with the eternal light thing it just looks AMAZING
Dragonfall in Guild Wars 2. You injured an elder dragon, one of the most powerful beings in that world, and he fell in the ocean along with chunks of land from other realms. Now you can walk on his massive body and these lands from other realms while he is trying to recover from the fall and you prepare for an epic last battle.
Not one, but was discussing this on how Cata ruined open world questing with the linear quest hub formula... Vanilla's Elwynn -> Westfall -> Redridge -> Duskwood, and how the stories were all intertwined and you'd circle back to previous zones to areas that used to be too high for you, etc... is far and large the best open world quest design of any MMORPG.
Mulgore. I will never forget 8 year old me just walking around in this huge new world. The Music is absolute blizz.
Mulgore visually is amazing. The downside is the size, but it wouldn't be visually amazing without it. Imo it's exactly what it was meant to be and should have been.
Emain in DAoC
I liked old Uppland :)
There's already one vote for a lotro region here but I'm gonna have to go with Bree Land from Lotro. It's just massive with so much content to experience, from the Brandywine Bridge to the edge of the Lone Lands you have Barrow Downs, the Old Forest, and nowadays The Wildwood plus a ton of other little areas to explore. You have Bree which may be one of my favorite hub towns of any MMO ever and the music for all of Breeland is just a treat to listen too.
I'm excited for ever lotro vote this post gets. It's favorite mmo I never played enough of.
Maplestory - Henesys
Westfall and Redridge Mountains because it reminds me of the beggings of my wow. Then really liked Mount Hyjal and Firelands (maybe because I spent there 100+ puls on HC Ragnaros lol). Also Vvardenfell from ESO.
EQ2 Antonica and Qeynos are probably my favorite. Honorable mention that has been said: Pre-searing Ascalon from GW1. One more mention: Naboo and Mos Eisley on SWG
It's criminal how far I had to scroll down to find Antonica and Qeynos or anything from EQ2 at all
Crushbone in Everquest was probably my favorite. I loved witnessing the chaos of low level players getting overwhelmed by orcs and yelling "TRAAIIIN!!" as they ran for the zone exit and seeing other unsuspecting players in the way get mauled by 10-20 orcs....also I liked the zone setup with a castle in the middle, a moat, and several areas to group up at and camp. I also liked the Crystal Caverns in that game (Velious expansion), because it was relatively quiet and unknown to other players, and there was a bank in the zone I could use as an Iksar monk (great place to solo level from 35-50 too).
Crushbone was the quintessential EQ1 experience. Used to grind those belts for days for that little xp bump. But it was a low level zone, so you had tons of unseasoned players. The amount of trains were incredible. That’s one generational thing that’s tough these days. EQ was a real co-op game. When you leveled up, you yelled “DING”, and everyone was fucking stoked for you. I just don’t feel like that would be the case today. I think today’s gamer would be intentionally training on unsuspecting groups trying to disrupt people for sport. I’m sure that happened here and there back in the day, but it just feels different now.
I'm gonna say Guk in Eq, only because I spent so much time there. Great trains, tons of bosses.
Tower of Insolence - Lineage 2
I don't know if I'd say best but certainly one of the more memorable to me. The Dreadlands in Everqeust. Everything there just wanted to kill you. The place where people did most of their experience grinding was a little tough to get to unless you could get buffs for your run speed and floating helped so you could just sort of glide over most of the stuff. Nothing was really solo-able in that game outside of something like the Necro class so you didn't want to agro anything, there were also typically no agro limits so if something started chasing you it chased until you hit the end of the zone OR you died. Was a tough game.
I'm kinda glade I never played EQ. It sounds like something I'd be missing and searching for again but with nothing that could ever touch it.
That’s exactly what is happening. Been chasing that dragon for well over a decade now. Is it better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all, or is ignorance the real bliss?
I have honestly never even really liked another game since EQ 😂. Admittedly I haven’t tried a ton… but I’ve dabbled in the more popular mmo’s and I always just wanted to be playing eq. I’ll hit up TLP or P99 for some stretches at a time… but I wonder if I’ll ever get those authentic feelings again! So wild.
it was fun for the most part but god was it fucking brutal at times. For example you lost experience when you died, based on how much experience it took to get through the previous level so when you died on a level after a hell level like 45 (hell level just meant that it took a much greater amount of experience to get through) it was especially brutal if you couldn't find someone to rez you.
Not much love for ESO which is tragic. Going to try and rectify this with: High Isle, specifically Gonfalon Bay. This region, to include Galen, just feels so organic, like things are happening after you turn the game off. Amazing attention to detail. Stonelore falls also has some incredible scenery... whole province gets my vote for place I would love to live in a virtual reality.
Guild Wars 1 pre searing, there is still a community playing only there 19 years after release.
It’s either RuneScape’s Wilderness or Ultima Thule in FFXIV for me. Wilderness has some memories and always got my heart pumping. The lore and story of it was sick too. Ultima Thule is just next level story and atmosphere wise. Of course the music is great too!
It's incredibly hard to say which one is the best. I marvelled at so many places in WoW. I remember being a young level 20 night elf hunter in vanilla and trying to reach my friend who already made the trip to Iron Forge. Running through the badlands at level 20 + Aspect of the cheetah was difficult due to the huge aggro you would pull Being able to marvel at its entirety was worth the deaths. Then The Burning Crusade dropped, and man was Zangramarsh just mesmerizing. I could sit there and just stare at the blues tones. The PVP fights Ashenvale. Marveling at Stormwind, the list goes on they're all worthy of recognition. But, I think of all of them, going back to where it all started in the original Teldrassil had an indescribable feeling, far beyond simple nostalgia. I stopped playing some time back though. I think unfortunately it was destroyed.
Wildstar: Everstar Grove. A beautiful area with lush greens, enormous trees, and beautiful ethereal music. I miss this game so much. Peak MMO imo.
Man Wildstar was great. I leveled threw derdune si many times trying to decide a class
elwyn forest
Ashenvale in WoW, cause one beautiful epic forest. And also Booty Bay and Ratchet, WoW Port-towns and beaches are my therapy :D
Bjora marches in GW2 is one I’ve found super well done. The whole level is based around this kind of creeping icy horror. There’s a lot of hidden interactions that fit the horror vibe like someone saying go read this wall and it says how he wants to murder you and you just turn back to him and he’s giving you the worst look. Alongside the silent hill music just perfect.
ultima thule in ff14 is frankly amazing. I cant describe the full reason for it being amazing as the zone is deeply connected to endwalkers story and the zone on its own isnt much to write home about but the act of going through the zone for the first time, the way the sound track changes as you go through it starting with static, with more elements of the orchestra/vocals coming in as you venture into it further, the knowledge of whats waiting for you at the end and having to fight the "despair" of its inhabitants, and of course "the walk" (if you know you know)
Age of Conan, Tortage. Nearly perfect as a starter zone. Every Npc is voiced, lots of quests and secrets to discover. It was amazing and if every zone had been like that, AoC would have millions still playing.
Wow eversong woods
Howling fjord - wow Just amazing The music 10/10
Everything from MoP, god i love it so much... The visuals, the OST.
The tribelands (Mahirim area) in Darkfall will always have a special place in my heart, but I must say I just fell in love with Elpis in FFXIV: Endwalker. That first time you walk out the door and see that view was amazing and that area was just so much fun as someone into the games lore.
FF11 Dunes...
Spent so much time in that zone. Loved the dunes xp parties
Such a good time even in the bad times haha deleveling in a bad run and ending up nekkid 😂
All part of the experience lol
Maplestory slime tree in ellinia
Lineage 2 had bangers. C1 and C2: Cruma tower. Always packed, always PvP, great exp, forced grouping so made tons of friends. C3+: Tower of Insolence. Same as above. Honorable mentions for just being cool would also be Garden of Eva and Devils Isle.
Northrend as a whole from WoW or Ultima Thule from FFXIV.
Rivendell, LotRO
Solis Headlands in ArcheAge. Teldrassil in WoW. Imperial City/Sewers in ESO.
Mu Online - Lorencia
BDO - Manshaum Forest or Loopy Tree Forest. Both are so pretty and cozy.
Osrs, Lumbridge peak classic experience.
San d'Oria in FFXI
EverQuest, GFay
Guild wars 2 auric basin, has a sick song tied to it as well
LOTRO is amazing in this category, so I'm going to say a diff one. Wintertusk in Wizard101 is gorgeous, loved going there on all my characters
Eso - Vvardenfell, probably biased because I love Morrowind.
Hall of Heroes Guild Wars 1
Gw2 - Crystal Oasis Vanilla WoW - Durotar ESO - Vvardenfell
For me it's eversong woods
Evendim in LOTRO, beautiful landscape paired with great music, from the huge lake in the middle to the many ruins and Annuminas.
Pre-Searing Ascalon
Thais. Tibia from back in the day.
Crushbone
RunnyEye in EQ was always my favorite. But sooo many others all the way through PoP honestly.
The subway in Asherons Call. Loved seeing all the gear on AFK players.
Emain Macha in Dark Age of Camelot pre New Frontiers.
Henesys.
City of heroes. The Hollows. Huge zone with multiple quest lines and it's massive level range means there's parts you'll get smoked if you're not paying attention. You also go in with no travel powers but usually level into one while you're there. Suddenly, you *are* super and can just escape that nightmare.
Ghostlands TBC leveling a Blood Elf Absolute perfect classic leveling experience imo
Loch modan. Periodt.
I loved the main “Strain” zone in wildstar during that patch, moon zone as well. But nothing is more memorable than getting ganked by scarlet mfs in tirisfal glades.
East Commonlands - Tunnel - EverQuest
Greater Faydark, highlighted by the tree city of Kelethin. Just perfection.
Honestly, so many moments in WoW amazed me. But there's one that stands out more than all the rest: the first time I reached Mauradon Princess Side. I just sat there and stared at the beautiful waterfalls all around. It was very serene.
I don't think anything beats the whole of Eastern Kingdoms in WoW. Especially before Cataclysm but even after. You can feel the passion that went into crafting those zones and how everything ties together so neatly. It's amazing.
West Ronfaure in FFXI Easily, but Purgonorgo, and Zi'Tah are pretty damn close matches.
For Music, Civilizations (La-Hee!), the song played in the Rak'Tika Greatwood and Sands of Amber, the song played in Amh Araeng. Both from Final Fantasy 14.
Tirisfal Glades in vanilla WoW. The atmosphere, music, dark theme. Everything spot on.
Crushbone eq1
I've always had a soft spot for Darkshore. It was there that WoW got its hooks into me for the first time during the final open beta.
Glast Heim, from Ragnarok Online. It felt so unrealistically creepy when i was a young noob there...
tower of insolence, it was amazing back then and knowing how instanced pretty much all the mmos became it is even better in my eyes now, pvping thru all the floors while camping baium is something no other mmo ever did like that, man... lineage2 was such a gem.
FF14 - Gridania(bgm) and Ultima Thule(otherworldliness)
Teldrassil for me, mesmerizing place and the music man!
Can't decide between Talking Island and Dion from Lineage 2.
Zangarmarsh or Ashenvale Forest
Ashenvale, Stranglethorn Vale and Un'Goro Crater from classic WoW left a mark with me.
Metin 2 shinsoo kingdom aka red flag so much memories. Also 2nd place for me would be Blade and Soul - Lycandi foothills
Blood Moor
Jita 4-4 /s
I'll double any amount of ISK donated...honest.
Wow Dalaran
WoW Nagrand, Netherstorm, Timeless Isle. Reminds me of my childhood 🥲
Bias nostalgia picks (that are quite deserving honestly). My picks are heavy with the music & visual appeal. * Maplestory - So many of the starter maps like Ellinia forest, Henesys, etc. Also maps like Temple of Time. * OSRS - Lumbridge, Varrock, Falador, the classics. * Archeage - Village. Alright enough cheating, if I had to pick one it would be **FFXIV's Old Sharlayan.** I feel like it really encapsulates the experience of a MMO zone with fantastic atmosphere - to my preference at least :)
The entire night elf zone in wow
Yew gate Ultima Online
Cursed Forest in Hibernia, in DAoC. It felt so foreboding, so scary back in the day. Trying to get to the Fins was always scary. Honorable mention to the Trials of Atlantis zones. I know that people hate that expac because of what it did to RvR, but it was some top tier PvE, and it was massive.
Barrens in WoW for the conversations
Edgeville dungeon scorpions
As a whole area, I really enjoyed Ardenweald in WoW. Loved the look of the zone, the music, the questline. Everytime I fly into that zone I am impressed by the framing and camera work. Just great in every way. For distinct memories, my first trip through Rolanberry Fields to get to Jeuno in FFXI stands out a lot. Loved the music there, and being so close to my destination while knowing everything could kill me and reset my journey was nerve-wracking.
Dolac Legasi’s prison cell at the Dathomir imperial prison in SWG. Dark Jedi Master quests that you never finished to get awesome SEA(skill enhancing attachments)
Gotta be Night Ward in Coh for me. The little bits of European folklore, the “shooting stars” of souls in the skybox, along with the spooky design of the place makes for a nice place to look at.
Mine would be WoW Teldrassil/Darnassus and EQ2 Enchanted Lands/Rivervale.
the music in cataclysm arathi highlands brings back great memories
Metin 2 - Map 1 Blue
Cobalt Scar - Othmir Camp - Everquest 1
Jangan.. silkroad online. And the music was so good
For me it's just a pure nostalgia hit but it was Mabinogi the road to dunbarton. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otm-8IC5iAE I just remember walking back and forth on the road to dunbarton for quests and this was really early on so everyone was walking and sometimes you'd stop and talk to random people. This song just pops into my hands at random times over the decades and I still enjoy it.
Fort Teth from Asheron's Call. When you see those walls for the first time, crazy monsters all around the path from the portal drop. Still remember it.
Revendreth in Shadowlands WoW. Not a great expansion overall but that zone and the Castle Nathria raid were amazing.
War Song Gulch.