Can you add the estimated size of the PLAYABLE areas to your OP?
Some of the data is extremely misleading. F.e. comparing the GW maps to WoW makes GW seem much bigger, but the playable area of each map is maybe the size of Kalimdor. Both maps have large areas that are simply water.
That'd be a project in itself. For some MMO's it'd be extremely hard to determine the playable areas, take for example LotrO, verifying what the playable areas are on the Middle Earth map isn't as easy as it sounds. That's why I put the Kalimdor continent next to those maps in the pictures as a comparison.
I'm still working on finding more data and getting more details about each MMORPG, but that's an ongoing process.
edit: good point though, I'll take all the additional data I've found in the meantime and put it all in the OP, including explorable/playable landmass wherever I was able to find or calculate it. I'll update it in the upcoming days.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what
it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience
because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in
the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you
playing an MMORPG?"
Its europe in half scale .......eve is small compared to this
I once flew a plane from german frontline to as far west as I could go it took me 6 hours and I was still going ......no end to map I crashed when I got tired EUROPE IN HALF SCALE
Thats way bigger than eve for sure and the fact there was no GATES loading zones ........id say battleground europe is the largest world ever made
Can you add the estimated size of the PLAYABLE areas to your OP?
Some of the data is extremely misleading. F.e. comparing the GW maps to WoW makes GW seem much bigger, but the playable area of each map is maybe the size of Kalimdor. Both maps have large areas that are simply water.
This is very difficult to do.
In the case of games like WWIIoL, in theory, you can play anywhere. Even on the undeveloped part of the map. In my posts on WWIIoL you will note I have given the developed area of the Map where you are likely to actually find people. Also, in WWIIoL there are no walls to restrict players movement. So you can access everything that is mapped.
In games loke LotRO (for example) the maps are designed to keep players in a playable area. Although you can measure an area North to South and West to East the maps are not square. You are contained by cliffs and treelines which are irregular boundries.
In games like PotBS it becomes even more complex because the game is (heavily) instanced. You could argue (for example) that the Travel Map is not a 'playable' area. And then with the instances, what do you count?
When PotBS was released many of the missions were based in the same dozen (approximately) instanced areas. The difference was simply the placement, type and number of the NPC mobs in the mission instance. So, in that case, should each instance be counted as additional playable area?
Can you add the estimated size of the PLAYABLE areas to your OP?
Some of the data is extremely misleading. F.e. comparing the GW maps to WoW makes GW seem much bigger, but the playable area of each map is maybe the size of Kalimdor. Both maps have large areas that are simply water.
This is very difficult to do.
In games loke LotRO (for example) the maps are designed to keep players in a playable area. Although you can measure an area North to South and West to East the maps are not square. You are contained by cliffs and treelines which are irregular boundries.
There is some way of doing it. It isn't an easy one though, since every game is different.
But in Photoshop it's possible to do a pixel count of your selection. So if you know the size of the map you're working on - in either square miles or % - then you can determine the amount of explorable landmass on that map by using the smart selecting tools in Photoshop.
That way I found the size of Vanguard's, WoW's and Rift's landmass. LotrO'll take some time because of how its maps are shown.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
I recently discovered an MMO called Entropia Universe, that has a HUGE world size. And that is only one world. There is aircraft to fly around, but a lot of MMOs have air mounts these days. But, this world is over 1500 square kilometers. There is also three other planets (currently...more slowly get "discovered")...though not sure how big they are. There is also a whole space aspect to the game, which makes the MMO even bigger. I haven't done space yet, but I've seen videos and it looks awesome.
1500 square kilometers on one planet (ignoring the space/three other planets) is bigger than all of Vanguard put together. AND no loading screens or "loading" chunks to get to different areas, its all open world, with no chunks or loading (chunks are just a form of loading, but just no screen attached to it). Probably loading to get to space/other planets, but that would be to be expected. It also uses Cry Engine 2, so the game is beautiful. Amazing sound effects too.
Only downside is it is purely luck...it is a casino style game. You can earn free PED (in-game currency), but it takes a lot of work (though easier in a Social (their form of guild/clan)). Most people recommend putting 10-15 dollars a month in, like a normal pay to play MMO. Makes things a lot easier. But this isn't a topic to discuss payment systems, but how large MMO worlds are.
In Earthrise you need like an hour to cross from one end to the other with completely different enviroment. If the rumors are true, the world of Fallout Online (which will be coded from the same company) will be 4-5 times bigger.
Its europe in half scale .......eve is small compared to this
I once flew a plane from german frontline to as far west as I could go it took me 6 hours and I was still going ......no end to map I crashed when I got tired EUROPE IN HALF SCALE
Thats way bigger than eve for sure and the fact there was no GATES loading zones ........id say battleground europe is the largest world ever made
I recently discovered an MMO called Entropia Universe, that has a HUGE world size. And that is only one world. There is aircraft to fly around, but a lot of MMOs have air mounts these days. But, this world is over 1500 square kilometers. There is also three other planets (currently...more slowly get "discovered")...though not sure how big they are. There is also a whole space aspect to the game, which makes the MMO even bigger. I haven't done space yet, but I've seen videos and it looks awesome.
1500 square kilometers on one planet (ignoring the space/three other planets) is bigger than all of Vanguard put together....
That is just two I found within seconds on Google. So, it looks like the world is huge, and that is only one world out of quite a few others.
Isasis,
Thanks. I reviewed the thread given and there seems to be some disagreement even there.
The fact is you cannot use developer quoted dimensions, or theoretical sizes quoted in miles or km. The only measure that can be used for a basic comparison is travel time.
What you need to do is take a stopwatch an measure the distance from one point to another in game. Then use that to get an overall travel time across the world. Game worlds are very deceptive in size - and they are often heavily scaled to make them playable.
In Earthrise you need like an hour to cross from one end to the other with completely different enviroment. If the rumors are true, the world of Fallout Online (which will be coded from the same company) will be 4-5 times bigger.
In the case of WWIIoL I was repeatedly told it would take "days" to cross the map. The was even one guy who did it and apparently "it took him, like, a week". So I did it myself, took measurements and foung that it would take about 24 hours. That's still very big - but there is a big difference between 24 hours and 7 days.
I also don't do rumor, or developer claims.
The reality is that developers like to claim that their worlds will be 'massive' to attract players - by they heavily scale worlds to make them playable. After all, who wants Fed-Ex missions that take hours to run?
(Also, in this post http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/4172438#4172438 I give an example of how an MMO 'The World of Fleas' could be a massive world even though it was based around a room 4 metres x 3 metres. It's all a question of relative scale.)
I just saw the SDCC SWTOR panel, and Dallas Dickenson mentioned tattooine, if you walk from one end to the other end of the plane, takes around 30 minutes.......
Oh and did I mention there are 19 major planets with some other minor planets.
Yep
The game isn't even launched o.o
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW? As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
The reality is that developers like to claim that their worlds will be 'massive' to attract players - by they heavily scale worlds to make them playable. After all, who wants Fed-Ex missions that take hours to run?
Ridiculosely long fed-ex missions actually have nothing to do with how big mmorpg world is. You can have trulely massive mmorpg world and dont have long fed-ex missions or have very small and 'packed' mmorpg world like f.e Rift and have alot of long fed-ex missions.
If devs don't create long fed-ex quests they they won't exist in big world , if they do they can exist in small world as well.
Imo quantity , quality and time necessary to compelte single quest is dependant on what developer decide , not on world itself.
Thanks, I'm curious about worldsizes of the several MMORPG's, so I decided to collect what I could find or test myself so far. From the upcoming MMO's I think that GW2 and SWTOR will be quite large, so far GW2's Tyria seems to have roughly the same proportions as GW's Tyria and to be roughly 1.5 times the size of WoW vanilla. About SWTOR we have to see how large its world will be with 17 planets taken together, but so far early signs seem to be encouraging for those among us who like exploring vast worlds.
One thing that's going to be difficult with SWTOR is the vertical distances. In many of the city planets, the worlds are built in multi-storied levels, rather than horizontal distance.
If you have flying mounts, instant travel and teleport to dungeon/BG etc then you can have a million square mile world and travel across it in in an instant.
Originally posted by Scottman
Batleground europe = biggest game world ever
Its europe in half scale .......eve is small compared to this
I once flew a plane from german frontline to as far west as I could go it took me 6 hours and I was still going ......no end to map I crashed when I got tired EUROPE IN HALF SCALE
Thats way bigger than eve for sure and the fact there was no GATES loading zones ........id say battleground europe is the largest world ever made
In 6 hours in a plane from europe should be getting you near the States if you headed west. Unless it is a fictitious Europe map.
And technically it is not bigger than Eve, as in Eve you travel at the speed of light, if you tried travelling from one jump gate to another at the same speed as a WW2 plane it you take you a year lol, and that is in just one of the 5000+ star systems......
Originally posted by xKingdomx
technically it is a universe, not a world :P unless you can land on planets
World/Map/Universe doesnt matter what word you want to use to decribe it technically they all mean the same thing.
If you have flying mounts, instant travel and teleport to dungeon/BG etc then you can have a million square mile world and travel across it in in an instant.
Originally posted by Scottman
Batleground europe = biggest game world ever
Its europe in half scale .......eve is small compared to this
I once flew a plane from german frontline to as far west as I could go it took me 6 hours and I was still going ......no end to map I crashed when I got tired EUROPE IN HALF SCALE
Thats way bigger than eve for sure and the fact there was no GATES loading zones ........id say battleground europe is the largest world ever made
In 6 hours in a plane from europe should be getting you near the States if you headed west. Unless it is a fictitious Europe map.
If you have flying mounts, instant travel and teleport to dungeon/BG etc then you can have a million square mile world and travel across it in in an instant.
Originally posted by Scottman
Batleground europe = biggest game world ever
Its europe in half scale .......eve is small compared to this
I once flew a plane from german frontline to as far west as I could go it took me 6 hours and I was still going ......no end to map I crashed when I got tired EUROPE IN HALF SCALE
Thats way bigger than eve for sure and the fact there was no GATES loading zones ........id say battleground europe is the largest world ever made
In 6 hours in a plane from europe should be getting you near the States if you headed west. Unless it is a fictitious Europe map.
It's not the size but how the zone is used that counts.
I would rather a smaller zone with a variety of areas, mobs, quest content, dungeons and dynamic group focused mechanics than a big open dead world where it takes my ten minutes to mindlessly grind mobs.
I keep track of the thread, but it taught me nothing new in worldsizes, only in detail of the areas.
Originally posted by Z3R01
It's not the size but how the zone is used that counts.
I would rather a smaller zone with a variety of areas, mobs, quest content, dungeons and dynamic group focused mechanics than a big open dead world where it takes my ten minutes to mindlessly grind mobs.
This is the difference between themepark designed worlds and sandbox designed worlds. The themepark MMO worlds are far more often handcrafted instead of the use of procedural generation and they're filled more with content, as is to be expected.
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums: Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Comments
That'd be a project in itself. For some MMO's it'd be extremely hard to determine the playable areas, take for example LotrO, verifying what the playable areas are on the Middle Earth map isn't as easy as it sounds. That's why I put the Kalimdor continent next to those maps in the pictures as a comparison.
I'm still working on finding more data and getting more details about each MMORPG, but that's an ongoing process.
edit: good point though, I'll take all the additional data I've found in the meantime and put it all in the OP, including explorable/playable landmass wherever I was able to find or calculate it. I'll update it in the upcoming days.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
Any information on how large Archeage is going to be? I am very curious to see the size of that game.
Epic Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAigCvelkhQ&list=PLo9FRw1AkDuQLEz7Gvvaz3ideB2NpFtT1
https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos?&sort=-downloads&page=1
Kyleran: "Now there's the real trick, learning to accept and enjoy a game for what it offers rather than pass on what might be a great playing experience because it lacks a few features you prefer."
John Henry Newman: "A man would do nothing if he waited until he could do it so well that no one could find fault."
FreddyNoNose: "A good game needs no defense; a bad game has no defense." "Easily digested content is just as easily forgotten."
LacedOpium: "So the question that begs to be asked is, if you are not interested in the game mechanics that define the MMORPG genre, then why are you playing an MMORPG?"
Batleground europe = biggest game world ever
Its europe in half scale .......eve is small compared to this
I once flew a plane from german frontline to as far west as I could go it took me 6 hours and I was still going ......no end to map I crashed when I got tired EUROPE IN HALF SCALE
Thats way bigger than eve for sure and the fact there was no GATES loading zones ........id say battleground europe is the largest world ever made
This is very difficult to do.
In the case of games like WWIIoL, in theory, you can play anywhere. Even on the undeveloped part of the map. In my posts on WWIIoL you will note I have given the developed area of the Map where you are likely to actually find people. Also, in WWIIoL there are no walls to restrict players movement. So you can access everything that is mapped.
In games loke LotRO (for example) the maps are designed to keep players in a playable area. Although you can measure an area North to South and West to East the maps are not square. You are contained by cliffs and treelines which are irregular boundries.
In games like PotBS it becomes even more complex because the game is (heavily) instanced. You could argue (for example) that the Travel Map is not a 'playable' area. And then with the instances, what do you count?
When PotBS was released many of the missions were based in the same dozen (approximately) instanced areas. The difference was simply the placement, type and number of the NPC mobs in the mission instance. So, in that case, should each instance be counted as additional playable area?
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
There is some way of doing it. It isn't an easy one though, since every game is different.
But in Photoshop it's possible to do a pixel count of your selection. So if you know the size of the map you're working on - in either square miles or % - then you can determine the amount of explorable landmass on that map by using the smart selecting tools in Photoshop.
That way I found the size of Vanguard's, WoW's and Rift's landmass. LotrO'll take some time because of how its maps are shown.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
I recently discovered an MMO called Entropia Universe, that has a HUGE world size. And that is only one world. There is aircraft to fly around, but a lot of MMOs have air mounts these days. But, this world is over 1500 square kilometers. There is also three other planets (currently...more slowly get "discovered")...though not sure how big they are. There is also a whole space aspect to the game, which makes the MMO even bigger. I haven't done space yet, but I've seen videos and it looks awesome.
1500 square kilometers on one planet (ignoring the space/three other planets) is bigger than all of Vanguard put together. AND no loading screens or "loading" chunks to get to different areas, its all open world, with no chunks or loading (chunks are just a form of loading, but just no screen attached to it). Probably loading to get to space/other planets, but that would be to be expected. It also uses Cry Engine 2, so the game is beautiful. Amazing sound effects too.
Only downside is it is purely luck...it is a casino style game. You can earn free PED (in-game currency), but it takes a lot of work (though easier in a Social (their form of guild/clan)). Most people recommend putting 10-15 dollars a month in, like a normal pay to play MMO. Makes things a lot easier. But this isn't a topic to discuss payment systems, but how large MMO worlds are.
two sites that confirm the around 1500 square kilometers on Planet Calypso (again, not sure how big space or the other planets are): http://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forums/showthread.php?206158-Size-of-the-planet-Calypso
and a more official source: http://mmohuts.com/review/planet-calypso
That is just two I found within seconds on Google. So, it looks like the world is huge, and that is only one world out of quite a few others.
In Earthrise you need like an hour to cross from one end to the other with completely different enviroment. If the rumors are true, the world of Fallout Online (which will be coded from the same company) will be 4-5 times bigger.
Try MWDing from one planet to another sometime
Give me liberty or give me lasers
Isasis,
Thanks. I reviewed the thread given and there seems to be some disagreement even there.
The fact is you cannot use developer quoted dimensions, or theoretical sizes quoted in miles or km. The only measure that can be used for a basic comparison is travel time.
Read my post here http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/4171003#4171003 to understand why.
"Huge" is not a measure of any sort.
What you need to do is take a stopwatch an measure the distance from one point to another in game. Then use that to get an overall travel time across the world. Game worlds are very deceptive in size - and they are often heavily scaled to make them playable.
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
Again, have you measured this? With a watch?
This posts gives some measurements I did http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/4171003#4171003
In the case of WWIIoL I was repeatedly told it would take "days" to cross the map. The was even one guy who did it and apparently "it took him, like, a week". So I did it myself, took measurements and foung that it would take about 24 hours. That's still very big - but there is a big difference between 24 hours and 7 days.
I also don't do rumor, or developer claims.
The reality is that developers like to claim that their worlds will be 'massive' to attract players - by they heavily scale worlds to make them playable. After all, who wants Fed-Ex missions that take hours to run?
(Also, in this post http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/4172438#4172438 I give an example of how an MMO 'The World of Fleas' could be a massive world even though it was based around a room 4 metres x 3 metres. It's all a question of relative scale.)
So, travel times please.
This is something we can check.
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
I just saw the SDCC SWTOR panel, and Dallas Dickenson mentioned tattooine, if you walk from one end to the other end of the plane, takes around 30 minutes.......
Oh and did I mention there are 19 major planets with some other minor planets.
Yep
The game isn't even launched o.o
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW?
As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
Ridiculosely long fed-ex missions actually have nothing to do with how big mmorpg world is. You can have trulely massive mmorpg world and dont have long fed-ex missions or have very small and 'packed' mmorpg world like f.e Rift and have alot of long fed-ex missions.
If devs don't create long fed-ex quests they they won't exist in big world , if they do they can exist in small world as well.
Imo quantity , quality and time necessary to compelte single quest is dependant on what developer decide , not on world itself.
Maybe the size of EARTH.
Everything, including the world itself is based on what the developers decide. MMOs are designed and scaled (hopefully to suit the purpose)
This is why real world measures (miles/kilometres) mean nothing.
Nothing says irony like spelling ideot wrong.
Woudln't Eve Online take the prize for the biggest gaming world? (Something I intend to overcome myself).
-Ian
/[email protected]
One thing that's going to be difficult with SWTOR is the vertical distances. In many of the city planets, the worlds are built in multi-storied levels, rather than horizontal distance.
Great job btw. Very nice work and input.
technically it is a universe, not a world :P unless you can land on planets
How much WoW could a WoWhater hate, if a WoWhater could hate WoW?
As much WoW as a WoWhater would, if a WoWhater could hate WoW.
What does it matter?
If you have flying mounts, instant travel and teleport to dungeon/BG etc then you can have a million square mile world and travel across it in in an instant.
In 6 hours in a plane from europe should be getting you near the States if you headed west. Unless it is a fictitious Europe map.
And technically it is not bigger than Eve, as in Eve you travel at the speed of light, if you tried travelling from one jump gate to another at the same speed as a WW2 plane it you take you a year lol, and that is in just one of the 5000+ star systems......
World/Map/Universe doesnt matter what word you want to use to decribe it technically they all mean the same thing.
I think to some degree size does matter . Although I loved Rift I found the world to be a little too small for me to stay long term .
Or a WW2 plane...
Hm, are you certain of this fact?
-Ian
Hey, MMO Maverick, have you checked this site out before? It might help you with the size of GW2, if you haven't checked it already.
http://www.guildwars2guru.com/forum/maps-tyria-interactive-image-heavy-t11575.html?t=11575&highlight=map+project
It's not the size but how the zone is used that counts.
I would rather a smaller zone with a variety of areas, mobs, quest content, dungeons and dynamic group focused mechanics than a big open dead world where it takes my ten minutes to mindlessly grind mobs.
Playing: Nothing
Looking forward to: Nothing
I keep track of the thread, but it taught me nothing new in worldsizes, only in detail of the areas.
This is the difference between themepark designed worlds and sandbox designed worlds. The themepark MMO worlds are far more often handcrafted instead of the use of procedural generation and they're filled more with content, as is to be expected.
The ACTUAL size of MMORPG worlds: a comparison list between MMO's
The ease with which predictions are made on these forums:
Fratman: "I'm saying Spring 2012 at the earliest [for TOR release]. Anyone still clinging to 2011 is deluding themself at this point."
I'm curious to see how FFXI would stack up against these lot. It's a large world, and you don't actually move that quickly.