I just recently started to play Lotro and I have to say that early zones of Lotro are absolutely amazing. As I experienced these zones it made me ponder back to other mmo's I have played and made me wonder what made these zones in Lotro so special?
The Trollshaws, Forochel, North Downs and Eregion have a sense of wilderness to them and it makes you feel that you're experiencing a world. The Trollshaws have that tiaga biome feel with rivers, elevation and woodland groves. Forochel has an openness to it that immerses you into a boreal winterland. The North Downs has a unique feel as it also has a tiaga feel with other various environments that make it interesting, such as Fornost Fields. Eregion is an interesting place as well as it is also open but some what hilly as well. It reminds you of an epic frontier.
What makes these zones set apart from other mmo's I've played is simply the amount of detail with vegetation, rocks, ground textures and atmospheric lighting. It truly makes you feel you could get lost in the wilderness and I love that feeling. It enhances exploration and overall immersion. The forests actually look like a forest with the capacity of trees. That is something that I find rare in most mmo's today. If you've played Lotro I am sure we can share the same sentiments.
While Guild Wars 2 has some pretty fantastic zones, I so far much prefer the look and feel of Lotro's zones. I also thought Everquest had some great zones but it lacked in detail as at that time the environmental artists had graphical limitations. Vanguard's world was also good as well. What helped the immersion for Vanguard is that it was open and you can travel anywhere. I would say that Vanguard felt too open and too flat at times. Sometimes that can work and sometimes it doesn't. I truly believe if Vanguard was a finished game, Telon would be the best of the best.
What is your list of your most immersive zones or places in mmo's you've played? List them! Or Screen Shot them! I am basing my immersive experience aesthetically. - By the way I am talking about exterior zones not interior zones like dungeons or instances.
Lord of the Rings Online
Trollshaws
Forochel
North Downs
Eregion
Rivendell
Evendim
so far...
Everquest
Old East & West Commonlands
North Ro
Dreadlands
The Great Divide
Kithacor Forest
The Karana Plains
Greater/Lesser Faydark
Everfrost Peaks
The Overthere
Emerald Jungle
Guild Wars 2
Timberline Falls
Mount Maelstrom
Frostgorge Sound
Snowden Drifts
Sparkfly Fen
Harathi Hinterlands
Vanguard
Three Rivers Village
Koan's Rush
Thelaseen
The Swamps of Ramug
Halgarad
Khal
River Valley
Comments
Used to love jumping from the high cat walks, where if you hit the water you lived, else.....
That game still had the most immersive overall world, playing on Mordred let me roam all 3 realms freely, and there was magic in Tir Na Nog, the cold frigid realms in Midgard, I could go on for hours, so many great memories, with most locations burned into my memory, including the great dungeon, Darkness Falls.
I so wish my favorite private server would come back to life (they keep promising...soon)
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Duskwood/Darkshire
EQ
Kelethin
Plane of Hate
Maiden's Eye
Paludal Caverns
Those are some of my favorites.
But there are so many games, and so many zones. I'm not being fair I feel.
EQ1, EQ2, SWG, SWTOR, GW, GW2 CoH, CoV, FFXI, WoW, CO, War,TSW and a slew of free trials and beta tests
Another thing that I think helped with immersion in LotRO was lack of fast travel / horses in early levels. When the game launched, you couldn't get a horse until lvl 35 and having to run everywhere really made you appreciate the size of the zones. Being quite open, I'd always be tempted to go cross-country to try and save some time, helping with the feeling of being in the frontier.
My favourite zones:
Only other game where I've really enjoyed the zones is SWG. They were generally quite sparse and not particularly well crafted, but some of them were great. The emptiness worked in Tattooine's favour and it really felt right. I also loved Endor, basically just endless forest but the devs had built a few decent Ewok villages to explore. Again, it felt right.
Finally, special mention of Praag in WAR. PvP in MMORPGs generally seems to happen in wide open fields and the occasional keep. Praag was PvP in a city and I loved the street-to-street fighting, laying ambushes in alley ways etc.
Adding to that is how the game works, how it gives you reasons (not orders) to explore into these places, and of course the design and art style - For example if you stripped gw2 of all its gameplay, there are pretty awesome zones that without all the themepark crap are some of the best ever made.
Without vastness, without getting completely embraced into the area and biome for a longer period of time, there is no immersion. This is exactly where themeparks fail, by cramping rides close together they are not giving the player a chance to immerse themselves because the setting changes constantly. Born from the assumption players should be guided through the content and not experience any moments of being lost, not knowing what to do, not doubting, no boredom, no challenge.
The problem is crating huge zones themepark style also requires the developer to fill these with content, so in my opinion you only get immersive zones by dropping the idea of themepark content and make content like for example Eq did. So again I return to the mantra >> make worlds not stories <<
"I am my connectome" https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HA7GwKXfJB0
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
Redridge Mountains was a very strong zone. I was somewhat emotional when I saw what had happened after the Cataclysm.
I can't hate on Cataclysm too much because I think it was brave what they did with the core world. That expansion is hated for what it did to the end game, but really, progressing the world was not a bad thing. The fact that Elwynn Forest is just still that. That it hasn't changed in all these years. That's sad.
Besides day and night cycles, weather and season cycles would be nice. Playing with 3 months of snowy terrain in a zone.
Don't mention it, or the fast-travel addicts, who derailed the narrative thread too, will teleport in and trolling away the thread :waving:
I agree, I still used to walk (not run) around on foot when I'm in the mood. On a couple characters I still have the Bree starter steed (I think it's not in game anymore?) which has the "speed" of a slightly boosted running, so served mostly just cosmetic purposes when the "true" riding was a level 35 boon.
Don't forget the good ol' Nenuial, a.k.a . the lake Everswim now it has an instant boat fare...
To me, LotRO and WoW are tied for the most beautiful worlds. WoW because of sheer variety and amazing use of colors - but it's obviously extremely high fantasy. LotRO for an amazing take on the Tolkien world with a ton of care poured into it.
Darkshire - WoW
Azshara - WoW
Ironforge - WoW
Conall's Valley - AoC
The Shire - LotRO
The Old Forest - LotRO
Moria - LotRO
Antonica - EQ2 (I didn't play EQ2 much, but for some reason I was really taken with this zone)
Capitals - GW2 (I never felt GW2 zones were that immersive, but the main cities were pretty amazing)
Kingsmouth - TSW (amazing atmosphere, really)
New York - Division
Into the Deep - DDO
I gave it about 5 minutes of thought,i figured if a zone was really that good i would remember it for sure even with my shotty memory.
I would say from a mmorpg standpoint ,i believe it was the opening of Vanguard,with the ongoing war and you were a captured prisoner on a ship.Most games simply have VERY poor immersion,one of the bigger problems with game design.
Immersion is not created by generating a zone,jotting down some assets and tying in a quest or three,that is just lazy simple design.You have to design scripted sequences and Ai and props etc etc.
Most zones are just built extremely sloppy where nothing makes sense,like some fire is happening but the wildlife is still standing around like nothing is happening.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I also really like Gridania and the shrouds in FFXIV, a cool blend of traditional and whimsical.
I self identify as a monkey.
I also remember the best zones as being in DAOC the most memorable zones to date. I always remember back to the first time being in the Salisbury Plains fighting those annoying chickens or the water beetles near the starting village mag mel in hybernia. Also darkness falls your first time down deep leaves a lasting impression as my favorite dungeon of all time in a game.
World of Warcraft
Dustwallow Marsh
Tirisfall Glades
Arathi Highlands
Hillsbrad Foothills
Duskwood
The Hinterlands
Western Plaguelands
Swamp of Sarrows
Deadwind Pass
Mulgore
Winterspring
Nagrand (BC version)
Howling Fjord
Grizzly Hills
Talador
Spires of Arak
Take sometime and listen. It will be by far worth your time! - Apologies! I posted the wrong video!
**Queen Ayrenn about to sleep with the Raving Rabbid, but unfortunately is cock-blocked by Molag Bal when a Dark Anchor appears!. The Raving Rabbid has a special plunger to use on the Daedric Prince!***
All my opinions are just that..opinions. If you like my opinions..coolness.If you dont like my opinion....I really dont care.
Playing: ESO, WOT, Smite, and Marvel Heroes