Oasis of Marr, one of my favorite zones of all time... but why is that ?
To me the Oasis is one of the most iconic EQ zones that I can think of. It wasn't a dungeon or a very large zone but to this day it stands out in my mind so clearly.
I still remember the first time I zoned in and was greeted with a face to face meeting of Lockjaw being trained to North Ro. Lesson #1 learned, watch out for that guy !
I always found it interesting that people would congregate on the crocks even though they provided very little loot compared to a place like befallen that was of a similar level. Oasis was always hoppin with activity and you never knew what was gonna happen on a day to day basis.
Sand Giants, Spectres, Orc Highway, Gypsies, Underwater Goblins... What a great zone !
On the Rallos Zek server this area was a hotbed for low level pvp and was "the" place to go if you wanted to get into a fight.
Oasis was a connection zone that was traveled by higher level players at times on the way to and from guk. This caused those players to interact with the lower levels as they traveled through these areas in some way making the beach run like a bit of a bottleneck.
So many adventures for such a small area and compared to North or South Ro would always have 10 times as many players in it.
Was there a zone that really stands out in your mind as iconic and what made this area really stick with you for all these years ? I know I'd like to read these kind of stories.
Thanks in advance,
Kiz~
Isle of Dread. Raid zone in EQOA that could easily support several hundred players. The zone was a "fragment of Cazic Thule's mind" and wreaked of absolute terror. It was a wasteland, dark and dreary ... ominous music, with a nice balance of mobs that were things of nightmares. Festering Jack (Scarecrow) ... undead warthogs, blade storms, headless horsemen, banshees ... and definitely don't think about going in the water. Every trash mob had a small chance of spawning a named (lottery pop) so guilds would spend quite a bit of time in there. Many of the guilds who couldn't kill the trash mobs would form alliances to try and take stuff down. The zone had a great vibe, amazing replay value, and allowed a ton of players to congregate in the same area without suffering from too much competition.
Its hard to just pick one, but I'll say Plane of Mischief from EQ1. I never saw it in person before the revamp but it easily stuck with me through all the years anyway.
The entrance ramp to the castle was a ramp that had a false floor that would drop you in the moat, the real ramp was to the left and invisible
Almost no working doors, instead walls and paintings you had to open or walk through to get to the next room, many of which were one way
Lots of false floors that would drop you to the dungeon which was fairly large and hard to find your way out of, the one way out was a pool of water that looked like lava you had to swim UP through
In the middle was the "Room of twelve doors" which 11 would teleport you to the beginning and 1 would teleport you to the boss room. They all looked the same. I liked this so much that for years i thought if i built my own house i would have a room of twelve doors at the middle. I still might if i strike it rich.
Rooms in the castle were things like a giant chess board, a garden, a theater, Alice and wonderland area with each room smaller than the next(with monsters also smaller)
Monsters were named silly things and sometimes were invisible, even when you were fighting them.
And the only exit out was having someone come find and teleport you out or clicking 1 specific random tree on the outside
After playing MMOs and MUDs since before EQ the one zone that stands out in my mind is a dungeon from EQ2 - doubtlessly based on something in EQ. I may have the name or the spelling wrong - Temple of Solosek Ro?
Huge multi-level maze. The way from one level to another was often not obvious and there were many levels. It was so easy to die just jumping to desperately get to some place that you could see down there but couldn't figure out how to reach.
Many people here love this type of place but it stands out in my mind as the worst zone I have *ever* been in. I do not like constantly getting lost. I do not like finding a mob being 20 times harder than fighting it. I do not like maps being almost useless because the place is just so large and complex and multi-leveled. It made Goblintown in LOTRO or Darkness Falls in DAOC seem small and simple. Going in at level cap when the mobs wouldn't attack wasn't any easier than at-level since fighting mobs was the pleasant part of the zone, Aaarggghhhhhh!!!!!!
My favorite zones were always outside zones. I liked S Karana a lot. Some zones were quite large and running to zonelines was a problem if you got your butt in a rut. This was just one reason I always made a druid my main. As the op stated your first vivit to a zone wasvery memorable. My first vivit to w Karana from qeynos , as I was medding, I was greeted by a very big hill giant who dispatched my medding self while chasing someone to the line. He never even broke stride. I guess my level 5 druid didn't even worry him a bit.
dorotea said:After playing MMOs and MUDs since before EQ the one zone that stands out in my mind is a dungeon from EQ2 - doubtlessly based on something in EQ. I may have the name or the spelling wrong - Temple of Solosek Ro?
Huge multi-level maze. The way from one level to another was often not obvious and there were many levels. It was so easy to die just jumping to desperately get to some place that you could see down there but couldn't figure out how to reach.
Many people here love this type of place but it stands out in my mind as the worst zone I have *ever* been in. I do not like constantly getting lost. I do not like finding a mob being 20 times harder than fighting it. I do not like maps being almost useless because the place is just so large and complex and multi-leveled. It made Goblintown in LOTRO or Darkness Falls in DAOC seem small and simple. Going in at level cap when the mobs wouldn't attack wasn't any easier than at-level since fighting mobs was the pleasant part of the zone, Aaarggghhhhhh!!!!!!
I think you are talking about Solusek's Eye. It was easily my favorite group zone of all time ... the sheer size of the zone alone made it an epic dungeon crawl. There were plenty of twisting corridors, pits, elevators ... learning that zone took a lot of time. I can see how it would have been frustrating for some folks but I thought it was an amazing experience when all things were considered. There was a quest inside to be able to port to a small safe area that was about halfway down ... it was very important that players got that done.
dorotea said:After playing MMOs and MUDs since before EQ the one zone that stands out in my mind is a dungeon from EQ2 - doubtlessly based on something in EQ. I may have the name or the spelling wrong - Temple of Solosek Ro?
Huge multi-level maze. The way from one level to another was often not obvious and there were many levels. It was so easy to die just jumping to desperately get to some place that you could see down there but couldn't figure out how to reach.
Many people here love this type of place but it stands out in my mind as the worst zone I have *ever* been in. I do not like constantly getting lost. I do not like finding a mob being 20 times harder than fighting it. I do not like maps being almost useless because the place is just so large and complex and multi-leveled. It made Goblintown in LOTRO or Darkness Falls in DAOC seem small and simple. Going in at level cap when the mobs wouldn't attack wasn't any easier than at-level since fighting mobs was the pleasant part of the zone, Aaarggghhhhhh!!!!!!
This is exactly the type of zone I love. Massive zones with weird complex layouts that are easy to get lost in until you learn your way.
It's really hard to pick a single zone. So many good ones to choose from. I guess it would be a toss up between Sebilis and LGuk. So twisty and huge. If you don't know the zone it can be easy to get lost. Lots of pitfalls. Felt like a real cavernous natural dungeon.
Solusek's Eye, thanks.
I was careful to mention that many people love this type of place, and the rest of us can get by if we are in a group with someone that knows it.
I wasn't urging that Pantheon not have dungeons like this, just responding to the topic which was memorable zones not necessarily memorable zones one liked.
My favorite was Lake of Ill Omen. Not because it was enourmous (which it was), not because it had a huge level spread (which it did), but because it had a great story. Learning who the Sarnak were and what they were about was very cool. The mystery was top notch and the memories of hoping that mob you just tagged wasn't a shadowknight are something I wont forget.
So MANY great zones, I don't even know how to write them up here.
For some reason, I absolutely LOVED the Lake of Illomen. I just loved being there in the windmill and being part of that vibrant world.
I remember the first time I set foot in Norrath and was in Greater Faydark and simply amazed that there was an entire world of people all running around this glorious place.
My favorite place of all time is HateB, with its incredible gothic horror theme. I spent more time two-boxing there than any place I've ever been.
As simple as it was, I liked the old original Norther Desert of Ro.
Gosh so many of these places are so powerful to think about....
I will forever love Guk from EQ. It was an amazing dungeon design to me and was rich with fantastic lore. The Frogloks first meeting the Trolls and being disgusted, leading to a war where they ousted them with the blessing of Mithaniel Marr to the vengeful Troll invoking Innoruuk to curse a large group in the depths including the Froglok hero who led them to victory, Hoptor Thaggelum (The Ghoul Lord). The dynamic of the living Froglok vs the undead while also still dealing with the Trolls and other ancient creatures in the depths.
They really did seem like one of the more fleshed out races even in original EQ. I hope down the line we can have a playable reptile or amphibian race arrive upon Terminus.
This may sound stupid, but... Greater Faydark.
Why? Because it felt so HUGE when I first started playing... and death felt SOOOO close by. Within site of any of the lifts you could die. Travelling outside the site of the lifts, at that point, was daunting. No maps... easy to get turned around... sense heading mostly not working...
Being scared in that zone my first several nights playing absolutely hooked me on the game.
So many good ones to choose from...
For EQ... overland - the Eastern Wastes. From zoning in via the icebreaker from the Iceclad ocean, to the orc fort, to the loooooong trek all the way over to the other side, the zone just felt so vast, and untamed. Like you could get lost there for days. Other overland areas in EQ, like the karanas, parts of kunark, and even the Greater Faydark were all amazing as well. And who could forget Kithicor at night?
For EQ dungeons, I'm going to go with Kedge Keep. Other dungeons were awesome, but having an entire dungeont that was a 3-dimensional underwater maze, and having it WORK, was amazing.
For EQ raid zones, I have to say I was always partial to the Plane of Sky - even though people hated it, I loved how you had to go from island. It felt like you really were on a different plane, not just another dungeon.
For EQ2 there were also lots of good standouts, but I think the place I loved most (after Echoes of Faydwer) was the Butcherblock Mountains. They were part of my old stomping grounds from EQ, and coming back to them after so long had huge nostalgia value - and then, seeing the change that had taken place in the 500 game years between the two games... well, it just told a story really well.
For Vanguard, again lots of great places. Coming into the port of Khal on a ship was like a cinematic epic. The music, those two big statues, everything just lined up to make a truly memorable experience. Trengal Keep was the place that convinced me that outdoor dungeons can actually work and be a thing. Rahz Inkur was amazing, and parts of western Thestra, overrun with undead, were just awesome. I loved the entire continent of Kojan, but I would have loved it more if Shensho Ni had actually made it into the game :)
I could go on but I have to actually get in the car in a moment and head out somewhere. I think for me what makes zones special is a sense of history - it's not just a place, but it has a story all its own to tell you. The more of that feeling there is in a zone, the more I'll like it.
One of my Favorite zones in EQ Wasnt actually one of the HUGE ones.
It was East commons, because of the Shear variety of Npc's and beasts. from wandering guards, to skellys, orcs, ghouls, rats snakes, griffons and more. but more than that it was the EC tunnel where everyone would come and hang out to trade, Any time of day you would find people of all levels shouting out trying to sell their wares. I used to love going into the tunnel and just looking at the high levels gear and drooling thinking i would love to get items like that, it was awesome to see low and high levels hanging together trading and bartering. I Spent many a day just hanging in EC Tunnel trading and bartering trying to get better and better gear :)
Fav Dungeon...Hmmm there are a few.
Low level Dungeon: Blackburrow, crushbone and befallen.
My Next fav dungeon was Velks lab, i spent WEEKS in there just trying to get through hell level 55 lol. Mainly at the village right at the top, i remember slipping and sliding all over the place in there, It never took me long to get a group as i was a cleric. as soon as i logged in i would have 3 or 4 tells asking me to come group in Velks lol...Ahh i miss those days.
Fav Raid has to be plain of Hate.
One of the things i Loved about Eq's zones was that some of them were Soooo big that you really felt like you could get lost for days in them, and traveling from Qeynos to freeport at low level was frought with danger and felt like it would take forever, although it really did take ages, it made the experience all the more memorable.
I hope the zones in Pantheon are just as Enormous, and that traveling from one end of the continent to the other will take a significant amount of time, Let us have zones So huge that we can get lost in them!!
One of the things that I think is funny is that none of the zones so far are Scars of Velious zones....hehehehe
I forget the name of the SoV zone, but it was the one just outside of the cave that had the Ice Dwarf town in it and had the entrance to the Crystal Caves where the spiders were. That was one of my favorites. Buyt I really have far too many to list.
Kalok said:One of the things that I think is funny is that none of the zones so far are Scars of Velious zones....hehehehe
I forget the name of the SoV zone, but it was the one just outside of the cave that had the Ice Dwarf town in it and had the entrance to the Crystal Caves where the spiders were. That was one of my favorites. Buyt I really have far too many to list.
Don't get me wrong, as a ranger I absolutely LOVED eastern wastes. I also really enjoyed soloing the Ry'Gorr fort when it was hard to do so.
For that matter, I have the same / similar feelings for Frontier Mountains. I LOVED soloing the cycles... spent untold hours running it. I also really enjoyed hunting at the giant fort there.
Warslik Woods. It was a bit out of the way for other races besides Iksar to get to , and it was connected to Cabilis. Solo farming money was very decent in this zone. Theres the giant camp, Iksar Bandit Lord, and Grachnist the Destroyer camps. There was also a lot of goblins for faction grinding with Firona Vie. Just a nice quiet zone that served a few purposes for solo players.
I'd put Qeynos Hills pretty high on my list of nostalgic spots I'd want to revisit if I went back to Norrath. With Cros and Holly Treewind, assorted evil roamers, rabid grizzlies, rare spawns like Pyzjn and an endless supply of gnolls, bugs, bats and skeletons to slay... what's not to love? Only problem was a classic limit on level range. You outgrew it all too soon.
I would like to give Kithicor Forest honourable mention with the effort to make the zone extra scary and dangerous at night. Unfortunately, the scariness was largely trivialized by running high along the zone wall to skirt all the mobs. Great concept spoiled by an exploit/workaround. So Kith goes from near the top of my list as a favourite to near the top of my list of how NOT to do a Pantheon zone.
Early on, my favorite zone was Highpass Hold. Running through the Karanas from Halas with my shaman (once I had SoW) was such an epic adventure. I remember seeing the huge faces carved into the side of the canyon walls and thinking "Do giants live here?" Making my way up the path, with several mobs on my tail (died once or twice along the way). I learned the hard way to bind at the wooden bridge. Once I got to Highpass, I was amazed at the details put into the place. Got killed by a few orcs more than once. Heard about Highpass Keep, but found out I was not quite tall enough to enjoy the ride. Eventually, after many hours, I found myself at Freeport. However, once I made it to my early 20s (I think), I made sure to go back to Highpass for the Keep and other things. Highpass was my stopping off place before visiting other parts of Norrath...very fond memories.
Anistosoles said:Early on, my favorite zone was Highpass Hold. Running through the Karanas from Halas with my shaman (once I had SoW) was such an epic adventure. I remember seeing the huge faces carved into the side of the canyon walls and thinking "Do giants live here?" Making my way up the path, with several mobs on my tail (died once or twice along the way). I learned the hard way to bind at the wooden bridge. Once I got to Highpass, I was amazed at the details put into the place. Got killed by a few orcs more than once. Heard about Highpass Keep, but found out I was not quite tall enough to enjoy the ride. Eventually, after many hours, I found myself at Freeport. However, once I made it to my early 20s (I think), I made sure to go back to Highpass for the Keep and other things. Highpass was my stopping off place before visiting other parts of Norrath...very fond memories.
Highpass was one of my favorite ones too....hehehe
Like many others, there are too many to list.
Highkeep stands out as one of the most interesting to me. Bands of goblins just below that surface, directly under the nose of the Highkeep guards. It was also the first time I experienced being on "the list" for groups - which is, weirdly, something I miss.
But I'm going to have to go with The Overthere as the zone that stands out the most - and not because of the zone itself (in fact, I don't think I ever wandered far from the zone wall where groups pulled to) - but because of the dangers in getting there. Landing in Firiona Vie, dodging giant spiders to get to Dreadlands, always keeping an eye out for that dag gum dragon (Gorenaire?), making your way to Frontier Mountains with hopefully a levitate, and finally reaching The Overthere. It was the first time I learned how to chain pull with my warrior, and my first time doing anything in Kunark.
Close runner up would be Emerald Jungle - it scared the absolute bejeezes out of me.