What zones pleasantly surprised you?

Destai

So I got Hero of Murkmire yesterday, after an awesome community group kicked the crap out of Walk-like-Thunder. I gotta say, I surprisingly enjoyed the zone. I'm not normally one for swamp zones but this zone was cool. The music was great, as always, and I like how the different plants could be disarmed. Of course the ending areas of the story quest were jaw dropping too.

So, what zones pleasantly surprised you?

Starlock

Murkmire is definitely the best designed zone in the game. I don't know if that's because some of the ideas for it were taken from a former adventure zone that got cancelled or if it's just because they team really brought their best to the table.
Murkmire makes me really sad that we'll never see another zone like it because the developer has moved away from doing standalone adventures and zones to year-long story arcs.

MartiniDaniels

Yep, Murkmire is top notch. That's how all game zones in the game should be. I noticed that ZOS team is really good with smaller zones (i.e. dungeons and small overland like Murkmire or Hew's Bane), but in big zones they can't provide true open world experience... truth be told there are not many of those who can... outside of TES and GTA I don't know PC game whose overland wasn't a one-time adventure.

Destai

Oh yeah, Hew's Bane was another one! Both have a certain feel to them, like you're watching an Indiana Jones movie or something. I started working through Craglorn again, that's a gem too.

Raammzzaa

I really like Northern Elsweyr. I like the terrain and stitches in particular I think is really amazing. The dragons are pretty cool too - especially the first time you watch one spew flames and wipe a group of players!

Nanfoodle

I was unimpressed with the start of the main story in Wrothgar but by the end of it I loved it. By far some of the best story in the game. Also the zone was allot of fun itself.

Destai

Raammzzaa wrote: »

I really like Northern Elsweyr. I like the terrain and stitches in particular I think is really amazing. The dragons are pretty cool too - especially the first time you watch one spew flames and wipe a group of players!

The terrain is really cool! The southern most road goes through some beautiful vegetation and terrain, pretty memorable.

Destai

Nanfoodle wrote: »

I was unimpressed with the start of the main story in Wrothgar but by the end of it I loved it. By far some of the best story in the game. Also the zone was allot of fun itself.

Oh yeah, it gets better as it progresses. Really grateful for that story too, it fleshes out the Orsimer a lot more. It's refreshing to see these races with competing religions and factions. Makes them more believable!

The western side of that zone is really beautiful too, especially as you get near the coast.

MartiniDaniels

Destai wrote: »

Oh yeah, Hew's Bane was another one! Both have a certain feel to them, like you're watching an Indiana Jones movie or something. I started working through Craglorn again, that's a gem too.

This feeling is called immersion. When you believe in what you see and feel involved. And not just a map with quest objectives and POI's you need to "clear" and move further.

Rake

Murkmire is nice
I love lizards

Nanfoodle

Raammzzaa wrote: »

I really like Northern Elsweyr. I like the terrain and stitches in particular I think is really amazing. The dragons are pretty cool too - especially the first time you watch one spew flames and wipe a group of players!

I really enjoyed the whole Elsweyr story. The feeling of joining an ancient order that hunts dragons. Right down to teaming with a dragon and the strange dialog with a dragon kin. At the end of it, I felt Epic. Was a really good feel good story. Also I think I saved the world like 3 times in that story lol

BXR_Lonestar

Destai wrote: »

So, what zones pleasantly surprised you?

I was surprised at how good Murkmire was as well. Not because Bethesda/Zos has a hard time making good content, but because this zone was free, and the swampy areas are usually not my favorite. However, I absolutely loved the zone, the questlines, content, and characters that I met through the storyline. Will definitely play through it again on an alternate character.

Nanfoodle

BXR_Lonestar wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

So, what zones pleasantly surprised you?

I was surprised at how good Murkmire was as well. Not because Bethesda/Zos has a hard time making good content, but because this zone was free, and the swampy areas are usually not my favorite. However, I absolutely loved the zone, the questlines, content, and characters that I met through the storyline. Will definitely play through it again on an alternate character.

Wife and I started that zone this week. I like the Characters but I am finding the story really boring. I hope the story ends up like Worthgar where it gets better.

Vevvev

I didn't like Murkmire but whenever I go back it starts to grow on me. I hate how the wayshrines were scattered around but the Murkmire DLC's story was different. It was like going back to Wrothgar with a story surrounding the region, not the world. You were not stopping some kind of evil cultist or Daedric price from destroying the world. Just some regional politics and a few interesting twists they were neat. Like for example

The Alyied realm of doors. That was REALLY cool! I wish I could go back!

Destai

Nanfoodle wrote: »

BXR_Lonestar wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

So, what zones pleasantly surprised you?

I was surprised at how good Murkmire was as well. Not because Bethesda/Zos has a hard time making good content, but because this zone was free, and the swampy areas are usually not my favorite. However, I absolutely loved the zone, the questlines, content, and characters that I met through the storyline. Will definitely play through it again on an alternate character.

Wife and I started that zone this week. I like the Characters but I am finding the story really boring. I hope the story ends up like Worthgar where it gets better.

It does, it's kind of a slow burn until quest 3 or so and then it picks up.

myskyrim26

Once I logged in right after the maintenance. I was alone in Vivec crafting area. Just me there! Damn, what a beautiful place is empty Vivec... It lasted less than a minute, but I was really impressed.

Destai

MartiniDaniels wrote: »

Destai wrote: »

Oh yeah, Hew's Bane was another one! Both have a certain feel to them, like you're watching an Indiana Jones movie or something. I started working through Craglorn again, that's a gem too.

This feeling is called immersion. When you believe in what you see and feel involved. And not just a map with quest objectives and POI's you need to "clear" and move further.

I really gotta remember to slow down in this game. I'm in such a hurry to get characters through so I can have the best gear that I'm overlooking a lot of immersion. Good reminder!

max_only

I detest argonian swamps (the insects mostly, but also my character is too short to ride a horse through all the little ponds). I’m going with Clockwork City. A lot of the sounds are from Fallout 3. The ambient soundscape and the creaking metal is comforting. I want more of that.

worrallj

I have 2.

1 clockwork city. I thought the mystery of where the fabricants came from was just really intriguing and gave the whole zone a spooky surreal vibe I've only seen in single player games.

2 cyrodiil. It's the only zone you can just wander without constantly running into NPCs saying idiotic things about quests you don't even remember doing. Of course, sheogorath is a bit of a sore thumb.

tinythinker

I like Murkmire, Orsinium, etc., and have remarked on them before. For smaller new zones, the artwork, music, character development, and storyline are the most essential parts for me in terms of working together to create a distinct atmosphere when I visit them. Yet to my surprise when it comes larger zone, as time has passed I appreciate the creativity of Craglorn more and more.

If you go through the ZOS progression of large end-game zones you follow the way they've developed over time:

• Craglorn (2014)
• Orsinium (2015)
• Morrowind (2017)
• Summerset (2018)
• Elsweyr (2019)
• Greymoor (2020)

Craglorn represented their initial concept, that of Adventure Zones:

• There were no world bosses like the main base game zones, but there are unique group challenges across the map (including the Anka-Ra Burial sites where you have to defend an NPC against waves of attackers) that have been reclassified as such.
• There are tons of delves -far more than any other map - that show the earliest work with genuine verticality and novel designs more elaborate than the original versions of base game delves. Instead of public dungeons are some group quest hubs like ancient Nedic structures (Skyreach Catacombs, Skyreach Hold, Skyreach Pinnacle, etc.) and one even has a kind bonus mini-event when you open a chest
• There were quests from items you picked up that allowed you to trade them for knowledge from a Daedric Prince
• It featured the first repeatable daily quests
• The crystals in the Dusteaster camp above Shada's Tear (used to be?) interactable objects puzzle you could click to solve a puzzle/activate something
• The first Trials
• The first Arena
• Etc.

Sadly, many parts of the quest required having four people at the same stage in the story YOU were at (the game never has done grouping for overland quests well), and the mobs were tuned for small groups or exceptionally strong solo builds. This frustrated many players and sent a signal to ZOS that Adventure Zones were a flop. They later made it more solo friendly, but Adventures Zones were done for. Ironically, we know have more experienced players, an evolved combat system, etc. and many players are looking for more of a challenge. If Craglorn had let people group easier for the special quest parts of the map and delves, and had made it so that you could do those with one to four people (scaling up in difficulty as group size increases), it would have been better received. And also, if they had left the harder mobs in the camps rather than everything in the zone. Oh well. (And this could still work for that zone, for what it's worth.)

Orsinium went the other way, becoming in effect a bigger version of a regular base game zone with more traditional world bosses, the usual delves, but now with two public dungeons. (It also borrow the Arena concept from Craglorn instead of a new Trial but made it solo.) With its more positive reception, this became the basis (replacing the Arena with a Trial) for the new concept to replace Adventure Zone... Chapters. This formula went on to be used for each large Q2 zone every year since. So at least for those types of larger zones, I look for things that are original and engaging beyond the established pattern.

For example, Morrowind added the finding relics/pieces of something important element to put back together building on the collection of relics from Orsinium, which has been copied ever since. Summerset came up with the idea of reskinning Dolmens and the Dark Anchors that attach to them to fit its new storyline (Abyssal Geysers), which Greymoor has followed up on with Harrowstorms. Yet in between I was pleasantly surprised that Elsweyr skipped this in favor Dragons. Greymoor has tried something new by splitting the zone two, part above ground and part below. I was mostly testing other things and not getting too far into the quests, but I did do the first quest you get when you go underground and meet some people. Time will tell how well this works as a whole.

So for the big zones, while I understand how much simpler and more efficient it is to have a standard framework to base future development off of, pleasant surprises for me are attempts to try something new in the actual zone content and layout formulae, particularly with overland map events. Hence my overview of Craglorn above which doesn't really do justice to how different the challenge content there felt compared to what came later. That isn't a hint at a request for ZOS to just duplicate some of those old dgroup challenges for some kind of Craglorn II, but rather my wish for some surprises and new types of engagement in the new zone each late spring/summer.

edit: always a typo... always... no matter how many times i check before posting.. I mean, what is an "NPV" anyway?

Destai

tinythinker wrote: »

I like Murkmire, Orsinium, etc., and have remarked on them before. For smaller new zones, the artwork, music, character development, and storyline are the most essential parts for me in terms of working together to create a distinct atmosphere when I visit them. Yet to my surprise when it comes larger zone, as time has passed I appreciate the creativity of Craglorn more and more.

If you go through the ZOS progression of large end-game zones you follow the way they've developed over time:

• Craglorn (2014)
• Orsinium (2015)
• Morrowind (2017)
• Summerset (2018)
• Elsweyr (2019)
• Greymoor (2020)

Craglorn represented their initial concept, that of Adventure Zones:

• There were no world bosses like the main base game zones, but there are unique group challenges across the map (including the Anka-Ra Burial sites where you have to defend an NPV against waves of attackers) that have been reclassified as such.
• There are tons of delves -far more than any other map - that show the earliest work with genuine verticality and novel designs more elaborate than the original versions of base game delves. Instead of public dungeons are some group quest hubs like ancient Nedic structures (Skyreach Catacombs, Skyreach Hold, Skyreach Pinnacle, etc.) and one even has a kind bonus mini-event when you open a chest
• There were quests from items you picked up that allowed you to trade them for knowledge from a Daedric Prince
• It featured the first repeatable daily quests
• The crystals in the Dusteaster camp above Shada's Tear (used to be?) interactable objects puzzle you could click to solve a puzzle/activate something
• The first Trials
• The first Arena
• Etc.

Sadly, many parts of the quest required having four people at the same stage in the story YOU were at (the game never has done grouping for overland quests well), and the mobs were tuned for small groups or exceptionally strong solo builds. This frustrated many players and sent a signal to ZOS that Adventure Zones were a flop. They later made it more solo friendly, but Adventures Zones were done for. Ironically, we know have more experienced players, an evolved combat system, etc. and many players are looking for more of a challenge. If Craglorn had let people group easier for the special quest parts of the map and delves, and had made it so that you could do those with one to four people (scaling up in difficulty as group size increases), it would have been better received. And also, if they had left the harder mobs in the camps rather than everything in the zone. Oh well. (And this could still work for that zone, for what it's worth.)

Orsinium went the other way, becoming in effect a bigger version of a regular base game zone with more traditional world bosses, the usual delves, but now with two public dungeons. (It also borrow the Arena concept from Craglorn instead of a new Trial but made it solo.) With its more positive reception, this became the basis (replacing the Arena with a Trial) for the new concept to replace Adventure Zone... Chapters. This formula went on to be used for each large Q2 zone every year since. So at least for those types of larger zones, I look for things that are original and engaging beyond the established pattern.

For example, Morrowind added the finding relics/pieces of something important element to put back together, which has been copied ever since. Summerset came up with the idea of reskinning Dolmens and the Dark Anchors that attach to them to fit its new storyline (Abyssal Geysers), which Greymoor has followed up on with Harrowstorms. Yet in between I was pleasantly surprised that Elsweyr skipped this in favor Dragons. Greymoor has tried something new by splitting the zone two, part above ground and part below. I was mostly testing other things and not getting too far into the quests, but I did do the first quest you get when you go underground and meet some people. Time will tell how well this works as a whole.

So for the big zones, while I understand how much simpler and more efficient it is to have a standard framework to base future development off of, pleasant surprises for me are attempts to try something new in the actual zone content and layout formulae, particularly with overland map events. Hence my overview of Craglorn above which doesn't really do justice to how different the challenge content there felt compared to what came later. That isn't a hint at a request for ZOS to just duplicate some of those old dgroup challenges for some kind of Craglorn II, but rather my wish for some surprises and new types of engagement in the new zone each late spring/summer.

Craglorn was ahead of its time. It's good that each zone is offering some unique experiences. Summerset will always be my favorite expansion, even if some of the features were basically reskins. The collection quests were even seen in Orsinium, with the house of glories. Those are some of my favorite features, it gives you something so tangible and memorable to do. It seems like with the advent of the yearly story release cycle, they've settled into repeatable implementation pattern. That's fine, but the experimentation that Craglorn brought is definitely a testament to its worth.

tinythinker

Destai wrote: »

tinythinker wrote: »

I like Murkmire, Orsinium, etc., and have remarked on them before. For smaller new zones, the artwork, music, character development, and storyline are the most essential parts for me in terms of working together to create a distinct atmosphere when I visit them. Yet to my surprise when it comes larger zone, as time has passed I appreciate the creativity of Craglorn more and more.

If you go through the ZOS progression of large end-game zones you follow the way they've developed over time:

• Craglorn (2014)
• Orsinium (2015)
• Morrowind (2017)
• Summerset (2018)
• Elsweyr (2019)
• Greymoor (2020)

Craglorn represented their initial concept, that of Adventure Zones:

• There were no world bosses like the main base game zones, but there are unique group challenges across the map (including the Anka-Ra Burial sites where you have to defend an NPV against waves of attackers) that have been reclassified as such.
• There are tons of delves -far more than any other map - that show the earliest work with genuine verticality and novel designs more elaborate than the original versions of base game delves. Instead of public dungeons are some group quest hubs like ancient Nedic structures (Skyreach Catacombs, Skyreach Hold, Skyreach Pinnacle, etc.) and one even has a kind bonus mini-event when you open a chest
• There were quests from items you picked up that allowed you to trade them for knowledge from a Daedric Prince
• It featured the first repeatable daily quests
• The crystals in the Dusteaster camp above Shada's Tear (used to be?) interactable objects puzzle you could click to solve a puzzle/activate something
• The first Trials
• The first Arena
• Etc.

Sadly, many parts of the quest required having four people at the same stage in the story YOU were at (the game never has done grouping for overland quests well), and the mobs were tuned for small groups or exceptionally strong solo builds. This frustrated many players and sent a signal to ZOS that Adventure Zones were a flop. They later made it more solo friendly, but Adventures Zones were done for. Ironically, we know have more experienced players, an evolved combat system, etc. and many players are looking for more of a challenge. If Craglorn had let people group easier for the special quest parts of the map and delves, and had made it so that you could do those with one to four people (scaling up in difficulty as group size increases), it would have been better received. And also, if they had left the harder mobs in the camps rather than everything in the zone. Oh well. (And this could still work for that zone, for what it's worth.)

Orsinium went the other way, becoming in effect a bigger version of a regular base game zone with more traditional world bosses, the usual delves, but now with two public dungeons. (It also borrow the Arena concept from Craglorn instead of a new Trial but made it solo.) With its more positive reception, this became the basis (replacing the Arena with a Trial) for the new concept to replace Adventure Zone... Chapters. This formula went on to be used for each large Q2 zone every year since. So at least for those types of larger zones, I look for things that are original and engaging beyond the established pattern.

For example, Morrowind added the finding relics/pieces of something important element to put back together, which has been copied ever since. Summerset came up with the idea of reskinning Dolmens and the Dark Anchors that attach to them to fit its new storyline (Abyssal Geysers), which Greymoor has followed up on with Harrowstorms. Yet in between I was pleasantly surprised that Elsweyr skipped this in favor Dragons. Greymoor has tried something new by splitting the zone two, part above ground and part below. I was mostly testing other things and not getting too far into the quests, but I did do the first quest you get when you go underground and meet some people. Time will tell how well this works as a whole.

So for the big zones, while I understand how much simpler and more efficient it is to have a standard framework to base future development off of, pleasant surprises for me are attempts to try something new in the actual zone content and layout formulae, particularly with overland map events. Hence my overview of Craglorn above which doesn't really do justice to how different the challenge content there felt compared to what came later. That isn't a hint at a request for ZOS to just duplicate some of those old dgroup challenges for some kind of Craglorn II, but rather my wish for some surprises and new types of engagement in the new zone each late spring/summer.

Craglorn was ahead of its time. It's good that each zone is offering some unique experiences. Summerset will always be my favorite expansion, even if some of the features were basically reskins. The collection quests were even seen in Orsinium, with the house of glories. Those are some of my favorite features, it gives you something so tangible and memorable to do. It seems like with the advent of the yearly story release cycle, they've settled into repeatable implementation pattern. That's fine, but the experimentation that Craglorn brought is definitely a testament to its worth.

Wow what an error. I think I blocked out the House of Glories for some reason

I don't mind them repeating some things, but, still always hope to see some shakeup

Ashryn

Clockwork City surprised me. I thought I would absolutely hate it, but it was very interesting and differs so much from the other zones.

Actually...I love the diversity in ESO. Every zone presents something different.

YandereGirlfriend

I cast my vote for low key amazing Bangkorai.

My early questing had me only exploring the northern part of it, which I felt was fine but barely distinguishable from ambiance of Glenumbra or Stormhaven.

Everything changed though when I ventured through the Sunken Highway down into the southern half of the zone. Here, the deserts, canyons, and mesas outdid the desert experience even of Alik'r and managed to evoke a sense of loneliness in its adventuring, of the insignificance of your character as it is contrasted with the majesty of the landscape.

I love the sparse population of the south and how it truly feels like a land of dusty caravans, lost oases, and how it manifests itself as a crossroads between peoples, like the regions surrounding the great trading cities of the Silk Road.

MaxJrFTW

Aesthetically Murkmire is the best zone in the game, they did a fantastic job with it. Vvardenfell and Wrothgar are my 2nd and 3rd.

Lorewise Clockwork City is my favorite. Best questline in the game imo.

craybest

Murkmire was very refreshing, I just did Clockwork city before, and i just hated the whole rotobic metallic thing, i needed green and nature, and murkmire was just a godsend
love the rain, the humidity, the green, the water, the clouds, even the clouds look different from the rest of the game. when it's cloudy, the skybox looks much more detailed than the plain grey we get in other zones. loved it! just started with the main story though.
EDIT: my first favorite zone was Rivenspire, by far. still one of my favorite ones, along Murkmire, southern Elsweyr and Hew's bane.

BackStabeth

None, I won't be able to honestly answer this question, or any other similar question until the game breaking issues and bugs are fixed.

Right now, as I write this, ESO is broken and difficult to play, all the many, many bugs and issues cause frustration not enjoyment. I have paid to sub to a game that is advertised to be something it isn't. I am mad, I frustrated, I am upset I spent my entertainment dollars on a broken game. Nothing looks good.

MrGarlic

Wrothgar.

The transition zone from tundra to snow is always memorable to me.

Destai

BackStabeth wrote: »

None, I won't be able to honestly answer this question, or any other similar question until the game breaking issues and bugs are fixed.

Right now, as I write this, ESO is broken and difficult to play, all the many, many bugs and issues cause frustration not enjoyment. I have paid to sub to a game that is advertised to be something it isn't. I mad, I frustrated, I am upset I spent my entertainment dollars on a broken game. Nothing looks good.

I am too. I'm extremely disappointed by their communication and especially how they treat us on the forums. I just subbed for a year and supported them majorly the last sale. I've brought two friends into this game and this is their first experience.

Elder Scrolls fans deserve better. So let's try to find some silver lining!

Destai

YandereGirlfriend wrote: »

I cast my vote for low key amazing Bangkorai.

My early questing had me only exploring the northern part of it, which I felt was fine but barely distinguishable from ambiance of Glenumbra or Stormhaven.

Everything changed though when I ventured through the Sunken Highway down into the southern half of the zone. Here, the deserts, canyons, and mesas outdid the desert experience even of Alik'r and managed to evoke a sense of loneliness in its adventuring, of the insignificance of your character as it is contrasted with the majesty of the landscape.

I love the sparse population of the south and how it truly feels like a land of dusty caravans, lost oases, and how it manifests itself as a crossroads between peoples, like the regions surrounding the great trading cities of the Silk Road.

Bangkorai is a sleeper hit! Funny you mention it, I was just running through last week for some guild events and was thinking how cool it is. All the little transitions, like that area by the Sunken Road wayshrine, really striking.

Sylvermynx

My experience is so weird really. When I started playing (June of 2018) I had wildblue satellite for connection - the only thing available besides dialup at the time!

I had a very hard time just questing (which is my normal thing to do in TES games) - the combat was nearly impossible with my ping (generally about 2 full seconds if not more), so things like the quest "mini bosses" were out of the realm of the possible for me (it took me forever to get past the Ancient Clannfear in Daughter of Giants - my first character, a Dunmer NB, was level 20 before she managed to get past it) - because high satellite ping due to a crap provider isn't conducive to killing 1 gem anything....

I've had a better satellite provider for nearly a year now, and questing is actually possible. I finished the MQ on my two 50s (CP 375, CP 274 appx - not in game, don't remember). And then I started my second account 50 - Redguard warden - on Cadwell's Silver. By the time I finished it, I was awed - by the complexity of the quests, the zones themselves, the tightly-knit plotting. The AD questline is a gem, and I'm SO glad I finally got to play it (including killing the quest bosses without too many issues!) - now I'm hoping that better satellite will allow my AD characters to actually play their own quest line.

I actually hadn't spent a lot of time in the AD zones until running Silver, but wow, they are truly gorgeous. Then again, I love Alik'r and Bangkorai too, as well as Grahtwood and Elsweyr. Those are my favorites.