Lack of variety between zones.....

brandon.coker101_ESO · February 2015

Is it me or do most all the zones (at least so far for me at lvl 25) look pretty much the same?

I'm still pretty low lvl but the 3 or 4 zones I have seen this far are all pretty much the same....

Dominoid · February 2015

You've seen possibly three of the 17 (plus Cyrodiil) zones. There's diversity.

Ganacampo · February 2015

That's not the case at all.

I for example would never have expected that much variety in different regions of Hig Rock of Valenwood. I was rather surprised how different the zones look.

Seraphyel · February 2015

Especially the Daggerfall zones are quite similar, as well the Dominion ones.

The diversity is bigger between the factions and there is enough difference. But there still could be more snow...

Digiman · February 2015

Yeah the zones do change drastically as you level up, prepare to get frustrated on where to go when it comes to exploring when pull a pack of mobs.

FadedJeans · February 2015

I've always been impressed with the diversity, myself.

It has been almost a year for me, and I'm still finding new things.

Cody · February 2015

the AD zones bored me because it was all valenwood the last 4 zones... it had NO diversity whatsoever.

EP zones are the best in my opinion:)

DC zones just suck overall save for a few of the quests.

Ganacampo · February 2015

Cody wrote: »

the AD zones bored me because it was all valenwood the last 4 zones... it had NO diversity whatsoever.

Wow, you really think Grathwood and Reaper's March look the same???

That's like saying Auridon and Cold Harbour look too similiar.

And for example Grathwood looks a lot more like a jungle than Greenshade. Although the difference between these two isn't that big, there are allways differences, for example different types of trees.

Cody · February 2015

Ganacampo wrote: »

Cody wrote: »

the AD zones bored me because it was all valenwood the last 4 zones... it had NO diversity whatsoever.

Wow, you really think Grathwood and Reaper's March look the same???

That's like saying Auridon and Cold Harbour look too similiar.

And for example Grathwood looks a lot more like a jungle than Greenshade. Although the difference between these two isn't that big, there are allways differences, for example different types of trees.

i said they were all valenwood, which they are. Its nice, but i got sick of all the jungles and the forests by the time I got to malabal tor(and yes they do look very similar, reapers march is more open, but that is it. different kinds of trees are still trees)

I do not enjoy playing in the same "country" as i'll call it, for 4 zones straight. ZOS could have let us go to elsywir, but instead they give us 4 zones of valenwood.

and why would i say auridon looks like coldharbour? it does not; part of why i love coldharbour so much is because its different from all the other zones.

Soulshine · February 2015

What makes an aesthetic appealing obviously varies from one person to the next. My main is AD and I often felt it was a little too bland all the way through. Once I got into vet content I discovered that EP was more interesting and varied for my own tastes, and DC fell someplace in between. Then you have Cyrodill on top of that. There is a great deal of variance by the time you end your journey.

Fruity_Ninja · February 2015

brandon.coker101_ESO wrote: »

Is it me or do most all the zones (at least so far for me at lvl 25) look pretty much the same?

I'm still pretty low lvl but the 3 or 4 zones I have seen this far are all pretty much the same....

Don't know which alliance you are in, but the EP zones have a great amount of variety. From the volcano stricken, ashland style Stonefalls to the slightly less barren Deeshan with the beautiful centrepiece of Mournhold. Then into the swampy, filthy land of those lizards. From there we enter the beautiful lands of Skyrim, firstly into the cold, snowcovered areas of Eastmarch, then into the less-snowy and lush Rift.

Thinking of the vet zones, the DC lands seemed quite similar, at least until reaching the Alikir desert which I found to be quite amazing and so different to the rest of the DC zones. Bangkorai also seems to have a different feel to the other zones.

The AD lands, Auridon was just so lush. The first time I set foot in there I was like 'wow', but then the green got a bit much for me and a bit too samey through many of the AD zones. Although the last zone where Rawl'Kah (?) is based was pretty different to the rest of the AD zones.

Rune_Relic · February 2015

Desert, jungle, forest, frozen tundra......there is a lots of variety.
You have much, much more to come.
Enjoy the ride

gurluasb16_ESO · February 2015

Reaper's March is half Elsweyr too. But yeah the AD ones were pretty similar.
I personally enjoyed the diversity in the zones, getting to see pieces of every province was wonderful!

AshySamurai · February 2015

IMO AD zones are most beautiful. And IMO have most interesting quests.

gurluasb16_ESO · February 2015

Zone diversity and quests aren't the same thing though

But yes, the characters in the AD are amazing.
Raz in particular.

UrQuan · February 2015

Cody wrote: »

Ganacampo wrote: »

Cody wrote: »

the AD zones bored me because it was all valenwood the last 4 zones... it had NO diversity whatsoever.

Wow, you really think Grathwood and Reaper's March look the same???

That's like saying Auridon and Cold Harbour look too similiar.

And for example Grathwood looks a lot more like a jungle than Greenshade. Although the difference between these two isn't that big, there are allways differences, for example different types of trees.

i said they were all valenwood, which they are. Its nice, but i got sick of all the jungles and the forests by the time I got to malabal tor(and yes they do look very similar, reapers march is more open, but that is it. different kinds of trees are still trees)

So you think a zone that is mostly areas like this:

And this:

looks very similar to a zone that's almost entirely areas like this:

Cody wrote: »

I do not enjoy playing in the same "country" as i'll call it, for 4 zones straight. ZOS could have let us go to elsywir, but instead they give us 4 zones of valenwood.

Reaper's March is Elswyr. At least most of it is. Part of it is in Valenwood, but the majority of it is in Elswyr - and it shows!

Cody wrote: »

and why would i say auridon looks like coldharbour? it does not; part of why i love coldharbour so much is because its different from all the other zones.

You might say it because it's just as ridiculous as saying that Reaper's March looks like Grahtwood...

cyclonus11 · February 2015

I wish each delve was different. Too many of them use identical layouts.

theroyalestpythonnub18_ESO · February 2015

cyclonus11 wrote: »

I wish each delve was different. Too many of them use identical layouts.

Really? Even the revamped ones? I know this was a hot topic in the early few weeks of the games life when some dungeon layouts were essentially identical, but imo that's vastly improved. Delves have gotten a lot bigger, and it's fairly easy to get turned around if you get distracted. More easily than it was in Skyrim, I've found.

If the issue is the reuse of assets, then that's inevitable, and has been an issue in every Elder Scrolls game I've ever played.

Roechacca · February 2015

I just wish there was a disagree option so I didn't have to type all this .

Gidorick · February 2015

what do you want?

THIS?

oh wait...

Ok... lets try that again...

What do you want?

THIS?

Oh... that's craglorn...

Ok this?

wait... ok... THIS?

wait... it IS?... ok how about this one?

No? ok... ANY of these?

those are ALL ESO?... they look pretty varied to me.

Maybe it's the fact that the color pallet isn't more like...

wait...

I think ESO is varied enough .

Pendrillion · February 2015

Although I find that after Grathwood and Greenshade Malabal Tor definitly looks a bit like more of the same. Its a wonderful zone. No doubt!

Still... Swampy rainy stuff? again?

Gidorick · February 2015

Grahtwood and Greenshade and Malabal Tor are all adjacent southern coastal regions why wouldn't they look similar?

UrQuan · February 2015

theroyalestpythonnub18_ESO wrote: »

cyclonus11 wrote: »

I wish each delve was different. Too many of them use identical layouts.

Really? Even the revamped ones? I know this was a hot topic in the early few weeks of the games life when some dungeon layouts were essentially identical, but imo that's vastly improved. Delves have gotten a lot bigger, and it's fairly easy to get turned around if you get distracted. More easily than it was in Skyrim, I've found.

This is a problem that is gradually being addressed, but most of the delves in the game are still the same layout that they were at launch. But I believe that every delve in Coldharbour and each faction's final pre-Coldharbour zone is now expanded and a more unique layout. I seem to remember hearing that the plan is for this to eventually be the case for all delves in the game, but it's definitely not there yet.

theroyalestpythonnub18_ESO · February 2015

UrQuan wrote: »

theroyalestpythonnub18_ESO wrote: »

cyclonus11 wrote: »

I wish each delve was different. Too many of them use identical layouts.

Really? Even the revamped ones? I know this was a hot topic in the early few weeks of the games life when some dungeon layouts were essentially identical, but imo that's vastly improved. Delves have gotten a lot bigger, and it's fairly easy to get turned around if you get distracted. More easily than it was in Skyrim, I've found.

This is a problem that is gradually being addressed, but most of the delves in the game are still the same layout that they were at launch. But I believe that every delve in Coldharbour and each faction's final pre-Coldharbour zone is now expanded and a more unique layout. I seem to remember hearing that the plan is for this to eventually be the case for all delves in the game, but it's definitely not there yet.

I double-checked and it looks like they got as far as updating tier 4 delves, and a few tier 1 delves. For some reason I had it in my head that they have gotten farther. Still, I'm not too worried. It's a work in progress, and the progress so far is pretty promising.

UrQuan · February 2015

theroyalestpythonnub18_ESO wrote: »

UrQuan wrote: »

theroyalestpythonnub18_ESO wrote: »

cyclonus11 wrote: »

I wish each delve was different. Too many of them use identical layouts.

Really? Even the revamped ones? I know this was a hot topic in the early few weeks of the games life when some dungeon layouts were essentially identical, but imo that's vastly improved. Delves have gotten a lot bigger, and it's fairly easy to get turned around if you get distracted. More easily than it was in Skyrim, I've found.

This is a problem that is gradually being addressed, but most of the delves in the game are still the same layout that they were at launch. But I believe that every delve in Coldharbour and each faction's final pre-Coldharbour zone is now expanded and a more unique layout. I seem to remember hearing that the plan is for this to eventually be the case for all delves in the game, but it's definitely not there yet.

I double-checked and it looks like they got as far as updating tier 4 delves, and a few tier 1 delves. For some reason I had it in my head that they have gotten farther. Still, I'm not too worried. It's a work in progress, and the progress so far is pretty promising.

Agreed. The updated delves are much less cookie-cutter than the originals (I actually have gotten myself turned around and briefly lost in several of them), and like you say it's a work in progress.

Cody · February 2015

UrQuan wrote: »

Cody wrote: »

Ganacampo wrote: »

Cody wrote: »

the AD zones bored me because it was all valenwood the last 4 zones... it had NO diversity whatsoever.

Wow, you really think Grathwood and Reaper's March look the same???

That's like saying Auridon and Cold Harbour look too similiar.

And for example Grathwood looks a lot more like a jungle than Greenshade. Although the difference between these two isn't that big, there are allways differences, for example different types of trees.

i said they were all valenwood, which they are. Its nice, but i got sick of all the jungles and the forests by the time I got to malabal tor(and yes they do look very similar, reapers march is more open, but that is it. different kinds of trees are still trees)

So you think a zone that is mostly areas like this:

And this:

looks very similar to a zone that's almost entirely areas like this:

Cody wrote: »

I do not enjoy playing in the same "country" as i'll call it, for 4 zones straight. ZOS could have let us go to elsywir, but instead they give us 4 zones of valenwood.

Reaper's March is Elswyr. At least most of it is. Part of it is in Valenwood, but the majority of it is in Elswyr - and it shows!

Cody wrote: »

and why would i say auridon looks like coldharbour? it does not; part of why i love coldharbour so much is because its different from all the other zones.

You might say it because it's just as ridiculous as saying that Reaper's March looks like Grahtwood...

did i not say reapers march is more open....

plz re-read my post and try again. I am willing to admit I am wrong about us never getting to go to eleswyri(even though half of it is really valenwood:/) but i never said grahtwood and march look the same. Plz tell me when I said that.

TheShadowScout · February 2015

The similarities in looks some ESO maps share make a lot of sense, since all those maps are in the same region. It's like saying how silly it is that Sweden and Norway and Finland have similarities in landscape... or Italy, Croatia and Greece... or any other regions in close geografic proximity. Yes, there will be similarities, but there also will be -some- differences, like Grahtwood and Greenshade have both similarities and differences.

The only thing is that people in DC and AD will have "rainy england-ish" and "forest-y" landscapes for a while playing before they hit something really different. Though DC at least had Stros M'Kai for a preview of the Redguard regions, you'll get more of that after Rivenspire. AD gets forestish in some fashion or another until Reapers March. EP is better in this regard, since their regions are all somewhat different in their way...
But, this is not a scifi game where every region can be a different planet. I expect Wrothgar will look quite a bit like Eastmarch in its lands, since its also "northern cold region". And Murkmire will look a lot like Shadowfen, since both are part of the black marsh. And I expect imperial city to look very city-ish. Possibly imperial too. Who'd have known...

Any new regions they will be doing will likely have similarities and differences to things we have seen before.

Instead of complaining about it, it may be more productive to think about regions that -would- have a new look, andhope they maybe do them some DLC in the further future...

Dwelves... yeah, the new big ones are way more fun then the old small ones, and I like most am eagerly awaiting them to redo them all for me to find when more of my alts do cadwells. Though I really hope they might oneday be doing more too, I'd love to have some "underground" questing area the size of a whole map instead of just a enlarged dwelve... multiple levels, wayshrines, a small dwellingplace in the middle, many quests around it, etc. (but then, I always liked D&D "underdark" adventures too...) Who knows, someday it likely will come, one way or another.

UrQuan · February 2015

Cody wrote: »

did i not say reapers march is more open....

plz re-read my post and try again. I am willing to admit I am wrong about us never getting to go to eleswyri(even though half of it is really valenwood:/) but i never said grahtwood and march look the same. Plz tell me when I said that.

Clearly you're the one who needs to re-read your posts. You said:

Cody wrote: »

the AD zones bored me because it was all valenwood the last 4 zones... it had NO diversity whatsoever.

When the last AD zone (Reaper's March) is vastly different from the previous 3 zones. Less than a third of it is similar to the previous zones (variations on forest), while the vast majority of it is arid plains (which is far different from just being "more open").

You also said (in reply to the question "Wow, you really think Grathwood and Reaper's March look the same???"):

Cody wrote: »

yes they do look very similar, reapers march is more open, but that is it. different kinds of trees are still trees

starkerealm · February 2015

Ganacampo wrote: »

Cody wrote: »

the AD zones bored me because it was all valenwood the last 4 zones... it had NO diversity whatsoever.

Wow, you really think Grathwood and Reaper's March look the same???

That's like saying Auridon and Cold Harbour look too similiar.

It's all the screaming and death, they're practically interchangeable. Unless you wander away from an anchor, but why would you do that?

Ganacampo wrote: »

And for example Grathwood looks a lot more like a jungle than Greenshade. Although the difference between these two isn't that big, there are allways differences, for example different types of trees.

Grahtwood and Malabal Tor are uncomfortably similar. Also parts of Greenshade to start to look a lot like parts of either. It makes sense, but it's also fatiguing. I can pick between them in screenshots, there are differences, but those three do really run together.

Stormhaven and Glenumbra are the same way. There's differences, but because of how they're playing off stock medieval European countryside with castles, they feel more generic than they actually are.

I'll admit, I don't get the people that lump Rivenspire in with those two though. The instant you come north, the game shifts from stock fantasy to horror fantasy with an almost audible clunk. Where Stormhaven and Glenumbra are summer days in the countryside, Rivenspire is late October when horrible things have started crawling out of the woodwork to kill.

TicToc · February 2015

TheShadowScout wrote: »

The similarities in looks some ESO maps share make a lot of sense, since all those maps are in the same region. It's like saying how silly it is that Sweden and Norway and Finland have similarities in landscape... or Italy, Croatia and Greece... or any other regions in close geografic proximity. Yes, there will be similarities, but there also will be -some- differences, like Grahtwood and Greenshade have both similarities and differences.

The point was never about why areas in the same region would look similar. The point was that the game should not run you through such similar zones, especially not back to back. They did not have to run you through zones in the same region. They could have thrown you on a boat and taken you somewhere completely different in between.

Yes, there are differences, but the overall look and feel is the same. This is especially noticeable when you run multiple alts.

Yes, ultimately, there are a variety of zones, but it is the back to back to back ones that are the problem. They should have broke it up a bit more. Not much to do about it now, but something they should keep in mind going forward.

UrQuan · February 2015

starkerealm wrote: »

Grahtwood and Malabal Tor are uncomfortably similar. Also parts of Greenshade to start to look a lot like parts of either. It makes sense, but it's also fatiguing. I can pick between them in screenshots, there are differences, but those three do really run together.

Stormhaven and Glenumbra are the same way. There's differences, but because of how they're playing off stock medieval European countryside with castles, they feel more generic than they actually are.

I'll admit, I don't get the people that lump Rivenspire in with those two though. The instant you come north, the game shifts from stock fantasy to horror fantasy with an almost audible clunk. Where Stormhaven and Glenumbra are summer days in the countryside, Rivenspire is late October when horrible things have started crawling out of the woodwork to kill.

I completely agree with your assessment.

On the DC side I'd also say that Betnikh feels very similar to Glenumbra and Stormhaven, with just enough differences due to the fact that it's dominated by Orcs for it to be not quite "more of the same". Stros M'Kai and Al'Akir are very similar to each other for obvious reasons, and Bangkorai is half similar to Glenumbra and Stormhaven, and half similar to Al'Akir.

On the AD side I'd say that Auridon somewhat stands alone. It's kind of similar to Greenshade, and a bit less similar to either Grahtwood or Malabal Tor (the 2 of which I think are the most similar zones). Khenarthi's Roost is like a cross between Auridon and Reaper's March. Reaper's March, of course, is very different from any of the other zones, except for the small part of it that is near Malabal Tor.

On the EP side, Bal Foyen, Stonefalls, and Deshaan are very similar. Shadowfen stands alone as being quite different from the other zones, while Eastmarch and The Rift are quite similar to each other.