Best Designed Zone Imo

Mashille · March 2017

I've always thought this since TG was first released last year, but now with the Anniversary and me spending all my in game time Node Farming it really makes me notice. Hew's Bane is the best designed of all Zones in my opinion, including Wrothgar and Gold Coast.

The things that make it so good:

-> The Elevation. So good, going up and down hills, traversing and climbing large rocks and cliffs and going up and down the city.

->The Zone's Aesthetics (How it looks) Just the whole environment / biome of the zone I absolutely adore.

->Monster / Enemy placement. The enemies in Hew's Bane feel so natural and correct compared to enemies in other zones which just seems like the standard MMO mob groups.

->The pathways. In and out of all the rock formations and cliffs there are little passageways which weave in and out and make the zone feel so much more explorable.

-> Well placed items, objects and Misc. The positioned tents, boats, animal bones, camps, forestation, water pool all feel so perfectly placed rather than shoved in to be zone filler.

-> The Delves, by far my favourite regular Delves in the game, both feeling open to actually explore in.

Hew's Bane feels 10 times better to run around and explore in thatn any base game zone and it feels like an actual world, a place more like the Original TES games rather than a standard MMO zone. And baring in mind that this zone doesn't even have any sidequests around the zone shows that it's even better than I describe as if it had some small Sidequests it would feel even better.

Whoever was lead Designer on Hew's Bane, major props to you as the Zone is fantastic and I so hope that Morrowind has similar effort, beauty and detail placed in it.

Some Screenies:

.eJwFwdENhCAMANBdGIACRUC3IUjQnLYEavy43O733lc941KbOkT63AD2cxYeu57CI7eqG3O7au7n1IVvyCK5HHclmWCj82jNkrwLuIYQEVxKyRi7xuQRFwzGwkMf4pd0p6Z-fwdYIt0.nl9aCrOBUj7NNZuYlDQmkx62GP8?width=1139&height=712

.eJwFwdENhCAMANBdGIACRUC3IUjQnLYEavy43O733lc941KbOkT63AD2cxYeu57CI7eqG3O7au7n1IVvyCK5HHclmWCj82jNkrwLuIYQEVxKyRi7xuQRFwzGwkMf4pd0p6Z-fwdYIt0.nl9aCrOBUj7NNZuYlDQmkx62GP8?width=1139&height=712

.eJwFwVsOhCAMAMC7cABanqK3IUjQqC2Bmv3Y7N135qvecatNHSJ9bgD7OQuPXU_hkVvVjbndNfdz6sIPZJFcjqeSTDCL9c5gSN5Gt8a4OLApJUQX0RjrQ4gJ4aWL-EO6U1O_PwZKItQ.s-Ctrf13pcvys3GHAw3a8XNCVsE?width=1139&height=712

.eJwNyEEOhCAMAMC_8ACKgFD9DUGCRm0J1Oxhs39f5zhf9fRLrWoXaWMF2I6RuW96CPdUi67M9SqpHUNnviGJpLzfhWTAFK13k5nR2-CWEKIDi4jmHeNx8X52McBDJ_GHdKOqfn8IJiLq.801yW6pe681UqIFTS4R4jEicxyc?width=1139&height=712

FerrumnCutem · March 2017

Gotta be Wrothgar for me.
Love the different terrains and elevations, also it doesn't look like anything we've seen in a Tes game before.

ShadowHvo · March 2017

I tend to agree, I only wish the city was actually larger and sprawling, like an actual city.

But that is a general thing in Elder Scrolls, for some wicked reason, the level designers believe that large cities are 'boring' (Lawrence Shriek outright said so in an interview near launch!) which well.. is quite false judging by the highly popular games that all surround around large sprawling cities like Deus Ex, The Witcher and even non-RPG games like GTA and Assassins Creed.

Large cities are fun because they're vast, interesting and exciting to play through, a depth that ESO.. unfortunately never have tapped into.

One day, I really hope that we'll see a large proper city in one way or another. Be it an upgrade of an existing city, or a new one entirely. Just imagine the entirety of Hews' Bane being one massive city, that would've been cool.

MLGProPlayer · March 2017

Hew's Bane and Wrothgar are both fantastic.

Love the higher resolution textures and cities that feel like actual cities (not just villages). Like you mentioned, the use of elevation on the maps is superb.

After playing these DLCs, you kind of wish they would go back and re-design all the base game zones.

Mashille · March 2017

MLGProPlayer wrote: »

After playing these DLCs, you kind of wish they would go back and re-design all the base game zones.

No doubt. Compare a zone like south Grahtwood to Hew's Bane and it's laughable.

MLGProPlayer · March 2017

ShadowHvo wrote: »

I tend to agree, I only wish the city was actually larger and sprawling, like an actual city.

But that is a general thing in Elder Scrolls, for some wicked reason, the level designers believe that large cities are 'boring' (Lawrence Shriek outright said so in an interview near launch!) which well.. is quite false judging by the highly popular games that all surround around large sprawling cities like Deus Ex, The Witcher and even non-RPG games like GTA and Assassins Creed.

Large cities are fun because they're vast, interesting and exciting to play through, a depth that ESO.. unfortunately never have tapped into.

One day, I really hope that we'll see a large proper city in one way or another. Be it an upgrade of an existing city, or a new one entirely. Just imagine the entirety of Hews' Bane being one massive city, that would've been cool.

Orsinium and Abbah's Landing aren't large cities, but they are a huge step up from the base game in terms of design. The building density makes them feel like cities (albeit tiny ones). In the base game, cities were just villages of 10-20 houses sprawled across a flat, empty space. Wayrest and Stornhelm were the only ones that had a decent density.

I would love it if more RPG devs took a page out of CDPR's book when designing cities.

Spacemonkey · March 2017

As a whole I'd agree with Hew's Bane;

Quick List of very well Designed imo partial zones too though:
- Northern Grahtwood
- Northern Reaper's March (Arenthia could realllllly use unlocking and more amenities)
- The Rift, especially the southern edge and Riften
- I've always adored Bleakrock before the whole... thing;

GilGalad · March 2017

I have to agree!
Its a really beautiful zone

Lynx7386 · March 2017

At the moment I'd say I'm rather fond of khenarthi's roost and eyevea, I like islands.

I really want to see the rest of elsweyr soon though.

andreasranasen · March 2017

I'd say all the DLC zones are the best designed ones. But definitely Orsinium. For layout i prefer Cyrodiil. It's just something about Cyrodiil that i love. It's feels more "real", open and not as cluttered with trees, rocks and creatures as other zones.

Looking forward exploring Vvardenfell!

Dread_Guy · March 2017

Hew's Bane is nice, but I prefer the Gold Coast.

helediron · March 2017

Abah's Landing might be beautiful but functional it isn't. Wayshrine far away outside of town, guild vendors at opposite end etc. The design surely creates interesting moments for thievery. But i never would switch my home base from Rawl'kha to Abah's Landing.

MLGProPlayer · March 2017

andreasranasen wrote: »

I'd say all the DLC zones are the best designed ones. But definitely Orsinium. For layout i prefer Cyrodiil. It's just something about Cyrodiil that i love. It's feels more "real", open and not as cluttered with trees, rocks and creatures as other zones.

Looking forward exploring Vvardenfell!

Good call on Cyrodill.

It's by far the biggest map, which gives it a more realistic feel. There shouldn't be something going on every 20 meters.

Evergnar · March 2017

Nothing can compete with Wrothgar imo. DLC or otherwise.

ArchMikem · March 2017

ShadowHvo wrote: »

I tend to agree, I only wish the city was actually larger and sprawling, like an actual city.

That should be said for ALL major cities in the game. Mournhold, Riften, Sentinel, Firsthold, Arenthia, Dune etc. They're all at best, Towns, if not glorified Villages. The only actual city like places to me would be Abah's Landing, Wayrest, Orsinium, and maybe Windhelm.

Daraugh · March 2017

Hew's Bane is my favorite zone as well, I wish it could be expanded on in terms of questing. The atmosphere is amazing, the delves are awesome and the storyline is excellent. I wish, wish, wish I could buy a house or an apartment in Abah's Landing!

Looking forward to the anniversary thing being over so it can go back to being peaceful.

Strider_Roshin · March 2017

It is well designed, I still prefer Wrothgar though. Easily the worst Thieve's guild quest line I've played in an Elder Scrolls game though. At least they did a solid job with the Dark Brotherhood quest line.

Tannus15 · March 2017

Wrothgar is probably the best designed zone, but I'm a huge fan of Auridon.
I'll take tropical island with elven ruins any day.

brandonv516 · March 2017

Cold Harbour

That water...

ADarklore · March 2017

I'd say any more recent zones would be 'best designed' since ZOS has improved technology to work with... which means Morrowind should put them all to shame... hopefully.