Top 3 most and least favorite Zone?

  • Elsonso
    Elsonso
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    Overall i do not feel the artists get enough credit at zos. Whatever they are doing, whether crafting assets are creating scenes they continue to make the game a beautiful visual experience. I upgraded my gaming pc recently and viewing the newer zones is pretty amazing now.

    Yes, the world building team gets high marks from me, even if the chapter or DLC is lacking. My objections with the different zones are usually with the decisions that limit the execution, not with the execution.

    For example, I am not a fan of Solstice. Solstice looks great, but it reminds me too much of Summerset Isle Jr. A design decision.

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  • SeaGtGruff
    SeaGtGruff
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    I honestly can't pick most favorites and least favorites, because I enjoy each zone yet could probably find something about it that I'm not crazy about if I want to criticize it. Also, my time spent in each zone can vary a great deal from week to week. So the following is not meant to be definitive in any way.

    Vvardenfell -- This was my introduction to TESO, and it holds a great deal of nostalgia for me for that reason, as well as for its emotional connections to TES III: Morrowind. It's where most of my characters are parked, except for a few who are parked in other zones for questing purposes. My biggest nitpick about it would be that the Red Mountain and Sheogorad regions aren't accessible.

    Glenumbra -- I think this was the third zone I visited, by taking a boat from Vivec City to Wayrest while trying to turn in my daily crafting writs. (The way I remember it is that back then the quest pointers for turning in my daily crafting writs were pointing to different cities in the Daggerfall Covenant alliance zones, such as Wayrest and Shornhelm and Daggerfall, although I'm not sure why that would be unless it had something to do with my crafting levels in each of the crafting skill lines.) Once I arrived in Wayrest, I followed the quest pointers westward into Glenumbra. I was so excited when I finally reached Daggerfall, due to its connection to TES: Chapter II - Daggerfall, even though I hadn't yet played that game at the time. I love Glenumbra's lush greenery, and can't think of anything noteworthy to nitpick about. Later on I decided to park my main character in Daggerfall for several months for doing daily crafting writs and just getting to know the zone better, and my primary housing on PCNA is there-- Captain Margaux's Place, which is cozy and conveniently located. I own nearly every player housing on PCNA, but that little house is where I put my transmute station and standard crafting stations, along with my assistants, so I go there often.

    Alik'r Desert -- I've never lived in or near a desert, but I love the whole desert vive here. But most of all, I like how there are so many Dwarven delves in this zone. It also has Volenfell, which was the first dungeon that I ever soloed. I never tire of soloing that dungeon. Aside from the nonstop dolmen train (which I very rarely join in on), there are at least three locations with a lot of zombies for players to kill when they're farming XP to level up their characters.

    Cyrodiil -- Aside from any PvP considerations, I love Cyrodiil and how large it is. There are a lot of delves to explore, and while they aren't as fancy as the delves in later zones, most of them have more than one boss to kill. It can also be enjoyable to do the daily town quests, although in some of the towns the dailies can be problematic to pick up and turn in. Scouting missions can be fun to do if a player is new to Cyrodiil and wants to try to avoid PvP, and sneaking carefully from one side of Cyrodiil to the other can be a great way to become familiarized with the landscape, learn the impassable places and where to go to gain access to each third of the map, and discover all of the little scenarios which dot the landscape, such as refugee camps, old picnic spots where bad things happened, or destroyed and abandoned houses. But once I lost my fear of getting killed in PvP and discovered how much fun (and frustrating) it can be to capture or defend keeps, these days I mostly go to Cyrodiil to earn some AP by capturing resources and hopefully getting into some XvX battles where my side isn't terribly outnumbered or just too outclassed.

    Imperial City -- There, I said it! I used to enjoy doing all six daily district quests as a way to quickly burn up any large amounts of enlightenment that I'd accumulated, but I'm currently doing just a single district daily (to earn a Siege of Cyrodiil Merit) and then heading into the sewers to farm TV. I acquired all of the skyshards years ago, and have killed all but one of the stationary bosses in the EP section, but apparently there are still discoveries to be made, such as lore books I'd previously missed. I also need to branch out into the AD and EP sections to become more familiar with their layouts and get better at fighting all of the stationary bosses, some of which I've only fought once with other players of my alliance, although I did solo several of them back when I was trying to clear the zone map.
    I've fought mudcrabs more fearsome than me!
  • Cazador
    Cazador
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    Favorites
    1. Northern elsweyr - I love desert maps in games and this is the best one in my opinion
    2. High Isle- I just really like this zone in general with it's mix of island aesthetic and mideaval architecture, plus I like the druidic stuff
    3. Clockwork city- it's just so different to everything else

    Ones I dislike
    1 Wrothgar- I generally dislike snowy maps for some reason and unlike a lot of people i actually don't like orsinium's quest line that much. It's one of two questlines in the game i struggle to complete without losing interest.
    2. Murkmire ‐ I don't like swamps and it's my least favorite dlc overall
    3. Shadowfen- swamps again.
    Edited by Cazador on September 11, 2025 4:12PM
  • tmacedo
    tmacedo
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    I will group some because I feel they're complete together:

    Favs
    1. Elsweyr, North and South
    An obvious choice. Zone story was awesome, from prologue to epilogue, love the lore, khajiit, ancient dragon hunters, Tharn, etc. I remember my head exploded first time i confronted a Dragon in The Demon Weapon, even if its scripted win. I was at my peak on hype within ESO. Landscape-wise another win for ZOS: Love the Stitches and canyon-like structure from the middle, the northern more Savannah and Southern more tropical forest, which leads to south elsweyr and the coast, and Tideholm. All lovely. Also Sunspire. I also love the feeling odf everytime you face a dragon you gotta cross one of those bridges, like a prologue to the fight. The only thing i dont like here is the empty gap between north and south on the map.

    2. High Isle, Amenos, Galen, Yffelon
    Put all those together because they're all alike. While I like most of the Zone's Story, was expecting more for a "more political plot", but liked the epilogue on Yffelon, the Maormer and the druid stuff. Landscape-wise beautiful, love the contrast between forest and lava in Galen, all the druid settlements and the general classic medieval fantasy of the bretons. Vastyr is my favorite city of the game hands down. Love the uniqueness of ESO druids ams their lore.

    3. Clockwork city
    Someone said above the otherwordly feeling here. Just awesome. I just wish it was a full, bigger zone. The steampunk, mechanjcal ambient are all very good to me. I have the same feeling from Corpus Facilities on Venus in Warframe. The story was awesome too, my fav quest in the game where you help the crows and the final Seth's talk, Fyr, very nice. Halls of Fabrication should belong here...

    Disliked
    1. Blackwood
    Most of the area are feels very very generic. Was expecting more swamps, which start to appear south, but just a small part. They could've explored more the longhouse emperor's lore but it went quickly to Oblivion lore...When it goes to Oblivion it turns the super cliche good vs evil. Also hate Eveli, dont like her character at all. Its associates dungeons feels very much the same for me, fire everywhere, tho i like black drake villa and red petal lore.

    2. Stonefalls.
    Not much to say but the zone feels very depressing for me.

    3. Apocrypha
    More lore enriches the game, which is always nice. While i find interesting the aspects and thoughts around Knowledge within Mora, this isnt much for me. But I like its here.

    Honorable mention
    I am very fond of The Rift. While I find its zone story weak for the most part for a final zone, I played through it by the ens of a year with all Christmas vibe. The loading screen art grew in me as a very good nostalgia feeling towards it. Its snowy but not so much. Every year near Christmas I remember that zone.
  • Xarc
    Xarc
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    My TOP3+1:
    • 1. The Reach (my main character's home)
      01a1-Crevasse.jpg
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    • 2. Summerset (<3)
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    • 3. Gold Coast (+special mention to sound design ambiance)
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    • 3bis. Hew's Bane (of course)
      01a1-hewsbane1.jpg
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      For me theses 4 are masterpieces

    Top -3: (least favorite)
    • 1- stonefalls (need some serious makeup)
    • 2- shadowfen (need some serious makeup)
    • 3- west weald (I don't know why, but the coloring of this area is a failure, as is the atmosphere. As much as I loved GoldCoast, I find this one bland and with too flashy and unpleasant colors. It's a real shame...)

      + eyevea, little place but far from pleasant/pretty/interesting

    Thank you to the designers at Zenimax for this artistic work. It's always a pleasure to stop, take a moment, and appreciate the beauty of the place.
    Edited by Xarc on September 24, 2025 9:12PM
    @xarcs FR-EU-PC -
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    "Death is overrated", Xarc
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  • Kappachi
    Kappachi
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    Favorites -
    Summerset
    Galen
    Western Skyrim

    Least Favorites -
    None.

    I enjoy traveling every zone, just randomly opening antiquities to give a direction to travel, going to the various zones for treasure map excursions where I bought a bunch of maps at once, etc. There isn't really a single map I dislike, they all have varied content, maybe one of the NPCs in Telvanni Peninsula sounded like it had a voice actor that didn't try but the map itself is good so I don't see a reason to dock points there.
  • Radiate77
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    My base game list!

    Good!
    • Rivenspire
    • Auridon
    • Greenshade
    Bad! (Underdeveloped)
    • Alik’r Desert
    • Eastmarch
    • Shadowfen

    Rivenspire, man can I just say wow? Going through that story the first time it was so exciting, and I loved the morality choices. Auridon was great being able to ally with our faction leader to explore an Altmer region for the first time, and I feel like it set up the future zones pretty well. Greenshade benefit from the prior setup of two great zones, and I loved getting to explore Nirn’s equivalent to a safari.

    For Alik'r Desert, Eastmarch, and Shadowfen, there isn’t much to say, as all three felt lacking in depth, with no systems to play off of their unique settings, and stories that felt bland until the last few quests of their respective zones.

    My DLC list!

    Good!
    • Summerset
    • Imperial City
    • Blackreach
    Bad!
    • High Isle
    • Blackwood
    • Clockwork City

    Summerset has the perfect blend of story, scenery, and systems. Imperial City is a close second, as it introduced an entirely new PvP region in one of the most iconic TES locations, and Blackreach was done very well, really giving that sense of exploration and reward.

    High Isle felt to me, extremely immature and predictable. I was not a fan of the over-the-top flamboyance which felt mocking to Breton culture. A little bit here, a little bit there, fine. When you’re getting cat-called by NPCs it’s crossed a line. If anyone were to ask me, I’d say u35 and High Isle is when ESO really died to a lot of people. That said, Blackwood wasn’t much better, and while the actual patch and combat balance were great, I was not a fan of the story or scenery, it felt to me like filler for Deadlands, and Clockwork City felt extremely small, and entirely avoidable as a story.
  • AzuraFan
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    My choices are based on the zones themselves, not on the stories or NPCs or anything.

    Favourites:

    Vvardenfell
    Blackwood
    Auridon

    Honourable mentions: Telvanni Peninsula, the Deadlands.

    Zones I like the least:

    Shadowfen
    Apocrypha
    Blackreach

    Not so honourable mentions: Alik'r Desert, Murkmire, the part of Solstice I've seen, all the starter zones.

    Honestly, though, there aren't any zones I hate. They're all okay, but there are zones I love to adventure in, and zones I don't care for as much.
  • ElderSmitter
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    3 most favorite

    Clockwork (all time Favorite)
    Summerset
    N. Elsweyr

    3 Least Favorite

    The Deadlands
    The Reach
    Murkmire
  • OutLaw_Nynx
    OutLaw_Nynx
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    Favourite

    Auridon
    The Rift
    Summerset

    Despise

    Malabal Tor
    Greenshade
    North/South Elsweyr
  • Hapexamendios
    Hapexamendios
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    Favorites

    Wrothgar
    Summerset
    Western Skyrim

    They offer a variety of terrain and are the most aesthetically pleasing to me

    Least favorite

    Shadowfen
    Murkmire
    Blackwood

    Swamps suck
  • Eisengreifer
    Eisengreifer
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    from a purely aesthetic point of view, disregarding quests and content:

    Favs:
    Northern Elsweyr - especially the southern part. I'd like to go on vacation with Razum's family
    High Isle - Steadfast Manor is where I'd like to retire one day
    Clockwork City - I totally dig that steampunk vibe

    Least Favs:
    all realms of Oblivion - I'm glad that they exist and think they are well done, I just don't enjoy the aesthetics
    Summerset&Auridon - Altmer and me = not gonna happen. Neither enjoy their style, nor their attitude
    Blackwood - felt like a huge disappointment to me

    Honorable mentions:
    Hew's Bane - for Abah's Landing, my favorite town in the game
    Wrothgar - for Orsinium, close second to Abah's Landing
    Edited by Eisengreifer on September 26, 2025 5:28AM
  • BlueViolet
    BlueViolet
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    Favourites -

    Rivenspire - I love its craggy, moody areas.
    Summerset / Auridon - Warm and pretty
    Clockwork City - Its so unique

    Honourable Mentions - Fargrave ( still disappointed in no inn room there ) Bangkorai, N. Elsewyr, Hews Bane, Vvardenfell


    Least Favourite -

    Craglorn - it just kind of ... there. I honestly don't find a great deal interesting about it.
    Murkmire
    Shadowfen - In both of these areas I feel like I can't take two steps without being attacked by some random mob. Also I bet they smell like a gaseous marsh :D



    EU / NA / PC
  • Qagh
    Qagh
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    I love khajiit and i play only khajiit. My favs are ofc:

    Northern Elsweyr
    Southern Elsweyr
    Reaper's March

    I like the other zones too. There are no zone dislikes for me.
    CP 2900+ PC/EU

    Ich habe so viele Khajiit, dass ich eine ganze Kolonie gründen könnte.
  • Northwold
    Northwold
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    Favourites

    - Hew's Bane for design and originality
    - Murkmire for design and originality
    - Tossup between Northern Elsweyr and Wrothgar for design and originality, though Wrothgar probably wins because so much of Elsweyr feels inaccessible or just empty.

    Least favourites

    - Badlands / Fargrave -- can't stand the limbo vibe, the excessive, nauseating colour grade, and the music makes me want to be anywhere else. A shame as Fargrave architecturally is pretty nice.
    - All the base game forested zones. Annoying obstructions to getting from A to B, annoying stranglers, cobbled together on napkin wood elf "lore", etc.
    - Blackwood. It feels unfinished (unsurprisingly given Covid) in a way Badlands and Fargrave oddly don't.
    Edited by Northwold on September 26, 2025 1:34PM
  • Jaimeh
    Jaimeh
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    My top three picks are:

    -Auridon
    -Stormhaven
    -Arkthzand Caverns

    I'm also fond of Artaeum, Summerset, Deshaan, CWC, and parts of the Rift, Eastmarch, and Cyrodiil, as well as the realms of Evergloam, the Coloured Rooms, the Shimmering Sands, and the Jonelight Path. The game has a lot of beautiful places :smile:

    I'm not as fond of:

    -Blackwood
    -Coldharbour
    -The Apocrypha

    I also don't like parts of Stonefalls, Malabal Tor, the Deadlands, Rivenspire, and Shadowfen, though they all have some cool areas here and there as well, just overall not my favourite vibe.
  • Mesite
    Mesite
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    Top 3 favourite:
    Gold coast. Possibly because I enjoyed the Dark Brotherhood quests in Oblivion and Skyrim
    Western Skyrim. I liked the story and underground areas
    Apocrypha. Genius. The first chapter I had finished in years
    Least favourite:
    Fargrave/Deadlands DLC. I can see what they were trying to do
    Clockwork City. I like my steampunk monocle I can wear from that time, but not the zone
    How's Bane. I tried joining the Thieves Guild, but mostly just use the basic skill to access treasure troves. I never finished the story, even though many have said it's the best area/DLC ever
    Edited by Mesite on September 28, 2025 2:52PM
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