16 replies to this topic

[Trevayne]

What are your favorite areas? (and why?)

I ask because I'm curious about what kinds of things people notice and what they enjoy in an area. I'm not looking for which monsters have the best drops, the most gold, or give the most experience, but what areas do you go back to simply because you enjoy them? What about the area makes it interesting to you? Is it the writing style? Unique puzzles? Great boss fights? Well-designed maps? Eye-numbing over-use of color?

Personally, one of my favorite areas has always been the Scarlet Daggers Guild. It's small, but each of the squares is unique. I like the variety of the writing and the storyline that progresses as you move through the area. It was one of the first areas to really connect different areas of Nightmist in a unique way, and I always thought that was under-used in NM.

[«™®?¨CHaÏNY¨?™»]

I <3 Necro and the barrier forest. You can train there quietly for weeks without spotting anyone and on a small party it's a great challenge to keep some babies alive. I also enjoy the thrill of soloing the tower on a level 21 druid with a handful of pots and the anticipation of the examine at the end to see if you have the drop.
I know the area well now but still lose a baby once in a while to a trap or the sludge and fumes, I never tire of the area or get bored reading the descriptions. The free mana helps too
I know it's a gruesome area in some of the descriptions but I like it morbid that way.
(My druid has been level 21 for 3 or more years so I can play necro on it hehe)

[Autek]

Entire area from Arilin to the Plains of Faravar - Colorful, great map, fairly challenging. A good variety of monsters, traps, /examines, /mumbles, etc. . . . Probably my favorite area in the game at the moment.

Harabec Dungeon - Large, multiple bosses, lots of different drops, whether they are valuable or not it's cool to have unique drops. Best of all, it's challenging with it's traps, kill to pass monsters, and final boss.

Chronos - Fairly large, good amount of key requirements, traps, poisons etc. Not terribly challenging, but has multiple bosses, and takes time to complete.


Those would have to be my favorites. . . I think the common theme is the difficulty, where they may take a good bit of time to complete, and can be done in one sitting. While I enjoyed Tirantek, it's simply HUGE, not to mention with all of the different stages of getting to the end, it takes a good amount of time.

Also, I like how those areas have a fantasy theme. . . I've always thought the museum is a rather dumb area for a fantasy game . . . I like the idea of dragons, goblins, magical portals etc. The simple fantasy type stuff.

Edited by Autek, 29 November 2007 - 09:41 PM.

[Prophet]

Tirantek - This is area is just clearly a thousand times better than every other area ingame. Mainly because it doesn't follow the basic mould for most areas ingame which are 1 dimensional i.e. Having to get some form of token to progress to the next stage. It does this by incorporating several "mini quests" into one storyline which all overlap each other and aid you in progressing to the next stage, as well as still containing some entirely seperate "mini quests".

Generally the fact that it has so much to do and is seperate from the rest of the nightmist world in a sense. It also contains many puzzles and the storyline certainly entertained me for a long time while I worked out the different sections and saw how they fitted into the overall plotline. This sort of thing can't be said for much of the other areas, take faravar for instance while it is still an excellent area, I had the entire thing mapped(in the sense of from beginning to the goods at the end) in just over 2 hours. While it is still a very nice area its not had to see that this won't keep most entertained for too long. Whereas I can go back to Tirantek whenever I like and be absorbed again in the area.

[Throwback]

I like the SDG for a couple or reasons. I like the fact the area is protected by thieves and you have to kill your way to get to their loot. I also like the variety of traps you encounter along the way. I like the gnoll fortress, especially below in the catacombs and labrotories. Simply because it's not high lvl dominated and requires a decent party to defeat the various key holders.

[joanna]

SDG. And heres a list of reasons

This was the area that basically got me into nm

At the time, rangers were a lot more powerful - an unspelled archranger could (and did) round anything. The typical 1-man 3-alt party was ranger ranger ranger, loaded with pots. And there was no 10-level limit. So it was somewhere away from the likes of chris/jenny/snoopi

You could kill the first sylva, and think you had beat the area, when half of it you hadnt even seen

You could kill the 2nd sylva and 1st relthon, ditto

What other area has a pink floyd song graffitied onto the wall?

sleeping quarters, power training, nuff sed

sleeping quarters, CATCHING people power training

Traps hurt you when you go the **WRONG** way, unlike sentant/tirantek/chronos/faravar (yes i do think huge-damage correct-path traps are pointless)

The way the 2 floors link together - there are 3 different places you can go between the levels, completely interlinked. Clan fights in that place were very entertaining

And of course, no 2 squares are the same.

As for the runners-up...

Chronos - best storyline of any area, runined by the fact you have to invis and storm through it coz people can abuse it by leaving crits in the temple to keep spy on the tk

Gendaras - very well made area, apart from one thing - its pointless. Should have had a boss with top-level gear drops right from the start.

Of the more recent areas, forest of sorrows and misty path are highly commended. Some areas i havnt really seen, especially the ones aimed at certain types of player, suck as tirantek, which is aimed at the players that always ends up getting stolen from, coz they refuse to use thier own alts, and the pally area, which i cant quite get enough paladins to have a proper attempt at.

[Freek]

Tirantek (1)- By Far, Pretty much same reasons as Prophet.

Chronos (2)- Not to hard after its mapped. But when new it deffenitly is with the confusing mazes that one rong turn = back to midd or begining. And the way to get there.

Dungeon (3)- See Auteks post.

[Hansol]

lol. i like barrier forrest to.. And the sdg and the road to the banshee.. nice peices of writting... takes a while... no one ever gets in the way... it's fun... and most of all... and most of all...









I LIKE THE WAY YOU MOVEEEEEEEEEEEE.

[Gaddy]

There are 10 or so areas that I really like...
I don't think it is a good time to explain or try to order them in a ranking system, but--

Chronos
Tirentek
Harabec/Dungeons
Scarlet Daggers
Mountains of Senate and Gnome Caves
Gnoll Catacombs
Swamps
Gendreas
Museum :-D
....there are a few of my well liked areas missing....

[Desendent]

Tirantek - This is area is just clearly a thousand times better than every other area ingame. Mainly because it doesn't follow the basic mould for most areas ingame which are 1 dimensional i.e. Having to get some form of token to progress to the next stage. It does this by incorporating several "mini quests" into one storyline which all overlap each other and aid you in progressing to the next stage, as well as still containing some entirely seperate "mini quests".

Generally the fact that it has so much to do and is seperate from the rest of the nightmist world in a sense. It also contains many puzzles and the storyline certainly entertained me for a long time while I worked out the different sections and saw how they fitted into the overall plotline. This sort of thing can't be said for much of the other areas, take faravar for instance while it is still an excellent area, I had the entire thing mapped(in the sense of from beginning to the goods at the end) in just over 2 hours. While it is still a very nice area its not had to see that this won't keep most entertained for too long. Whereas I can go back to Tirantek whenever I like and be absorbed again in the area.

tirantek owns

[Crane]

It isn't really fair for me to vote for the best area, but what I can say is that I stood on the shoulders of giants when I designed Tirantek and Castle Darksparrow - what I mean is that I took inspiration from the following areas:

Chronos - This area has a lot of technical brilliance behind its design in terms of the use of the Orb of Time, the constant reappearance of the Time Master in many different forms (incorporated into Lieutenant Burton in a way in Castle Darksparrow) and an intriguing storyline.

Harabec Dungeon - This area was the first that was truly designed for high-level alts rather than a group of players, in my opinion, and also the area that brought the death trap maze to infamy! The area's difficulty is what I was building from a lot of the time.

And a special mention (this came after Tirantek and around the same time as Castle Darksparrow if memory serves me well)...

Mandrake's Coliseum - A unique area in Nightmist. Despite me never being too sure of the tokens' use outside of gladiatorial fame, especially in regards to levelling on the 1-alt server (although I can understand how the area was underused before recipes appeared that made use of some of the prizes), I just love the monster designs. No two are the same, and some are like nothing seen in the realm; the Gargantuan Black Widow with her high HP and exceptionally strong poison (makes Cleanse invaluable and tempts you to take Antitoxins for emergencies), the Dwarven Enchanter and his range of play-things, to the solo-crit Veteran Gladiator, who cleverly taunts you and rubs it in your face that you have no alts or friends to help you out! Outside of gaming reasons, the descriptions were a great way for me to learn the names of certain artefacts (namely the sconce and the occasional adjective), so thank you Trevayne for that. I just feel sorry for Mandrake who was forced to build the structure, and almost guilty to be working towards a statue and playing into King Housmeld's plan... almost tempts me to commit regicide!

Edited by Crane, 30 November 2007 - 02:29 PM.

[Raylen]

Tirantek is probably the best. It's well-written and accurate. I like it because it's big, but there's enough to do. If I was feeling lazy, I'd just log on and find the hawk. If I was a bit more adventurous, I'd camp archmage. I was really up for a fight, I'd take on the bodyguards. And if I was dedicated (and I never was haha) I'd go and get a shield/jav/dagger/claws/armlet.

Dungeons I liked, but they are fairly linear.

And lol, zeum.

Edited by Raylen, 30 November 2007 - 12:14 PM.

[EvilDognapot]

I still like the SDG. PKing there was the most rewarding PK experience you could ask for. On multi, before the restriction, you would have to keep an eye on the entrance, or if you were entering be very wary. You couldn't actually see other theives so you had to look for signs of their presence, like the message you get for walking over traps, or following a series of missing doors. Back then you PK'd for high stakes, people came in with their savings to gold train and you wanted that money, but you had to earn it by not letting anyone know you were in there, and then finding the person without raising alarms. If they were smart they had lookouts in key positions and you would have to avoid them. Then once you found your target you would have to choose either a guaranteed portion of their money (killing the theif), or all of it (killing the player).

I can't imagine something that cool happening again in NM.

[Demented Kitty]

I personally like the Land of the dead area. Its a place where, if you want to be alone, not many go there. It used to be my safe haven on 1a, until i quit the 1a server. Not only is it a safe haven for some people, but the exp and gold there is at an average goodness. 250 gold a kill, plus 68 POD is rather nice. It was a place I could go when others annoyed me. So my vote goes for the Land of the Dead.

(plus i am an Egypt freak, so i love the pyramids )

[C0H33D]

Rose Garden/ Gnoll Fortress - Reminds me of the good old days

[Redheart]

I would agree with Chainy the Barrier Forest/Necro area for the same reasons she stated.
I have always enjoyed the Swamps for Training since I started playing long long ago.
I also like the Rose Garden for the descriptions and story line.

I have only been to Tirantek 2x and not lived long enough to explore there.
I would like to go back there eventually.

[Hansol]

The rose garden was suppose to be extended but someone never got around to doing it... It's all written up and ready to go.. someones just being lazy. HOW RUDE.