Fall has started to paint the trees around here this time of the year. The morning air is brisk but the days are mild and sunny. Sunlight touched leaves turn from crimson to copper and gold. The brilliance of fall is breathtaking before it submits to winter cold.
Just this morning
Fall is a tricky season to get right in MMOs for its wide spectrum of colors and different moods. The Plains of Ashford in GW2 come to mind or LOTRO’s Trollshaws, both stunning in their own right. That reminds me that I wished games simulated the turning of seasons more dynamically and persistently than they usually do – just imagine Elwynn Forest going through the seasons with you, instead of seasonal themes being divided by static zones.
MMO forests be it fall, winter or spring, are some of the most popular zones among the player base. Design-wise I imagine it’s easier to create player immersion with a forest setting than a desert or plains, so plentiful are your options with forests. That makes them more design intense for sure, yet also more rewarding when done right. And then there’s jungles; forests of a different kind which by my anecdotal experience, are a lot less popular somehow than the classic, northern European or Canadian role models. Before Heart of Thorns launched, several bloggers were expressing their (premature) dislike for the concept of the new zones.
World of Warcraft is well-known for its jungle maps from Stranglethorn Vale and Un’Goro Crater to the more recent Tanaan Jungle. I remember detesting STV with a passion as an early WoW player – the colors, the noises, the way you had to navigate terrain. My partner on the other hand loved questing there, getting all his pages together for the Nesringwary questline while I bought most of mine on the auction house and thank god for no bind on pickup!
So, what is it with jungles that makes me cringe where forests don’t? I’d say most of it is guilt by association because frankly, I have very little experience with real world jungles and I understand there are hundreds of different kinds. Yet simplified, jungles mean heat and damp; they’re wild, sticky, oppressive, unnerving, chaotic and dangerous in my mind. And there are mosquitoes! Forests on the other hand are cool, composed and quiet. They can be dark and spooky of course but also very reassuring and lonely, in a good way. There is a special German word for the loneliness inside forests that cannot be adequately translated to English: “Waldeinsamkeit” (forest loneliness). It is a feeling of isolation and yet, being solemnly embraced by the forest.
The new zones in Heart of Thorns
I’m hearing good things about the new GW2 expansion so far, particularly about the zone design which is something of a surprise. There’s only so much you dare deduct from pre-expansion announcements, but I was certainly among those unimpressed by ANet’s information on Maguuma Jungle and its altered gameplay at the time. However, it seems my concerns were unfounded: Jeromai reports the jungle in HoT feels a lot different than expected, with amazing zone design and screenshots to show for it. Bhagpuss too has been full of praise since his first day impressions. Two strong votes from fellow explorers for an expansion I had no intention of acquiring anytime soon (damn youuu!).
I am currently overloaded with new games on Steam and subbed to FFXIV and Wildstar, where I have yet to make an earnest attempt at decorating the new plot. Also, I really don’t have much time for gaming at all right now so ARGH……I’ll just ignore everyone talking about the beauty of HoT henceforward, close my eyes and go lalallllaaaaaaaaaaaa I can’t hear youuuuu!
Ribbit. Ribbit. Don’t you want to talk to the cute tree-frog people and marvel at the adorable brave quaggans fighting against Mordremoth?
To fly and soar and glide like a leaf on the wind?
To be utterly utterly lost and turned around in Tangled Depths, a place I’d liken to the Old Forest and Moria in LOTRO and Southsun Cove combined?
No subscription required, so no obligation and all that?!
P.S. The theme music you hear at the log-in screen:
https://soundcloud.com/rpgfan-music/guild-wars-2-heart-of-thorns-theme
The tempter at my doorstep..!! I really love that theme 😀
I assume I will eventually get HoT, maybe over the Xmas holidays! I can’t say no to lovely forests. And the Old Forest was indeed amazing but nothing comes close to the Black Shroud maps in FFXIV, seriously. Remind me again why you aren’t playing that game? 🙂
Holy trinity. Slower paced JRPG-influenced combat. Sub fee. Not a fan of the Japanese FF aesthetic in MMOs. 😉
I’m still waiting for that reason not to give it a go? 😛
😉
“To be utterly utterly lost and turned around in Tangled Depths, a place I’d liken to the Old Forest and Moria in LOTRO and Southsun Cove combined?”
Thank you. You’ve succinctly encapsulated why I don’t like HoT.
There’s no way that can be the complete summary of all your loathing? 😛 I want details!
Twisty windy passages, VERTICAL, full of things that vant to suck your blood.
Heh. And here I thought you were going to mention SWTOR. 😉
There are forests in SWTOR? I wouldn’t know ^^
I’ve only just stuck my nose in first HoT zone and unlocked gliding… the lure of the Dark Side has been too strong. On the other hand, I have a necromancer in GW2 who has started down the path of the Reaper, and since she’s a sylvari she has the upper class English accent that would make her a Sith lord in SWTOR, so I could have the best of both worlds if I could only unlock enough hero points to complete her training. The challenges ion the new zones look all but impossible to get to, let alone do – maybe it would be easier for me to zerg around in WvW and unlock some points that way?
And if you have too many games to play – forget them all and sub to SWTOR for a month, just to check out the Knights of the Fallen Empire storyline. There’s about a dozen hours of AAA quality entertainment for the price of an indie game there, even if you don’t stick around for any of the MMO elements.
I have heard that the new zones in HoT aren’t exactly trivial but I would hope to solo them, otherwise that would clash with my private adventure mode.
And SWTOR just really isn’t my thang. 🙂 I have briefly played it and the theme, the graphics style, the combat – none of it suited me. Definitely acing the narrative aspects from all I know but given how much I enjoy FFXIV’s story while also digging its world and graphics (and music), that is just the better deal for me personally.
They are basically very much like Orr or Dry Top or the Silverwastes.
How doable a solo a player finds it depends on personal soloing skill and whether they don’t mind doing events out of order. One thing I especially like is that most of the events still make sense even if one isn’t chaining them towards meta and just stumbles across them organically.
However, if a player wants to achieve the meta-event of each map (read: world boss of core Tyria or Orr temples), then they will naturally find themselves /not/ soloing, mostly because a group will organically form or they will search out an organized group for better success chances.