Most of us here have played more than 1 MMO in the time we've been MMO gamers. In that time, what starter areas do you have fondest memories of, or which ones did you consider to be the best you've played?

Here are mine:

Greater Faydark (EQ)

Without a doubt one of the best MMO starter areas I could have experienced. I think I was lucky to have started my MMO career there, bc till to date there are few starter areas that are as magical and immersive as Greater Faydark in EQ was. It was everything that I expected a gloomy, magical forest as elven dwelling place to be, it immediately reminded me of Tolkien's Mirkwood. I mean, nights were REALLY dark there and you could really get lost in the woods, in what MMO is that possible these days, and when you lost your way it was also really frightening, having to find your corpse and all gear on it when you had no idea where you died was no joke.

Also, the music and ambient noise were excellent: all the night noises made you feel as if you were in a lively forest at night, and the music when you discovered the elven town Kelethin high in the trees or when you arrived at Felwithe: simply awesome.

How I don't know, but in some way the EQ developers managed to hit it right when developing EQ's world in a lot of ways. A lot of EQ's cities and starter areas were well done and atmospheric, but Greater Faydark was simply outstanding.

How rare it was I realised later when I played other MMO's like EQ2 and didn't find any of that magic back that EQ's starter areas had.

Pre-Searing Ascalon (Guild Wars)

An example of ANet's prowess early on to me was GW's starter area. It was a time that I held Blizzard in the highest esteem after the gaming nirwanas that a Diablo 2, Starcraft and Brood War and Warcraft 3 were. I expected a lot of any group of ex-Blizzard devs that went their own way, and the ANet devs didn't disappoint: pre-Searing Ascalon was a delight in the various environments that it showcased, the music fitted the merry, lighthearted atmosphere well, the unique style of graphics were astounding and in my eyes the best around at that time, and the combination of underground dungeons, colorful woods and snowy regions were a delight to travel in and explore, especially when you move on and find the same area horribly transformed after the cataclysmic Searing.

Tortage Island (Age of Conan)

A lot of people complain about AoC, but its starter area, Tortage island is actually very well done, with a lot of different environments and stuff to do in a relatively small area. It had a great persistent dungeon where everyone could adventure in, a lot of fun and interesting quests and I liked that the Destiny quests were different depending on what class you played, but they all together still told the same story, only from different angles. It was certainly one of the starter areas with the highest content density in MMO's and what I imagined what a rough low fantasy location like Conan's world in an MMO should be like: public persistent dungeon, houses where mini-quests bring you to, unsafe locations and streets in the town, and diffrerntly themed adventure areas close by. The only problem was that there was only 1 such area: after the 1st couple of times it quickly lost its charm, if there had been like 3-4 such areas then it would've been perfect.

So, what are you people's most favorite starter areas in the many years of MMO gaming and leveling you experienced?

Blackburrow - (EQ)

 

Tomb of Mythra - (DAOC)

 

Tatooine - (SWG PreCU)

 

Commonlands - (EQ2 - launch)

 

 

 

 

 

 

I can't remmember the names of the starter area WoW, Night Elf,Human, Orc.

 

But I've tried MMOs out never tried EQ 2, DAOC unfortunately.

Honestly MMOs were never for me, I just tried to like em the best i could.

 

However far as engagement and style, may I say a pre alpha area?

Actually nah I'll wait till it's release and then come back.

Misty Thicket.

Loved that little zone,with all the halflings running around after wasps, and the Rivervale theme tune still makes me smile.

Kelethin / Crushbone  -- EQ

Asheron's Call because there was no starter area. Pick a compass direction and run until you get one-shot by something then pick another direction and do the same thing. No walls, no zones, no directed paths, no limits other than your survivability.

Dark Elf Villiage in Lineage II.

Poeta in Aion.  I was blown away.

 

 

Lots of good starting zones from many mmos, but the starting zones in Warhammer online blew me away. From level 1 it felt like you are in a war.

tortage in AoC

ork starter area in war, flying in an orcapult, sticking stunties in barrels etc..

Starting out in Holtburg in Asheron's Call on Darktide. Best MMO exp of my life. Total all out war.

Easily Pre-Searing Ascalon. Shoot, there are still people there with characters that never leave... they manage to eventually level to 20 and never intend to exit there.

East Sarb. FFXI...Simply delicious.

Three that stand out of all:

Tortage (AoC) - just very well done and polished

Lands around Khal (Vanguard) - amazing view and scope, interesting quests

Shire (LoTRO) - one of the best MMO zones ever made

Freeport EQ!

Hutta - SWTOR

My favorite was Azuremyst Isle in WoW, it is the only one in any mmo that I don't dread replaying after the first couple times.

Eversong Woods and Ghostlands in WoW.  Pacing was great.  Progression gradually got harder.  Deatholme at 20 was as close to epic as one can get in a starter area.  Knucklerot and Luzran FTW!