During the BWE3 and the stress test today, I played the majority of the time spread between Queensdale and the Asura low level areas.  I've played mostly in Queensdale throughout the betas, and I really love that zone.  So much atmosphere, space and variety in what you can do and see.  

I've tried very hard to get into the Asura area, but even though I like the looks / aesthetics, I just can't seem to get into it in the same way that I have in the human area.  Do other people have this impression?   I somehow just don't "believe" the Asura area in the same way, so can't get immersed.

I've also strictly avoided the other race starter areas, other than a quick sightseeing tour to the Charr one, so I wonder what other people's impressions are for those areas?  Do you also feel the design of Queensdale is superior or are some of the other low level zones just as well designed....

 

 

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Originally posted by gelraen
During the BWE3 and the stress test today, I played the majority of the time spread between Queensdale and the Asura low level areas.  I've played mostly in Queensdale throughout the betas, and I really love that zone.  So much atmosphere, space and variety in what you can do and see.  

I've tried very hard to get into the Asura area, but even though I like the looks / aesthetics, I just can't seem to get into it in the same way that I have in the human area.  Do other people have this impression?   I somehow just don't "believe" the Asura area in the same way, so can't get immersed.

I've also strictly avoided the other race starter areas, other than a quick sightseeing tour to the Charr one, so I wonder what other people's impressions are for those areas?  Do you also feel the design of Queensdale is superior or are some of the other low level zones just as well designed....

 

 

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I definitely prefer Queensdale, maybe because if feels SO human, and well, I am one. I don't dislike the other starting areas (well, ok, I dislike the Charr starting area, although I like their other areas fine), but at least the 1-19ish Queensdale areas are my favs. I like the Norn starter area, but the zones that are all snow... well I live on the Northern Plains, so that's like looking out my windows 6 months a year. The Sylvari areas are pretty nice, but I HATE their city (navigating, not aesthetics).

Each one of the starter areas has a differnt feel to it.

 

My favorite is the Sylvan. I also like the Human and Norn areas very much. Charr is ok. Asura is my least favorite but it's grown on me after going through it 4 or 5 times now.

 

What I find most interesting is that I'm not burned out on the starter areas. Even though I've completed the map on each one there is a lot of stuff that I haven't seen in each one.

I prefer the Norn areas over the rest.

My fave is the Sylvari area, I like the Charr one as well

Interesting (and good) that there are some good impressions at least on the others.  I have a feeling that I'll like the Norn area, as I really get into that whole northern/pine-foresty type atmosphere.

I *also* find it really interesting that after playing up 4 different characters, primarily in the Queensdale zone, I'm still not tired ot it.  I guess part of that is that the combat is just so fun that I enjoy the attack and defend events that pop up there, because it's just fun to spontaneously group up with people to try and defend or retake an outpost (I imagine that WvWvW is a lot like that, but am saving that for later on after release).

 

I'm such a noob, didn't know which zone you were talking about until I read the second post.  I fully completed the Norn and Human starter zones, while dabbling in the rest.  Norn was my favorite by far, yet my least favorite playable race.  Love me some snow zones.

Some of the Norn starting area is a little dull, but it picks up a bit later on.  I do like Queensdal as well but, givin the time restraints, I desided to stick with the Norn only.  It wasn't as bad as some think, though it does start off a bore, I'll give it that.  Not to post any spoilers, I think I would have to rate my favorite starting race zones in:

1) Norn  Starts slow but picks up later.

2) Asura The houses and the way the city felt alive!

3) Sylvari Haven't played much of this, so I am guessing it is a good, immersive area based off what I had been hearing.

4) Human Queensdale is my second favorite, without a doubt.  Beautifully mapped and the world is very alive!

5) Charr Charr was a tough pick for me, I felt like I was betraying the Ascalonions.

I love queensdale, but I really enjoy the wild open feel of the norn area.  With the charr, the atmosphere is awesome and epic, but you really have to move past the lower level areas to get to the cool stuff.  The sylvari starting zone made me feel quite lost, but not exactly in a bad way.  I really liked how the zone felt as you got farther away from the grove.  The asura zone is cool, chaotic, full of awesome buildings (strongest feature of the zone is the architecture), but it doesn't lead players out and away like the others do (that might just be me though...)

I think I prefer the norn and human starting areas, but the Asura are SO well animated that I enjoy just seeing them run around. I understand what you mean about the immersion though. I think I will make sure I choose a human to just explore with. I haven't tried yet, but I'm hoping I can turn off the map, and any sort of indicators off. I just want to follow my nose (so to speak) with at least one character, and see how immersed I can get.

I've spent the most time in Queensdale and love it. I really like the Norn starting zone. The snow ball fight heart task later on in the zone is one of my favorites. That entire settlement is a lot of fun.

I get what you are saying about the Asuran starting zone. I felt much the same way, until I spent more time there. I think, for me anyway, the very alien nature of the architecture, while cool, also caused some "discomfort" due to the unfamiliarity of the surroundings. After a while, I started to get that most of the structures where labs, not homes, or farms or civic structures, but places where "serious" Asuran work takes place. I also began to warm to the aesthetics and appreciate the change of scenery. The Asuran starting zone would be just as at home in a Sci-fi MMO as a fantasy MMO, which is actually sort of fun. :)

I didn't see much of the Sylvari lands. My third character will be Sylvari, (Human and Norn for #1-2) and I figure by that point I will welcome a starting area that I have no familiarity with.

I actually like the Charr starting area a lot. I'll eventually play a Charr, but I often like to visit their starting zone with Human and Norn characters, in order to change things up a little. I also did some Charr Personal Story instances with a friend and I thought the story line I saw was great! I like zones with that autumnal look and feel, so that's a plus and I also like the industrial steam punk cultural aesthetic.

With the exception of Personal Story, any race can just as easily accomplish their early level progression in any starting area, which I love. I try to mix and match a bit with each character. With easy access to the racial cities via the Asuran Gates in Lion's Arch, by way of the PvP "be in the mists" function on the Hero screen, there's really no reason to bind yourself to only one starting zone.

With the Headstart, I plan on rolling a Human Elementalist, doing Queensdale until level 7, then hopping over to either the Norn or Charr starting zones to do their level 2-6 content. I plan to do more mixing and matching through level 25, before trying to stick to one of the two primary zone paths that can be charted to level 80. I'll do Personal Story when ever I'm the proper level, but otherwise I'll just be doing a lot of exploring and doing content I find in my travels.

My only play time was yesterdays stress test and i loved the Charr race but like many in this thread found the Human zone to be the most fun.  So 2 questions

 

1. Is it easy to jump between starter zones ? Lets say i roll a Charr but i want to play the human starter zone will it be easy to jump back and forth when it comes to lvling in the human area and then returning to the Charr zone for personel story ?

 

2. Lets say i play out the Charr starter zone (1-15) will  higher lvl content eventually lead me to the human area ? I know about leveling scaling in this game but I am talking about LVL approite content and not back tracking to the starter area at say lvl 25 or so...  

 

  

Originally posted by thunderC

My only play time was yesterdays stress test and i loved the Charr race but like many in this thread found the Human zone to be the most fun.  So 2 questions

 1. Is it easy to jump between starter zones ? Lets say i roll a Charr but i want to play the human starter zone will it be easy to jump back and forth when it comes to lvling in the human area and then returning to the Charr zone for personel story ?

 2. Lets say i play out the Charr starter zone (1-15) will  higher lvl content eventually lead me to the human area ? I know about leveling scaling in this game but I am talking about LVL approite content and not back tracking to the starter area at say lvl 25 or so...    

1.  I just tried the wPvP yesterday, and there is a portal leading to the main city (Lion's Arch) from the battlefield.  There are portals to each of the starting areas from the main city, and to reach the WvWvW battlegrounds you can join from any location by using the UI.  

2.  I explored the Charr start a bit yesterday, and it looked like the 15-25 area met up with the Norn 15-25 area from what I saw. Not sure about further connections, maybe someone more informed will chime in.

2.  I explored the Charr start a bit yesterday, and it looked like the 15-25 area met up with the Norn 15-25 area from what I saw. Not sure about further connections, maybe someone more informed will chime in.

 I could live with that, I love snowy/cold enviroments like the Norn area. The more i think about it the more i feel i should just go with the flow and take whatever path i end up taking. I feel like I will get more out of this game if I DON'T have any predertimed plans as where to go and how to play.....

Originally posted by thunderC

My only play time was yesterdays stress test and i loved the Charr race but like many in this thread found the Human zone to be the most fun.  So 2 questions

 

1. Is it easy to jump between starter zones ? Lets say i roll a Charr but i want to play the human starter zone will it be easy to jump back and forth when it comes to lvling in the human area and then returning to the Charr zone for personel story ?

 

2. Lets say i play out the Charr starter zone (1-15) will  higher lvl content eventually lead me to the human area ? I know about leveling scaling in this game but I am talking about LVL approite content and not back tracking to the starter area at say lvl 25 or so...  

1. It's very easy to jump in between starting zones. All starting cities have asura portals that teleport you to Lion's Arch for free. This means that you can go to any starting city/area easily for free, so you can play with friends from other races or play starting areas you enjoy more. Also, once you have unlocked waypoints for those areas, you can teleport between waypoints with a click of a button on the map (although it will cost you a small coin fee) for easy access to wherever you want to go.

2. All races have their own personal 1-15 zone. The 15-25 zones may be shared for some races. Afterwards, the idea of the map design is for all 3 races to converge to 25-30 Gendarren Fields. I assume there will a personal story segment which will lead you to Gendarren Fields, which then leads you to Lion's Arch (although as I stated earlier, technically you can reach Lion's Arch right from the beginning).

For the Charr to reach the human areas on foot, they would have to go from their 15-25 area Diessa Plateau, to the 1-15 Norn area Wayfarer Foothills, which leads to the Norn 15-25 area Snowden Drifts, that leads to Gendarren Fields, which can then lead to the 15-25 "human area" Kessex Hills. Not sure if you can technically call Gendarren Fields a "human area" or not, but it does have towns with humans and centaurs which are the human's biggest opposition in their areas. So if you wanted to walk through the maps from the Charr starting area to the human areas, then you'll have to at least go through some "lower level" areas to get there. Good thing there is level scaling.

 

Edit: OT

Personally I probably like queensdale the most, with metrica province right after that. I think starting zones preference varies on the person, and what they think makes the area great for them may not be great for others. Some may like the snowy aesthetics of the Norn areas, the green areas of the human, the forest of the sylvarii, the brown fields of the charr, or the technologically superior asura areas. Some may not like areas because they feel the areas seem empty with less

Here's my listing of starting area preferences in order:

1. Human Area: Looks beautiful, has a variety of objectives in events and hearts, doesn't feel as empty compared with some other races, and I prefer humans the most out of all the races.

2. Asura Area: I love the personality of the area, the flavor text is very amusing, and I love the asuran technology with unique buildings and architecture that I've never seen in other games.

3. Norn Area: The Norn areas look really beautiful, and I really like the aesthetics of both their greener and snowy areas. These areas felt a bit empty at times though (at least during the time i went during bwes), but they were very memorable to me. Some of their hearts need more dynamic events to spicen up the areas, so they don't feel like boring tasks.

4. Sylvarii Area: I really love the unique and beautiful plantlife in the zone. Like the Norn area though, some of the places, especially hearts need more dynamic events around them so that people doing hearts won't feel like they are doing boring tasks. For example, the infiltrate Nightcourt area heart really needs more activities or events to make it more interesting.

5. Charr Area: I personally don't like the yellow field aesthetic as much as the other areas, and I haven't exactly gone through the areas in a "normal" way (tried 15-25 areas, then 1-15 areas on a character). My opinion might change at release, as I haven't really gotten a solid playthrough in these areas compared with the other race zones.

Queensdale was by far my favorite due to spacing and size.  Norn area was a close 2nd but it isnt foreveryone especially if you dont like lots of snow.  I never got a chance to play the Char area but that looks pretty good too.  As for the others, I hated the Asuran and Slyvari, esp the Slyvari because it was way to linear and felt smaller then the others.

I personally prefer Metrica Province because of the flavor. I thoroughly enjoyed having to do maths (incorrectly) as part of reknown hearts. That really topped the asura off for me.

They all have thier own kind of charm I think, well... I have not tried the charr starting area yet. It feels very weird and alien to me heh

I've tried them all and I like them for different reasons.  Queensdale is bustling with activity, the Asura zone is full of great voice acting and dialogue, etc.  

The Norn area starts out pretty casual, but don't be fooled.  It gets hectic fast enough and the lvl 10 + zone north of the starting area is one of the best times I've had in the betas.  Lots of snow and violence.

I don't like at all Asura area it looks so strange to me, but i don't like asura race at all it is so childish. Human area is most atractive. Sylvari area is ok, something like wow elves starting place. I know only one thing i will level classes in all starting areas except Asura because it reminds me on wow gnomes and i hated that race so much in wow