Network Sites: FPSguru.com RTSguru.com UnboundGamer.com
Login:  Password:   Remember?  
Show Quick Gamelist Jump to Random Game
Games:567  Guilds:2,961
Members:1,440,513  Online:0
Guests:0  Posts:4,571,020

Newsroom

Newsroom

Filter Week Filter Game
RSS

General : Large Video Game Worlds Size Comparison

Posted May 07, 2010 by Michael Bitton

Kotaku's Mike Fahey discovered an interesting image over on Digg that provides us with a visual comparison of many of gaming's largest game worlds, MMOs included.

In the article, Fahey asks us, "Does size matter? Compare the size of these seven video game words to the amount of enjoyment you got out of playing the game."

Many MMO gamers and especially our readers here at MMORPG.com often regard a large open world as being key to a great MMOG. Read below for a breakdown of MMO game world sizes according to the above image:

World of Warcraft -- 80mi2

Asheron's Call -- 500mi2

Guild Wars: Nightfall -- 15,000mi2

The Lord of the Rings Online-- 30,000mi2

If you've played more than one of the above games did you find the one with the comparitively larger world more enjoyable as a result? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

Digg [via Kotaku]

 
 
skeaser writes:

Hmm, can't seem to find it, how big is Vanguard's world of Telon?

New Post Quote
5/07/10 7:25:46 PM
 
gameguy369 writes:

I find it interesting that LotRO is ridiculously larger than WoW, yet, I dont think most people would say the content is all that greater. I am now a WoW-fanboy, but I used to play it, and gotta give Blizz credit wheres its due.

New Post Quote
5/07/10 7:26:44 PM
 
xaldraxius writes:

Asheron's Call's 500 square miles seemed a lot larger before fast travel/ portal summoning was added. As for GW and LoTR I haven't played either of those games enough to notice the size of the world.

New Post Quote
5/07/10 7:27:34 PM
 
Soulrift writes:

Asheron's Call's wide open world really FELT wide and open because it wasn't divided into very tight, distinct zones, the way WoW, EQ2, DAoC, LOTRO, and most other games are split up. It really felt huge to run and run across forests, deserts, mountains, and it all shaped together into a believable world (for the most part).

I'm surprised they don't mention EVE online, which I suppose would be on a galactic scale and many magnitudes larger than anything else.

However, with both EVE and Daggerfall, although the worlds are technically large, you don't really "go" to most of the places; fast-travel modes take you across the vast majority of those distances without actually experiencing it, making the game "feel" like a small, zoned world. Only in Asheron's Call did you feel like you were in a big, open world.

New Post Quote
5/07/10 7:35:26 PM
 
kaiser3282 writes:

IMO, its more about what is in the world, not the size of it. If that world is broken up into a bunch of smaller zones and instances and stuff, and you get everywhere by clicking an npc/item and insta-taveling there, then the "size" of the world doesnt matter nearly as much as if it were one big open world to explore. Along with that, theres also the matter of how unique the different places in the world are. Id much rather have a medium sized world with lotsof unique, memorable places and new things to do in each area, than a massive world that just feels pretty much the same everywhere you go and travelling around doesnt really offer you anything new to do or explore.

New Post Quote
5/07/10 7:36:41 PM
 
Mandalore writes:

Dark and Light: 15.000 mi²

Lotro has a larger world than DnL? - Cant really belive it, because it takes 12-15min to climb on the largest mountain (without flying mount ^^) ...

New Post Quote
5/07/10 8:58:50 PM
 
teratya writes:

My guess is Vanguard would dwarf all of the MMOs listed there. That world is HUGE!!!!

New Post Quote
5/07/10 10:36:56 PM
 
shava writes:

One thing to remember about LOTRO is that it is representing a world that used to be more thickly settled, but has had the "fall of Rome" syndrome -- all the infrastructure has fallen apart.  In LOTR, it takes months of time for people to walk across what we can get across in a few hours, jogging, less by mount, even less via the stable system.

So the scale of the place is actually telescoped down, one an experiential basis -- it has to be, or it would take weeks to get from city to city to get the next "stable" (teleport point) registered for your character, and no one would put up with that.

But true to the books, the world is full of curious ruins and lost forts and cities, elven vaulted domes smashed like filigree eggs a giant baby tired of, all the right stuff.  It's meant to be desolate, and the content is concentrated (as per lore) in the outposts of civilization that survive.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 1:46:21 AM
 
bobfish writes:

LOTRO is quite big, but it feels small because there is little variation in there, everything looks the same.

 

I don't think Vanguard is that big, it is just the variation of climates / themes that makes it feel large.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 5:42:32 AM
 
Dinendae writes:

Another thing to consider for LotRO is that you can run (or ride your mount) all over the world without actually zoning from one 'zone' to another. The game may not look it, but a lot of the regions are very large. A good example of this is the Shire; the size is more noticeable there, as you have tons of FedEx types of quests. I'm guessing that Rohan (when it gets released) is going to be quite large as well. That being said, Vanguard's world (Telon) puts LotRO and the others to shame.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 5:45:37 AM
 
Dinendae writes:
Originally posted by bobfish 

I don't think Vanguard is that big, it is just the variation of climates / themes that makes it feel large.

 As someone who has ran a dark elf from their starting area to the highelf area (and still had half a continent to go), I can say that Telon is huge. Don't forget you can also explore the oceans (and all the scattered islands), something you can't do in most other games.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 5:50:53 AM
 
Khalathwyr writes:

In response to Mike's question I've played WoW, AC and LOTRO (no GW). Of those three I found Dereth (AC) to be the most enjoyable, then LOTRO, then WOW. AC from those numbers is 60 times smaller than LOTRO but felt 100 times bigger and more open. It was layed out in an open manner which made me feel like I could truly go any direction and explore. LOTRO felt like being funneled from one quest hub to the next. There were a couple areas where you could shortcut through a hub area but on the average you are funneled.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 5:58:31 AM
 
iZakaroN writes:
Originally posted by Dinendae
Originally posted by bobfish 

I don't think Vanguard is that big, it is just the variation of climates / themes that makes it feel large.

 As someone who has ran a dark elf from their starting area to the highelf area (and still had half a continent to go), I can say that Telon is huge. Don't forget you can also explore the oceans (and all the scattered islands), something you can't do in most other games.

Yep Vanguard  have biggest world of all MMOs . I still remember my one month adventure all over the 3 continents of Telon in save of Unicorn race, while even have not explored 1/10 of the world. It was real adventure with real exploration and valuable reward: Unicorn mount!

New Post Quote
5/08/10 6:22:47 AM
 
hogscraper writes:
New Post Quote
5/08/10 6:39:59 AM
 
iZakaroN writes:
Originally posted by hogscraper

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/2587797#2587797

Too bad someone on this website had this idea already, and this one

http://www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/post/3210667#3210667

I have played Both VG and Darkfall, VG for more than year in total, Darkfall for something like 4-5 months at release. While can say that have explored most of the Darkfall world, cannot say the same for Vanguard. Vanguard world is really huge.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 6:54:34 AM
 
thaze writes:

I wonder how Perfect World would compare on the list, that game is so goddamn huge.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 7:02:04 AM
 
skorpion352 writes:
Originally posted by Dinendae


Another thing to consider for LotRO is that you can run (or ride your mount) all over the world without actually zoning from one 'zone' to another.

 

 

not quite true, moria, lothlorien and mirkwood are seperated from the rest of the map. however moria had to be because its is a giant cave and there needed to be a way to restrict those who had not meet the requirements from accessing it, the same applies to mirkwood. lorien is really only seperated from the west of the misty mountians because the only way to get there currently is by going through the mines, however that will hopefully chage as more of the map is filled in

New Post Quote
5/08/10 7:02:38 AM
 
Ozmodan writes:

Odd, I would have said Asheron's Call was far larger than Lord of the Rings Online.   I have not played Lotro lately, have they added that much land in the expansions, because I don't recall ever thinking it was very big?

New Post Quote
5/08/10 7:05:19 AM
 
spinner_vis writes:

EVE universe is stellar cluster (more like a disk) about 120 light years across. about 5000 stellar systems in known space, plus 2500 in wormhole-space. dozens of stellar objects per system. granted, most of it is empty (as apropriate for space).

travelling from one side of stellar cluster to other can take anything from one instant (jump clone once per day) to several hours, depending on mode of travel.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 7:07:29 AM
 
skorpion352 writes:
Originally posted by Ozmodan


Odd, I would have said Asheron's Call was far larger than Lord of the Rings Online.   I have not played Lotro lately, have they added that much land in the expansions, because I don't recall ever thinking it was very big?

 

 

the map has about doubled since launch i think, but i havent actually compared the launch map to the current map, so i could be mistaken

New Post Quote
5/08/10 7:09:56 AM
 
Rockgod99 writes:

 

"It's not the size that counts but how one uses it"

lol

New Post Quote
5/08/10 7:12:49 AM
 
loczster writes:

Ok what about World War II Battle Ground Europe.

 

Its the biggest one out there i belive.

 

http://www.battlegroundeurope.com/

New Post Quote
5/08/10 8:00:41 AM
 
Spiritraiser writes:

Did they count dungeons/instances too or just world map?

New Post Quote
5/08/10 8:06:46 AM
 
vladakov writes:

That pic. is clear bullshit,    GTA San Andreas' map is  like 5 times smaller then Burnout Paradise?  excuse me, i've played both games numerous times, and if there is one thing not right, its that  san andreas has a smaller map than burnout paradise.

 

I wonder how you calculate it, because at the moment your doing it wrong.

 

oh and the biggest is    Battleground Europe WW2,  covering like whole of western europe :P

New Post Quote
5/08/10 8:15:43 AM
 
Proson writes:

lol, never relised LoTRO online was so huge.. i played it when it came out for awhile and the world didnt really feel any bigger then WoW. but its like what 350 times as big according to this? that cant be right....

New Post Quote
5/08/10 8:16:57 AM
 
erictlewis writes:

Vangaurd is huge, lotro is not that huge, actually compared to other mmo's i have played lotroi s quite small and limited so I don't belive those numbers at all.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 8:19:14 AM
 
Hedeon writes:
Originally posted by gameguy369


I find it interesting that LotRO is ridiculously larger than WoW, yet, I dont think most people would say the content is all that greater. I am now a WoW-fanboy, but I used to play it, and gotta give Blizz credit wheres its due.

 

WoW safe space by abuse instances, and the whole reason other companies try to copy the success....blame WoW for have ruined EQ2.  even if EQ2 never were amazing in their way of handling continents, atleast used to be more than a quest/instance grinder.

but yes size doesnt matter, it matters how masssive it feels - have the biggest land mass, aint a quality on its own....that kind of numbers reminds me more of WISH, could be fun to  see how ultra it actually were.  one game Id have wished could have spended more time in.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 8:39:11 AM
 
pompey606 writes:

Anarchy Online deserves a shout, that has a very large single world (pre expansions)

New Post Quote
5/08/10 8:49:11 AM
 
Czanrei writes:

Hey Gameguy, not cool to generalize "most people" without fact. In fact, I agree with the OP that Lotro is definitely  bigger in land size than WoW easily. WoW doesn't have nearly as much open land you can explore because they have quite a few areas where the gamer is restricted to paths to follow. I also agree with the concept that more land size is better. I am a huge fan of exploring open land and hate the Bioware-type games that add "invisible walls" to restrict where you can travel in-game.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 8:56:50 AM
 
mCalvert writes:

EVE is the largest by real life distance. It is an entire galaxy and each solar system you can travel in one direction for infinity.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 9:57:08 AM
 
EverSkelly writes:

I'm pretty sure EQ1 is much bigger than vanguard or any other mmorpg. It has how many? like 600 zones? And some of the zones are really huge.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 10:02:38 AM
 
ChaosInc writes:

I'm sorry, but this hardly has any base to it.  There is no way to have a constant measurement across all the games in order to make a reliable comparison.  While the idea is something to write on, but that map is no where near reliable, accurate or worth the memory it's stored in.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 10:22:37 AM
 
mrw0lf writes:

Obviously the size of the worlds as with anything will be relative, in this case, to the speed you can traverse them.

Either way Infinity will beat them all in a way that just can't even begin to be compared.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 10:23:14 AM
 
just1opinion writes:
Originally posted by mCalvert

EVE is the largest by real life distance. It is an entire galaxy and each solar system you can travel in one direction for infinity.

 

I think they're talking about actual distances that you travel ON the map, not imaginary sectors you zone through via portals. But it's funny that we're talking "real life distances" in worlds that are virtual and HAVE NO real life measurements, exactly.  However....I would be interested to know the ACTUAL map space of EVE, EQ1, EQ2 and Vanguard.  But how the "actual" space is determined....with consistency....I would have no idea.

 

I find it odd that so many of the games detailed here....aren't MMOs or persistent worlds. Like...personally...the size of the game "world" in Burnout Paradise...doesn't interest me at all.  I'm sure others will disagree, but I'm more interested in a comparison of all the MMO game worlds.  Would be cool if someone could give sizes of all the MMO worlds ONLY and leave things out like racing games you don't have a character "living" in......

 

Incidentally, I also believe this article is biased, and that Vanguard's Telon....would probably dwarf ALL of these. But, who can say.  I think the article topic itself is somewhat subjective unless there is some consistent standard of land mass measurement in virtual spaces.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 10:41:06 AM
 
erictlewis writes:

I thnk the problem here is the area the map is suposed to represent instead of the actual game play area of the map.  I just chuckeled when they said lotro had one of the bigest  world maps ever.

Im like you have never seen anything like eq, eq2, or vangaurd and make a silly statement like that.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 11:16:18 AM
 
bayfia writes:

Good GRIEF! Where is Everquest 2 in all this?  Norrath is humongous!   I can't believe how easily that game is left out of the reckoning!  It's easily as big as, if not bigger than World of Warcraft.  EQ2Maps has maps for all the zones in Everquest 2.  I'd love to see what that would look like if fully laid out.  The world itself has 2 major continents, and 5 or 6 island realms, not counting the two realms up in the sky.  I betcha EQ2 is the biggest, if not one of the biggest world realms out there!

New Post Quote
5/08/10 11:31:37 AM
 
Ballping writes:
Originally posted by girlgeek

Originally posted by mCalvert

EVE is the largest by real life distance. It is an entire galaxy and each solar system you can travel in one direction for infinity.

 

I think they're talking about actual distances that you travel ON the map, not imaginary sectors you zone through via portals. But it's funny that we're talking "real life distances" in worlds that are virtual and HAVE NO real life measurements, exactly.  However....I would be interested to know the ACTUAL map space of EVE, EQ1, EQ2 and Vanguard.  But how the "actual" space is determined....with consistency....I would have no idea.

 

I find it odd that so many of the games detailed here....aren't MMOs or persistent worlds. Like...personally...the size of the game "world" in Burnout Paradise...doesn't interest me at all.  I'm sure others will disagree, but I'm more interested in a comparison of all the MMO game worlds.  Would be cool if someone could give sizes of all the MMO worlds ONLY and leave things out like racing games you don't have a character "living" in......

 

Incidentally, I also believe this article is biased, and that Vanguard's Telon....would probably dwarf ALL of these. But, who can say.  I think the article topic itself is somewhat subjective unless there is some consistent standard of land mass measurement in virtual spaces.

 
New Post Quote
5/08/10 11:39:10 AM
 
Ballping writes:
Originally posted by girlgeek

Originally posted by mCalvert

EVE is the largest by real life distance. It is an entire galaxy and each solar system you can travel in one direction for infinity.

 

I think they're talking about actual distances that you travel ON the map, not imaginary sectors you zone through via portals. But it's funny that we're talking "real life distances" in worlds that are virtual and HAVE NO real life measurements, exactly.  However....I would be interested to know the ACTUAL map space of EVE, EQ1, EQ2 and Vanguard.  But how the "actual" space is determined....with consistency....I would have no idea.

 

I find it odd that so many of the games detailed here....aren't MMOs or persistent worlds. Like...personally...the size of the game "world" in Burnout Paradise...doesn't interest me at all.  I'm sure others will disagree, but I'm more interested in a comparison of all the MMO game worlds.  Would be cool if someone could give sizes of all the MMO worlds ONLY and leave things out like racing games you don't have a character "living" in......

 

Incidentally, I also believe this article is biased, and that Vanguard's Telon....would probably dwarf ALL of these. But, who can say.  I think the article topic itself is somewhat subjective unless there is some consistent standard of land mass measurement in virtual spaces.

 

Actually Eve's "actual" size is quite huge. That is evidenced by a noob in local in one of the starting areas of eve.

He broke out in local with "This game sucks! I just spent two and a half hours flying to planet 5 and now that i've completed my mission he wants me to fly all the way back. How are you suppossed to complete missions like that!?"

Apparently he never took the tutorial and learned how to warp, but his misfortune shows just how unbelievably huge the actual maps are. In the 150au + "zones" in eve you could literally take months if not a year or better just flying at sub warp speeds from one planet in the system to the next.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 11:46:08 AM
 
Ballping writes:

Sorry for the double post.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 11:46:55 AM
 
erictlewis writes:
Originally posted by bayfia

Good GRIEF! Where is Everquest 2 in all this?  Norrath is humongous!   I can't believe how easily that game is left out of the reckoning!  It's easily as big as, if not bigger than World of Warcraft.  EQ2Maps has maps for all the zones in Everquest 2.  I'd love to see what that would look like if fully laid out.  The world itself has 2 major continents, and 5 or 6 island realms, not counting the two realms up in the sky.  I betcha EQ2 is the biggest, if not one of the biggest world realms out there!

 Yea I agree with you having played both games, i got a total lack of he said lotro has a huge map you could add all of lotro's maps and they would not even begen to equal the 3 huge contentiat zones in eq2.  You got antonica that comprizes of antonica thundering steeps, then you got comman  lands and nek forest, then you got kunark that has kylong, the fens and the jungle and jw.  Im like lotro all added together might fill half those zones.  that does not even include ss, kos, sundered the new sarnak starting area and hallas that is comming.

How eq2 got ignored and lotro got put way up there and does not even have 1/2 the land mass that eq2 is behond me,  i think the op did not do his research.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 12:04:16 PM
 
Blackleg writes:

I would like to add WWIIOnline.

Not sure which size it is but it gets compared to some other games.

 

New Post Quote
5/08/10 12:13:37 PM
 
Blackleg writes:

the link for the comparison:

 

http://gophur.playnet.com/gallery/maps/mmogmaps_001

New Post Quote
5/08/10 12:14:49 PM
 
matobi writes:

Iv played both WOW and lotro (current) and even though lotro's world is larger its not that what keeps me entertained, its the detail and graphics of te world.

Over all id go lotro as my fav.

 

P.s i wonder what SWTOR is going to do to that little table :)

New Post Quote
5/08/10 12:15:27 PM
 
Adaon writes:

Ultima Online was pretty ridiculously big.  And yes bigger is better, considering Ultima had non instanced player housing that you could pretty much place almost anywhere in the game world where a house would fit.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 12:17:02 PM
 
Dakirn writes:

I imagine Vanguard was left off the list because there are "zone lines" for each "chunk" of area. The world is ungodly huge, especially when you add in water travel.  It's too bad the "invisible zoning" never materialized.

LOTRO is huge. Just because some people didn't take time to experience it doesn't mean that the land space isn't there.  Eruid Luin, the main world, moria, loth and mirkwood are the only "broken out" zones.

Everquest 2 zones were large, but they were all separated by zone lines, as was EQ (another reason it's not included).

WoW is big.. but like someone else said, it's not huge. A lot of area is restricted by mountains that you can't visit.  Water is even restricted by killing you if you swim out too far.

Some people love large worlds and others hate them because of the sheer time sink in trying to cross them.  As long as world content has to be created by hand we're not likely to see a huge world that is meaningful anytime soon.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 12:21:19 PM
 
Blackleg writes:

I would like to mention there is also a difference in total scale and real scale or not?

So not the biggest map is the largest.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 12:23:06 PM
 
Killsmallchi writes:

Size matters to women

New Post Quote
5/08/10 12:31:18 PM
 
xaldraxius writes:
Originally posted by Blackleg

I would like to add WWIIOnline.

Not sure which size it is but it gets compared to some other games.

 

 I don't know where you get your math from, but Asheron's Call is 500 continuous square miles (no Zones) which dwarfs that map by more than double.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 12:37:53 PM
 
Blackleg writes:

^^ I think I go the right way then with about 27,600 m2 in total for WWIIONLINE.

The Battlefield is a bit smaller but the developer keep working on it ;).

New Post Quote
5/08/10 12:38:24 PM
 
Blackleg writes:

Sory to hear you dont made your homework right dude, maybe ask the developer of the game.

 

WWIIONLINE is oen maybe was (2003) the biggest real scale world maps.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 12:41:42 PM
 
xaldraxius writes:
Originally posted by Blackleg

^^ I think I go the right way then with about 27,600 m2 in total for WWIIONLINE.

The Battlefield is a bit smaller but the developer keep working on it ;).

 Ok, but your image is still misleading as 260km by 120km doesn't nearly equal 500 square miles. If you had the full map so you could then make a comparison it'd work better. It's got AC as being only 24km square?

New Post Quote
5/08/10 12:49:33 PM
 
Blackleg writes:

Jep Sory, I misled the scale it is km2 of course.

This are data frm 2003 so maybe not up to date.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 1:05:53 PM
 
cukimunga writes:

Well Fallen Earth right now is 621.371 square mi, and if the game sticks around long enough it will be even bigger. They said right now the game is 1/3 of the size they want it to be. So if it does get that big it will be 1864.113 square miles.  Granted its map is a bit different than all these other continent type game maps but none the less the game is huge. 

Also when it comes down to these sort of things you also have to think about scale. So basically the numbers can be missleading because they at a smaller scale. Fallen Earth is an exact copy of the terrain just like in real life places. Now IDK how realistic the running is the game but its said it takes 12 hours to get from one end of the map to the other.  So IDK if LOTRO is up a 1:1 scale because if so it would take days to get from one end of the map to the other.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 1:09:35 PM
 
Bootch writes:

Instead of talking of EVE's universe size, i'd like to add that :

New Post Quote
5/08/10 1:18:43 PM
 
Fearny writes:

WWIIOL doesn't have the biggest map, but what it does have is that the entire map is playable the moment you "spawn" in, thereare no loading screens, no seperate areas, it'sone huge map that's 100% accesible all the time. You can fly your plane all the way from England to Germany if you so wish, the map itself is as you can see Europe only scaled down in half. so you travel twice as fast effectively.

 

Unfortunately, they haven't produced a map that incorporates the whole of England, Scotland etc, but they are there, take my word for it.

 

The main point with WWIIOL's map is as i said before, there are no zones, no arenas etc.

 

New Post Quote
5/08/10 1:25:00 PM
 
Shawk writes:

Darkfall? this article sucks..

 

New Post Quote
5/08/10 1:31:13 PM
 
Liltawen writes:
Originally posted by matobi


Iv played both WOW and lotro (current) and even though lotro's world is larger its not that what keeps me entertained, its the detail and graphics of te world.

Over all id go lotro as my fav.

 

P.s i wonder what SWTOR is going to do to that little table :)

 

Yeah, it's not the size but what you do with it. I like LOTRO because of all the non-quest nooks and cranies. They make it feel even larger than it is.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 1:43:13 PM
 
mCalvert writes:

EVE is still the largest. Each solar system is infinite in size. You can litterally travel forever (or until server down) in one direction.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 2:13:09 PM
 
Uronksur writes:

mCalvert is right. Size comparison with EVE?

 

 

And yeah, the larger the game is, the better. Small games simply run out of places to go and things to see too quickly. Its part of the immersion factor.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 2:22:36 PM
 
Dwarvish writes:

ROFL!!!    My MMO is bigger than your MMO...and its got more interesting tricks to make it seem even larger. :P

  sry, couldn't resist

 The scale has less to do with percieved 'size' than, as mentioned above, content. That and how open the world is.

I am curioius as to what GW 4 campaign total would be tho.  Prophesies was the largest of the 4 with  Nightfall and Factions and the smaller end. Dunno about Eye of the North ( it seemed smallest but then it popped up all over the Prophesies map  A huge dif with it and an open world is that there were limits as to where one could go on a given map.  That said, anyone who didn't explore prophesies missed a ton of neat spots to check out.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 2:35:10 PM
 
Redtah writes:

I don't understand how these things are bigger? Like in fictional game made miles or how can you measure one standard versus another? These clearly don't look right to me.

I skimmed through looking for an explanation of how they went about it didn't see it.

 

They kind of look like someone just arbitrarily picked which maps are bigger and which are smaller.

 

I feel like it takes forever to go anywhere in WoW but in LOTRO I used to get to everywhere rather quickly even though the horses seemed much slower to me.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 3:48:55 PM
 
nexus1g writes:

You know, I think having a big world is great, but it has one huge drawback... That is when a game gets over the hill and starts to lose subscribers, things become deserted (I'm looking at you Everquest).

New Post Quote
5/08/10 5:03:17 PM
 
jaybud4 writes:

These numbers are faked.

The island TDU takes place on, credited at 618 square miles, is only 596 square miles.

Who knows what else is probably falsified?

New Post Quote
5/08/10 5:06:51 PM
 
nexus1g writes:
Originally posted by jaybud4

These numbers are faked.

The island TDU takes place on, credited at 618 square miles, is only 596 square miles.

Who knows what else is probably falsified?

How do you measure a mile in a game anyway?

New Post Quote
5/08/10 5:09:41 PM
 
Dwarik writes:

Who cares about miles. it's about travel time.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 6:02:59 PM
 
Malcanis writes:
Originally posted by Soulrift

Asheron's Call's wide open world really FELT wide and open because it wasn't divided into very tight, distinct zones, the way WoW, EQ2, DAoC, LOTRO, and most other games are split up. It really felt huge to run and run across forests, deserts, mountains, and it all shaped together into a believable world (for the most part).

I'm surprised they don't mention EVE online, which I suppose would be on a galactic scale and many magnitudes larger than anything else.

However, with both EVE and Daggerfall, although the worlds are technically large, you don't really "go" to most of the places; fast-travel modes take you across the vast majority of those distances without actually experiencing it, making the game "feel" like a small, zoned world. Only in Asheron's Call did you feel like you were in a big, open world.

 

On the other hand, EVE has ships as big as the WoW map: Avatar - 15.76Km.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 7:28:56 PM
 
faefrost writes:
Originally posted by Khalathwyr

In response to Mike's question I've played WoW, AC and LOTRO (no GW). Of those three I found Dereth (AC) to be the most enjoyable, then LOTRO, then WOW. AC from those numbers is 60 times smaller than LOTRO but felt 100 times bigger and more open. It was layed out in an open manner which made me feel like I could truly go any direction and explore. LOTRO felt like being funneled from one quest hub to the next. There were a couple areas where you could shortcut through a hub area but on the average you are funneled.

 

 This. There was just something special about AC's huge non instanced world, where you could run to and climb or goto everything you could see. I have never seen that feeling of openess repeated, regardless of how much square feet another game supposedly has. AC was also the only game where the vast wilderness felt like that, and not just real estate that they just cut and pasted in.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 7:38:58 PM
 
drbaltazar writes:
Originally posted by Malcanis
Originally posted by Soulrift

Asheron's Call's wide open world really FELT wide and open because it wasn't divided into very tight, distinct zones, the way WoW, EQ2, DAoC, LOTRO, and most other games are split up. It really felt huge to run and run across forests, deserts, mountains, and it all shaped together into a believable world (for the most part).

I'm surprised they don't mention EVE online, which I suppose would be on a galactic scale and many magnitudes larger than anything else.

However, with both EVE and Daggerfall, although the worlds are technically large, you don't really "go" to most of the places; fast-travel modes take you across the vast majority of those distances without actually experiencing it, making the game "feel" like a small, zoned world. Only in Asheron's Call did you feel like you were in a big, open world.

 

On the other hand, EVE has ships as big as the WoW map: Avatar - 15.76Km.

ya i guess we can say their comparo is a little bit flawed lol!

no big surprise here lol!biggest map hey!ya try to convince ccp their map isnt one of the biggest for size!

New Post Quote
5/08/10 7:40:47 PM
 
Death1942 writes:

I still don't think any MMO can top Battlegrounds Europe.  It is basically a huge map of France, England, Germany rolled into 1 and set to a 1/2 scale.

 

Still, nice list

New Post Quote
5/08/10 7:42:16 PM
 
Miths writes:

"Like in fictional game made miles or how can you measure one standard versus another?"

"How do you measure a mile in a game anyway?"

It doesn't  really matter if you call them miles, kilometers or some made up measurement of distance, you should still be able to judge distances using the size relations between game world objects (people, cars, buildings, trees, whatever) and the ground.

Although it's obviously easier to do so in some games than others. TDU tells you how fast and far you drive for instance (not to mention that it takes place on a recreation of Hawaii built to actual scale), in other cases - particularly in games with a modern setting - distances may also be shown on an in-game map, or perhaps the developers have advertised the number.

New Post Quote
5/08/10 7:43:30 PM
 
drbaltazar writes:

some game are hard to judge take wow ,yes the map says 1 mile by one mile but it also has one mile in the 3 axis

path twist and turn ,ask any wow player often the map looked small but it twisted and turned so mutch you ended up with a path that was supposed to be only 1 mile but in fact was 6 miles lol!

map dont really say the whole picture!

New Post Quote
5/08/10 7:46:43 PM
 
Yunbei writes:

Err... I don't understand. How exactly does one compare sizes in game worlds? It's not like they are real worlds. So, how is it done?? <.<   >.>   <.<

New Post Quote
5/08/10 8:04:16 PM
 
drbaltazar writes:
Originally posted by Yunbei

Err... I don't understand. How exactly does one compare sizes in game worlds? It's not like they are real worlds. So, how is it done?? <.<   >.>   <.<

that my friend will have to be sent to student in university for further proof analisis will be decade before it come back but im sure there is a way to quantify this!(grin)

New Post Quote
5/08/10 8:07:35 PM
 
Shastra writes:

Yes size matters if the size has some meaning to it instead of just huge empty space. look at FE for example, huge maps but its all just trees or desert. No surprises, nothing to discover..just huge empty space. Why would i even care to explore it?

New Post Quote
5/08/10 8:09:15 PM
 
rejekt writes:

I enjoyed my time in WoW while there, the problem is that regardless of who much fun I had while there it is extremely small in terms of world size. In the end it was part of the reason I left but not the overall determining factor. The zones in WoW are extremely tiny and only take minutes to get through, even when running on foot.

I'd be interested in see how large the world of Ultima Online or Everquest is in comparison to these newer games that are listed like Guild Wars and LotRO. I did play Asheron's Call and Ultima Online and both games had so much to offer in terms of exploration and just that massive feel. Where you could run around in the wilderness for hours and not find a town (unless you were looking for one), but find all sorts of other neat things.

New Post Quote
5/09/10 12:22:44 AM
 
BowWake writes:
Originally posted by ChaosInc

I'm sorry, but this hardly has any base to it.  There is no way to have a constant measurement across all the games in order to make a reliable comparison.  While the idea is something to write on, but that map is no where near reliable, accurate or worth the memory it's stored in.

 

 There actually is a way to accurately compare game world sizes. And it's how ancient peoples measures distances to begin with, and the modern military teaches soldiers how to use the same thing.

Paces. A person measures their pace stride and figue out how many paces per mile/kilometer/furlong/league. Then as you walk, you count your pces, keep a tally of how many times you get to 50 or 100 or some convenient number. When you get to your destination, you do the math and get the distance travelled.

So a game can measure their map distances by stride lengths.

Using that measure, a game could "increase their map size" by just making the characters smaller, and thus need more strides to travel the same distance.

I have always thought Aion could have been a better game by shrinking the charactes and mobs by 50%, making the heavily segmented maps 'seem' bigger.

New Post Quote
5/09/10 2:06:18 AM
 
n00bara writes:

noobs where is darkfall, gg shawk!

New Post Quote
5/09/10 3:02:07 AM
 
eyeswideopen writes:
Originally posted by pompey606

Anarchy Online deserves a shout, that has a very large single world (pre expansions)

Agreed. The AO landmass of Rubi-ka would dwarf most of those, and that's before adding in the Shadowlands.

New Post Quote
5/09/10 4:30:56 AM
 
Reizla writes:

IMO not the size in square miles or kilometers does matter to me. LotRo might be signifigant larger than WoW, the questing content seems smaller though. An other interesting aspect is how quick you can travel from one side of the world to the other one. I think here LotRo will take far longer than WoW, but the travel rate in LotRo is slower than WoW...

I also missed Lineage II's game world. I think this one is surely bugger than WoW as well, and there the content feels as full as WoW. But travelling from one end to the other takes dramatically longer in L2 over WoW. Even on mount. I remember a siege we had in Heine, where our clanleader took a wyvern flight from Aden. Even through air it would take him about 30 minutes to reach Heine and that distance is about 35% of the total map...

New Post Quote
5/09/10 5:04:13 AM
 
jonrd463 writes:

I don't think this comparison takes into account abstraction. Or, to be more precise, it DOES, but without applying it to actual experience playing. For example, LOTRO, while fairly largish,  did not feel like 30,000 sq mi to me. Granted, the last time I played was right before Moria, but assuming the gameworld is now 2 times the size at release, it didn't even feel 15,000 sq mi. From what I remember, it felt pretty linear. Start from the Elvish/Dwarven starting area, head east through the Shire to Bree-land, continuing east towards the Lone Lands and Weathertop, and on to Rivendell. Sure, you could go north and south a bit here and there, but I felt the game suffered from too much reliance on the path of the Fellowship. I would like to have seen areas not covered in the books.

 

Anyway, yes, it felt pretty big in its own right, but not THAT big. So my question is this: Where did the measurements come from? Was it from a map in one of the books, using the scale marker you usually see in the map's legend (1 inch= 10 miles, or similar)? Games set either in a real world location or an established fantasy world with known geographical statistics are always scaled down and abstracted from what it would "really" be. Using LOTRO, it took several days for the Fellowship to get from the Shire to Bree-town, but it can be done in 8-10 minutes max in the game on foot. Saying the world is 30,000 square miles means Jack if a mile equals 5 steps in the game at running speed.

New Post Quote
5/09/10 5:28:46 AM
 
brezel writes:

who cares how big the game world is? what are you doing in giant, but sterile and boring game world?

New Post Quote
5/09/10 7:34:55 AM
 
just1opinion writes:
Originally posted by jonrd463

I don't think this comparison takes into account abstraction. Or, to be more precise, it DOES, but without applying it to actual experience playing. For example, LOTRO, while fairly largish,  did not feel like 30,000 sq mi to me. Granted, the last time I played was right before Moria, but assuming the gameworld is now 2 times the size at release, it didn't even feel 15,000 sq mi. From what I remember, it felt pretty linear. Start from the Elvish/Dwarven starting area, head east through the Shire to Bree-land, continuing east towards the Lone Lands and Weathertop, and on to Rivendell. Sure, you could go north and south a bit here and there, but I felt the game suffered from too much reliance on the path of the Fellowship. I would like to have seen areas not covered in the books.

 

Anyway, yes, it felt pretty big in its own right, but not THAT big. So my question is this: Where did the measurements come from? Was it from a map in one of the books, using the scale marker you usually see in the map's legend (1 inch= 10 miles, or similar)? Games set either in a real world location or an established fantasy world with known geographical statistics are always scaled down and abstracted from what it would "really" be. Using LOTRO, it took several days for the Fellowship to get from the Shire to Bree-town, but it can be done in 8-10 minutes max in the game on foot. Saying the world is 30,000 square miles means Jack if a mile equals 5 steps in the game at running speed.

 

EXACTLY.

New Post Quote
5/09/10 10:11:51 AM
 
Rockgod99 writes:

A big game world is nice but if its freaking empty (mob density, no content) with a low population whats the point.

I want a realistic game world but i hate running for two hours not seeing anyone.

New Post Quote
5/09/10 10:18:47 AM
 
scuubeedoo writes:

In MMOs, large game worlds need large population as well. The two MMOs i have enjoyed most, Rubies of Eventide and Warhammer Online, both had a very small map.

New Post Quote
5/09/10 11:35:41 AM
 
iZakaroN writes:
Originally posted by Dakirn

...As long as world content has to be created by hand we're not likely to see a huge world that is meaningful anytime soon.

Thats why Daggerfall have the biggest world even the game was released around 1997 with Doom II like graphics.

New Post Quote
5/09/10 12:16:10 PM
 
MrTRiot writes:

I wish they added "Planet Calypso", which is apart of Entropia Online to this mix...

 

It's the largest seamless world I've ever played. 12 hours+ to walk from one side of the map to the other....

New Post Quote
5/09/10 5:05:35 PM
 
gavving writes:

Recently on the Lotro message boards, it was posted that someone "walked" (i.e. not ran) from one end of Lotro to the other (thorins hall to Dol Guldur).  It took almost 5hrs.

At an average walking speed of 3mph, thats 15miles.

Seems alot smaller than the quoted figure...

New Post Quote
5/09/10 10:32:23 PM
 
kahulbane writes:

Again, another WWII-online / Battle ground europe entry.

 

The bigest one server no zone MMO game world.

New Post Quote
5/09/10 11:32:34 PM
 
 
jonrd463 writes:

Wait... is this a contest? Will WW2O anthropomorph into a harbinger of doom and destroy the world if it's size isn't asserted enough? What am I missing here?

New Post Quote
5/10/10 12:42:14 AM
 
nexus1g writes:
Originally posted by jonrd463

Wait... is this a contest? Will WW2O anthropomorph into a harbinger of doom and destroy the world if it's size isn't asserted enough? What am I missing here?

It's the largest world in any game. That was the point of the article. Perhaps that's what you were missing.

New Post Quote
5/10/10 3:03:28 PM
 
jonrd463 writes:
Originally posted by nexus1g
Originally posted by jonrd463

Wait... is this a contest? Will WW2O anthropomorph into a harbinger of doom and destroy the world if it's size isn't asserted enough? What am I missing here?

It's the largest world in any game. That was the point of the article. Perhaps that's what you were missing.

No, the point of the article was to COMPARE large video game worlds, not figure out which is the biggest. WW2OL was already mentioned. I think its anger has been sated for now.

New Post Quote
5/10/10 3:37:01 PM
 
nexus1g writes:
Originally posted by jonrd463
Originally posted by nexus1g
Originally posted by jonrd463

Wait... is this a contest? Will WW2O anthropomorph into a harbinger of doom and destroy the world if it's size isn't asserted enough? What am I missing here?

It's the largest world in any game. That was the point of the article. Perhaps that's what you were missing.

No, the point of the article was to COMPARE large video game worlds, not figure out which is the biggest. WW2OL was already mentioned. I think its anger has been sated for now.

Right. And this is a comparison as well.

New Post Quote
5/10/10 3:45:36 PM
 
macrover180 writes:
Originally posted by Dwarvish


ROFL!!!    My MMO is bigger than your MMO...and its got more interesting tricks to make it seem even larger. :P

  sry, couldn't resist

 The scale has less to do with percieved 'size' than, as mentioned above, content. That and how open the world is.

I am curioius as to what GW 4 campaign total would be tho.  Prophesies was the largest of the 4 with  Nightfall and Factions and the smaller end. Dunno about Eye of the North ( it seemed smallest but then it popped up all over the Prophesies map  A huge dif with it and an open world is that there were limits as to where one could go on a given map.  That said, anyone who didn't explore prophesies missed a ton of neat spots to check out.

 

Pre-searing? Or After? I'm currently all over the place trying to catch up.  I made it to level 20 but I didn't finish the campaign yet!

New Post Quote
5/10/10 9:08:22 PM
 
Vissar2 writes:

Elder Scrolls: Arena= 6,000,000 square miles= Size of South America. 

Talk about being massive. 

New Post Quote
6/13/10 4:15:17 PM
 
Mordacai writes:

In developer terms, the world is measured by the units of measure when creating the map, so the person above who said they could increase the world size by reducing the models is sorta correct. The map/terrain itself is set by the adjusted unit in the terrain creators so for instance if you set a map to be 1 unit = 1 kilometer = 512 texture map, you'll could get a fairly decent sized world with a crappy looking terrain. 1 unit of the world scaled to 1 meter would look totally awesome by comparison though so in essence making a 1 unit = 1 meter = 512 texture map would be extremely detailed.

 

One of the first terrains I created was 4098 x 4098 km square or roughly 2546 square miles, the map was over a gb in size (as an image file) and took roughly about hour to break up the entire map zone into 512x512 square image files which are "stitched" together to make the giant world map.

And to give you an idea of how far the distance of 2546 square miles is....the distance from Virginia Beach, Va (us east coast) to San Jose California (west coast) is 2,990 miles.

 

Dark and Light was supposed 15,000 square miles, yet was desolate and empty IMHO

New Post Quote
6/14/10 12:31:30 PM
 
Sid_Vicious writes:

Darkfall has the largest seamless handcrafted world without instances. It takes 6 hours to run from one corner to the opposite corner (just the middle continent).

 

Face the facts!

 

All of the other worlds have invisible walls.

 

Vanguard came close . .. but hard mobs that are too difficult to pass is kind of like an invisible wall so it is very theme-park.

 

And yes . .. size does matter ; )

New Post Quote
8/06/10 5:03:21 PM
 
TwilightEdge writes:

Lol at the reason why vanguard doesn't have big world. You fail my friend o_O

New Post Quote
8/06/10 5:13:29 PM
 
nexus1g writes:

Size matters, but in a different way. I think many MMOG worlds are simply too large.

New Post Quote
8/06/10 5:36:59 PM
 
alterfenix writes:

Vissar2, Arena was significantly smaller than Daggerfall and provided size of Daggerfall in art seems to be correct. Which is something that I doubt in case of LOTRO... If I remember correcly even on box it was saying 50 km2.

Anyway just to proove it in Daggerfall to get on foot from one border to the other one it wook atleast a week (without running). Assuming that data is correct and taking running into it in LOTRO it would take atleast 24 hours without any break.

New Post Quote
2/08/11 1:43:41 PM
 
alterfenix writes:

Well nvm, just to confirm it I've found my old LOTRO box and it's clearly written there: 50 000 000 meters square which is exactly 50 km2 which is more less 30 mi2 (not 30k)

New Post Quote
2/08/11 1:49:29 PM
 
brnmcc01 writes:

50 sq km = ~ 19.3 sq miles :)


New Post Quote
1/24/12 11:30:33 PM
 
Leave this field empty
Post Your Comment:
Our RSS 2.0 News Feed

Special Offer

Sponsored Links

Reviews:
Lord of the Rings Online Mines of Moria Review : 8.0 Reviewed on Friday January 23
Age of Conan Level 1-20 Review : 7.9 Reviewed on Thursday June 19
The Matrix Online Re-Review : 6.6 Reviewed on Friday December 08
If You Loved Dungeon Keeper... : 6.9 Reviewed on Monday January 16
Project Powder Review : 7.5 Reviewed on Thursday May 14
Popular Features:
Player Perspectives : Content Locusts Killed My MMO Column added on Friday January 27
It used to be that hitting the level cap in an MMO was something that... Read More
Star Wars: The Old Republic : Good Cop, Bad Cop – SWTOR General Article added on Monday January 30
There is no question that Star Wars: The Old Republic has stirred strong feelings on... Read More
Star Wars: The Old Republic : The Future of the Old Republic Interview added on Thursday January 12
Star Wars: The Old Republic has taken the MMO gaming world by storm over the... Read More
General : The 2011 Player’s Choice Winners Award added on Thursday January 19
A couple of weeks ago, we asked you, our valuable readers, to vote for those... Read More
The WoW Factor : What is a “WoW Killer?” Column added on Monday January 16
Everyone is always looking for that game that will be a "WoW Killer" but what... Read More