Favorite areas

[Yavathol]

I have been thinking about which areas seem to be the most popular, and began to think about why they are so popular.  I know I tend to hang out in areas that aren't frequented quite so commonly, but I was wondering which areas other players tend to gravitate towards.

I don't think you should necessarily give up your favourite hunting grounds - otherwise I am sure Gunnar's and Vasques' areas would be the most popular by far.

Perhaps if people could just mention some of the general areas they like to haunt it might be possible to derive which features are the most popular and share that with the great minds who construct these areas for our pleasure.

The more good areas the less traffic in your favorite hunting grounds.

[ladychris]

Good area doesn't equal favourite hunting ground actually. When i hunt i concentrate on the kill, either for the xp or for some unique, and have no time to look much around, but the real pleasure comes when I'm exploring. This is the moment when i can enjoy all details of an area and appreciate a wizard's work

So the areas I liked most of the ones i explored recently are Gemfibrozil's, Block's, Longstrider's and Drechbrel's (the last one might be a bit annoying since it requires exact sintax, but its a pleasure to read nethertheless). Among the ones as old as Nanny I can mention Dagoth's and Leowon's which always manage to give me a thrill, no matter how many times i was in them. Leowon's area actually can give you more than just a thrill, I killed a lot of chars in there
Mirage's area is very good too, since it manages to combine good kills with great descriptions.
And i was forgetting Andra's, one of the best areas around, perfectly balanced between good kills and interesting quests, not to mention some extra stuff

None of these is however my hunting ground, apart maybe Mirage's dungeon or Andra's caves. According to what i need (money, xp, items to sacrifice to viking deities...) I visit Soulfly's, Weronoop's, Danny's portals... Too bad after first visit i don't watch around anymore... go, kill, return, thats all  


Its late here and i might have forgot some area. I apologize in advance with creator and promise that if it comes to my mind  I'll add it later

[Kherec]

The completeness of Andra's and Erendi's area is perhaps what makes it so good. I love their quests, I love their area, I love everything about it.

Anothr such area is Readis' and Firelight's area, also excellent quests and an excellent area.

[Arbre]

I have spent a lot of time in Andra and Erendi's area. It is one of my favorites. Well written, nicely animated, good puzzles and kills and very nice loot.

I enjoyed exploring Barbarella's area, which is now gone I think. It was a beautifully descripted area, almost poetic. Barb's area had no peer. It had the best room descriptions of any area I have explored in Nanny.

I enjoyed Prof's area way back when. It was the area I first did quests in without someone having me follow them to a room and do some action which made no sense at the time. He had great puzzles and a very interesting area.

Readis and Firelight's rendition of Anne McCaffrey's world is always a pleasure to visit. It is a much larger area than is first apparent. I love their quest to help Aquarian(sp?).

Mordor's bat towers were a favorite haunt of mine as a low level knight. And his spider island always gave me the creeps. It has been gone for some time as well.

Dagoth's area is often a fine challenge, and he manages to change things every now and then so that I need to explore it from time to time to see what is new. It is also much bigger than is first apparent.

Leowon's has fine puzzles and rewards explorers that keep digging. It has some rather deadly areas for the unwary.

Meep has one of the most amusing areas, well worth a look. It is full of quirky characters and monsters.

Those are the area's that come immediately to mind that kept me entertained over the years. There are many more. A big Thank You! to all the creators who have made the world of Nanny such a joy for so many years.

[Iceblink]

Ok... it's not really conceited since Kiki did so much of the work, but I still love my area and my quest.  

Other people's:

I really used to like Charmangle's area... before they moved it.
I really like Andra's.
I absolutely loved Akasha's area and the bonsai quest.
That area where you fight germs in a giant is very clever.

I'd have to think about it some more.

[ladychris]

Could we please keep only opened area in this thread and talk about the good old but alas! gone ones in the nostalgia thread?

[Oasis]

I'd have to say my favorite area is Brom's, but Meep's and Beldin's are right up there on my list as well.  I'd also throw Traste's area in on my toplist....


Oasis

[Xonder]

My favourite areas are Vincent's (many great puzzles), Leowon's (really fun to explore), Andra's & Erendi's (very good in lots of ways), Readis' and Firelight's (Nice quests and generally good area).

As for closed ones, I really liked Profezzorn's and Slakktor's areas.

[Avis]

I always liked my descriptions, even if I never got around to finishing 10% of my area.

[Qwer]

I like areas with nice kills. (depending on guild).
Areas that:

1) I can speedwalk to (and back).
2) Have high level kills (6k++ exp), as many as possible, with nice loot, and extreme alignments.

That's all.

I don't explore much, I find it pretty boring, I just explore sometimes when questing and need to. Otherwise I explore very rarely, that's why there are no areas where I kinda kill alone, I just go to the usual over-populated areas. And again, and again, and again. Anyways, sometimes you just have to keep killin' hundreds and hundreds of monsters with no time to read descriptions.

[Arbre]

The biggest complement I ever received for my area was:
"Oh, I thought that was part of Leowon's area."

I prefer areas that blend in with the areas around them. The transition from one to another should, imo, be seamless. I think that was part of the aim when the new continent was implemented.  Most of the areas there are of a higher caliber than average. It's a pity that it takes so long to travel there, making it another Lost Continent.

[Yavathol]

Arbre,
I apologize for not spending as much time in your area as I once did.  I think I might have been the one that said it seemed part of Leowon's.

It is definately a seamless transition, and a well crafted area full of great rewards for those who choose to look.  Definately an area for the thinking player as well.

From my own experiences, and what I have heard from others, the most popular areas have several things in common.

1) Easily accessible.

2) Some easy to find, adequate kills with decent standard equipment that might be worth putting in a Share Room type setting.

3) Maybe one, possibly two, familiar unique items that are not too hard to get for most players.

4) A thinking aspect - although an open hunting plains may have some appeal for certain players/guilds, the majority of players like to see something that must be figured out in the area - which leads to the next point quite often...

5) A slightly more hidden portion of the area.  Some place that is not immediately noticeable, yet not completely hidden from the exploring players.  This area usually has some more choice kills, slightly better standard equipment and possibly an extra good unique.

6)Puzzles/Quests!  I can never tell if the majority of players like these, but they definately seem to run rampant in the most popular areas.

7) The real kick it up a notch... the Legendary Item.  There are a few uniques on the Mud that only turn up every once in a great while, and for good reason.  These are the items that legends are made of.  There are some players who will spend weeks scouring an area for a hint as to the whereabouts of such rumours.

8 ) The Super-monster!  Ok, this doesn't come up in a lot of comments on the thread, but what would the Mud be without our Pets and Beasts of Nurgle?  Some of the most well known areas may not be visited consistently, but they will be visited for one reason - The Monster.

9) Added attractions - clubs, shops, pubs, healing, auto-loaders are all good ways to bring some players flocking to an area.

Granted, not all the most popular areas have all of these, but they seem to have a special balance of them.

So there are some ideas for budding Wizards who are stumped as to what to code next.  Being of an exploring nature I truly hope this list might help to inspire some great things, most importantly - if you build it, at least I will come!  

[Dain]

I agree with Yav 1000%. That couldn't be said better. I would suggest that note to be posted on nanny as well.

[garetjax]

Haha, after reading Yav's note, I can't help but think of making a game in the vein of Roller Coaster Tycoon.

Wizard Tycoon:
Become a wizard and create an area to attract adventurers from around the world.  Populate your area with monsters and pubs and equipment. blah blah blah.... Hehe, don't mind me...

[Yavathol]

I thought, given the direction that this thread went, I might simply add this bit to it.

I was wondering why so many wizards code their areas and then just leave them.  It seems that there are a few who consistently update and add things, but it seems that even that number is becoming less and less.  One of the greatest treats is to find that new things have been added to an area.  By this I do not simply mean a brand new unique, but entire facets.  There have been several areas historically that players can see, but can not enter since construcion is not done... mind you, some of these were old bits when I first started and they are still closed.  What a shame.  Someone had inspiration at some time and has lost it  

I understand that it is a lot of work to code something like an area, but I have certainly seen a few who continue to contribute.

As an example - Wolfenhex has been extremely prolific as of late, and not only have his newer creations been well recieved, but I think they have helped to encourage newer players to stick around and enjoy the game more.  I can also remember when Blackfire added on to her area.  It was a phenomenal boon to all players and only added interest to her area.  The same can be said of other Wizards areas, but it does seem to be a rare occurence.

Out of curiosity, is it time, motivation or inspiration that stymies this with most wizards?