I've forgotten the name, but the lightning place? where you had to jump and Cohh got blown off and the dwarf juuuust made it and had to clamber up. Not because of the boss, but because of the random lighning. Taking the second to turn around to get the precious crystals from the solidified goop and you may miss the flashing right behind you.....(in the only view, first person view) its enough to make you skittish, always looking over your shoulder. Jumpy, after a while.
And probably anything in Syronai's(sp?) rest. Something innately claustrophobic underwater, moreso at night if no light source or the only bright lightsource is from something big and hungry.Like the feeling from Sub-Nautica.
Tl,dr. I can see myself inadvertently holding my breath and feeling a pressure on my chest. The panic from using your meager lightsource and thinking you are getting used to it as more things become clearer in the area you are in. Only to see things are becoming clearer because the area has been getting brighter so slowly you didnt notice- then the realization hits you as the area is almost bright as normal and the shadow of the thing around the corner with the bright light ahead of it- you are frantically looking around for another exit and seeing there is none and hindered in speed because you are under water. A small tunnel but long and tight-you dont have enough air and if you got stuck you could not get your corpse- the monster is blind oh why didnt you stop thrashing sooner! the utricating hairs can pick up the slightest current!
To be honest I always try to play classes that have night vision for this exact reason haha. I do remember zones being extra scary at night (Kithicor for sure!) but it wasn't because I couldn't see, it was because the zone was actually more dangerous because it was night time.
I don't know many of the zones in Pantheon, but it would make sense for any zone to be a little more dangerous at night time, even the cities. Can my character get mugged in Thronefast if I'm out in the allyways at night? Will nocturnal animals be more likely to attack me if I'm trying to travel through Avendyr's pass at night? Will orcs be LESS likely to agro at night because they're tired or sleeping as I wonder past their camp at night?
The scariest game I ever played wasn't an MMO, it was Nightmare on Elm Streed for NES. I got it for Christmas when I was about 7 years old. I remember playing it at night by myself and Freddy would come out of nowhere and get me! Yeah, it caused plenty of nightmares haha.
There are good ones in every game.
In the Secret World, the very first starting area - I forget the name of the town in Maine, but the empty streets, the oppressive fog, the ravens everywhere, the hastily built defenses by the surviving townsfolk. As a starting zone, it was just awesome creepiness everywhere. Then again, TSW was very much about eldritch horror.
In EverQuest and EverQuest 2, Castle Mistmoore was definitely up there. "What a horrible night to have a curse." Kithicor Forest at night was terrifying in EQ as well.
FFXIV's dungeons are scripted instances but there are a few of those that were pretty creepy, as well as some of their overland story sequences in the latest expansion.
In EVE, scary was every time I had to run a big, fat, slow jump freighter packed full of stuff through lowsec systems - especially if I only had scouts and didn't have escorts sitting on the gate.
For Pantheon, I'm not sure yet. But I'm sure there will be some scary zones.
Nothing has lived up to night in Tox forest. You see the moving light source of a wisp in the distance, hear the loud chittering of a beetle. Its faint but something sounds off... there is a skeleton out there in the darkness.
For pantheon I am hopeful of the darkness environment you showed off. A party with torches, listening intently for the sounds creatures make. Please don't let people just tab target creatures hidden in the darkness. At least make it so if the creature is not in light it only shows up as "??"
Kilsin said:Community Debate - What are some of the scariest MMORPG places to visit in-game at night? Bonus points if you have a Pantheon zone that you think will be scary! #MMORPG #CommunityMatters
Early EQ1, as a human: RunnyEye. The entry into the zone was pitch black and if you didn't have a light source you were completely blind. Beyond that the zone was more vertical than horizontal with lots of small hallways and doors making it easy to get turned around. Combined with the sounds of combat echoing off the walls made for a very disorienting and terrifying initial experience.
As for Pantheon, The Dead Vault will, hopefully, be a very dark and scary place. But rather than small tight hallways, I would prefer to see the zone be an underground horror gothic construction of incredible size where ceilings vanish into the darkness far above our heads and dust, spider webs and ages of rotted furnishings litter the hallways.
The whole world of Everquest was scary.
I'm not sure Pantheon will have the whole "no map" thing going, but other additional aspects which made the EQ world scary were:
Kithicor Forest - my first visit there at level 8 totally unsuspecting... "hey, what's that thing running at me ? ... LOADING PLEASE WAIT..."
Kedge Keep - dying there was incredibly scary. you cannot make it yourself because naked corpse run is not possible because of breathing issues, and if you get rez and don't get an enduring breath buff, you'll die drowning again. unless you had a worn enduring breath item, of course, but those were difficult to acquire.
Plane of Fear - my first time there at level 48 was pretty scary too, I mean it's raining blood there and the trains of mobs were legendary. Such is the will of Cazic-Thule !
Plane of Hate - i'll never forget the raid instruction : "DO NOT SIT TO REGEN until the raid leaders say the break-in is over - OR YOU WILL WIPE US OUT" - the trains of mobs in PoHate made PoFear look like a walk in the park.
But honestly, everything was scary in EQ for only one reason : the naked corpse run mechanic.
"Will I be able to recover my corpse ?"
"How long will it take ?" (especially on dial-up connection, back in the days).
Remove naked corpse runs and everything is a lot less scary.
I don't know that an MMO has done this yet, but adventure games and some RPGs have. I always thought one of the amazing places to visit, especially at night, would be some type of sanitarium/asylum type of concept. This would house the insane and dangerous denzions of all races and types found on Terminus. Perhaps the Undead have broken into the facility, maybe some type of burrowing group of NPCs tunnelled in, maybe there was just an explosion, or maybe the tried and true riot concept. Regardless, the most dangerous races/creatures are now on the loose.
Combine this concept with night time. The surrounding area outside is dealing with a lightning storm. The inside has flickering or strobing light, vision is limited. These creatures/races/things/undead are everywhere in the dark. And they're angry. Ambient sounds are eerie and sudden. Design decisions are wide open because it's not limited to just player races that might have been housed within, and maybe other creatures/Undead responsible for the breach.
Hidden rooms, broken walls, the various potential wings/cells of the sanitarium to house the different races could be very unique. The Dark Myr could have an underwater wing. The Scar could have a whatever the hell the Scar need. The humans could be in a tradtional wing but encased in filth where they are painting the walls with blood and poop. You could make this zone as freaky and terrifying as your imagination could go. The really dangerous and insane criminals of Terminus need to be held somewhere. I've always been a fan of these types of zones in other game genres.