I have so many it will almost be impossible to list just a few. Some are purely sentimental. Some are totally immersive and others are simply gorgeous.
My all-time favorite place is PoHateB (the revamped version) The gothic feel and gloomy haunted house feeling was perfectly executed, convincing and completely mesmerizing. I was totally immersed in that zone.
I loved crystal caverns. Early on, I went there solo and it was such an exotic place for me.
Of course, for pure sentimentality, Gfay is #1.
I loved House of Thule and Morrell's Castle
For grouping with RL friends, I loved the original Northern Ro and Lake of Illomen.
Lower Guk has to be #1 for me it's just such a fantastic zone with so many nuances and challenges. Cazic Thule is perhaps #2 if I have to rate them. Seb was great too. Sol A was great and sadly I think an underrated zone. I loved the desert zones around freeport, they always felt so alive. For sentimenatlity, all of Faydwer really. Veeshan's Peak was also badass, although more for the content of the zone and not the layout of it.
Old Sebilis was my favourite zone. It had everything in it and it was extremely fun to do a dungeon crawl in. I also liked some of the newer zones as well. Howling Stones was also a pretty cool zone although I didn't get to group there as much as I would have liked.
Veksar was a cool zone for necros and I loved farming in Acrylia Caverns. Could make some pretty decent plat there back in the day.
For starting zones, Halas for sure, the Barbarian was my first character and its pretty hard to top your first starting city, especially as I love snowy climates in game.
My favorite hunting zone in classic would have to be Sol B. Many good camp memories there.
Endalmir said:its pretty hard to top your first starting city
So true. Ak'anon was goofy with gears, but starting as a gnome it will always be home.
My first run through Kithicor (not for hunting, just trying to run through at level four exploring)
Kedge Keep! Burble, gurgle, glub glub...
Fond memories for so many places.
Gfay always #1
Crushbone is on top too. WHo did not like to Piss Dvinn.
Back in the Classic, the run crossing South Karana or Runningup the hill to HHPass.
Running to the front of the dwarf city and waiting for the boat...... Many things I miss.
Velketor (top spot), Dread Land front wall, Karnor Castle - Hand Room, and all the planes.
#1 **VEKSAR** Arguably the most beautifully exquisite zone in EverQuest, you're inside of an underwater city, the roof leaks, you still have to swim to some sections of the zone. You have an entire underwater city to explore and the artwork in Veksar is absolutely magnificent. Veksar is one of those rare zones that simply got included in a patch one day, much like Jaggedpine Forest and The Warrens. You can tell whoever did Veksar took a LOT of pride in making sure everything was just right down to the fine little itty bitty intricate bits.
#2 The Ruins of Old Paineel, or 'The Hole.' Really cool dealing with gargantuan golems, gargoyles, and rummaging around the ruins filled with ghosts that want to flay you. Zone is a huge dungeon.
#3 Charasis, or, 'Howling Stones.' Always liked this zone, it was sort of a dungeon for masochists. Not many went there (sorta like The Hole), so if you died, well, let's hope you were planning ahead. There were trap floors everywhere (watch out for those carpets!) and it was a fantastic place to acquire EXP and nifty items that still sold well late into the game. Plus, you might get a chance at killing Venril Sathir's old lady.
#4 Crystal Caverns. CC was another good-looking zone with glimmering ice everywhere with some dwarves at the bottom, spiders and tentacle terrors with orcs everywhere on the way down. It might be thought of as Crushbone Ver. 2. You could traverse the zone quickly, provided you knew where you were going and everything really looks the same so it took some time to learn.
#5 Plane of Hate. Plane of Hate was very mood-setting with appropriate architecture. I loved the models of the mobs, decaying humans, skeletons, dracoliths, haunted treasure chests, vampires, how could you possibly not hate this zone to the point of admiring it?
#6 Kaesora. One of those zones sort of like Befallen, it was easy to get up in level quick enough to pass the relevancy of experiencing the zone. But if you did get to group and gain experience in Kaesora, you'd find a very cool dungeon that was reminiscent of the ruins akin to The Hole deep below. Spirits of fallen Iksars and Sarnacks roam the nooks and granite halls of Kaesora.
#7 Plane of Tactics. One of the coolest planes, you're in the Fortress of Zek, vacation home of Rallos Zek with his punk kids Tallon and Vallon. You hear the pounding of hooves, up for some piggie, anyone? There's a huge kill pit in the center, with a couple branches that split off in opposing directions with Tallon on one end with Vallon on the other.
#8 Plane of Justice. Something cool about opening cells and killing prisoners. They were likely to be executed anyway, you're merely helping out. Many rats roamed the halls as well, and there were geonids deep in the caverns.
#9 Plane of Time. I raided Time, somewhat unfortunately, for over a year due a stint of constant guild rebuilding. Still, while other people complained I enjoyed it, it's a lot of fun killing the gods and I loved the mechanics of the zone. Some of the coolest clickers came out of Time.
#10 Theater of Blood, otherwise known as The Plane of Music. It was sort of like a mashup of Plane of Hate, Plane of Fear, with a crimson blood red sky. Mobs were diverse, mini bosses were in good number. It's a neat looking zone.
#1 Greater Faydark - One of my first experiences in everquest 1 that I recall is when I finally got high enough in level to venture beyond the relative safety of Butcherblock. When I got into Gfay for the first time and the night time environment sounds really just had me spooked. I was scared crapless and it was sooooo easy to get lost in that place. I was almost too frightened to venture beyond the zone borders.
#2 Lower Guk - I spent a great deal of time in the frenzied ghoul camp helping friends and earning money on rezzes at the zone in with a necro friend. He'd summon the corpse and I would rez it.
#3 Howling Stones - I always loved this zone because it was very exclusive. Not alot of people went there as a previous poster said, you needed a key, and it was an elaborate dungeon and it was massively dangerous if you weren't careful.
#4 Plane of Innovation - I was lucky enough to find a subgroup of people within my guild that just all happened to live in the same city as me. What are the odds right? And even longer odds, we made the perfect group. I was a cleric, my best friend was a paladin tank, we had a chanter, a wizard, and a monk. We explored every inch of that zone and leveled unbelieveably fast. We spent every night together for months. I had a permagroup every night I logged on, the second I logged on for months until some people's personal sitautions changed. One of my favorite times playing an MMO ever. We got so close that we hated having other people in our group or having pickup groups. We just because so used to each other's play styles it was ingrained in the way we played. I knew for a certainty how each would respond to any given situation it was just so effortless. I was sad to see it go when it did...
Gfay
Crushbone
East Commonlands, EC Tunnel to be exact
Oasis
Castle Mistmoore
High Hold Keep
ummm Velious starter zone I forget.
Karnos Castle,
Plane of Knowledge lol
Crystal Caverns
thurgadin velious, I loved making those teleport potions, usefull as a Monk.
Plane of Innovation just because Earthshaker pull groups.
kael drakkel
Lake of Ill Omen
While I liked the dungeons (alot) in EQ1, most of my favorite places were above ground. They were (in no particular order):
Everfrost- I started as a barbarian shaman and I remember being in awe of the place. Got lost a few times trying to make it out to the tundra.
Qeynos Hills- Loved finding this are after the PITA that was Blackburrow (hey, the game crashed a LOT back in the early days, and BB was my first dungeon in EQ1).
North Karana- The first time I saw the wizard spires I literally whispered a word I had to wash my son's mouth out for saying a short time afterwards. Also spent time under the white bridge, usually just chatting with friends or guildies.
Oasis of Marr- Everything about that zone was fun, unless you were on the server with Fansy the Bard.
Highpass- The long, winding road up to the keep, the mobs along the way, the Cellar...and Kithicor beyond!
I could go on but I think that about sums up what my favorites were. Most zones were done exceptionally well, though.
Oh, and Erud's Crossing was great. It was my first boat ride, the wisps dropped lightstones to sell for $$ AND that was where I received my surname!
Lower Guk because it was my solo home for months.
Sebilis because i had the greatest groups there and found many new friends.
Plane of Time because i loved the raids.
Many more, but those three for differend reasons. EQ Dungeons always amazed me. Even today when revisiting them. I just love that most dungeons in EQ never used the "tunnel" system, you could get lost... and you could not clear the dungeon in 10-20min. You could spend days and weeks in a dungeon with a group. Logging together, getting back together the next day,... good ol' days.
Karnors Castle & The Dreadlands.. I had the most fun/best group times there.
I'd have to say either Lake Rathe or Ocean of Tears. It's crazy how huge those zones were, and some of those underwater caves that were never explored. I hope Pantheon has some content like that.
Interesting thread regarding rumours of the sea monsters deep in those caves. http://www.oocities.org/theroyalnorrathianguard/rok1.html
halflingwarrior said:I'd have to say either Lake Rathe or Ocean of Tears. It's crazy how huge those zones were, and some of those underwater caves that were never explored. I hope Pantheon has some content like that.
Interesting thread regarding rumours of the sea monsters deep in those caves. http://www.oocities.org/theroyalnorrathianguard/rok1.html
Damn right! we need more myths and mystical stuff in games.. makes the game feel more alive and truly magical.
Lake of Ill Omen - Far and away my favorite overall zone. I started EQ as an Iksar, and it always felt like this zone was my backyard.
Castle Mistmoore and High Hold Keep - the first few "dungeons" I camped with some RL friends. Had a blast in these places.
Crystal Caverns and Karnos Castle just places with a really unique atmosphere.
Added with edit: City of Mist. I was puller for my guild, and made an absolutely EPIC bad pull in there. I think I pulled 75% of the zone and died in like 3 seconds flat. It took about 3 months until I didn't hear about that one every time I logged on :)
It is really neat to see everyone's favorites because there are soooo many good ones. A lot of you picked zones where you started, which if you think about, is not surprising due to memories and struggles when we all first started.
A few tht were not mentioned which I think are absolute classics are:
Blackburrow - Just a great starter dungeon that needs no explanation
Befallen - This was probably one of the nastiest zones level 12-20 in the game. Reason being the close cooridors and aggro, but also because all the dang necros and their DOTs / snares... Super good exp, but easy to wipe. (DON"T JUMP IN THE WELL) (GET YOUR KEYS)
Lastly, a couple zones I used to love were Paw where to outside gnolls roamed. I loved quad kiting those as a druid. The other is KFC and the fact that I looted the Quillmane cloak early on, not knowing what is was for. Had a cool levitation effect!
Why? Because you just have to get to Qeynos of course, or die trying.
The Guks. I look at Upper and Lower Guk as a whole because it's design meant you could spend dozens of levels within those cramped and twisty corridors. To me it is a style of design I want to see taken to the next level in Pantheon. One dungeon leading to another leading to yet another, getting every deeper underground and ever more difficult. Sometimes, when down at the Ghoul Lord or Executioner I'd think about just how far underground I really am and suddenly I'd get a little claustrophobic...as if I could feel the weight of all that dirt and rock over me. /shudder No other zone ever made me feel that.
Castle Mistmoore was also good because because it just looked ominous. Always dark, you needed to be watchful for what would see through invis and what needed invis to undead. Pathing was so horrible that trains and adds were to be expected.
Kael Drakkel. Just for the scale of the zone. I truly felt tiny compared to the giants. Even dragons never felt big to me, but those Kael giants were perfect.