I was wandering in World of Warcraft lands yesterday, and recalling how those places were different when I walked through them the first times. It was many years ago. There was no free version for 1-20 level and every quest was far more hard to complete. There was no hint on the map and you have to walk around and ask people just to find your objective. There were also Battlegrounds where you could fight for hours before the battle could end.
But the most amazing thing for me, playing MMORPGs, MMOs or just offline adventure games, is to see places and landscape in a 360° player view. That's probably because I'm an artist with a surrealistic view, and I grew up in the BI (Before Internet) Age. Having a chance to explore imaginary environments is a dream come true, for an artist (and for his inner child self). That's why I always prefer games with a great graphic and a first person view. I loved an old offline game of that kind: Uru, Ages Beyond Myst - and the Myst series too. On the contrary, I don't like strategy games.
I loved the Halo landscapes too, and the horror interiors of Silent Hill and Quake (I usually played Quake and Doom in Godmode, though: I wanted to see the places, not to fight and die!). I loved the original format of Max Payne and its urban landscapes. I even remember the places from "Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines". More recently, I enjoyed very much the wild landscapes in Elder Scrolls and the historic ones from Assassins Creed. I could name many other games.
Anyway. I was talking about WoW. As a new player, I started as a NightElf Druid (in was in 2006, I believe). I remind the sea city of Auberdine, where I stayed for a long time and built a guild. In the following expansion - from The Lich King, I think - Auberdine became a wasted village, with just ruins and wreckage: it was a sad view!
How much all this environments and imaginary place do influence the formation of young men's imagination, today? I think we can't evaluate it yet.
Nevertheless, people's esthetic taste plays a big role in our society, today more than in the past - whether you are for the Alliance or the Horde! ;)
(My previous post about videogames and art)
My old screenshot from various games:
