The Best Gaming Worlds

If you’ve not figured it out by my articles of late, I’ve been playing a lot of Lord of the Rings Online. It just gets me, man. It’s very solo-able, has a ton of stuff to do, and is easy to start and stop and a moment’s notice. It respects my time but is always engaging.

Yesterday I was running around doing quests when I had a thought, “I love being in this world.” I love playing a lot of games, but this got me thinking, beyond the story or mechanics of a game, which game WORLDS do I love being in?

• Middle Earth – Sure, I could watch the movies or read the books, but something about being in Middle Earth in LOTRO is insanely compelling. I think it’s because, unlike some other games which is all darkness and violence — which I’m fine with at times — the Middle Earth in LOTRO can also be funny and vibrant and positive.
• Tamriel – This is probably one of the fictional gaming worlds I’ve spent the most time in, from Daggerfall and Arena all the way to Skyrim and Elder Scrolls Online. I’m so into this one I even own physical lore books like this one.
• The Arth Galaxy – Not sure what else to call this one, but it’s basically where Starflight inhabits. I’ve spent a lot of time in this universe, and I honestly it’s one of the few that fills me with as much joy and awe as it does. It’s a massive galaxy, yet full of wonders and horrors to discover.
• The I-War Galaxy – Not sure what to call this one either, but it’s the universe within the two Independence/I-War games. When I sat back and thought about where I’d like to spend my time, beyond the above of course (as I’d thought about those before I began writing), the first one to come to mind was the I-War galaxy. While I loved I-War 1, I think the lived-in, dynamic galaxy of I-War 2 is what really entranced me.

There are other universes I’ve spent a lot of time in, but I wouldn’t actually wanna LIVE there. Case in point: the Warhammer universe. I love Warhammer games so much, but helllllllll no I would never wanna live there. Same for the Wing Commander universe! These places just seem too unforgiving to wanna actually choose to live there, you know?

So what about you guys? If you could live in a fictional gaming universe, which would it be? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the forums or in the comments. Thanks for reading, and have a great week!