Having played through Rift, Aion, Tera, WoW, FFXIV the last few years, something has begun to bother me...I notice that there are many artificial borders created in order to create map zones, like in WoW, how there are mountains pretty much everywhere that create the separations. Not to mention, the "scale" of the maps feels a bit... small? Like, I'm walking through the zone and there's supposed to be a big castle or stronghold...but it doesn't "feel" big.

So what are some games you guys have played that you've really enjoyed the map design/zones?

For me, I really really enjoyed Lineage II's map. I first played the game 11 years ago, and I still vividly remember a lot of zones and places. I really enjoyed the world map because it felt properly large, took a long time to run across, and didn't have a lot of "border mountains" to create the zones. The world transitioned semi-naturally, and I enjoyed the open nature of it, being able to run in any direction instead of being limited to 4 or 5 entrances around the zone.

So what about you guys? Favorite maps? I really enjoy exploring maps and have been trying to find out the next game to play..maybe even revisiting some old ones.