Around the World in 80 Clicks: Highlights from My Sightseeing Tour of Sandbox MMO Landmark

Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

When I started playing Landmark (formerly EverQuest Next Landmark) a few weeks ago I was eager to cut to the chase and start building things for myself. That doesn't mean I didn't take time out to explore what other players around me were building on their own claims of land, though, and I spent more than a few hours playing tourist. 

Since I've already written about my own little cottage claim, it seems fitting that I share some of the most impressive and unbelievable things made by others that I've stumbled onto, starting with...

One of the first builds I came across was an unfinished fortress. An ornate tower and a few structures that were still a bit raw were surrounded by a decorated wall. The wall makes use of the fact that Landmark's building system tends to look best where right angles are concerned. It's a straightforward design that works with the game's limitations and looks great as a result.

Elsewhere, in the midst of a pine-dotted field, I found a sprawling manor. While it too was still a work in progress with quite a few empty rooms, I took a moment to appreciate the glossy patterned tile and the carefully framed structure of the entrance hall. This is another case of someone working with the limitations of the tools at hand so well that you don't even see the seams in their work, and it looked much more like a traditionally modelled building than a few carefully placed stacks of voxels.

This fancy estate caught my eye like an oasis in the desert, in part because of its charming little fountain...

... And in part because of it's striking stepped garden.

This house was furnished rather sparsely, but what furniture there was tended to be a clever blend of the craftable modelled items and creations made from some truly genius voxel manipulation, like the baby grand piano shown on the right. In this case you can definitely see the limitations of Landmark's building tools, but they only serve to make the end result that much more impressive.

Of course, I had to save the best for last. The jewel of Landmark, and possibly one of the most stunning things I've ever come across in any sandbox game...

Super Saiyan Goku from Dragonball Z. Cast in 200 feet of raw dirt, copper, and gold, he towers above the sands, gripping a luminous orb object between his hands like an energy attack still in the process of forming.

They should have sent a poet...

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Iris Ophelia (@bleatingheart, Janine Hawkins IRL) has been featured in the New York Times, and has spoken about SL-based design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan and with pop culture/fashion maven Johanna Blakley.</

Comments

[Hitomi Tiponi]

Really interesting to see what is being built there already.

[Arcadia Codesmith]

There are a great many things I love about Landmark, and I wish the team all the luck in the world, but the time investment is a little too steep for my schedule.

[Ciaran Laval]

Landmark looks very interesting and when I sort my PC out and go 64 bit I'll take a look, for now I'm keeping a very interested eye on it, I like what they are trying to do.

[melponeme_k]

I'm not impressed. It looks too playhouse preschool to me. And everyone's half finished work is sure to junk up the scenery. Building codes are not a sin. They work in RL.