Please, let's everyone calm down...
Is OpenZone a modeling tool? Not really...I'm not quite sure how to categorize it, and I wrote the darned thing. It's really designed for only one thing: constructing zones. You can do it all from within OpenZone (like the four I released that are up on SourceForge), or you can import content from real modeling tools and use that. The best way to think of it is a Zone Construction Set. Is it noobish? Probably...I don't know the first thing about real 3D modeling tools, and when I designed it I figured that most people don't either. I designed it for people like me -- I know how to build a GUI with tools like VB/Delphi, and OpenZone is modeled after those. It's more suited for placing pieces of a zone where you wish rather than building entirely from scratch, though it can do either.
This thread started with what kinds of zones people would like to see, so let me see if I can put forth a weak attempt at getting it back on track. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm sick to death of SOE content, the world of Norrath, and the entire mythos contained within. I think a critical part of any fantasy world is the thrill of discovery and how fantasy is so broad that there's lots of room for uniqueness (think of every fantasy book you've ever read and how they all differ on many levels). In that sense, I think that customizing zones, items, and models (probably in that order, from least difficult to most difficult) is a noble cause and one that will attract many users.
That's not to say that nostalgia for pre-Kunark EQ isn't a bad thing (and I agree that SOE ruined the game after Kunark), but I don't think it's really different enough from EQLive to attract users to more than a small degree. If I still enjoyed EQLive (and that was so long ago that I can't remember how long it's actually been anymore) I would just play EQLive. Their subscription price wasn't that much -- what I couldn't stand were the time required, the overpopulation of the world, and the fact that the game eventually became old hat (the last one isn't SOE's fault -- it arises simply from time spent playing the game). Still, there isn't anything about OpenEQ that precludes either scenario, though I clearly have a bias towards totally unique worlds.
Let me just say that OpenZone is just a first crack at building zones, and it was done to make it as easy as possible. Suggestions are always welcome (and a thread on that might do some good), and it's *open source*...there's no reason why it has to be the only world-building tool out there (hint, hint).
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