Anyway... In OG Everquest every area you got to visit was interesting because there was intense danger involved. At one point I got lost alone in South Karana without a clue where I was. That's scary as hell as I wouldn't have any idea of how to retrieve my corpse and gear if I died.
Games today mollycoddle the user and have neat avoidable playpens with monsters and detailed maps, plugins and lots of websites explaining everything.
In EQ it was an adventure to make the trip from Kelethin to Qeynos.