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What park would you choose for #4 then?

Lol. Six frags stuck in the past.

I thought this list was about the all time best and which had the most impact. In my memory RoB had by far the most impact on this community and really opened up RCT2 to the LL people this site was mostly about till then. There was this kind of Elitist bias towards LL parks, and RCT2 parks were seen as mostly inferior. RoB changed all that, and since then the top-of-the-bill players also started playing more RCT2. It also translated that "NE-style" type of parkbuilding from LL to RCT2 in such perfection. With all respect to Starpointe, Kumba and Lenox Mall, but they didn't have that impact by far on the community. In My Opinion.

I think you're looking from an old school perspective. The NE-style that RoB inspired died somewhere in 2008 - 2010, so if RoB was 2003, it had a maximum of 7 years influencing the meta. I would even go as far as to argue that  #3 and even #6 have all had a bigger impact on the overall feel of NE's rct. While RoB is forever going to be the first big rct2 milestone, and it will always have a huge legacy, it came at a time where half the community was still more interested in LL. 

 

Lenox Mall had a massive influence in that it showed how far hacking can be taken with a little creativity, as well as being one of the earliest hyper-detailed realism parks.

 

Kumba is the pinnacle of one of our most beloved member's long career, and is also still to this day, probably the most realistic recreation ever built. It may not have influenced the meta, but it's at the very top of quality for what it was trying to achieve.

 

Disney's American Waterfront shows how much detail can be packed in a map while still being entirely readable. It doesn't have amazing hacks, and again it's influence may not have changed the game, but it is the very best park ever created for the most popular contest on this site, and I think many people would consider it the very best park ever created overall. 

 

RoB is great and will always be great, but the biggest thing it has going for it is how it inspired what came after it.

wow Son of Kumba got freaking robbed

I mean duh... if Kumba is #2, of course logic dictates Son of Kumba should have been #1...

 

Really tho, was a nice surprise to see it #2. I found this version of "The List" to be very all-encompassing of all major releases and not bias towards full parks. Quality over quantity seems to be the theme and that's fine. I always felt iris was all about full parks. I have always viewed the list that way myself and below is how mine would look right now as a top 10:

 

1. Riverlands by Fisch

Now make Grandson of Kumba and watch the site implode. 

All things considered I think the top 10 turned out pretty well, parks being 2 or 3 spots too high or low isn't really the point, since it was just based on polling and a few other factors.  Don't have much of any issues with any of the placement personally.

 

Especially compared to the iris list which is kind of a mess lmao.

I am actually quite pleased RoB is not number 1. Probably the most overrated park ever purely fueled by nostalgia. Sure it's a really good park and I am sure it was incredibly influential for its time, but there is a reason (almost) nobody builds in that style anymore, it's because it is outdated and had to make way for newer and better styles.

Yikes

You can't judge that park if you weren't around at that time. Sure, now it looks outdated, but the park is 17 years old. I guess you're not even 17 Recurious?

^By that reasoning, there would be a great deal of members who can't judge a great deal of the parks on this list. I personally think a fresh perspective of a park can be useful, perhaps giving a more objective viewpoint rather than one skewed by memories of its impact upon its release. For example, I think the story of the Wizard of Oz is truly, truly awful, and no amount of colour magic and breakthrough special effects can cover that.

 

I'm not saying RoB should or shouldn't be where it is, but I do have to agree that its reviews always seem to carry a hint of nostalgia, which I think people use as a reason to hunt out its better qualities - much in the way unconventional work of a proven player would be considered 'ballsy' or 'creative', with reviewers looking for the method behind the madness, yet in the work of newer members, these might be labelled as 'unrefined' or 'not NE standard'.

Sure, now it looks outdated, but the park is 17 years old.

Thank you for proving my point. I don't see how anything in your comment contradicts what I said before, you are basically confirming my point. No, I was not around 17 years ago, I would say that makes me look at the park more objectively because I can look at it without the Nostalgia attached to it.

Like I said before, it is a really good park, and I am sure it was also incredibly influencial for its time. It has a legendary status, and rightfully so. But if you look at the park purely for what it is and without its historical context, it is pretty dated compared to newer releases. Yet some people still act like it still holds up as the best park ever made, which is farfetched imo.

Other than the lack of peeps I wouldn't say the park looks outdated. People are still creating parks in a similar style, but it is not like those parks are outdoing RoB. At least not like how average modern realism parks dwarf some of the pinnacles of realism from the past.

People are still creating parks in a similar style, but it is not like those parks are outdoing RoB. At least not like how average modern realism parks dwarf some of the pinnacles of realism from the past.

 

Are they though? I mean if you look at the spotlights from the past 10 years the only park that is in a similar style as RoB is Ancient Worlds and perhaps Veteris Shores. I also can't really remember many parks from the last few years which had a similar style as RoB.

 

Even if there were parks like RoB in the past 10 years, they sure didn't win spotlight. Which tells me that either the style is not really that popular anymore or that the style doesn't hold up enough anymore to deserve spotlight.

I want examples Chorkiel.

Pretty much every park that has organic themed lands and large coasters is in the RoB vein of inspiration. Ancient Worlds, SoA, Veteris are the best examples, but I'd even argue parks like Everland, Antiquita, Terra Fantasia, owe something to RoB too.

It's not just about the micro, or the semi-ncso vanilla style, RoB is special because of how it approached building a park on the whole. It was the first park to really break from the LL style of filler archy and gave each structure purpose and functionality which is a key to top tier parks today, on top of the incredible composition and planning for the time.

I think you're taking "similar style as RoB" far too literally. G said it quite well above.

I want examples Chorkiel.

Watkins Woods was mostly on my mind when I wrote it. Many gold-scoring parks from the past decade are arguably far better realism parks than Watkinds. Watkins remains a classic because of how influential it is. Many parks are so good because of Watkins. Yet if Watkins were released today, it might not even score a gold.

Agree with G here.. since he referenced Antiquita, I'll say that RoB was a heavy influence. What I took away from the park was each themed area needed a big coaster and buildings surrounding it that perpetuated the theme. 

 

In regards to The List.. I'm surprised Kumba and Lenox Mall were that high.. but you guys know more about NE history than me. Maybe would've switched Dreamport and Zippos purely because I enjoy Dreamport more. This list of parks was a huge undertaking and is great for spurring debate and discussion.