Wendersnaven.com (a resource for nwn2 builders)

I came across a post by by peterb over at Tea Leaves where is examines physical locations in games how what makes for a consistent and engaging experience.

The question then is: if you are describing a space that doesn't signify a real-world space, how do you make the player care? How do you increase the power of the virtual space you've created so that, when she is done playing your game, the player thinks of it, on some level, as a "real" place? In this article, I'm going to discuss three techniques: familiarity and reuse, signifiers such as maps and text, and geometric and logical consistency.

Check it out:
http://www.tleaves.com/weblog/archives/000026.html