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I like adventures that focus on exploring ancient ruins and other mysterious places. I like a slow, languid pace of poking around, solving puzzles and the like that pitches up occasionally to a thunderous roar as various monsters are discovered, only to settle back into ominous silence.
I don't like adventures with a lot of intrigue and talking to NPCs and stuff like that.
I tend to like city and/or political adventures
I like adventures where the characters have reason to care what happens to those around them. So not drifters, but people with roots.
Sandpoint was a good start to that, but I've only got original PC left (deaths and player shifts) at the end of vol.3.
We're doing well with it in my offline Crimson Throne group -- in vol.1 had a great argument about
I also like a lot of tactically intereesting combat.
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I like and prefer "Survival Campaigns." Too bad they're as rare as Mithral. I guess that's why i write my own. My players love 'em more than anything else published, or so they say. I've written a few "Chase Campaigns," as well. They are difficult to write, run and play in, but definitely more than worth the effort when pulled off.
Thoth-Amon
Hig Magic type games and non human centric ones personally.
I like campaigns, where the characters don't fight to save the abstract world population or some princess they only know the name off, but fight for things and people which they actually know and have a real meaning to them.
In a low- to mid-level game, I think this really raises the urgency of their deeds. The stakes are much higher and it has to be the characters, and only the characters, to solve the problems, because no others heroes will come to answer the call. Forced to face problems, which they don't want to, and which are too big for them, you have a situation, where real heroism can arise! Slaying dragons and saving the kingdom is nice, but when "it's your job", it's not really heroic.
Many settings have special people living in a mundane world. I prefer mundane people living in a special world. The characters don't have any special powers in relation to the rest of the population. At "higher levels", they may call down a pillar of fire or utilize magic to fly above the ground, but mostly, they are normal, and there are many others like them. They may get admired, but for their deeds, not for their inherit power. The world, on the other hand, is highly magical. People stay away from many lands, because they are inhabited by the fey; rituals are held in large temples by the sea, to appease the spirits of the waves and winds; massive mountains float over a blasted landscape; and gargantuan creatures of old can sometimes be seen striding through the massive jungles or surface far out on the sea for short moments.
Pure dungeon crawl. Urban Intrigue. Horror in all its forms. Wilderness and Frontier. War. Pirates. Exploring Ancient Ruins......... They all have their lures. I say bring it on.
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I love high adventure with serious impact on the world from the players choices, moral gray areas are a must, with plenty of do or die decision making in the process.
Dragonlance is my favorite place to put this all.
Then again...there's something to be said about a romp in the tomb of horrors or temple of elemental evil (sigh, wish I had kept that box set)
I do like a good dragon as well
I enjoy hiking, camping, reading, and walks on the beach.
Human-centric settings and adventures with lots of room for role playing are my cup of tea. Dungeon crawls are cool, as long as not every single encounter's supposed to turn into a fight.
Enemies have to be interesting, more than just a block of stats. And each adventure needs something unexpected. At least one moment where the script totally gets flipped on the players.
so far, every Paizo adventure released has met my personal standards for a good adventure.
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I like running horror and mystery adventures. I like the idea of epic battles but in practice they tend to get bogged down in details. A good dungeon (not too big, not too small) is also a good thing.
Playwise, I like exploration, a little bit of puzzling and defeating my foes.
A little bit of variety in campaigns is, I think, is good. So far I like the blend in RotRL and will be anxious to see how the future APs play out.
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I would LOVE for Paizo to do a survival horror adventure.Something with a CoC feel to it? That would be fantastic.
I'm thinking more a long the lines of a party vs hordes of zombies and other non-intelligent undead with few supplies and magic items. Think Resident Evil, Alone in the Dead, 30 days of Night, Night/Dawn/Day of the Dead.
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These are the likes that stick out for me . . . and some dislikes as well:
I like an adventure that when I read it, I can see it in a D&D campaign or a d20 Modern campaign.
I also like an adventure that has a lot of background, but not so much that I, as DM, gets lost in the intricacies.
I like LOTS of description that I can share with the players. To this end, there is a lot of information that isn't set aside for players that could be. (I don't like to have to dig for additional information that I can share and this would make life a lot easier!)
I like some sense of direction in a campaign. The players should have a clear goal in mind. But I don't like railroading.
I like having an environment that leaves the players with a sense to explore, and with rich NPCs to meet . . . but tied in with the paragraph above, I don't like it when it becomes really easy for them to get lost.
I like suspense. I like adventure. I like action. I like horror. Each has its place. Each can suffer overkill. One thing I'd like to see more of is social roleplaying. From Age of Worms, there was a great opportunity - an entire session practically - with social roleplaying. This should be explored more, as sometimes it seems the most difficult to implement . . . or rather, to pull off successfully and fluidly.
I also like a variety of BBEGs with rich details and something that will make each he and she a memorable encounter. Added to this, I like flavor with minion. Cookie-cutter minion can become real boring.
Players make the adventure IMO, not the other way around. The right mix can make an adventure at any level, really, really fun.