Map Profession

[Minimusmax]

I think there should be a player profession of cartography. Having this profession could be beneficial for those who want a map or are new players to the genre. It would also be good for the cartographer as it gives them a market to generate money from, and helps to create a more diverse professions system. This would also appease those who want a map system, while keeping the feeling of player cooperation being important, while providing some tools that will aid those struggling with directions. What do you guys think?

[Virsago2099]

If it isn't too complex or time consuming I think it would be a great way to give people what they want, while also adding to the game. And keeping it all in game, as opposed to players using 3rd party websites is always ideal. I hope they consider this path.

[Johnathon Fortnite]

Originally posted by Tanist:

Originally posted by Johnathon Fortnite:

Having ANY sort of map would make this 10 thousand times more enjoyable to play. Playing in worlds end? The elf place. It's a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ forest. I can't differentiate these locations so I end up getting lost and spending ages trying to find my way back. No minimap sure but there needs to be some kind of realistic map so I can make my way around a forest with seemingly 0 landmarks.

What if you had to learn the areas first (through some game play mechanic)? That acceptable?

Fog of war? If i had to explore first then yeah that'd be fine. I'd like to see an accurate ye olde based map. Nothing high quality just something basic to get grips of where you are/have been. There'll be issues with returning players completely forgetting where everything is otherwise lol.

[Tanist]

Originally posted by Johnathon Fortnite:

Originally posted by Tanist:

What if you had to learn the areas first (through some game play mechanic)? That acceptable?

Fog of war? If i had to explore first then yeah that'd be fine. I'd like to see an accurate ye olde based map. Nothing high quality just something basic to get grips of where you are/have been. There'll be issues with returning players completely forgetting where everything is otherwise lol.

No I mean something more involved, maybe quests specific to that exploring, item gathering in locations, etc... , skill ups through certain activities, etc.. something that takes a bit of time to develop the map outside of just running through really quick?

[Tanist]

Originally posted by Virsago2099:

If it isn't too complex or time consuming I think it would be a great way to give people what they want, while also adding to the game. And keeping it all in game, as opposed to players using 3rd party websites is always ideal. I hope they consider this path.

Not sure the best approach in terms of activities, but in terms of "time"... lets say a zone has a level range that encompasses generally a certain progression, maybe... 1-9 lets say. What if the time to develop the map took roughly the same amount of time from you to go from level 1 - 9 and it would be something that develops along side that play (not something you had to specifically grind separately outside of fairly normal play while leveling and adventuring).

So basically, by the time you ended up "finishing" the zone the map would be mostly filled out and "complete" with everything? That is a rough idea.

The point of it would be to progress in a similar fashion along side your leveling as a natural progression of play.

Like I said, I am not sure exactly on "how", but the idea is that it develops, just like your character does in levels through experience, exploration, questing, etc... so it has to have some type of attention to it other than "oh I ran through here, look I know everything now!"

[Johnathon Fortnite]

Originally posted by Tanist:

Originally posted by Johnathon Fortnite:

Fog of war? If i had to explore first then yeah that'd be fine. I'd like to see an accurate ye olde based map. Nothing high quality just something basic to get grips of where you are/have been. There'll be issues with returning players completely forgetting where everything is otherwise lol.

No I mean something more involved, maybe quests specific to that exploring, item gathering in locations, etc... , skill ups through certain activities, etc.. something that takes a bit of time to develop the map outside of just running through really quick?

Personally i think there should be a really unique and cool building. One that is tall and opens up the map after you climb it. A tower of sorts.

But yea ubisoft aside that would be cool. Especially as it'd solve the issue of not playing for half a year and forgetting where jimmy the blacksmith and his stone is. Ff14 has that aether current thing. That's a good example of something that'd work imo.

[Virsago2099]

Originally posted by Tanist:

Originally posted by Virsago2099:

If it isn't too complex or time consuming I think it would be a great way to give people what they want, while also adding to the game. And keeping it all in game, as opposed to players using 3rd party websites is always ideal. I hope they consider this path.

Not sure the best approach in terms of activities, but in terms of "time"... lets say a zone has a level range that encompasses generally a certain progression, maybe... 1-9 lets say. What if the time to develop the map took roughly the same amount of time from you to go from level 1 - 9 and it would be something that develops along side that play (not something you had to specifically grind separately outside of fairly normal play while leveling and adventuring).

So basically, by the time you ended up "finishing" the zone the map would be mostly filled out and "complete" with everything? That is a rough idea.

The point of it would be to progress in a similar fashion along side your leveling as a natural progression of play.

Like I said, I am not sure exactly on "how", but the idea is that it develops, just like your character does in levels through experience, exploration, questing, etc... so it has to have some type of attention to it other than "oh I ran through here, look I know everything now!"

Oh I was speaking about developer time. Like the time it takes to code and put together UI elements for it. Things of that nature. I feel like something like that would be expensive in dev time to make, but I'm no game dev so it could be a lot simpler than I think it is.

But I think you have a good feel for it as far as how the skill should progress. Kind of in line with how your character develops. Essentially as you're getting ready to leave an area for the next one, you should have your map of the area nearly done assuming you've been doing a lot of exploring while you were in the area. It should definitely require the character actually go to an area and spend some time in it before they get it fully mapped. I'm not sure what the mechanics of it would look like, but I'm sure the team at VR could find a way to make something like that fun and interesting.

I think it's a fantastic idea, and actually a lot better than just giving the player a pop up picture of the land. Making it gameplay instead of just a thing to look at will always be better in my opinion. I would very much like to one day say /auction "WTB Map of TF".