One way to ruin your fun for any COTW map or new map like Australia ...

[sneakybass]

Is to watch people play them on You tube, takes all the fun out of everything regarding this new map or any map for that matter. You need to play the map not knowing what to expect and explore and don't learn everything from these videos It ruins the game for me and seeing all the kills you can get later. And watching CCs kill everything way before you get a chance to enjoy It your self. Enjoy the map on your own for the first time and see everything thru your eyes not thru some one's else's eyes..........

[Snail Rancher]

One thing I would add to that is to NOT use the ATV or friends in multiplayer to unlock all the outposts ASAP. Instead, just walk. Take a tent in case you want to save, but just walk from outpost to outpost. You'll see loads more, and the map will "last longer" before you get bored.

I used to unlock all the outposts on a new map with the ATV in an hour or two, but stopped doing that with Mississippi and don't regret it at all. About the only time I use an ATV now is if I want to get back to a location where I got "knocked out" quickly.

[Haddock_Dundee]

Well said both of you. I agree 100%. I walk the new map. And I see more.

[The Whackmaster]

You can always not go to youtube. I Don't! Unless, I am going for a Great one and need some help with learning the Herd Management. But otherwise, I do not look at COTW youtube videos, cause you are right! I also walk the map, never use an atv. Better to walk so you can get need zones, you would not get while using an atv.

[The Whackmaster]

One other thing I could add, after people like us that walk the map, need zone resets are a pain in the ass, so Devs, dont do it! All that work we did and now you make us do it all over again. So no more Map resets. Leave them alone!

[Andi]

Also, the story will take you a good ways across the map, much to see and explore, learn a bit and also there's much to spot and shoot on the way. 🙂
I don't have tents on me, usually I play until I come to an outpost and end the session there.
I bought the map yesterday, although I wasn't too sure about it and certainly don't regret.
The new rifle is a banger as well.
All in all I'm happy with the purchase.
Yes, sometimes you'll come across some reminders of things wich could've done better with a little more effort like the wrong cars, but for now I just push it aside and try to ignore it.
So long there's no really hurting bugs I'm fine.
Still in the south region outback, but I'm in no hurry.
Looking forward to the weekend when I have more free time at hand and I can really dig into it. 🙂

[Cryptic]

It's weird that I read about people getting bored in this type of game so quickly. I have several hundred hours in the game. I own all the maps. If I get tired of one, I go to another for awhile and then come back. That keeps things fresh. The amount of people that I seen on here who have such a low attention span is kind of odd for a hunting game.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by sneakybass:

Is to watch people play them on You tube, takes all the fun out of everything regarding this new map or any map for that matter. You need to play the map not knowing what to expect and explore and don't learn everything from these videos It ruins the game for me and seeing all the kills you can get later. And watching CCs kill everything way before you get a chance to enjoy It your self. Enjoy the map on your own for the first time and see everything thru your eyes not thru some else's eyes..........

Absolutely agree Sneaky.

Rushing around is the antithesis to hunting and exploration.

And impatient achieving is how many people experience this game, and the reason they go to videos for information on how to appease their rush into achievement.

I haven't seen a picture of a GO, let alone a video. As you said I don't want my first experience to be a spoiler.

Walking across the entire map will be more immersive, but you won't find as many animals or zones as when using the ATV. And on new maps, you need to get need zones on your map in order to promote populations in that area.

I will use the ATV to unlock a couple of outposts in separate areas of a new map to give me something to work with. The affect doesn't last and animals will return to their daily pathways if not pressured. This gives me the ability to explore much more of the map's various biomes while I wait for new NZs to have time to be used by other animals, so it doesn't get 'deleted', as many people like to say.

I spend my first few hours on a new map finding animal sign, unlocking NZs with females only, and only killing far from those zones. After a couple of in-game days, when I return to those zones, they will be flourishing.

[sneakybass]

Thanks for the replies you guys ..........

[VictoriaHuntress]

Even though I do use ATVs, just to unlock outposts and get to lookout towers (keeping to main roads only) I do see the value in the opinions expressed above. I've also eschewed ATVs for initial exploration, relying on hiking from place to place instead. Both have pros and cons, and I've come to rely on using both in what I think is a sensible manner, and one that I enjoy.

By staying on main roads only, that still leaves the majority of the map unexplored - lookout surveys only add information to the map, but there is still a lot of work and reward to get boots on the ground and hike the entire territory. Having outposts opened gives you fast travel points, so then I can go back to each region and explore them on foot.

When entering a map for the first time, my priority is to work on the story missions, doing just enough to complete each one in order. That seems to be a workaround for discovering things on the map too soon (before a mission gets assigned, and then not being able to complete a mission - c.f. the New England Landmarks Mission; at least the Emerald Coast Landmarks mission is assigned early in the story arc). If a mission requires travel to the far reaches of the map, an ATV can be a good choice to get there.

One thing I do on an ATV is to stop and head over to need zone signs when I see them (which, or course, implies I have animal tracks/sign clues turned on), to register them on my map. I'll also stop if there is an unknown point of interest (?) within 2-300m of the road I'm on, get off and hike over to it.

I think Geronimo's comment above expresses my sentiments rather well.