Is there a map of the planeshift overworld/underworld somewhere?

[Night]

A few Thoughts

I\'m a member of another (Pay to Play) MMORPG run by a littly company caled Sony (I gather from other posts that my message will get deleted if I mention it by name) They use this wonderful idea: you have boxes (or the equivalent) to show that there\'s SOMETHING there! no telling what it is. A few places are labled, but most aren\'t but you get the featureof adding your own lables as you progress (suppose I found a sectret door, I could pull up my map and click \"add label\" and write in \"Secret Door\" and then next time I loaded hte map, it would show up)

However, this map is ONLY viewable in full-screen (making it useless in areas with mobs with high agro (translation: making it useless in areas with monster that will attack you))

The map\'s mainly just used to give you a genneral direction. And also, the game interface has a compas to tell you what dierction you\'re facing. I think that would be a nice feature to add as the world expands

Also... anyone ever consider future possibilities for this game? The MMORPG I pay to play sells maps in real life books! The Planeshift team may be planning something like that to try and get more profit as time progresses (hey bandwidth and serverspace isn\'t free!)

Just a few thoughts...

[DivineLight]

Good idea, if devs don\'t want to reveal anything then boxes are good to just indicate that this is something.

Best suggestion ATM.

[Soulless_Body]

Originally posted by Golmir
Who needs a map? Adventurers?  :baby:
What\'s next? a compass, ILS, GPS, ...
It would be much easier to have only one big room with  monsters, trainers and merchants...
What\'s the point of a whole world to explore is you don\'t want to explore?
Instead of begging for a map, thank the devs for the big world and pray for more to explore.
Too dark at night? night vision for everyone.
monsters are too strong? immortality for everyone.
hmm...wait! Why are you playing games?



______________________
Remember that the map is licensed material

Because people have life?s out side of games! Most people will not have time to explore as you say! All most people want to do is get in to the game and start playing.

I don?t know about you guys but if you hade no map and hade to explore it would get kind of boring don?t you think?



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If you\'re smart, there\'s hardly any excuse for getting lost. Before you begin (this applies to anyone going somewhere they\'ve never been before), get a piece of paper and a pencil/pen. Draw a line as you travel, indicate any times you turned, and mark down reference points (places/things you would recognise if you came across them again) once in a while. No excuse for getting lost in the current world, except perhaps laziness.

My thoughts,

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Are you some kind of geek with no life? Because most of us do not have time to do that kind of stuff? We want to play the game NOT draw some damn map on a bit a paper!


OR!!!!! You could have a map witch starts out black! But when you go to an area that you have not been to before it appears on the map? But when an updates come you will have to go there again to get the new building on the map.  You know like on Zelda?

[provisionist1]

I\'m just trying to offer a practical solution to getting lost. So no need to get angry. It just seems to me that taking an extra five seconds every couple of minutes is nothing compared to the time wasted when you get lost. If the devs implement a map (which I doubt will happen anytime soon) then fine, but until that happens I am trying to offer one (of probably many ways) to help newbies so they aren\'t wandering around in circles yelling \"help me help me!\" It seems another way is to piss and moan about it and yell at anyone who tries to help.

Geek? Well yes I am, but who here isn\'t? I mean, look at all the great stuff on the Fanart forums, the Communicative Storywriting forum. That took a lot of time outside of \"playing the game.\" Or another way to look at it is that it is part of the greatness of this game. If you\'re a power leveler who cares not for the (as you seem to be arguing-extraneous) rp stuff, you shouldn\'t be here. Now, I don\'t intend to be mean, but you\'re using one of Xythe\'s great character portraits. He put a lot of time outside of playing the game creating it. Is he a geek with too much free time? Possibly, but then, it\'s great work and he should keep it up.

Xirius

P.S. This thread seems to be degrading into something other than newbie help finding their way. So lets stop the squabling, and it\'s the last I\'ll say defending my opinions.

[DivineLight]

Enough for this thread, u\'ve got many ideas for maps.

[Soulless_Body]

you\'re using one of Xythe\'s great character portraits. He put a lot of time outside of playing the game creating it. Is he a geek with too much free time? Possibly, but then, it\'s great work and he should keep it up.
_____________________________________________

When did i say anything about him? Art is not being a geek?

and why sould i not be here?


and i was not getting angry at you giveing out help? i was getting angery at this.

(If you\'re smart, there\'s hardly any excuse for getting lost.)

[Burntleaf]

people at the moment ps is TINY so its pretty hard to get lost :0 but i think a simple map with citis, roads and harnquist etc as symbols or watvr.

[Phinehas]

Originally posted by Soulless_Body

Originally posted by Golmir
Who needs a map? Adventurers?  :baby:
What\'s next? a compass, ILS, GPS, ...
It would be much easier to have only one big room with  monsters, trainers and merchants...
What\'s the point of a whole world to explore is you don\'t want to explore?
Instead of begging for a map, thank the devs for the big world and pray for more to explore.
Too dark at night? night vision for everyone.
monsters are too strong? immortality for everyone.
hmm...wait! Why are you playing games?



______________________
Remember that the map is licensed material

Because people have life?s out side of games! Most people will not have time to explore as you say! All most people want to do is get in to the game and start playing.

I don?t know about you guys but if you hade no map and hade to explore it would get kind of boring don?t you think?

No, it\'s part of the game. This game is not hack and slash. It\'s supposed to be a roleplaying experience. Exploring is part of that, and as such should be enjoyable, not annoying. If you don\'t like it, go play a game where complete knowledge of the playing area is part of the game.

Originally posted by Soulless_Body
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
If you\'re smart, there\'s hardly any excuse for getting lost. Before you begin (this applies to anyone going somewhere they\'ve never been before), get a piece of paper and a pencil/pen. Draw a line as you travel, indicate any times you turned, and mark down reference points (places/things you would recognise if you came across them again) once in a while. No excuse for getting lost in the current world, except perhaps laziness.

My thoughts,

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Are you some kind of geek with no life? Because most of us do not have time to do that kind of stuff? We want to play the game NOT draw some damn map on a bit a paper!


OR!!!!! You could have a map witch starts out black! But when you go to an area that you have not been to before it appears on the map? But when an updates come you will have to go there again to get the new building on the map.  You know like on Zelda?

That\'s a possibility. I don\'t think a map in itself is a bad idea, but I think it would be good if complete maps weren\'t handed out to each new player who comes along, as that takes the fun out of it.

[Lyrah]

In a TWO dimensional world...mapping works, but the FIRST time a ramp goes down. POOF, I can\'t map. I was in ARMY JROTC...I had the BEST minds in cartography TRY to teach me, they gave up.

I spent more than THREE hours going around in circles or falling into the water and dying (as a stone race character no less, thought they didn\'t breathe? Oh well, so much for the manual).

Originally posted by provisionist1
If you\'re smart, there\'s hardly any excuse for getting lost. Before you begin (this applies to anyone going somewhere they\'ve never been before), get a piece of paper and a pencil/pen. Draw a line as you travel, indicate any times you turned, and mark down reference points (places/things you would recognise if you came across them again) once in a while. No excuse for getting lost in the current world, except perhaps laziness.

My thoughts,

Xirius

[capkanada]

Hm... Okay... my take on this whole map thing is this.  Hydlaa, Ojaveda, and whatever places that are near these know about each other...ever notice how the librarian mentions something about visiting Oja for him, if you talk nice to him?  Why not have maps like the books that used to be on the shelf at the library.  You could either buy or check them out, and have certain limitations on things...such as...

Maps of areas/general maps of cities:  Payment.  Gotta buy these.  Can\'t just snag \'em and go (unless your character happens to be a decent..uh...snagger. )

Maps of municipal areas, i.e. sewers, etc.:  Restricted to either people with a high enough skill with politics/building or some other skill...have a reason for people to see these maps, and have them be restricted to staying inside the library/town centre/city hall/whatever that they are located in.  Can\'t have everyone knowing the inner workings of the city by heart, you know....

Unexplored/Ancient areas:  Parts of the world off of the beaten path.  Okay, sure, let\'s say that there\'s a map of the area between Hydlaa and Ojaveda, but pretty much all it shows is the road between the two places, perhaps a road/path to a mine or some specific industrial site of some sort, but not the entire area.  Also for ancient areas, such as the dungeon under Hydlaa or places that aren\'t that well documented or known why they are there.  I could understand not having a map for someplace like that.  I mean, we are talking about a somewhat developed, civilized world here.  Why the heck wouldn\'t people be making/selling maps and/or documenting things that are built (blueprints & the like)?

Slums, run-down areas of cities:  Sure...there are maps...in the main city maps...of course, most of these areas are so high-crime, etc. that a maintenance crew or cartography group hasn\'t been down there in a long time..have the maps be outdated.  Perhaps a road doesn\'t go where it used to anymore..perhaps a through street is now blocked off..

If the world of Planeshift is going to be as big as we hope, maps will become a part of life.  As I said before, there are cities and civilizations.  Perhaps make a cartography skill and have various people have some sort of auto-mapper that will let them construct maps as they explore..they then can create a map to sell, and go into business.  The more trias, the better the map, etc.  That, or just keep the maps for themselves.

Personally, the idea of a land where people haven\'t had the idea of writing down how to get from one place to another, yet have writings about various other subjects seems a little farfetched....

[CK@Planeshift]$  Just my 2 Trias....

EDIT:  And I realize that if any of that were to be implemented it would be a great ways down the road in the development of this game.

EDIT2:  Heck.. for that matter, pretty much even the most rudimentary of MUDs that I\'ve been on has a map seller...and those are usually ones that don\'t have an OOC: channel.  (i.e. Role-Playing is not only encouraged, it is enforced, for any non-MUD-players out there.  Yes... I hail from the days of a text interface.   )

[Lyrah]

Or How about this...have cartography as a character SKILL, then as the player either trains in it, and then runs around exploring new spots, JUST like other skills, he/she gets better at it until TA DA, they can draw a map of anywhere they have been or go to...and SELL it...to other players. BUYING his maps would be STRICTLY voluntary, so those that LOVE blundering around blind in the dark could still do that, and those that would rather have more of a clue could buy the maps...OR just the maps that they want/need at the moment.

I would LOVE to see a SIMPLE N E W S type compass...meaning I could know which way in the game world I was facing. That could be an item that you need to buy, or another skill you need to work on, either way...SOMETHING is needed.

PLUS to the HARD core RPers...it is NON immersive to NOT know which way I face. Due to my spiritual path...I KNOW which direction I am facing 24/7/365, when I travel, I make it a BIG point to map out the cardinal points on the compass before the sun fully sets. SO...not knowing this one point \"breaks the spell\" of role playing illusion. To me, this is as BIG a spell breaker as seeing a mob flop down instead of just spawn (rats in the sewer sometimes spawn a few inches above the ground and drop to the ground).

I know the FULL cartography skill thing would take a SERIOUS coding upgrade, so I don\'t expect it this month, next month or possibly even the month after that. But a simple North south east and west compass should be EASY coding, and shouldn\'t take TOO long to patch in. (I think this should be something you could turn off, since some people don\'t LIKE having a clue, and this MIGHT ruin the immersiveness for them).

[Soulless_Body]

_____________________________________________
OR!!!!! You could have a map witch starts out black! But when you go to an area that you have not been to before it appears on the map? But when an updates come you will have to go there again to get the new building on the map. You know like on Zelda?
_____________________________________________

what i said.
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_____________________________________________  
Or How about this...have cartography as a character SKILL, then as the player either trains in it, and then runs around exploring new spots, JUST like other skills, he/she gets better at it until TA DA, they can draw a map of anywhere they have been or go to...and SELL it...to other players. BUYING his maps would be STRICTLY voluntary, so those that LOVE blundering around blind in the dark could still do that, and those that would rather have more of a clue could buy the maps...OR just the maps that they want/need at the moment.
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Thats what i was getting at.

[waa]

Originally posted by MWAAAHAAA
It might be helpful, but what about the fun of exploring and finding out yourself?

thats fine and dandy...........in a FINISHED product....



But timesinks 110% defeat all purpose\'s of quality testing.

[zerohaven]

i\'m sorry but the whole \"no maps allowed\" routine is a little lame for any game, and here\'s why:

IN CHARACTER, there would have been dozens of adventurers keeping logs of their travels.  IN CHARACTER since there is a library, someone must be literate enough to use it.
Therefore IN CHARACTER we should have access to some kind of legitmate map of at least parts of the world..  even if it is hung up on a wall and not buyable.

My CHARACTER could pick up some bark and scratch general directions onto a piece of tree bark if needed.  Why not just simplify the process for us real people who are controlling the whole thing?

It\'s anal retentive.

That\'s my two cents.

[Keyaz]

players test the gameplay, that won\'t be 100% effective if you dont play it how it is supposed to be played, by exploring, make oyur own maps, keep them private, sheesh
broken record syndrome