Map System that Encourages Trade & Exploration

[orious13]

I would like to add something like the following:

A drawing tool where you could circle things or draw a line or an X... You could make a map that has 1 purpose and that is to find a treasure or a certain tribe location for a guild event of some sort. lol... just to give some added functionality and reason to make maps more often. You could make it crazy and have a bin set up publicly in some area. Give out maps to that bin.. in that bin there is another map and eventually you get to a treasure or something in a mutated bear den (Someone had some legit hide skills to put it there). Could be fun no? Could even be an in game event by the devs with some lore background.

~Sorry... I get carried away sometimes.

[Araceli]

I like the depth of this map suggestion. I know the coordinate system and can travel around just fine, but realize it might be daunting for some people to learn. The system you described is helpful without dumbing down the process too much.

[Salvadore]

Cartography would be nice and fun as an added game feature. Its another skill someone could work on and profit from potentially selling maps. They would also have to aquire the materials to do so.

As a standard player, one could purchase a nicely written map. When having it in inventory, could check location and see an in/game map. This, of course, is lootable. It would be one more thing to add to a pvp'ers entourage for raiding.

Dont feel that it is necessary for EVERYONE to require a skill to read or adventure. Sounds like wasted skillpoints to me. But no map purchase = no real idea of surrounding tribes/area unless simply walking and looking.

[Badaboom]

Good idea. I approve of this message.

PS: This should only work if you have chalk and parchment on you. This must be lootable. If you get killed, you lose your map (so I hope you have duplicates)

...the flip side to this is the enemy now knows your home base location.

[mantoe]

Not a fan of an in game map. It (along with most of the add-on ideas in the replies) is good idea, but why add it to the game when you can just do the same thing with sticky notes (while you explore) and Photoshop (to compile your info after)? Google maps is also another good tool. All outside of the game, that require no extra coding/implementation. So far as monitoring tribe territory control goes, how long before a user made, constatnly updated, political map is made? In my most humble and uneducated opinion, home made/tribe shared/community made map project has more game immersion and is more rewarding than an in game map.

I say, don't look to the devs to implement things that can be done by fans. Let them work on the game core.

[baka77]

I love it. However, I don't think we should ever see ourselves as a little moving icon on any map. LOL

[Marcolo]

I love it. However, I don't think we should ever see ourselves as a little moving icon on any map. LOL

Well, unless you can craft a GPS.

We all know the recipe:

1 Hand-drawn map
1 Etch-a-sketch
1 Quartz-controlled wrist watch.
4 Bolts
2 Buttons
1 Grasshopper Antenna
12 GPS Satellites, in geo-sync orbit

Assemble with Hammer, Needle and Wrench

The satellites were the easy part. I've just never found grasshopper antenna. I'm assuming those are ultra-rare.

[Brilliant]

Well, unless you can craft a GPS.

We all know the recipe:

1 Hand-drawn map
1 Etch-a-sketch
1 Quartz-controlled wrist watch.
4 Bolts
2 Buttons
1 Grasshopper Antenna
12 GPS Satellites, in geo-sync orbit

Assemble with Hammer, Needle and Wrench

The satellites were the easy part. I've just never found grasshopper antenna. I'm assuming those are ultra-rare.

There are 37 different species of grasshopper that come in 14 different colors, and you need to combine 100 "antenna scraps" from the exact same color and species to make one large antenna.

[savageasf]

People have been discussing how we should handle a mapping system. Should we all just have maps we create in Photoshop? Should we not have coordinates in the game at all? Should we have a traditional map like in most MMOs that just reveals things as we walk around?

My idea is a combination of these things, but it goes the next step in an effort to encourage crafting maps, trading maps, scouting, and exploration.

• Any player can craft a map.
  
• As the player explores the area, the map gets filled in with terrain details and tribe territory borders, as if the player was sketching them.
  
• However, once those areas have been sketched, the only way to get them to update is to walk back over them again. For example, if a tribe territory is in a spot when you pass by, it gets added to the map. And, the map will reflect that until you go back to that area, at which point it will be updated to reflect any territory or terrain changes. This forces players to constantly scout the outlying areas and explore to see how the world is changing around them, instead of doing it once and forgetting about it.
  
• While the terrain gets automatically added to the map, everything else needs to be added manually by appending "Note" locations.
  
• Types of "Note" locations that can be added each have icons so they can be easily recognized. For example, a player could place a bear icon on the map to mark a possible bear hunting area. Or they could place a resource icon with a label to mark a good limestone gathering area.
  
• Once a map has been crafted, it can be DUPLICATED and then provided or traded to others. So, for example, people could update their map, duplicate it, and then trade it with others. This would allow tribes to update maps easily and provide them to their members without having to craft a new one and redo it everytime it needs updated.
  
• Duplicating a map requires the same materials it took to craft the original. Which means you'd have to find the necessary items to create a duplicate of the current map. This keep people from crafting one map and just being able to create an infinite amount of copies without needing resources to do so.
  
• Players can combine maps together so that if two maps have different regions explored, they can be combined to the same map. This would come in handy if for example, you went to another region of the game, and traded with someone there for their map.
  
• When viewing a map, it will show your current location, but not the location of nearby players or NPCs. This will make it so it cannot be used as a minimap or a way of tracking the movement of others. For example, you shouldn't be able to find someone who is hiding by looking at their dot on your map.
  

This system would make things very interesting because it would make scouting and mapping very useful while increasing player interdependence. Tribes could have players who specialize in scouting the world and bringing back updated maps so that they can monitor the evolution of other tribes and the terrain.

Players who prefer the small tribe or solitary type of lifestyle can always visit a trade hub and purchase an updated map if they don't want to do large-scale scouting and exploring.

I love this idea but the one thing I would add would be to only have the map cover 4 tiles and no more. if you think about it eventually down the road through trading people would have the whole of the continent mapped out in months. I think it would be much better to keep the maps localized and that would encourage people to re chart the land based on the changes happening in their own area

[Zarin]

/sign

An excellent idea! Love the detail of it and customization! Would be a neat interface as well if done right and really useful. I wouldn't mind seeing the world divided into 4 maps, north/southern east/west ect. And Maybe a new slot could be devoted to just maps, a player with cartography could explore the area and draw out the maps to gain skill and trade them with others.