Let's talk about Season 4 maps

So, I have a few personal feelings about Domain of Ishtan and Sandswept isle I'd like to throw out for consideration.

1. Ishtan- Despite how farmable this is, it is broken imo. Why?A) The exact same events are about ALL that get done anymore. Bounties are rarely done, events outside of Great Hall, Pala and Akili are even rarerB) This map (and many more) have become to reliant on mobility with a touch of defense so you dont get 1 shot #BoringAF. Most apparent in the Pala meta. If you dont run a high mobility build you find yourself at the middle or back of the pack, missing most of the champs. (slow connection? give it up) A delay timer needs to be added to the various events so more people can get there (obviously need to lengthen the main timer as well). Or add a mechanic that aggro/forces combat to the speed demons instead of them runiing thru and leaving mid pack or rear to clean up or attempt to dodge thru it.
   2. The meta's are laughable on both maps. We need another hoT level meta. Multiple lanes/commanders. Timing coordination, all that.

I'm certain many more could add to this list, but these are the outliers for me. I want a map that isnt mobility, 1 skill and run oriented. I want a reason to do everything on the map, not just a few things. In short, pull your HoT team back together and have them collaborate on the next episodes

I personally don't want any more of the HoT style maps. I hate having maps/events locked behind metas.

I think season 4 is the best season so far.What would be great tho, is having a boost to Sandswept rewards (and decent rewards for upcoming maps). I love that map, but who wants to stay 10 min bashing Zohaqan to get one chest with rewards equivalent to killing one champ during Istan?

Sandswept is a Map I have fully enjoyed. It has a good amount of all kind of stuff, the metas aren't very interesting but they aren't too obstructive either, the map design is beautiful, there are many routes, layers and things to do.Istan on the other hand feels really shallow and repetitive. I don't like going there at all.

@artemis.6781 said:I personally don't want any more of the HoT style maps. I hate having maps/events locked behind metas.

Why do ppl keep saying that? Having a HoT style meta doesn't mean the map has to be locked in any way.

You get locked out of some adventures until certain meta events are complete. Certain POIs are unaccessible until after meta events (choppers anyone?). So yes, the map locks certain things away.

@artemis.6781 said:You get locked out of some adventures until certain meta events are complete. Certain POIs are unaccessible until after meta events (choppers anyone?). So yes, the map locks certain things away.

Yes, but that doesn't mean potential future maps with these types of meta events have to do the same. That is why I don't understand your concern.

My whole point has to do with the shallowness of new content. The basic premise of everything since PoF is run around with mob of people pressing 1, get bounty, run around pressing 1, find bounty, rotate 1-6-0-1-1-1-6-1.......... go to sleep.(can't think of an exception, but maybe 1 or 2)Ishtan is the absolute 1key meta. I don't evem wanna think about how much my brain turns to mush after a cycle in that mess.HoT was dynamic, coordination was necessary. The only coordination needed post-PoF is a tag to brainlessly follow, and lfg to get more brainless followers pressing 1There are 6 maps and 1 world boss that requires that coordination (HoT, SW, DT and a wurm). None of the rest due, I don't think it's much to ask for a few more

@Kilamanjaro.2705 said:My whole point has to do with the shallowness of new content. The basic premise of everything since PoF is run around with mob of people pressing 1, get bounty, run around pressing 1, find bounty, rotate 1-6-0-1-1-1-6-1.......... go to sleep.(can't think of an exception, but maybe 1 or 2)Ishtan is the absolute 1key meta. I don't evem wanna think about how much my brain turns to mush after a cycle in that mess.HoT was dynamic, coordination was necessary. The only coordination needed post-PoF is a tag to brainlessly follow, and lfg to get more brainless followers pressing 1

its that way because thats what the majority of people playing this game wanted.

A couple things:

I still prefer hot maps because of their complexity and meta.

But part of the problem is that meta events in pof don’t reward anything more than a bounty train or Istan meta does. If they rewarded something unique I think more people would do the ones that require coordination. A lot of the reason people do hot metas too is because they need the currencies for legendaries. I don’t know how crafting a pof legendary works but if the metas rewarded some of the items needed for the legendaries instead of the possibility of some amount of currency you need to buy the items it might increase participation. Also some amalgamated gemstones would be nice.

Looking back to the times I’ve had the most fun in open world pve I think of world boss trains and hot metas. Things that require groups of people working together is a lot more fun for me personally but I can understand wanting the old Orr event train and champion slaughter.

Moving forward though I hope they come up with better scaling for some of these events and champions or even potential legendary spawns like in silverwastes because sometimes the champs just die in a few seconds. At that point it’s neither challenging, fun, or efficient.