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Unbelievable large zones


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I had this idea that since we have so many mounts now, there could be zones with constant fog of war in mini map and super large in area, like 10x larger than crystal oasis, even if with less detailed buildings or forests, the game play would be to find your way to some places, could have some enemies here and there but easy to avoid since being lost would be the reason to be there.

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constant fog of war in mini map

Not in favor of the mini map becoming less useful

with less detailed buildings or forests

The beauty of the game is a big feature for me. Having areas noticeably less detailed isn’t a plus, especially if it doesn’t offer what I would consider any benefits in exchange

the game play would be to find your way to some places,being lost would be the reason to be there.

So being lost would be the reason to be there and once you’re no longer lost there’s no longer a reason to be there?

Big maps for exploring have some fun to them but it’s far more limiting with lesser replay value as compared to maps with actual things to do that have some moderate amount of exploring.

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Actually, this idea is a combination of two big complaints people have for the Path of Fire Maps.

1.) Irritating/confusing map layout and navigation2.) Wide open spaces with very little to be discovered

ArenaNet added mounts to the game hoping that people wouldn't use them to skip content, but rather to better explore already available areas in new ways. Larger maps would be fine, but there should still be areas that make it worth the trouble to slow down and look around at things. Little nooks, caves, secret points of interest, mini puzzles, pop culture references, collections, and fun interactable objects (like the pipe organs in Caledon and Ebonhawke) are just some of the things you can tuck into maps to make the exploration feel worthwhile.

As for getting lost on a map, I fail to see the fun.

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I’m in favor of this simply to reveal more of the world map! And I like large maps. I think it’s a technical limit or something though. From my understanding crystal oasis and pof maps are as large as they can get. Though I feel like desert borderlands is larger for some reason.

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I enjoy exploration, not just in GW2 but in any game (even ones where it's not supposed to be part of the game) so I like the idea of huge maps which are built for exploration, but not if there's nothing there to find.

The current proposal sounds like most people, even people like me who like exploring, would end up running around on the raptor skimming just close enough to the edges to see there's nothing there and only actually stopping to look around at the points where there is something to see. In which case you may as well have a smaller map with just the interesting bits.

My favourite maps are ones where there's lots of stuff mixed in together which is all discovered or "used" differently. For example if you go to Silverwastes and do the story or the meta or the jumping puzzle it appears to have a lot of unused space which you'll run through on your way to an objective - but if you do all the different activities and keep track of where you go it becomes apparent that the 'unused' space is actually used, just for something else. I think that's a much more interesting way of creating the effect of having wilderness areas in between 'hubs' without actually wasting map space. This is of course more effective with the events system - because there can be areas which are empty or peaceful at some times and a major activity hub at others because an event starts up there. (Which also adds an incentive to go back - because you're unlikely to see everything on a single run through.)

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@Zuldari.3940 said:Fog of war..bleh. I hate that concept in games. In RTS games its fine , but not a fan in mmo games.

Don't we effectively have fog of war already? You can't see terrain features in an area until you've been there at least once, and there are some features (e.g. harvesting nodes) that don't appear on the map unless you're close to them. The only difference I see between that and fog of war in a strategy game is that you can't see (most) enemies on the map, regardless of how far away they are.

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@neoteo.3975 said:Lovely how everyone protects Anet, i love the game and love Anet also.

Did you guys see how large other 20 year old mmos maps were? SWG or anarchy online?

Saying ‘no thanks’ to a suggestion that sounds boring and not really well thought out isn’t protecting ANet. It’s saying no to changes that don’t improve the game and that have no replay value.

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I like to have larger maps - as a roller beetle fan it's more space to floor it. Love Crystal Oasis and Elon Riverlands for this and tbh it's really easy to get around those maps. Much preferred to the narrow and extreme verticality of somewhere like Verdant Brink - really dislike like that map.

But on the other hand I also love Tangled Depths for the intricate pathways, but really don't like the Desolation for the (albeit necessary) colour palette.

What you describe in the OP makes me think of some kind of zone in the mists - as long as the "fog" was not immediate but a good 5000 units away or something and able to be done gradually - yeah sure that would be fun. Makes me think of those times of thick fog or especially remembering in mountains (RL) where it looks like the road disappears into nowhere - surreal and exciting feeling.

No idea if any of this is possible in gw2 of course, seems like something for a more open world game rather than zones (eg planets in star citizen), but I like the concept.

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@"Curunen.8729" said:I like to have larger maps - as a roller beetle fan it's more space to floor it. Love Crystal Oasis and Elon Riverlands for this and tbh it's really easy to get around those maps. Much preferred to the narrow and extreme verticality of somewhere like Verdant Brink - really dislike like that map.

But on the other hand I also love Tangled Depths for the intricate pathways, but really don't like the Desolation for the (albeit necessary) colour palette.

What you describe in the OP makes me think of some kind of zone in the mists - as long as the "fog" was not immediate but a good 5000 units away or something and able to be done gradually - yeah sure that would be fun. Makes me think of those times of thick fog or especially remembering in mountains (RL) where it looks like the road disappears into nowhere - surreal and exciting feeling.

No idea if any of this is possible in gw2 of course, seems like something for a more open world game rather than zones (eg planets in star citizen), but I like the concept.

Exactly, I think the desert theme could have a map much much bigger, obviously with things to do, Collections, giant world bosses to kill, meta events where players would have to be at different places at the same time, all the good stuff of gw2 that we all love, just with a lot more space.

People obviously will complain as they do about everything, but for those that love exploring, ultra big maps would be awesome.

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@neoteo.3975 said:Lovely how everyone protects Anet, i love the game and love Anet also.

Did you guys see how large other 20 year old mmos maps were? SWG or anarchy online?

I didn't see it as protecting Anet, just disagreeing with an idea which doesn't appeal to me.

I've played plenty of games with wide open maps, and it's often ended up exactly as I described - I skim through it looking for things to find and often I'm finished 'exploring' the empty space and generic art assets even faster than in a smaller but better designed map because all that wide empty space is...well, empty space. There's nothing to see, but stock trees and buildings and rocks scattered around, nothing to do and therefore no reason to hang around. If it makes you feel better I can assure you GW2 has areas like that as well and it's equally disappointing there.

Large maps can be done well of course, but not by making a gigantic open space with 'less detailed buildings and forests' and 'maybe a few enemies which are easy to avoid'.

If you want a map to get lost in a labyrinth, or a map like a horizontal jumping puzzle would be more appealing to me - one with multiple paths through it and lots of stuff hidden along the way but no obvious path through it so you have to investigate as you're going along.

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@Danikat.8537 said:

@neoteo.3975 said:Lovely how everyone protects Anet, i love the game and love Anet also.

Did you guys see how large other 20 year old mmos maps were? SWG or anarchy online?

I didn't see it as protecting Anet, just disagreeing with an idea which doesn't appeal to me.

I've played plenty of games with wide open maps, and it's often ended up exactly as I described - I skim through it looking for things to find and often I'm finished 'exploring' the empty space and generic art assets even faster than in a smaller but better designed map because all that wide empty space is...well, empty space. There's nothing to see, but stock trees and buildings and rocks scattered around, nothing to do and therefore no reason to hang around. If it makes you feel better I can assure you GW2 has areas like that as well and it's equally disappointing there.

Large maps can be done well of course, but not by making a gigantic open space with 'less detailed buildings and forests' and 'maybe a few enemies which are easy to avoid'.

If you want a map to get lost in a labyrinth, or a map like a horizontal jumping puzzle would be more appealing to me - one with multiple paths through it and lots of stuff hidden along the way but no obvious path through it so you have to investigate as you're going along.

I would love to have the feeling of opposite of claustrophobia... The fear of open spaces.

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