Are the broken isles worl maps badly designed?

[Deleted]

So while i like a lot about legion, the one thing that really annoys me all the time are the new maps. Firstly they are so small you don't really see much unless you zoom in. But even then so many paths and whatever are not on the map. look at the south of highountain and tell me you know which cave goes where... i just get lost so much, especially world quests you have to search for 5minutes cause they aren't where they seem to be. i dunno, it feels badly designed considering how great the rest of the addon is. any thoughts other than go play hello Kitty? (quote some stranger on my server)
edit: world, i mean world maps

[Lochton]

Nah, I like the world maps. Not all paths can be drawn on to a map. Though, I like them, as long as there's not too many treasures to hunt... GOTTA GET 'EM ALL!


*grabs shovel and runs off*

[Deleted]

No, they aren't. It's the broken isles, they are broken by the Cataclysm. The zones feel real and definitely aren't too small. They're packed with points of interests, be that quests or designed areas.

Having caves in mountainous regions, trees in forests and coastline in...coastal zones is simply what makes these zones realistic and believable. I know a lot of people here just want Mulgore to be copied to every zone so they can auto-run AFK from quest giver to quest giver, but that's not how world building works.

God forbid you actually have to look for the entrance of a cave instead of a big arrow pointing you breadcrumb-wise where it is. Players have become lazy and spoiled, craving the simplest theme park experience with the least amount of doubt, interpretation and choice.

[Deleted]

The only thing which is heavily lacking is the elevation indicator on the map. If we could at least have some clues if some things are higher or lower, then navigation would be much easier. You know, real life maps do have elevation indicators ("above the ocean level" measurement).

Besides that, I am with a huge advantage as a mage because of some class abilities (feather fall / ice block / blink to mitigate fall damage; feather fall to have some kind of gliding travel from high points; invisibility to reset combat). Now that I got some toys from questing / achievements and an engineer to build kites, I can go on with questing with my alts. I also like the grapple hooks in Stormheim, these help a lot.

Still, the terrain is mostly annoying and time-consuming, not much of a challenge. I wish we could get flying back soon to alleviate the annoyance.

[Deleted]

Sorry for describing it badly, i'm not talking about the world itself, rather how the world maps look (when you press 'm') . I don't care if i have to look for a cave, but it's annoying if you look at the map and still have no clue cause there is nothing on it (be it a path where no path is or whatever)

[Leih]

The zone maps have been more stylised in recent expansions, and while they're very pretty, I do think they are getting less practical! Especially as the level design becomes more elaborate at the same time.

I guess it might also be intentional, to make it less clear exactly what everything looks like, leave more unknown paths to explore and navigate. But it might be nice if there was a more detailed map view you could get, especially after you've explored things once. It's not a big deal though, but I see where you're coming from.

[Deleted]

The zone maps have been more stylised in recent expansions, and while they're very pretty, I do think they are getting less practical! Especially as the level design becomes more elaborate at the same time.

I guess it might also be intentional, to make it less clear exactly what everything looks like, leave more unknown paths to explore and navigate. But it might be nice if there was a more detailed map view you could get, especially after you've explored things once. It's not a big deal though, but I see where you're coming from.

Well, when you have things on the map, than you have already checked it off the exploration achievement. So, a bit more detail on the map would be fine. If things are not explored yet, you already have "fog of war" on the map.

[Leih]

Well, when you have things on the map, than you have already checked it off the exploration achievement. So, a bit more detail on the map would be fine. If things are not explored yet, you already have "fog of war" on the map.

Well, not quite the same, at least how it works at the moment. The "fog" on the maps at the moment are generally VERY large areas, like whole subzones of space. If the map was super detailed and showed every path and hidden cave, then they'd have to change the way the fog works to uncover small individual areas at a time.

[Deleted]

Well, not quite the same, at least how it works at the moment. The "fog" on the maps at the moment are generally VERY large areas, like whole subzones of space. If the map was super detailed and showed every path and hidden cave, then they'd have to change the way the fog works to uncover small individual areas at a time.

Would be OK for me, so you get a general impression for the big uncovered area first, and more detail when you actually are at the location.

[Tenjen]

having it detail everything would get messy fast. We're expected to use the map as well as our eyes. Though dealing with 3 dimensions with a 2 dimensional map does get confusing when things can be above or below a point, like when trying to find crystals for hidden hippogryphs