World Map - What you do/DON'T want to see

Shaladoor

Good to see everyone!

So, the World Map. Some quick excerpts from the Wiki:

The world of Verra features an in-game viewable world map. This map is not randomly generated, and begins covered in a fog of war.[4] Players will not be able to see the world until they have explored it or gathered information about it. The world is also full of imperfect information, which will require the player to act on it for verification.[5]

For example, you may hear a rumor in a tavern that tells you the location of a cave full of weak Kobolds, but this was not accurate as the rumor was started by well-equipped bandits in order to waylay overconfident adventurers.[5]

When information is gathered, or the player has successfully explored an area, points of interest are marked on the map.[6]

These points of interest are determined by Node progression; and not every server will share the same map, as player decisions will vary server to server.[6]
In addition to node progression being a factor on map generation, zones in Ashes of Creation will cater to all levels.[7]

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Points of interest
New points of interest (such as dungeons and world bosses) spawn as nodes develop.[38] This content adapts to the development of the zone it is in.[39]

What kinds of items would you like to see on the World Map? What kinds of things would you prefer NOT to see?

If you find a town/city/metro, should that be marked on the World Map? Should the World Map always be updated, so if a previously found town/city/metro was marked on the map, would the World Map be auto-updated if that node gets destroyed or would it require you to re-discover that? If there is an announcement of an impending siege, should that be marked on the map as well, maybe with a timer?

I've heard discussions on what kinds of things people would like to see on the minimap (like quest markers, tracking of gatherables, etc), but I can't find a lot of discussion on the World Map itself. Would love to hear everyone's thoughts!

uao

I would prefer if the world map shows only towns starting from stage 2, it shouldnt show dungeons or quests.
If a node changes stage it should not automaticaly update on the map until you discover it.
That way people always have something to discover in the game by chance, even after playing for a long time.

I think ive got an interesting idea for sieges, even though its kinda offtopic:
Sieges should not automaticaly be marked on the map unless you are a citizen of the sieged node.
If you are not a citizen, someone could put some resources like gold and paper into the war efforts and send a automated letter to the players mailbox that contains information about the siege (time and place), after reading the letter the player could see location and time on the worldmap.
The more resources are put into the war efforts the more players would recive a letter.
Also the node citizens could only send letters to players from their allied nodes and neutral nodes, while the attackers can only send letters to neutral or enemys of that node.
Maybe there could be some bounty for players that come to help either defend or attack,
like when you recive a letter to attack the town and you go there to fight and the town actualy delvls you would get a reward thats previously been donated towards the wareffort, the letter would also tell how much that would be.
For defending it would work in the same way, if the node does not get destroyed the defenders get the reward from their funds.
The side that does not win will have their funds disappear completely.

Dayuhan

I think the discovered map should be unique to each character (or player). The only things that should be marked on the map, and again only once they are discovered, are the large well-known areas. The character should be allow to save "pins" to the map based upon their own exploration or information they have purchased - so if a character finds a valley where especially rare fauna (read crafting ingredients) grow - they can mark that valley on their map and label it for themselves. Said character could then take that information and put it up for sale if it is not particularly useful to them.

Example: While exploring the world a ranger discovers a rare cache of violeta casiopius which just happens to be a rare ingredient for the Night Life Oinment, the ranger knows this oinment is useful for travelling at night but does not have the skill to actually create it. The ranger happens to know an Herbalist who does have the skill and sells the information (map location) to the herbalist. The herbalist then gets an identical pin on their map showing the location and the immediate surrounding area.

Example 2: For those who like to play the villain. Take the exact same scenario above, but the ranger is actually a bandit and sells the information in the hopes of setting an ambush for anyone who shows up to collect on the rare materials (which may or may not exist at the location shown).

This allows players to provide their own information, or disinformation, to allies or opponents. As the information could just as easily be, Hroup A has started construction of a building at this location. This information is sold to Group B - opponents of Group A. Then Group B must decide what to do with the information.

As far as Quest Markers are concerned. I think these can be added but with the same possibility of the information being obsolete or inaccurate. Such as getting a quest to defeat a trouble-some bandit group that has been troubling this area (quest marker). Is the group still there or have they moved on to a new area?