Realistic Map and Cartographing profession?

Wouldnt it be cool to have a realistic map? Like one you can buy or find for the world and for the individual zones.
But without GPS-Sattelites. So you dont see where you are at the map. I mean you could paint on the map but you dont have a gps gadget in your pocket.
This would force you to navigate by immersing more into the world, looking for landmarks and stuff. You would also have an advantage in your home area since you know the area better than intruders.

I mean you could even make Cartographing a profession where people could paint really detailed maps and sell them higher. Like maps of the ocean and routes and all this stuff. Im sure there are talented people who would do this to an extreme.

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Ludullu

Yep, I'd love that kind of map.

jarjarblinks

i would prefer this rather than a conventional map. but the bounty system / map may be difficult to have with this system. but maybe the bounty hunter map shows a dot of the PKers without the landmarks or pathways.

Arya_Yeshe

I would not chase such path in development because it's not a thing at all

If AoC had endless money and twice the amount of devs then I would do something like this:

draw
copy
decipher
weekly procedural generated labyrinths
monthly procedural generated dungeons
semiannually procedural generated flying islands and flying fortresses

Draw:
Cartographers are required to draw all maps within the game, otherwise you would not have any kind of map at all, if they explore they would be able to draw while traveling. They would draw slowly when low level, draw fast at maximum level

Copy:
Copy parts or entire maps to another map

Decipher:
They would also able to decipher notes and messages on maps and pinpoint where you have to dig for finding: treasures, secret passages, etc

THEN cartography would finally be interesting

Liniker

there are already people planning on making 3rd party interactive map websites for AoC that players from each server will update with all sorts of information and make any dynamic map/cartography irrelevant, similar to what mortal online 2 has (and it's a hardcore pvp game)

so I hope Intrepid don't lose time and effort with this, if they don't do a regular map, people will just play with the interactive map on the second monitor and that's it

Gui10

Imho would be cool if instanced area are not automatically mapped and must rely on the scribing profession to provide mapped informations.

It does seem that scribing will influence mapping to a certain degree, according to the wiki.

Taleof2Cities

Liniker wrote: »

there are already people planning on making 3rd party interactive map websites for AoC that players from each server will update with all sorts of information and make any dynamic map/cartography irrelevant, similar to what mortal online 2 has (and it's a hardcore pvp game)

so I hope Intrepid don't lose time and effort with this, if they don't do a regular map, people will just play with the interactive map on the second monitor and that's it

You're right, @Liniker.

Add Cartography to the long list of player ideas that Intrepid doesn't have time for before release ... but would be a great feature for a new DLC or expansion.

Liniker

Taleof2Cities wrote: »

Add Cartography to the long list of player ideas that Intrepid doesn't have time for before release ... but would be a great feature for a new DLC or expansion.

that sounds like a good idea

novercalis

Imagine a game that allows you to create Treasure Maps and you can sell this to Players.
Some details of how this "profession" looks like.

There will be 2 types of players - the Gatherers and Adventurers

Adventurers will most likely spend their time in hostile environments, in static camp locations, killing mobs.
If they spend 5 minutes in an area, they are able to then "Survey" the area. If something is found, then they can "Scribe" for 30 seconds, creating a map location.

These Surveyors/Cartographers are mapping out the location of these potential treasure:

-Locked Treasure Box
-Rare gathering Node
-Puzzle/Artifact
-Hidden/Trap Location

I will explain what these are after Gatherer section

Gatherer

Gatherers tends to spend their time outside of hostile area. Same logic is applied
If they spend 5 minutes in an area, they will get the ability to "Survey" the area and if they find something, they can "Scribe" it.
They are able to find the same 4 types like the adventurers.

Since both the gatherers and adventurers don't really share the same locations when playing - we can cover both active and inactive area. Adventurers are not gonna stop in a random empty space for no reason, but the gatherer will, cause he/she is collecting resources.

Locked Treasure Box - As the gatherer was mining, farming, chopping down trees, they noticed a weird stump which lead to a treasure box. HOWEVER you don't have the lockpicking skills and the box is to heavy to carry. Now you can sell this treasure map to a rogue player.

----

Rare Gathering Node - an adventurer found an orc camp, the orcs are near a mountain side and took over a spot. you cleared the area and decided this is a nice XP camp spot, and stayed there for over 5 minutes. You surveyed and notice, there is a ore vein here but you notice it's not an ordinary ore that you are use to seeing.

ANYONE CAN APPROACH THIS ORE AND MINE IT - nothing special happens. BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
If he now sells this "MAP" and it like a NPC Quest, which allows the Gatherer who owns this MAP the ability to also mine it but GUARENTEES a drop. THis drop doesnt have to be super rare, it can be something like:

A rock has a 10% chance of being a gold vein. With this treasure map, this rock has 100% gold vein.
Hidden /Trap Locations:

A Gatherer inside a cave, mining away eventually surveyed the area. He noticed / found a hidden fake wall.
3 things can happen from here:

1) Breaking down the hidden passage has a level requirement. Gatherer sells the map to someone who can venture in it.
2) Breaking down the hidden passage has a profession requirement. A miner with 100 levels can dig through it. Now an adventurer can sell it to a gatherer.
3) Visual Trap - Seeing ancient artifacts surrounds this wall - indicated a hidden passage but that is trapped. This adventurer/gatherer may wanna sell it to a rogue. (Chances are, this is a puzzle room or trap room, only rogues can complete)

Puzzle

Somewhat like Trap Location - you found an artifact or an area that is suspicious - both gatherer and adventurer can't complete it - it's meant for a rogue to do. So you create this map to sell to these players.

OPEN SEA TREASURE MAP!

how it would work

A group of players will need to work together to stay alive, first of all.

This is where we need to determine if we want 2 profession - a Surveyor and a cartographer or if they are both the same and tied together. Regardless

You bring the cartographer/surveyor - same rules applies - you must be static in an area for 5 minutes to see if there is anything. But in this instance, you are gonna need to be in the infested dangerous water. So SURVIVE for 5 minutes from the PvE elements and also be on guards from the PvP elements. You are gonna need to be 100m away from a boat for this to work - so it puts you in a PRECARIOUS position, in the event a PVP happens.

After 5 minutes - the surveyor/cartographer or both working in unison learns something is there. Now you may have the group to get it right now, or the treasure map.

TREASURE MAP becomes a quest - guarentee you the loot. If the Surveyor/Gatherer loots it - the map wont be created. So there is no scam - if you have a map - you will get the reward.
In the instance of Hidden Locations - you will still need to create the map first, then use it to open the passage.

For Nodes - Anyone can loot the resource node but does not guarentee you the drop. If at all, this may be a visual node that is not allowed to be gathered by anyone without a map. OR, when the map user approaches the used node, it auto respawn for the map holder.

YARRGH ME BOOTY!

Botagar

Something like this could probably be introduced later on with the "unexplored depths of the Under Realm".
At launch, i would expect the overworld to be already roughly mapped out.

Could be interesting having the unexplored regions shift and reset based on ingame events meaning that there'll always be work for cartographers.

xlx

well you could make an ocean map by using a sextant and stars, these knot-ropes and this sorts like it was back in the day. Maybe even include ocean currents and hidden islands.
I think it would be cool if there was a cartography profession to actually have to draw the map. And from a lot of mmos you know that there are some people who would take this to an extreme, maybe even some who just play it for this feature. Making turorials in mapping AOC on youtube and stuff. Some would just draw a couple of lines like in paintbrush but others might work weeks on maps. And sure a lot of people arent into that but some are. And who doesnt like it can buy a map. And real artisans can ask for a high price. Its not even about nodes but the land, the sea and the mountains itself.
Sure they should be able to copy maps once they are done. Maybe give him tools like sextant and a wheel on a stick where he can measure distance walking.
And its not like the landscape changes from what i heard, its just instances and stuff apart from the summer/winter changes. And if a city falls or a new one gets build the scribe can update it and sell it again if somene wants a new one.

Dygz

Holy nagash!!!

Caww

Fog of War style maps should be a basic option, including showing the player, but the option for fewer map indications for players to go "orienteering" could be a challenging aspect (not for me - too easily spun-around and lost)

unknownsystemerror

Dygz wrote: »

Holy nagash!!!

Yeah, sadly the new regime stopped calling it "necroing" a thread and now it is called "bumping." Still bad form for an OP to suddenly "rediscover" their topic months later to try to revive it.
Rule 3: Do not spam. Utilize minimal use of all caps, no advertising, “bumping”, or cross-posting.

Vaknar

It's fun and interesting to see all the different ideas surrounding maps and the idea of cartography! Preferences and opinions seem to range as far and wide as Verra on how maps, minimaps, exploration, and discovery should work!

I personally love this topic. Discovery and exploration, especially in a game like Ashes of Creation where the world is constantly changing, is especially cool and important!

Keep up with the fun discussion and awesome thought-starters for ideas

willsummon

With nodes keep changing, cartography might be an interesting idea of players selling updated maps to other players.

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