Cartographers needed!

Caedryan · 13th August 2008, 16:51

Am I the only one which gets annoyed about the almost perfect maps of the worlds we play in?
What about a Cartographerskill ?
It could be kind of secondary crafting - or if you want primary.

I think it fits with the concept of MO, because of the legendary monsters or hidden places - It is very very dumb, if the whole world knows where all the secrets are - It would also prevent a fast firstkilling of bosses, because you have to search them with a certain amount of time. It's stupid... Look: You hear about that Sword of Ogre Decapitation, somewhere in the mountains of Farfarawayland.
You open your world map and you see the exact point where the legendary uber sword is. Stupid.

You should have something like a cartographer skill. In the beginning your map (s) is very scrawly and imprecise. The more you travel around the world, the more your map gets better!
You have to bear more than one map a time (have you ever seen a whole worldmap which is zoomable to the smallest of small towns? No you have'nt.
So you have a little strategic conflict, everytime you leave your hometown: Which map should I take with me?

Now you say: What about only-crafters, who don't travel alot?
So: Explorers with a cartographer skill can sell their maps to other players and soon there will be a big market of maps which (should) lead to hidden treasures, big monsters (if you haven't already read the newspaper you'll be screwd for sure) or whatever the hell...

Torgrim · 13th August 2008, 18:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Caedryan

Am I the only one which gets annoyed about the almost perfect maps of the worlds we play in?
What about a Cartographerskill ?
It could be kind of secondary crafting - or if you want primary.

I think it fits with the concept of MO, because of the legendary monsters or hidden places - It is very very dumb, if the whole world knows where all the secrets are - It would also prevent a fast firstkilling of bosses, because you have to search them with a certain amount of time. It's stupid... Look: You hear about that Sword of Ogre Decapitation, somewhere in the mountains of Farfarawayland.
You open your world map and you see the exact point where the legendary uber sword is. Stupid.

You should have something like a cartographer skill. In the beginning your map (s) is very scrawly and imprecise. The more you travel around the world, the more your map gets better!
You have to bear more than one map a time (have you ever seen a whole worldmap which is zoomable to the smallest of small towns? No you have'nt.
So you have a little strategic conflict, everytime you leave your hometown: Which map should I take with me?

Now you say: What about only-crafters, who don't travel alot?
So: Explorers with a cartographer skill can sell their maps to other players and soon there will be a big market of maps which (should) lead to hidden treasures, big monsters (if you haven't already read the newspaper you'll be screwd for sure) or whatever the hell...

Im with you on this but it will be pointless becuse there will prolly be a webpage with all the interresting location, good mining areas, quests locations ect. marked on that wepage within the first few months.

Death Saved · 13th August 2008, 23:49

Hmm i was thinking of a npc cartographer for guilds that when ever you talk to the npc it will register the areas you explored into one giant map the more guild members spread out the more ground get's covered also making a special form of ink and giving it to the npc carto(shorty's FTW) will enable it to open portals to leyline intersections wich function as gates for GHQ.

Slive · 14th August 2008, 01:26

I think most a lot of people interested in this game are thinking UO. And when you think back to UO and look at the Cart skill it was useless. There were very few things in game that needed a Cart skill. Maybe you can have it as a feature on a RP based server but I don't think it would serve an practical purpose in the long run as it will cater to to few a player base.

Rathius · 18th August 2008, 04:31

I think a cartographer skill would be worthless after a short while. As it was mentioned, the websites would be full of the best maps marking everything. After that, why would anyone use the skill? Not to mention, selling of maps, how would you really know what you're getting without looking at the map? If you could look at the map before buying it, why would you need to buy it? It's kinda worthless and exploitable at the same time.

What I wouldn't mind seeing, is having to buy maps for different areas from NPCs. These maps would then show only major locations and some landmarks. You then let the player put markers on their maps for anything else they might need.

To further this with Death Saved's post, being able to have a guild map would be nice too, so that everyone in the guild could share information. To make sure this doesn't stop maps from being sold, the guild map can't be viewed or be changed remotely. Although, still, people would just screenshot maps and post them... which has happened with any game. The only thing that keeps people buying maps, is if they can see their location in the area if they get lost and this position is shown only if they have a map.

So really, I don't know what I'm getting at... maps are useful yes, but having players make and distribute them wouldn't really work. NPC maps are really there for ease of access and being able to make personal markers.

osteo · 19th August 2008, 12:44

It kind of is the way you all are describing it and how you all think you would use it. What if some monsters drop a treasure map. UO used cartographers for find treasure chests that were dug by monsters. this is where having a cartographer was nice!

SkirmCard · 19th August 2008, 20:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by osteo

It kind of is the way you all are describing it and how you all think you would use it. What if some monsters drop a treasure map. UO used cartographers for find treasure chests that were dug by monsters. this is where having a cartographer was nice!

Hah, I almost forgot about that. That would be real fun if it was implemented, kind of a personal quest that is unique to you. Not only that, but if it's done well you can go visit a place that probably doesn't get much traffic whatsoever and you probably wouldn't visit if it weren't for this map. Things like that make the game seem more personal and fun, and you can definitely tie that to a cartography skill. Where either you need to decipher the map or someone with a high cartograpy skill can decipher it for you and draw a friendlier map to where the treasure is.

I also think that detailed maps should be very hard to make, and each person who goes through an area to make a map should have a bit of randomness in it (with some inaccuracies due to the fact that some people see things differently). The overall large maps of cities and roads should be common, but a detailed map of a valley showing where caves, trees, and "spawning" grounds should be hard to come by, and with the randomness every map someone makes there might be something that's missed.

It is real hard to develop a skill like this when you know sooner or later there will be a complete map on the internet that you can just log on to and look up locations. I just really wish there was a way to get around it (my randomness is a pretty weak idea to get around it, but it's just a thought).

Lexander · 20th August 2008, 20:23

According to the features, MO is a world that is in continuous change, but it is not known with certainty how much "change" we are talking about is supposed to occur "things", like killing a important monster and this do not resurrect or come again ... therefore a cartographer is very useful.

Lachrymose · 21st August 2008, 00:57

actually, i think this could be an interesting idea. you probably won't want to have to keep checking a webpage to look at a map, since it'd be much more convenient to look at it ingame (assuming you don't have dual monitors).

like the OP said, i think it's stupid that locations magically just appear on your map when you're at that location. you should have to either purchase a map of every area, or if you have a high enough cartography skill, you can make your own maps of each area and then sell them.

also, if there were treasure maps, cartographers would need to decode them. that could land some big bucks for cartographers since most people wouldn't bother doing cartography themselves when they could just buy all their maps from someone else. if someone gets a treasure map, though, that could mean big money so they'd probably pay a pretty hefty sum to get someone to decode it for them.

altogether, it's just a little more realistic and adds a little something extra to the economy. nothing big, but it would be a nice feature.

Shinzon · 21st August 2008, 06:26

The need for a cartography skill is really dependant on the size of the game world, but even then, it provides nothing a good database website wont. The bigger the world; the more chances to get lost, the more the need for a map. If MO is the size of WoW; cartography is useless, and guilds are essentialy fighting for phonebooth sized areas.

On the other hand, if it is possible to have locations so remote that no player will ever stumble on them; or even very rareley, and players themselves can actualy mark locations on the map, suddenly a database site becomes nothing but a general refrence, with all of the information being created by the players dynamicaly.

But even the above will be rendered redundant by something like a "MO Google Map" where the locations can be marked dynamicaly as well.

Having certain sections that will loop endlessly (Like a desert) as if you are wondering forever, unless you have a cartography skill (In which case you can pass the looping section to the other side) could create a use for the cartography skill; but it has nothing to do with the player's ability, it just a number crunch or a grind stat...

13th August 2008, 16:51	#1 (permalink)
Caedryan Newbie Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Switzerland, near Zurich Age: 19 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 1	Cartographers needed! Am I the only one which gets annoyed about the almost perfect maps of the worlds we play in? What about a Cartographerskill ? It could be kind of secondary crafting - or if you want primary. I think it fits with the concept of MO, because of the legendary monsters or hidden places - It is very very dumb, if the whole world knows where all the secrets are - It would also prevent a fast firstkilling of bosses, because you have to search them with a certain amount of time. It's stupid... Look: You hear about that Sword of Ogre Decapitation, somewhere in the mountains of Farfarawayland. You open your world map and you see the exact point where the legendary uber sword is. Stupid. You should have something like a cartographer skill. In the beginning your map (s) is very scrawly and imprecise. The more you travel around the world, the more your map gets better! You have to bear more than one map a time (have you ever seen a whole worldmap which is zoomable to the smallest of small towns? No you have'nt. So you have a little strategic conflict, everytime you leave your hometown: Which map should I take with me? Now you say: What about only-crafters, who don't travel alot? So: Explorers with a cartographer skill can sell their maps to other players and soon there will be a big market of maps which (should) lead to hidden treasures, big monsters (if you haven't already read the newspaper you'll be screwd for sure) or whatever the hell...

13th August 2008, 23:49	#3 (permalink)
Death Saved Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Age: 21 Posts: 177 Rep Power: 1	Hmm i was thinking of a npc cartographer for guilds that when ever you talk to the npc it will register the areas you explored into one giant map the more guild members spread out the more ground get's covered also making a special form of ink and giving it to the npc carto(shorty's FTW) will enable it to open portals to leyline intersections wich function as gates for GHQ. __________________ Ignorance is bless to the wise anyways cause i cant believe what the fanboys fork out for shit well except the fangirls cause they actually like the crap they buy. Your input is required: http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/2...d-housing.html Useful ruins: http://www.mortalonline.com/forums/2...html#post51989

18th August 2008, 04:31	#5 (permalink)
Rathius Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Kansas Age: 24 Posts: 445 Rep Power: 1	I think a cartographer skill would be worthless after a short while. As it was mentioned, the websites would be full of the best maps marking everything. After that, why would anyone use the skill? Not to mention, selling of maps, how would you really know what you're getting without looking at the map? If you could look at the map before buying it, why would you need to buy it? It's kinda worthless and exploitable at the same time. What I wouldn't mind seeing, is having to buy maps for different areas from NPCs. These maps would then show only major locations and some landmarks. You then let the player put markers on their maps for anything else they might need. To further this with Death Saved's post, being able to have a guild map would be nice too, so that everyone in the guild could share information. To make sure this doesn't stop maps from being sold, the guild map can't be viewed or be changed remotely. Although, still, people would just screenshot maps and post them... which has happened with any game. The only thing that keeps people buying maps, is if they can see their location in the area if they get lost and this position is shown only if they have a map. So really, I don't know what I'm getting at... maps are useful yes, but having players make and distribute them wouldn't really work. NPC maps are really there for ease of access and being able to make personal markers. __________________ (Explorer 80, Killer 53, Achiever 33, Socializer 33)

21st August 2008, 00:57	#9 (permalink)
Lachrymose Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: SC, United States Clan: Aegis Imperium Playstyle: PK/PvP Age: 22 Posts: 1,765 Rep Power: 5	actually, i think this could be an interesting idea. you probably won't want to have to keep checking a webpage to look at a map, since it'd be much more convenient to look at it ingame (assuming you don't have dual monitors). like the OP said, i think it's stupid that locations magically just appear on your map when you're at that location. you should have to either purchase a map of every area, or if you have a high enough cartography skill, you can make your own maps of each area and then sell them. also, if there were treasure maps, cartographers would need to decode them. that could land some big bucks for cartographers since most people wouldn't bother doing cartography themselves when they could just buy all their maps from someone else. if someone gets a treasure map, though, that could mean big money so they'd probably pay a pretty hefty sum to get someone to decode it for them. altogether, it's just a little more realistic and adds a little something extra to the economy. nothing big, but it would be a nice feature. __________________ /thread ________________________________________________ Killer 100.00%, Achiever 46.67%, Explorer 46.67%, Socializer 6.67%

21st August 2008, 06:26	#10 (permalink)
Shinzon Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Toronto, Ontario Age: 19 Posts: 940 Rep Power: 3	The need for a cartography skill is really dependant on the size of the game world, but even then, it provides nothing a good database website wont. The bigger the world; the more chances to get lost, the more the need for a map. If MO is the size of WoW; cartography is useless, and guilds are essentialy fighting for phonebooth sized areas. On the other hand, if it is possible to have locations so remote that no player will ever stumble on them; or even very rareley, and players themselves can actualy mark locations on the map, suddenly a database site becomes nothing but a general refrence, with all of the information being created by the players dynamicaly. But even the above will be rendered redundant by something like a "MO Google Map" where the locations can be marked dynamicaly as well. Having certain sections that will loop endlessly (Like a desert) as if you are wondering forever, unless you have a cartography skill (In which case you can pass the looping section to the other side) could create a use for the cartography skill; but it has nothing to do with the player's ability, it just a number crunch or a grind stat... __________________ www.aegis-imperium.com

14th August 2008, 01:26	#4 (permalink)
Slive Newbie Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Cali. Posts: 5 Rep Power: 0	I think most a lot of people interested in this game are thinking UO. And when you think back to UO and look at the Cart skill it was useless. There were very few things in game that needed a Cart skill. Maybe you can have it as a feature on a RP based server but I don't think it would serve an practical purpose in the long run as it will cater to to few a player base.

19th August 2008, 12:44	#6 (permalink)
osteo Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 114 Rep Power: 0	It kind of is the way you all are describing it and how you all think you would use it. What if some monsters drop a treasure map. UO used cartographers for find treasure chests that were dug by monsters. this is where having a cartographer was nice!

20th August 2008, 20:23	#8 (permalink)
Lexander Newbie Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 12 Rep Power: 0	According to the features, MO is a world that is in continuous change, but it is not known with certainty how much "change" we are talking about is supposed to occur "things", like killing a important monster and this do not resurrect or come again ... therefore a cartographer is very useful.