[suggestion] Finding your way to things...
There actually is. Portals to other maps will always be near a waypoint and from that waypoint, on the mini- or world map, you will usually see a path leading from that waypoint into the boundary between the two maps.
For example, if you go to the interactive map of Caledon Forest, in the north east corner of the map is Kraitbane Haven. Leading from that is a path. That path will lead to a portal to Kessex Hills. Similarly at the very south of the map is Astorea Waypoint. There is a path next to it that leads to the Grove
(edited by Azrael.4960)
Azrael gives a solid solo way to do it. It can get frustrating when two maps share a border but there’s no path through at all (One reason I hate getting places in Ascalon before I unlock the wps).
You can also ask in map chat. Odds are someone will either ping the map area where you need to go, or even offer to lead you. I know I would!
Note:
I edited the topic, as I thought before there was a certain forum specifically for suggestions, but it doesn’t look that way.
Azrael; The problem I have with this, is that I have to use a website not affiliated with Guild Wars 2 to access these interactive maps, although I have used them, I believe that there should be something in the game that has a better feature. I say a better feature because I still could not figure out where to go based on these 3rd party maps.
Donari; It isn’t always easy to find someone that remembers how they got to a certain area, and this is why: The map is blurred until you walk it, making it impossible to assume where the paths go, not every path leads to a portal, and not every portal is to the area you were trying to get to. So a lot of people that I ask simply don’t remember because it was such a pain to get there when they tried. (I think of it like when you go through something traumatic but can’t recall what happened lol)
So I’ve been thinking all day about the best ways this could be implemented in the game and this is it:
1. Make blue portal symbols where the blue portals are.
2. Make a check box when you bring the map full screen that says something like “Map Discovery” and make it toggle being blurred to see what you didn’t explore yet, and being able to see all the paths like you had explored it.
Either of the two would be helpful by itself, but together would be the best. Even if the portals weren’t shown until you were in that area.
While I’m on the subjects of maps, I’d like to suggest a search feature for areas. Think of it like google maps; you type in the name of the area, and it brings you there with a little blip. This would make it easier for people that haven’t memorized areas to know where to go for certain bosses, or if they just wanted to go there for some reason. This would be cool, but not as important as the portal for areas icon that I suggested above.
If you want to see areas that you haven’t explored yet then talk to the scouts. When they point out renowned hearts, etc, they will reveal parts of the map. There’s a limit as to how much you can see without actually exploring the ares, and the discovery is just part of the game. Sometimes it will be hit-or-miss searching for POIs, vistas, etkittenil you reveal more of the map.
Perhaps some functionality added to the personal waypoint, so that it would act like PS markers in showing you the portal you need to go through to get to it? That might be the easiest way for Anet to implement what you want.
The compass points you in the direction of POI you have not discovered which includes new areas, also it helps to follow roads, and waypoints. However, surely if you were exploring as much as you said you would have found the portal, unless you were running in circles in the middle of the map.
Prototypemind; You say to talk to the scouts to see areas you haven’t explored yet, and in the same breath talk about how they don’t show you everything. I have tried using the scouts in the beginning, but quickly realized they are a waste of time. It actually wasn’t even showing me the areas unblurred before so I thought that was kind of silly. I did try this a second ago, and it did unblur areas near the hearts for a second, but not a huge area, and it was only 2 hearts, so I don’t see how that is helpful to anything at all. Besides that, an extremely unnecessarily long paragraph comes up blocking view of a quarter of my screen, and If I feel the need to read it, I loose out on seeing the places he’s trying to show me. Also, I’m not talking about finding poi’s, vistas, hearts; I’m talking about getting to a certain area when you don’t know where the portals to that area connect to the other areas.
!http://i121.photobucket.com/albums/o214/Ghirardelli_Girl/GW2/gw057.jpg!
Olvendred; I’m not sure I understand what you are saying. Don’t we already have this feature? I’m not talking about following your personal story.
John; As a matter of fact, I was running in circles on a few maps, because I couldn’t figure out how they all connect. I didn’t realize that you have to go through 3+ maps to get to one that looks like it should be accessible from 3 other maps. I also never said that I hadn’t eventually found it; that’s not the point. I’m saying it’s frustrating and could be improved upon. So the compass is going to point me to a bunch of things I’m not interested in doing? Wow that sounds like a perfect solution to what I’m saying bothers me.
Olvendred; I’m not sure I understand what you are saying. Don’t we already have this feature? I’m not talking about following your personal story.
No. Your personal waypoint is a marker you can place anywhere on the map (just click while holding Left Alt). It stays there until you remove it, and it shows at the edge of your minimap in the right direction. However, if you place it in a different zone, it’ll simply show in that compass direction, rather than by route at the portals that will lead you to that zone.
The personal story, on the other hand, does put markers to lead you through portals to the correct zone.
I’m simply suggesting that adding the latter functionality to the personal waypoint might be the easiest way to achieve what you want.
If you’re doing personal story I’ve found the most helpful thing is to zoom out and find where the final green indicator is. I will admit that it’s less than clear at times and can lead you out of the way and cause a bit of annoyance. I do, however, think part of the experience is at times taking wrong turns as you go, which is a staple of most MMOs. Whether or not that’s always enjoyable depends on the player, but just throwing it out there.
Another helpful thing I’ve found is this:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lornar%27s_Pass
For every area that I’ve checked so far under contents there’s a “getting there” link/summary that will give you several points of entry into the map. Another thing that you may find helpful is to go to or look at a map of Lion’s Arch, as the Asura gates there can make travel to almost anywhere else on the map much faster when you haven’t visited the areas previously.
Olvendred; Thank you for clarifying this, I didn’t know about the personal waypoint feature, but your suggestion does seem like the best option to implement something that I would find useful. (Or I should say other people that are new, as if it were to be implemented I will probably already have the map done by then)
Prototypemind; Sorry if I hadn’t made myself clear in my previous posts; I’m talking about getting somewhere you’ve never been before just to get there, not how to get to personal story. I can find how to get to personal story just fine.
See, something like that wiki is not useful to someone that doesn’t already have all the areas memorized. I’ve looked at those sections before, clicking down a rabbit hole, getting more confused along the way. Think of it from a new players perspective: I know nothing. I don’t know there are areas on the map that aren’t even maps in between. (This bothers me so much!) I have nothing filled in, and I look at a filled in map, then back to mine. There’s countries, cities and boroughs?? Ok, Now I must memorize the name of this borough because it connects to this city, then I have to travel to this city for the portal to that map, but I don’t see the borough, I don’t see the city..I just see the country on my map. So how do I make this happen? Honestly I couldn’t figure out what was where with my map blurred. It’s confusing imo. The map shouldn’t be this hard to understand to someone new to the game when its so very repetitive afterwards.
“Another helpful thing I’ve found is this:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lornar%27s_Pass
For every area that I’ve checked so far under contents there’s a “getting there” link/summary that will give you several points of entry into the map. Another thing that you may find helpful is to go to or look at a map of Lion’s Arch, as the Asura gates there can make travel to almost anywhere else on the map much faster when you haven’t visited the areas previously."
That’s what I explained above. That is what I used to get to areas that I hadn’t been before. For instance, as soon as I joined the Priory I wanted to go buy part of an armor set, so I looked up where it was and how to get there:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Lornar%27s_Pass#Getting_there
There’s really nothing that I know of that streamlines it for you any better than that. There are a lot of places—including the Priory—that you can also access via Asura gates in Lion’s Arch. Part of the game is discovery, so take it as it is. You can also Google “Guild Wars 2 map” and get a high res pic of the entire completed map to see exactly what connects to what and where.
Trying to get from zone to zone was easily one of the most frustrating aspects of exploration when I first started playing. If each zone is going to be instanced, the routes between zones should be clearly marked on the map, in the game.
“Be angry about legendary weapons, sure, but what about the recent drought of content?”
-Mike O’Brien
Because we can’t be angry about both?
-Mike O’Brien
Because we can’t be angry about both?