Jump to content

I'd almost forgotten how frustrating the planet maps are.


DPswfan

Recommended Posts

I've recently returned to Swtor. I have to say, the layout of these planets can be unbelievably frustrating, perhaps more so than I remember. Not only does one have to run around or ride a speeder for long distances, but I also get confused and lost occasionally, and I have to grind through loads of mobs frequently, all of this just to get a cutscene. They are usually damn good cutscene's but still, the pain to get there Almost makes it not worth it sometimes. While the visuals of the planets are often quite good, the layout is pretty crappy. I feel like the designers of the planets intended to use the layout of the planets as a way to stretch game time out as much as they possibly could. Talk about ****** motivation for designing something.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Taris is a particularly annoying one. It's HUGE given how small the actual planet storyline is. Hoth is pretty sizable too, but it has enough story to keep it immersive.

 

Belsavis, however, pisses me off like no other. The size, the clusters of mobs everywhere, and the convoluted terrain are all just poor design.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Belsavis and Corellia are really the only maps that frustrate me.

 

They reveal themselves in such tiny pieces that you can't get a proper bearing for where you need to go and you end up running into a lot of dead ends that force you to backtrack and try different directions.

 

This is why I'd like to see a Legacy perk that lets you reveal the whole map.

Surely I could have asked some of the other members of my Legacy to let me borrow their maps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hoth sucks. :p:cool:

 

I've finally come to the realization of this after having to trek that flippin' planet again w/new character last night.

 

There's just nothing like being in a dark room late at night playing SWTOR with a planetary flood light of white in your face as you sit there traveling on your speeder for what seems to be the most endless journey through nothingness ever known to the entire galaxy, while cursing yourself for using the QuickTravel earlier for something that seemed like a good idea at the time.

 

Such is Hoth.

Edited by Code_Airwolf
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Strange, I've never really felt this way before besides once or twice on Belsavis and maybe when I went to Corellia for the first time. But besides that, I don't think it's that frustrating.

 

I hate those two maps in particular, mainly because Belsavis has two different taxi pads you have to hit in order or else you wind up having to QT back to the "home base" when you're done with the planet, and Corellia is nothing but tunnels and alleyways and giant buildings blocking your path and resulting in you either going all the way around the little section you're in or turning around and losing time backtracking to your objective.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Legacy flight paths.

 

Seriously. Make 'Legacy' count for something. Otherwise what? NO ONE made a map? Makes about as much sense as me having to know exactly where JFK airport is so I can tell the cab driver where to go - oh and I need to know where De Gaulle airport is so I can tell the pilot where to land.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The blue maps are difficult to read IMO. Often it is difficult to tell whether or not your entrance or mission point is high or low since topography is not represented very well, not to mention that it is difficult to see walls and natural terrain barriers in your path.

 

The maps in this game have taught me to hate the color blue hehe.

 

It is also silly to me that we do not already have the "fade out" shuttle option for all worlds, unlocked shuttles, like on Makeb. Not only would it save time and save us from the 5 frame per second, flickering mount problem, it would likely reduce load on the server as well.

 

As a legacy option it would be fantastic IMO.

Edited by LordArtemis
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I remember Korriban confused the heck out of me when I first started playing. Once I figured out the weirdness of how the maps work (and that initial tomb) it became easier.

 

Corellia is still rough, though. Unless you've already mapped the whole thing out, it is very frustrating trying to get from point A to point B.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Corellia is still rough, though. Unless you've already mapped the whole thing out, it is very frustrating trying to get from point A to point B.

 

Which makes perfect sense right? Because in a war zone you can NEVER crawl through, over, under or around bombed out buildings.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Belsavis and Corellia are really the only maps that frustrate me.

 

They reveal themselves in such tiny pieces that you can't get a proper bearing for where you need to go and you end up running into a lot of dead ends that force you to backtrack and try different directions.

 

This is why I'd like to see a Legacy perk that lets you reveal the whole map.

Surely I could have asked some of the other members of my Legacy to let me borrow their maps.

 

The map reveals in this game are designed the way much of the launch game was designed, and that is to waste as much time as possible to try and pad the actual content.

 

The hidden maps are beyond stupid design as my characters fly around the galaxy in star ships which surely have the ability to provide maps of the area, not to mention any culture advanced enough to travel through space would have some sort of maps.

 

Just as stupid is the requirement to unlock every single QT / taxi points. Again, an advanced culture would surely know where all the bases were located, and be able to provide that information to others. It makes zero sense that a taxi droid at base A doesn't know were the taxi droid at base B is located until you go find the droid and click on them.

 

I too would love to see a legacy perk for maps and QT / taxi points, though honestly, I feel it should be a simple option in the settings 'show / hide' map, as well as 'unlock QT / taxi points'.

 

If certain players want to have hidden maps and no QT / taxi points, so be it - the rest of us shouldn't have to put up with antiquated game design that actually takes away from game immersion.

Edited by DawnAskham
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The map reveals in this game are designed the way much of the launch game was designed, and that is to waste as much time as possible to try and pad the actual content.

 

And it is beyond stupid with the hidden maps as my characters fly around the galaxy in a star ship which surely has the ability to provide maps of the area, not to mention any culture advanced enough to travel through space would have some sort of maps.

 

I too would love to see a legacy perk for maps, though honestly, I feel it should be a simple option in the settings 'show / hide' map.

 

If certain players want to have hidden maps, so be it - the rest of us shouldn't have to put up with antiquated game design.

 

Just out of curiosity, how do you come around to "antiquated"? Since every MMO, and every SP game I've ever played, right up to newer releases uses the same "Fog of War" thing for maps. But as an example, I'm going to drop you off in Paris. You have 5 minutes to find the nearest Starbucks. Assuming two things here, you're not from Paris, and they actually have a Starbucks. This is the same principle for the maps. Yes, my Legacy has been there, but the character I'm on at the time hasn't been. This doesn't stop the mission layout for the Imp side Belsavis being totally aggravating, and Corellia as well, generally speaking, but fog of war makes perfect sense to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just out of curiosity, how do you come around to "antiquated"? Since every MMO, and every SP game I've ever played, right up to newer releases uses the same "Fog of War" thing for maps. But as an example, I'm going to drop you off in Paris. You have 5 minutes to find the nearest Starbucks. Assuming two things here, you're not from Paris, and they actually have a Starbucks. This is the same principle for the maps. Yes, my Legacy has been there, but the character I'm on at the time hasn't been. This doesn't stop the mission layout for the Imp side Belsavis being totally aggravating, and Corellia as well, generally speaking, but fog of war makes perfect sense to me.

 

I'd use my handy mobile and in seconds have a map of Paris up along with locations for all Starbucks - such is the nature of an advanced society.

 

Not to mention if I got into a cab in Paris and asked to go to the nearest Starbucks, the cabbie would know where to go without telling me to first go find the nearest Starbucks and 'unlock' a taxi point.

 

Surely a civilization with star ships, interstellar travel, and interstellar communication would have at least some sort of rudimentary mapping technology, and taxis would certainly know where the various bases were located.

 

And other games also offer the ability to turn off 'fog of war' or reveal the entire map, not to mention many alternative games are set in much less advanced civilizations where it makes a bit more sense to have to 'explore' the world.

Edited by DawnAskham
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not only does one have to run around or ride a speeder for long distances, but I also get confused and lost occasionally, and I have to grind through loads of mobs frequently...

This.

 

I know exactly what you mean. Travel from point A to point B, only to have to travel back to point A again (quick travel on cooldown gahhhhhh :mad::mad:).

 

I particularly despise hoth. So much running around.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The map reveals in this game are designed the way much of the launch game was designed, and that is to waste as much time as possible to try and pad the actual content.

 

The hidden maps are beyond stupid design as my characters fly around the galaxy in star ships which surely have the ability to provide maps of the area, not to mention any culture advanced enough to travel through space would have some sort of maps.

 

Just as stupid is the requirement to unlock every single QT / taxi points. Again, an advanced culture would surely know where all the bases were located, and be able to provide that information to others. It makes zero sense that a taxi droid at base A doesn't know were the taxi droid at base B is located until you go find the droid and click on them.

 

I too would love to see a legacy perk for maps and QT / taxi points, though honestly, I feel it should be a simple option in the settings 'show / hide' map, as well as 'unlock QT / taxi points'.

 

If certain players want to have hidden maps and no QT / taxi points, so be it - the rest of us shouldn't have to put up with antiquated game design that actually takes away from game immersion.

 

Agreed, especially since you can get lost and have to travel forever to get back on track (no pun intended). Also, why is it that the stupid taxi never drops you off to the closest point? It will always take you to a taxi one stop away, then you'll have to pay AGAIN to go to the other stop, or spend all of that time traveling on foot!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't mind the travelling from place to place. I think it helps to give players a sense for how large a planet can be, given the limited scope of the interactions we have with each planet. I would even venture to say that several planets should have much larger maps because right now they give the impression that a single planet is no larger than the state of Ohio. Planets are supposed to be big.

 

My biggest gripe is the fact that the maps are blacked out until you explore them. Apparently there isn't a single cartographer in the entire galaxy because every single new hero of the Empire/Republic has to explore each world as though it were undiscovered territory before they know that there is a mountain range between point A and point B and that you need to travel through point C to get around the mountains. Fog of war over the ares I haven't travelled is fine, but the fact that I can't even see the general lay of the terrain until I've explored it once on every single character just seems silly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Strange, I've never really felt this way before besides once or twice on Belsavis and maybe when I went to Corellia for the first time. But besides that, I don't think it's that frustrating.

Well, I can't even count the times that the map looked like there should be a passage at some location only to find that it's a stack of rocks that cannot be climbed even though the barrier would not pose any problems if you'd encounter it in the real world. So yeah, the geography is sometimes deliberately made to force you to take a different route. Annoying, yes! Frustrating, less so, otherwise I might not get to see some other area with whatever it is I'm supposed to find there.

 

And the fact the maps are initially blacked out, no problems with that, just another way to build up XP.

Edited by LeJarC
Link to comment
Share on other sites

×
×
  • Create New...