the jump quests are the only real exploration bit... going to the vistas and POIs do not count as exploration as they are clearly marked on the map.. my idea of exporation is you go out not know what you will find.. like the jumping bits.. tho GW2s controls are a bit clunky for it to be a fun platform jumpnig game..
It is nice to see them trying somthing a bit different when it comes to exploration but its a shame they decided to mark nearly everything else on the map.
You know you can toggle everything off if you like.
That argument is invalid and was clobbered to death like 6 years ago in WoW with introduction of quest GPS. So no this is not the same thing if you turn the thing off vs. not having it entirelly in the game.
I for one really like having the markers there. I never run out of things to do. I just go to the next nearest marker. Does this take away from exploration? In my opinion absolutely not. A marker doesn't tell me what I am about to encounter, and it's a challenge many times just getting to it. This game isn't as large as some of the games that have been out many years (eq1 and eq2 for instance), but as an initial offering I find it to be quite sizable. I get a sense of adventure I just don't get in any other MMO. I am totally hooked on this game!!!
I just want to echo other sentiments in this thread that I've been really impressed with the exploration in GW2. I've played Vanguard, Darkfall, and even early UO (albeit much smaller continents than modern MMOs) that offered a variety of perks for real explorers, and GW2 trumps them all so far.
Vanguard felt bigger, but a lot emptier because whenever I went off the beaten path to explore, I would just end up places that weren't all that interesting or of any benefit. GW2 exploration has been consistently rewarding probably nine times out of ten, and felt more like a living world of many species, habitats, stray NPCs, and secrets.
I had so many doubts about this game too because I never liked GW1 and wasn't hyped at all prior to release, but several people that streamed it live for me really sold it as a game I needed to try.
The game's puzzles, whether a barrier to points on the map or not, are the best I've seen in any MMO and should be rewarding enough as it is to make exploration more interesting and fun. So I just don't understand the complaint. I think some people need to give it more of a chance as they are probably writing it off without exploring enough because something gave them the idea before trying that there is nothing else out there beyond the mapped content. That's just plain wrong.
I am a mad explorer and crafter in most MMO's. Fallen Earth, Vanguard and EvE are the only three games that really met my expectations. However I am finding myself running around GW2 checking out caves and other 'non marked' areas on the map. I have been rewarded with finding rich nodes or cluster of nodes and sometimes a chest. Some of the jumping puzzles are frustrating but very rewarding when you work them out.
I still think they can take it further with ultra rare nodes/drops for crafting and possibly more under water exploration. I have done a lot of swimming and although pretty, there isn't a great deal there.
the jump quests are the only real exploration bit... going to the vistas and POIs do not count as exploration as they are clearly marked on the map.. my idea of exporation is you go out not know what you will find.. like the jumping bits.. tho GW2s controls are a bit clunky for it to be a fun platform jumpnig game..
It is nice to see them trying somthing a bit different when it comes to exploration but its a shame they decided to mark nearly everything else on the map.
You know you can toggle everything off if you like.
That argument is invalid and was clobbered to death like 6 years ago in WoW with introduction of quest GPS. So no this is not the same thing if you turn the thing off vs. not having it entirelly in the game.
It's not the same thing, you're right. One way, it intrudes on everyone even those that dislike wandering around aimlessly for hours trying to find their way. The other way, people who want the feature off can remove it, and those who don't can utilize it.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
For those who dont get what some of us are talking about and think there arent things to explor ebecause its all marked on maps for you, here is a quick video I made of just 1 minor spot I found while exploring last night. Theres no icons/markers showing there is anything worth doing in the area. As you can see when I pull up the map at the end, there is nothing really to indiciate this big fight and treasure chest are back there unless you fight your way through to the end and discover it for yourself:
This isnt even anything all that special either. This is just a small little nook with a kind of cool fight at the end with the rocks falling from the celing every few seconds int hat tunnel as youre trying to get through. There are much cooler places to dicsover throughout the game, this is just 1 near the starting area for Charr. Very close to it is also anothe runmarked area to fight through in order to reach a rich copper node. Its a bit easier to find since nodes are marked, but youve still got to travel a bit out of your way before it will pop up on the map.
Love the game, but I would prefer hearts, vistas, waypoints and discovery areas to be hidden until found - not marked on the map to spoon feed me their location ie scouts giving them away etc.
if you'd never been there, you wouldn't know where to find them.
I disagree. I like how the vistas are marked. Giving players a hint on where to start and indicating something cool to see doesn't spoon feed the content to them. I just provides a starting point and little bit of structure without the game boiling down to a on-the-rails thempark adventure.
If your exploration is simply about filling the checkling for map exploration (vistas, points of interest and waypoints), you're doing it wrong and missing a lot.
They could have done like GW1 and gave the fogged map for us to hug walls, but that design had its flaws even though I do prefer it, when I feel lazy I'll just fill the checklist, hopefully it'll serve a long term purpose of still finding unmapped stuff when exploring the world with alts.
So when did you have you first "I wonder what is in this cave" moment?
I my opinion that is the moment that you know you are starting to explore the map. And that is also when you find a horrible spider that spawns small spiders and trys to eat you with all it's little spiderlings as you run around in in a circle screaming like a little girl as the spider poisons you to death - yeah fun times ;-)
I found a chest with one gold in it. I felt rich for a while considering through lvl 17 I had only made 40 silver, it was near a mining node southeastern corner of the charr starting zone.
Based on what I've read here on exploring it looks like GW2 is taking exploring further than EQ1 which is really saying a lot. Even sounds like an evolution from EQ1 in terms of exploration.
EQ1 hand holding was practically non-existant at first and then it evolved to player made support like maps etc. or if I may say, player to player hand holding supported by the devs.
As much as I'd like to consider myself an explorer many times it was a quest that got me to exploring areas I'd perhaps may not have gone to or known about and player made maps and sites with maps helped a great deal.
I had folders full of printed maps before player made maps were instiituted. So I say bravo to Anet.
The more I read about GW2 the more I chomp at the bit to get it and get in there!
Comments
That argument is invalid and was clobbered to death like 6 years ago in WoW with introduction of quest GPS. So no this is not the same thing if you turn the thing off vs. not having it entirelly in the game.
I just want to echo other sentiments in this thread that I've been really impressed with the exploration in GW2. I've played Vanguard, Darkfall, and even early UO (albeit much smaller continents than modern MMOs) that offered a variety of perks for real explorers, and GW2 trumps them all so far.
Vanguard felt bigger, but a lot emptier because whenever I went off the beaten path to explore, I would just end up places that weren't all that interesting or of any benefit. GW2 exploration has been consistently rewarding probably nine times out of ten, and felt more like a living world of many species, habitats, stray NPCs, and secrets.
I had so many doubts about this game too because I never liked GW1 and wasn't hyped at all prior to release, but several people that streamed it live for me really sold it as a game I needed to try.
The game's puzzles, whether a barrier to points on the map or not, are the best I've seen in any MMO and should be rewarding enough as it is to make exploration more interesting and fun. So I just don't understand the complaint. I think some people need to give it more of a chance as they are probably writing it off without exploring enough because something gave them the idea before trying that there is nothing else out there beyond the mapped content. That's just plain wrong.
I am a mad explorer and crafter in most MMO's. Fallen Earth, Vanguard and EvE are the only three games that really met my expectations. However I am finding myself running around GW2 checking out caves and other 'non marked' areas on the map. I have been rewarded with finding rich nodes or cluster of nodes and sometimes a chest. Some of the jumping puzzles are frustrating but very rewarding when you work them out.
I still think they can take it further with ultra rare nodes/drops for crafting and possibly more under water exploration. I have done a lot of swimming and although pretty, there isn't a great deal there.
It's not the same thing, you're right. One way, it intrudes on everyone even those that dislike wandering around aimlessly for hours trying to find their way. The other way, people who want the feature off can remove it, and those who don't can utilize it.
"Forums aren't for intelligent discussion; they're for blow-hards with unwavering opinions."
Music is the science of manipulating people trough sound.
For those who dont get what some of us are talking about and think there arent things to explor ebecause its all marked on maps for you, here is a quick video I made of just 1 minor spot I found while exploring last night. Theres no icons/markers showing there is anything worth doing in the area. As you can see when I pull up the map at the end, there is nothing really to indiciate this big fight and treasure chest are back there unless you fight your way through to the end and discover it for yourself:
http://youtu.be/VRAmpO833RU
This isnt even anything all that special either. This is just a small little nook with a kind of cool fight at the end with the rocks falling from the celing every few seconds int hat tunnel as youre trying to get through. There are much cooler places to dicsover throughout the game, this is just 1 near the starting area for Charr. Very close to it is also anothe runmarked area to fight through in order to reach a rich copper node. Its a bit easier to find since nodes are marked, but youve still got to travel a bit out of your way before it will pop up on the map.
I disagree. I like how the vistas are marked. Giving players a hint on where to start and indicating something cool to see doesn't spoon feed the content to them. I just provides a starting point and little bit of structure without the game boiling down to a on-the-rails thempark adventure.
If you don't worry about it, it's not a problem.
If your exploration is simply about filling the checkling for map exploration (vistas, points of interest and waypoints), you're doing it wrong and missing a lot.
They could have done like GW1 and gave the fogged map for us to hug walls, but that design had its flaws even though I do prefer it, when I feel lazy I'll just fill the checklist, hopefully it'll serve a long term purpose of still finding unmapped stuff when exploring the world with alts.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/en/?fYEQRAoY6alUmaO3ey3E+5Ex2jdqTey9woKtpdFwKA;TwAg0CnowxgjAHbNOck4siYMyGiJGA
So when did you have you first "I wonder what is in this cave" moment?
I my opinion that is the moment that you know you are starting to explore the map. And that is also when you find a horrible spider that spawns small spiders and trys to eat you with all it's little spiderlings as you run around in in a circle screaming like a little girl as the spider poisons you to death - yeah fun times ;-)
Based on what I've read here on exploring it looks like GW2 is taking exploring further than EQ1 which is really saying a lot. Even sounds like an evolution from EQ1 in terms of exploration.
EQ1 hand holding was practically non-existant at first and then it evolved to player made support like maps etc. or if I may say, player to player hand holding supported by the devs.
As much as I'd like to consider myself an explorer many times it was a quest that got me to exploring areas I'd perhaps may not have gone to or known about and player made maps and sites with maps helped a great deal.
I had folders full of printed maps before player made maps were instiituted. So I say bravo to Anet.
The more I read about GW2 the more I chomp at the bit to get it and get in there!