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  #1  
Unread 12-08-2008, 01:34 PM
SOE-Rothgar SOE-Rothgar is offline
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Default Map Ideas

I had some ideas for our map system that I'd love to get some feedback on.

First, I'd love to create a new POI that contains multiple points. Maybe we could call it an ROI (Region of Interest). Basically it would draw on the map as shape. We'd probably code it to round off the edges so it would look nicer than a hard-edged polygon. This could be used for discovery areas or defining a region where a certain mob spawns when there isn't a specific coordinate.

I would also like to add a new property to the POI where you can specify a quest name that is associated with the POI. This would allow us to put the map in a mode where only POI's were displayed if they were linked to a quest in your active journal.

Let me know what you think.
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Unread 12-08-2008, 02:56 PM
gm9 gm9 is offline
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oh no, more work. j/k.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SOE-Rothgar View Post
First, I'd love to create a new POI that contains multiple points. Maybe we could call it an ROI (Region of Interest). Basically it would draw on the map as shape. We'd probably code it to round off the edges so it would look nicer than a hard-edged polygon. This could be used for discovery areas or defining a region where a certain mob spawns when there isn't a specific coordinate.
I'm having a hard time imagining it but my first impression from an EQ2MAP perspective is that the maps are busy and colorful enough as they are, putting even larger POIs on them won't help. At least not before we don't have robust POI filtering capabilities in place.

If you implement it I agree on the rounded edges though, otherwise it will look too artifical.

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Originally Posted by SOE-Rothgar View Post
I would also like to add a new property to the POI where you can specify a quest name that is associated with the POI. This would allow us to put the map in a mode where only POI's were displayed if they were linked to a quest in your active journal.
This sounds really great.

On the implementation side in order to make it work on localized servers also it would be really helpful if the quest name tag could be english only, i.e. without translation tags (since users won't be able to submit the tags).

One further thought on this: We have over 16.000 POIs in EQ2MAP an noone will ever update them all to add the questname tag or even just the correct poitype. Therefore could the filtering possibly just make the respective POIs more visible instead of filtering all others out? I'm thinking of making them a glow (in a different color than the current search result selection glow), enlarging them or something like that. At least optionally?
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  #3  
Unread 12-08-2008, 06:08 PM
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The RoI sounds better IMO than the PoIs we currently have. I mean RoI would open up so much with a certain mob/mob type in an area, discovery, quest updates, etc etc. Instead of having so many PoIs we can have a few RoIs.

This would work much better if there is PoI filtering. You also should allow us to change the color of the PoIs easily.

While we're on the map subject, are there any ways of allowing us to make a circular map instead of having the dull square one?
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Unread 12-08-2008, 06:31 PM
The-Order The-Order is offline
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This sounds like a great idea, however, if added might crowd up the map a bit with icons and areas. I request a legend that you can open up in the map and toggle certain POIs and/or ROIs on or off to keep the maps from getting over crowded with icons.
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Unread 12-08-2008, 07:02 PM
lordebon lordebon is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SOE-Rothgar View Post
I had some ideas for our map system that I'd love to get some feedback on.

First, I'd love to create a new POI that contains multiple points. Maybe we could call it an ROI (Region of Interest). Basically it would draw on the map as shape. We'd probably code it to round off the edges so it would look nicer than a hard-edged polygon. This could be used for discovery areas or defining a region where a certain mob spawns when there isn't a specific coordinate.

I would also like to add a new property to the POI where you can specify a quest name that is associated with the POI. This would allow us to put the map in a mode where only POI's were displayed if they were linked to a quest in your active journal.

Let me know what you think.
For your first thing -- I would LOVE that! That's something I've wanted to see on maps for years, but provided that by *default* it can be turned off, and then individual ones turned on/off with say a checkbox in a side window that expands out. It would be best of all if the game remembered which ones you had checked and saved it between sessions. But I love the idea, and it would be even better if we could associate multiple polygons to be shown/hidden simultaneously. That way for normal mobs (or another idea I've had -- harvests in separated zones) you could see all of the locations for a mob type at the same time. Even without rounded edges it would be great.

The second thing also sounds great. Especially since you said it would be a separate mode. It'd also be great if the normal mode could be set to *not* show POIs that are linked to quests that you do not currently have, again via a checkbox or context menu.


I have a few other suggestions:

The ability to zoom in on a map even further than we currently can. I know that the maps look rather pixelated at high zoom, but even at the current maximum zoom it's still hard to separate tightly-packed POIs in very large zones (/cough Moors).

Not sure how easy this one would be (Because of what I know of zonerects, seems like it might be tricky): For zones with *no* map, instead of having just the basic world map shown, it would show a large, totally blank map.

Or, if that is not possible another idea would be a "group compass" that would be a N-S-E-W compass centered on the player that would show all the others in relation to them. The angular coordinate would respond to the relative angle (NSEW) that the groupmember is from the user, and the distance from the center could correspond to direct distance (the further a player was away in the zone, the further from the center). Even just a pure NSEW relation would be great, without the distance coordinate.
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Unread 12-08-2008, 07:19 PM
gm9 gm9 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lordebon View Post
It'd also be great if the normal mode could be set to *not* show POIs that are linked to quests that you do not currently have, again via a checkbox or context menu.
Good idea. For EQ2MAP we'd probably need to duplicate multipurpose POIs then though, e.g. quest update location and discovery XP location, so if you hide the quest POI at the same spot the disco POI is still visible. But that can be done.

Quote:
Originally Posted by lordebon View Post
Not sure how easy this one would be (Because of what I know of zonerects, seems like it might be tricky): For zones with *no* map, instead of having just the basic world map shown, it would show a large, totally blank map.
That's already the case, it is just not showing the empty "Current Zone" by default. But if you select it you get an empty map (and in the case of EQ2MAP with some more information on it).
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Unread 12-08-2008, 08:02 PM
lordebon lordebon is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gm9 View Post
Good idea. For EQ2MAP we'd probably need to duplicate multipurpose POIs then though, e.g. quest update location and discovery XP location, so if you hide the quest POI at the same spot the disco POI is still visible. But that can be done.

That's already the case, it is just not showing the empty "Current Zone" by default. But if you select it you get an empty map (and in the case of EQ2MAP with some more information on it).
Very true for the first point. But perhaps in the implementation those locations could be marked so that yes they update a quest, but they're not *just* for that quest. And thus the filter would only filter away those POIs that are *only* for a specific quest (which is quite a few when it comes to clickie-objects). That would allow the control without having to have duplicate POIs.

Second point: Interesting. I'd never realized that that is the case for zones that have no map in EQ2MAP. To clarify, thats what I was talking about -- zones like instances that do not currently have a map in EQ2MAP, not just ones that don't have a SOE map. I'll have to check next time I'm in an unmapped instance, don't remember seeing that before.
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Unread 12-08-2008, 10:34 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SOE-Rothgar View Post
I had some ideas for our map system that I'd love to get some feedback on.

First, I'd love to create a new POI that contains multiple points. Maybe we could call it an ROI (Region of Interest). Basically it would draw on the map as shape. We'd probably code it to round off the edges so it would look nicer than a hard-edged polygon. This could be used for discovery areas or defining a region where a certain mob spawns when there isn't a specific coordinate.
I can't recall if this was in EQ2 or "that other game" but there was a map with was was called a "cluster" POI, and when highlighted would list the multiple NPC, quest, disco, etc. that were located within a certain small radius.


Quote:
This sounds like a great idea, however, if added might crowd up the map a bit with icons and areas. I request a legend that you can open up in the map and toggle certain POIs and/or ROIs on or off to keep the maps from getting over crowded with icons.
Isn't this something available in the original EQ2MAP?
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  #9  
Unread 12-09-2008, 05:54 AM
lordebon lordebon is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Faerwynd View Post
I can't recall if this was in EQ2 or "that other game" but there was a map with was was called a "cluster" POI, and when highlighted would list the multiple NPC, quest, disco, etc. that were located within a certain small radius.




Isn't this something available in the original EQ2MAP?
A while ago, EQ2MAP did have purple clusters, yes. Those turned out to be quite a pain, so they were discontinued.

And yes, filtering was something available in the old EQ2MAP / map system, but is *not* something currently available in the new system.
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Unread 12-10-2008, 02:30 AM
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Any way to allow us to edit our own POIs? And can we submit the ones we make?
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  #11  
Unread 12-10-2008, 03:32 AM
lecore lecore is offline
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Default Waypoint for Group members

Just a suggestion of a feature that I would love to see in game. To be able to show a waypoint to everyone in group/raid. My wife and I 5 box quite a bit. And one of us is usually looking up quest locations. When I have the loc I have to try and tell her where it is or tell her the waypoint so she can type it in and see the X on the map of where to go. If I could share a waypoint to the group this would be so helpful. Also another idea that I think would help quite a bit would be a waypoint route. Be able to select several waypoints. This would be helpful for solo/group/raid. So like I could have 4 X's on the map. Maybe have a little number over each of the X's starting with 1, 2, etc. And this shared to the group/raid as well.

Just a thought, but this would be so awesome to have in game.

Lecore
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  #12  
Unread 12-10-2008, 05:33 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dragowulf View Post
Any way to allow us to edit our own POIs? And can we submit the ones we make?
On the first question I know that this didn't make it into GU50 for lack of time, but in principle SOE still wants to add later it if time allows. I don't know the current status.

The second question is something we initially considered but the answer is no. In view of the existing dupe and bad POI problem the disadvantages of a bulk POI submission outweigh the possible advantages.
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Unread 01-05-2009, 09:13 AM
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i'm on a local client, so if you add a filter from quest, it's would be great if in localized client we can have the choice to show localized name quest and english name quest, like that the filter can work for us too.
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Unread 01-13-2009, 10:57 AM
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I like both ideas.

RE ROI: Definitely would want a way to toggle off ROI visibility and they'd need to sit underneath POIs.

RE Quest Name Filter: If you implement this, I'd really like to also see a similar level attribute added to the POIs with min and max level boxes added to the filter options. Would be a great way to restrict map info to just the stuff that applies to the level range you're hunting. Oh... and a checkbox to hide/show items with no set level.
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Unread 01-13-2009, 03:36 PM
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and have the poi list start collapsed instead of full extended tree. I have to scroll too often to bottom just to get to locations or other poi categories. Would be very nice to see the tree start with only the headings and the player click the heading to extend the tree and show those poi's. Sorry, I hope this was not thread-jacking, I know it is a bit off topic per recent responses.

Thanks!
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Unread 01-16-2009, 04:11 PM
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Default RoI

I hesitate to mention other games in relation to EQ2 most of the time, but I played Age of Conan around release time, and it had a similar concept. The RoI regions were crosshatched (shaded) in on the map. It wasn't *too* distracting or anything, if implemented I would also like the ability to turn them off of course
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Unread 01-21-2009, 03:32 PM
tlh4me tlh4me is offline
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Default POI toggles

I love the new maps in EQ2; HOWEVER, the eq2 map POI's have cluttered them to a point of almost not usable in some zones. There are so many POI's, many one on top the other, that even zoomed all the way in you cant discern what is what.

The POI's really need toggles to turn them on or off so we can see only the POI types of interest at that moment. Default should be off IMO.

ROI idea sounds good. Will be interesting to see how the region would be defined for custom submission (IE - number of points needed to define the area)

Having a tie - in to the journal would be extremely useful. Of course I also think this would require an accessible database to make the connection. IE, there is a website at eq2.fluffy.dk which has a simple journal mod that is awesome for keeping track of your quest journal. It takes a considerable effort to get your data into the system and keep it up to date but the point is they capture information from the Journal and store it in a database that has the exact quest name, etc. Tying POI or ROI to the journal would require similar functionality I would think. So that if you attempted to submit a POI for NPC/Quest/Quest UPdate it would have to get associated with a quest from the journal and NOT allow the user to type the information in manually.

In addition, it would need to allow for one to many as NPC's offer multiple quests in many instances and updates of a particular mob can be required by multiple quests and on different steps, etc.
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Unread 01-21-2009, 04:45 PM
SOE-Rothgar SOE-Rothgar is offline
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I agree that there are just way too many POI's and they are no longer useful when all are visible.

As a player, I really only care about POI's for quests that I'm on. If that POI is of no use to me, I don't want to see it on the map. So other than POI's for merchants, bankers, mailboxes, etc., I'd want everything else off.

Tying it into the journal would not be that difficult. All we need to do is add another field to the POI structure for the quest name that its associated with. A simple change to the client would allow us to filter out all POI's unless the value in the quest field matched a quest in your active journal. This data would be maintained in the same way that custom POI's are submitted to EQ2Map. If a POI was used for multiple quests, I think it would be sufficient to be in the database multiple times as long as we only displayed it once.

...

Do you realize that the dancing banana animation goes really well with the song "You Spin Me Round" by Dead or Alive? LOL

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Unread 01-21-2009, 05:08 PM
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Do you realize that the dancing banana animation goes really well with the song "You Spin Me Round" by Dead or Alive? LOL

Nah it dances way too fast, at least on my system.
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Unread 01-24-2009, 06:54 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SOE-Rothgar View Post
A simple change to the client would allow us to filter out all POI's unless the value in the quest field matched a quest in your active journal.
I think this is a good idea but I would go one step farther and add a option to show POI for Quest in you journal or just the active quest.
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Unread 01-29-2009, 06:13 PM
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An idea for some thought: make a box where the user can enter text to search through the POI list for ones that match in that zone. I thought that the box for search in the new map system did that, but i quickly realized it is only a search for regions, not POIs. This will allow people to look for updates to quests they arn't even on, but want to know where this POI is for some other reason.
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Unread 01-29-2009, 06:37 PM
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Originally Posted by speedycerv View Post
An idea for some thought: make a box where the user can enter text to search through the POI list for ones that match in that zone. I thought that the box for search in the new map system did that, but i quickly realized it is only a search for regions, not POIs. This will allow people to look for updates to quests they arn't even on, but want to know where this POI is for some other reason.
?? It searches POIs, not regions.
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Unread 01-29-2009, 10:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gm9 View Post
?? It searches POIs, not regions.
Yes it does.

Quote:
Originally Posted by SOE-Rothgar View Post
I would also like to add a new property to the POI where you can specify a quest name that is associated with the POI. This would allow us to put the map in a mode where only POI's were displayed if they were linked to a quest in your active journal.

Let me know what you think.
When should we be seeing this? And would POI filtering come with it?
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Unread 08-09-2009, 01:37 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gm9 View Post
?? It searches POIs, not regions.
Sorry for the late reply. The search box can be set to search POI, I stand corrected. However, if i try to type in anything in this box to search for a POI, 0, 1 or 2 results pop up if i type in 1 letter and after i type the 2nd letter there is no results, so in effect it wasn't working for me, what am I doing wrong possibly?
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Unread 08-10-2009, 02:34 PM
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What you see when you type is keywords, not search results, you need to press enter or search button to get the search result.
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