A condensed version of this nonsense found its way inside issue 389 of Edge Magazine a few weeks back, but as their letters section is limited to 300 words, most of my word vomit had to be chopped off. Anyway – here is the full thing.
A couple of months ago I was tooling about on SoloCraft, a private vanilla World of Warcraft server. As I explored Stormwind with my rather boring human warrior combo (3rd character I made that day), I was struck by something that in more recent games, and some older, is rather more advanced, and that was the navigation system. I’m used to, or perhaps spoiled by proper aids to navigation within videogames these days. I recently wrote a post about the original Mafia game, and within that, the map is basic, it has no rotation, and there is no GPS style device to help you plot the best route to your destination. In that game, you have a simple radar to show the local traffic (but no roads), a compass pointing to the direction of your goal, and a map which is somewhat of a struggle to orientate yourself in sometimes - often telling you that you’re off the map, offering no more information. This system is excellent for the game, it suits the aesthetics, the time period, and adds another layer of challenge in a game in which driving (and thus finding your way about in a vehicle) is one of its strengths. This game also came with a physical version of the city map, which in a game without a GPS is far more valuable. I always want a physical map to come with the games I buy, but even better if it’s actually a useful artefact. Of course, they can still be of use in games with more robust systems, but I can see a map of WoW, or at least of the main ports of call, being more useful than one for Grand Theft Auto V, for example.
A more stripped back map and set of navigation tools isn’t something we see as much in newer titles. Games like Skyrim have spells that set a trail to your destination and instant travel from the map. GTA and similar modern day setting open worlds have fully functional GPS style interfaces and maps. Even Star Wars Galaxies, which was released in 2003, had a waypoint system accurate to the meter, as well as a detailed map of every point of interest, city, vendors, trainers, and pretty much everything else. So in revisiting the vanilla version of WoW, and finding myself making use of signposts and quest log descriptions of location, I was a little taken aback – especially as SWG was my most played MMO and was released a year before it. I played WoW around the launch of the Burning Crusade expansion and of course faced the same or at least very similar challenges in navigating the world back then. But in returning to it now, about 15 years later, I found myself enjoying the quaint charm of slowly revealing maps, yellow dots appearing on the minimap when you’re within range of your target location, signs, signposts, NPCs descriptions of locations, and the overall system of travel - which at the level I had attained was largely on foot. I don’t know how much the game has changed in this regard since its first expansion, but as it stands in the version I was playing (patch 1.12.1), it’s basic, and I quite like it.
This all got me thinking about how navigating and orientating yourself within a virtual world, and by its thematic ruleset, is something that can be enjoyed as part of the experience, rather than an annoyance or chore between quests and killings. When WoW was in its infancy, looking up specifics on Google or Wikipedia was less of an option, and asking the community or your guild, or just figuring it out for yourself with trial and error was the go-to option. I can’t imagine many people had to search online how to get to a certain mission in the latter GTA games, or many other similar open worlds. The maps in these games lead you right to whatever location you’d want to visit. I’m not suggesting that’s a bad thing – especially in a modern day setting, but with a fantasy world such as WoW, a more rudimentary system adds to the mystery, the exploration, and the fun of being (within the virtual) and discovering new areas. I mentioned SWG earlier there, and, at least in the earlier iterations of the game, it shares some similarities with WoW in its options when it comes to fast travel. In both of these, in-world alternatives to teleporting instantly to your desired location add so much charm. They add some time to the travelling too, but sometimes when you’re really in that virtual world, really feeling as though you’re experiencing the atmosphere of a place, jumping on a Griffin or catching an interplanetary shuttle can really add to the fun (sometimes).
Regardless of whether more advanced systems are perhaps better, or cut out what might be considered tedious aspects of a game – it has been a long time since I've had to use a signpost within the virtual world. I don't know if I was just nostalgic for effort in navigating a virtual environment, but as I was playing on a quiet Saturday afternoon while wearing a dressing gown and sipping a coffee, I saw absolutely no reason to rush to my in-game destination. I think, in a game like WoW, especially when playing solo, for a more relaxing experience, to just explore the world, to see the sights, and to mindlessly kill some Kobolds or whatever, a more antiquated system of navigation feels appropriate.
All this navigation chat and having a few week off work back in August had me side-tracked and a little side project based on maps consumed my thoughts for at least a week or two… If you’re as into videogame maps as much as I am, you’ll enjoy what I have put together - not done any work on finishing that project up though, so it’ll be something for a future post.
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