Amazing game all around but HORRIBLE map system

[goreee]

Thanks everyone for their help

[Dagger_32]

If you are playing on the PS3, when you "map" your quest from the journal press R1 for a more detailed location. You can press R1 again for an even more detailed look. (This has helped me a TON)

[Niwashi]

I think it takes you to the world map only when it's an area you haven't discovered.

It depends on where you are. Using Drybone as the example, it's in Eastern Thanalan, so the possibilities are:
1) If you're also in Eastern Thanalan, it will bring up the Eastern Thanalan map with the specific location marked.
2) If you're in another Thanalan region (Western Thanalan, for instance), it will bring up the Thanalan map showing that Western Thanalan connects to Central Thanalan, which connects to Eastern Thanalan.
3) If you're in a completely different area, like the Black Shroud or La Noscea, it will go to the world map.

Then from any of these, you can zoom in and out, going from a regional map to the wider area map to the world map or back again. And you can follow region boundary lines to see, for instance, where in Eastern Thanalan the South Shroud to Eastern Thanalan boundary crossing will bring you. It does get easier once you've uncovered the whole map area, but even before that, you can at least see which regions connect to which other ones, which is generally enough to figure out how to get where you need to be.

[Eltaire]

Are you guys serious? You want to be spoon fed every part of the game?

Personally, I felt that the map system in Final Fantasy XIV is a little too much of hand holding, and not enough free exploration - which is why the Treasure Maps and the new cryptic quest is a breath of fresh air.

If you're having trouble, you can always click "map" on your quest journal entry. Regardless of whether you have uncovered the area yet, or not, you'll either see a red circle delianating the proximity of the next quest objective. Failing that, you'll always see one of the gold markers that shows you where the next part of the quest is, or where you can access side quests, or main scenario quests.

The NPCs will always tell you where you need to go within the dialogue - unless you click through it and don't bother to read it?

[Grenwal]

Reply to Eltaire:
I don't think everyone here is looking to be "spoon feed", the op [singular] was looking for some clarification/help or just wanted to share an opinion (gasp!) with the map system, so we complied as best we could. Before you make a statement like you opened with, you should try to remember that you're in the "New Player Help" forum.

[Dagger_32]

Reply to Eltaire:
I don't think everyone here is looking to be "spoon feed", the op [singular] was looking for some clarification/help or just wanted to share an opinion (gasp!) with the map system, so we complied as best we could. Before you make a statement like you opened with, you should try to remember that you're in the "New Player Help" forum.

This x100

Plus, I don't know if the OP is PS3/PS4/PC but the map is extremely difficult to navigate on the PS3. I mean, an NPC might say "Western Thanalan" but if you are new to the game, how are you supposed to just magically know where that is? (Especially if you go to your map and it just shows all of Thanalan with a tiny quest marker and no details.)

[Eltaire]

Either way, I never found navigating the map to be an issue, even when I was a new player myself when 2.0 first went live.

Regardless of whether an NPC says "Western Thanalan", as per your example, Dagger_32, the map marker is still there to loosely direct you.

Besides, if you are completing all the sidequests within a given region prior to moving the story forward, you should uncover majority of the map, including the zone exit, with 9 times out of 10 said zone exit leading to the next zone required for main story. In this manner, the mapping is fairly linear.

I think it takes you to the world map only when it's an area you haven't discovered.

I understand that you said that you think, but it's still wrong, so I am going to clarify. It will ALWAYS take you to the world map, wherein you have to click on a region. Said region relating to the quest that you're looking for is always marked with either a gold winged quest marker (fulfilment) or a main scenario marker (meteor). Click the marker region and it will take you to the sub-region map (i,e Thanalan will take you to the sub-regions of Thanalan, such as Central, Eastern etc.) The correct sub-region is likewise marked. Click it and it will directly display the area that you are supposed to visit, regardless of whether you have uncovered the map, or not.

P.S - I don't feel that the mapping system is horrible, hence why I am entitled to my opinion about it being too hand-holdy, and equally you're all entitled to your own opinion of the system, and its operation.

[JoeDono]

If you've never been to an area, you can still look at the bigger world map and learn how to get there. The map has lines between regions that you can travel between by walking. So you use the Quest Log to find the region where the quest objective is on the world map, then follow the lines until you see how it connects to the area you're currently in.

[Dagger_32]

The fact that you you have to go World map>Region>Location can be confusing. Say you are fairly new to the game, you are in Old Grandia, you pick a quest that says you need to go to the steps of Ul'dah. You've never been there. You click the map, it shows Thanalan with a quest marker, ok, that doesn't help much. You go to look at the region. There's the quest marker with no real path telling you how to get there. You click again for the exact location, more grayed out area.

So now you know where you need to go...you just do not know how to get there. This is where the exploring comes into play. You explore, head in the general direction you think you should be going, get lost, look at the map, see your in the South Shroud. You don't even know there is an airship you could take... You continue exploring, find level 30 monsters, and get insta-death.

That will be nice if you ever need to go to the South Shroud... but still, where the heck is Ul'dah!?

The map is of NO help in cases like this and it happens all the time when you are new. Just look at this board. So it's fantastic that you are super awesome "know everything cause I do everything" players but everyone has their own play style. There is no right or wrong.

[Eltaire]

Square-Enix employees painstakingly and lovingly put in text that directs you where to go every step of the way throughout your adventure of the main scenario of A Realm Reborn.

If people choose to skip cutscenes, click through text without reading it, or ignore what the NPCs say, it doesn't make the mapping system horrible. It makes the person playing not respectful of the time placed into creating the dialogue for the diegesis of the world of Eorzea. In your example, the person that couldn't find their way would know that they had to take an airship, and where it left from had they read the text.

The map exists as an aide-de-camp of sorts to your exploration. As to your example of someone dying because they ran into level 30 monsters - the logical thing would be to not go that way again, because why would the game direct you through an area that you're not even geared for?

If you grew up in the late 80s, early 90s, you would definitely be whinging about not having any guides to where to go, as there were none. Period. People now aday have it so much easier with the linearity of games. A Ream Reborn is no exception.