Quote Originally Posted by MilesSaintboroguh View Post
I don't think I see it in that way. I mean, ok, mapping maps can be fun in a way, but seeing a full map and wondering what each area holds as you go there to see can be just as fun, can't it? It's not like a full map from the start is going to reveal things like mob locations.
It's not going to be nearly as easy, though, when you don't know where you've been and not. It's one thing if you run around a new area all at once (provided there aren't areas where you're not supposed to go yet because the enemies are 20 levels higher than you, like plenty of maps currently are laid out), but especially in the beginning where you have to run around on your own two feet, it's going to take quite a bit of time. The way it is now, unlocking one map piece at a time, you're still informed which general areas you haven't been through yet, which is IMO quite a good guide for showing you around the entire map. Sure, there are a few examples of where the map either splits up (so you have to backtrack to another bit of the map entirely to take the upper or lower path and explore both paths), or has tiny areas where you can more or less SEE the end of the map, so you don't need to run in there, just need to get close enough to get that particular map piece. But most of the time, it's a good aid. In my opinion.

I'm also wondering how they're planning on solving those "mapping the land" achievements. Either they'll remove them (not likely, I'd say), they'll hand them out the moment you set foot in an area (which is just dull), or they're going to make it much more difficult to actually get those achievements because you can't see where you've been or not.
It's like the hunt mark achievements, where you have to kill all the different B/A/S ranks for each general area (Shroud/Thanalan/La Noscea/etc) but it doesn't tell you which marks you have, so unless you've kept track from the start, it can be more or less impossible to figure out which one you've got left when you've killed all but one of them.

I really hope they'll prove me wrong, I do. I hope they've figured out a really clever solution. But I can't trust that hope. Better to prepare for the worst and be pleasantly surprised if they've done it in a good way, than to prepare for the best and be disappointed.