Maps Catalogue...

[Red Kutai]

In the interest of keeping PvP 'honest' as well as illustrating why the current system is really really bad, I've decided to put together a catalogue of all of the preset maps the game uses. Yes, that means the players who memorise these maps are generally going to have a considerable advantage. And yes, that means if you want to compete with those players, you'll probably want to memorise these yourself. And yes, you'll probably want to keep them open as a reminder regardless so that you can track things like Cataclysms as they happen. Yes, it's annoying, but currently the game is structured such that doing annoying things is advantageous. Fancy that. wink

6-Portal Maps

7-Portal Maps

Type 1

Type 2

Type 3

Type 4

*New* (via Durithill the Black Blade)

Type 5

*New (via Ze3k)

*New* (via Durithill the Black Blade)

8-Portal Maps

Type 3

*New* (via Durithill the Black Blade)

*Removed*

I started a couple dozen games just to be sure, and it appears that these are the only maps available. However, if you happen to encounter a map that differs significantly from one of these - factoring Cataclysms, of course - feel free to let me know, and I'll see if I can get it to pop up for me so I can map it out... 3nodding

----

Many thanks to my contributors:
Durithill the Black Blade (7 Maps)
Ze3k (1 Map)
Starshine (1 Map)

[Knight of the Horizon]

Yeah gataka told me about this yesterday.. it's changed my opening considerably. 3nodding idk how I didn't notice. xd

[oTobias]

Thanks very much, Red!

[Knight of the Horizon]

It seems that they wanted to make the game "fair" by making all the portals one square apart, but itdidn't work. rolleyes Srsly they need to randomise it or have multiple configurations on the same base map. rolleyes

[Omnileech]

It figures they wouldn't put random maps in.

[Red Kutai]

Ze3k

it's changed my opening considerably.

Like making Scouts completely irrelevant, you mean? emotion_awesome

I wouldn't mind so much if the map was visible, but having something that is 'hidden information' be completely predictable is pretty ridiculous. There are enough advantages to being experienced in the game without automatically knowing where everything lies; this just allows experience players to trounce newbies in a way that doesn't even seem fair... confused

[gataka]

Thought I'd have to do it myself emotion_donotwant

Red Kutai

Ze3k

it's changed my opening considerably.

Like making Scouts completely irrelevant, you mean? emotion_awesome

I wouldn't mind so much if the map was visible, but having something that is 'hidden information' be completely predictable is pretty ridiculous. There are enough advantages to being experienced in the game without automatically knowing where everything lies; this just allows experience players to trounce newbies in a way that doesn't even seem fair... confused

Scouts still allow you to see what your opponent has, don't they?
And keeping track of all the moving stuff can be a pain. You know where they start but not always where they end xP

Ya, tedium more than hidden info.

edit: total yes on trouncing newbs... feels evil when ya do it O_o
edit: maybe only visible at the start/first turn?

[Airazor]

Yeah, noticed this a few days ago.

Gaia... I can totally understand... Randomizing the maps would be far too difficult. I mean, if only there were some sort of plot device, a cataclysm of sorts, that were already in game that could be used at the start of each game to shuffle the entire map.

Oh, wait...

[Red Kutai]

gataka

maybe only visible at the start/first turn?

Not sure how that's supposed to reduce the tedium - it's still encouraging you to memorise and track information that it's hiding from you, which is just plain annoying. How much does hiding the map really add to the game in the first place? Keeping it revealed would reduce the 'exploration phase' of the game (though there are ways to retain aspects of it; giving Scouts 'This Unit gets +X while in uncaptured Regions' would still make them the best early explorers, for instance), and push the game more quickly into the interactive combat phase. Shortening the exploration phase makes Aggro decks' job a little harder - which isn't a bad thing - because they can't rely on their opponent just missing VPs, and it favours players who play strategically and plan ahead. There's some argument to be made for keeping opposing Units hidden, but it's easy enough to consider that an element separate from obscuring the map...

[Knight of the Horizon]

Red Kutai

Ze3k

it's changed my opening considerably.

Like making Scouts completely irrelevant, you mean? emotion_awesome

I wouldn't mind so much if the map was visible, but having something that is 'hidden information' be completely predictable is pretty ridiculous. There are enough advantages to being experienced in the game without automatically knowing where everything lies; this just allows experience players to trounce newbies in a way that doesn't even seem fair... confused

Scouts were already pretty over-rated even if the map were random, but yes I agree. 3nodding

[Spifficated]

I noticed this last night as I was doing computer battle after computer battle for hours. The portals were always the same, I always started on the exact same spot on the map. rolleyes Not that I truly mind as it helps my noobish self rack up essence/wins because I've essentially learned how to farm it but it would be nice to have things shaken up more often towards the start rather than in the middle. By then, I've already got established what I need to.

In a PVP, I can see how right now that could be really unfortunate for newer players verses the more experienced but let's face it, if the match is that different portal placement really isn't going to matter that much.

IE: Regardless of portal placement, Omni's LvL 50 was still going to own my LvL 11 butt. rofl

[DrQuint]

We'll have some fun until the hotfix.


We need some stable, unchanging maps for PVP anyways.
And different terrain effects... Eventually. ninja

[gataka]

Red Kutai

gataka

maybe only visible at the start/first turn?

Not sure how that's supposed to reduce the tedium - it's still encouraging you to memorise and track information that it's hiding from you, which is just plain annoying. How much does hiding the map really add to the game in the first place? Keeping it revealed would reduce the 'exploration phase' of the game (though there are ways to retain aspects of it; giving Scouts 'This Unit gets +X while in uncaptured Regions' would still make them the best early explorers, for instance), and push the game more quickly into the interactive combat phase. Shortening the exploration phase makes Aggro decks' job a little harder - which isn't a bad thing - because they can't rely on their opponent just missing VPs, and it favours players who play strategically and plan ahead. There's some argument to be made for keeping opposing Units hidden, but it's easy enough to consider that an element separate from obscuring the map...

It's not supposed to reduce tedium, only be fair to those who don't know the maps are set xD

Revealing the maps removes the exploration side of the game.
What proper exploration brings is, short, a risk/reward trade off.
More importantly, correct if I'm wrong, but things are supposed to be chaotic here.
Not knowing what you'll bump into aids in that.

edit: the more I think about it, the more I believe exploration is the game :/
edit: this sounds more extreme than what I mean, but wtv x D

DrQuint

We need some stable, unchanging maps for PVP anyways.

Why?

[Knight of the Horizon]

Red Kutai

Ze3k

it's changed my opening considerably.

Like making Scouts completely irrelevant, you mean? emotion_awesome

I wouldn't mind so much if the map was visible, but having something that is 'hidden information' be completely predictable is pretty ridiculous. There are enough advantages to being experienced in the game without automatically knowing where everything lies; this just allows experience players to trounce newbies in a way that doesn't even seem fair... confused

Scouts were already overrated tbh and they're still useful seeing as I cba to track the cataclysm and I wouldn't change my deck much even if scout were removed. ^^

But yes I agree. Its ridiculous. xd