What are these? (gold dots)

[Techwright]

This has been annoying me for a while.  What are these gold dots at transportation hub menus? I don't even know what to call them, so looking them up has been a challenge. I don't recall them from my time in the original game, though they may have been there, and I don't recall a discussion of them in Homecoming.  I keep thinking I have them figured out, then something disrupts the pattern.  I'm just wondering if I'm missing out on some good gameplay as a result.

 

[AboveTheChemist]

I've seen similar dots at train station menus if one of my characters has an active mission in a particular zone, but I've just tested it on the teleport hubs in my base and the dots don't show on the hub menu for my active mission zones.

[Greycat]

It means you have an active mission in that zone. Check your mission tab.

[Boudicia.Dark]

Ive got them where I have not active missions. At all. I mean, one of my lvl 50 characters has nothing going on at all and she has some of those dotted destinations.

[cranebump]

Maybe an unlocked new contact?

[Doomguide2005]

My first thought is as Greycat an open mission even if badly outleveled (by say being lvl 50).  But no way to hop in game to take a peek.  Or as cranebump an open/new contact.  Waypoint show up when you zone in?

Edited August 9, 2020 by Doomguide2005
Spealing 😜

[DoctorDitko]

I believe it's just missions. Have you checked your Tips?

 

[Eva Destruction]

You'll get the yellow dot even if you've completed the mission, if you haven't returned to the contact yet.

 

Fun fact, the mission transporter and team transporter will also take you to a completed mission if it's the first one in your list.  So, uh, make sure you set the mission you want to go to if you don't want to blow a charge.

[Techwright]

On 8/8/2020 at 7:00 PM, Greycat said:

It means you have an active mission in that zone. Check your mission tab.

 

On 8/8/2020 at 10:34 PM, DoctorDitko said:

I believe it's just missions. Have you checked your Tips?

 

 

On 8/8/2020 at 11:31 PM, Eva Destruction said:

You'll get the yellow dot even if you've completed the mission, if you haven't returned to the contact yet.

Thanks all for the feedback.  Much appreciated.  Missions were one of the prominent possibilities I'd considered, but, as you can see from the pic below, it doesn't really match up.   Tips are something I'd not taken into account (thanks for that DoctorDitko), but they also don't seem to match up.  Since one cannot see their location until accepted, I did accept one, which was in Talos.  When I went back to the train/portal lists, Talos was not among the gold dot group (nor had it been previously.  This character currently only has 4 gold dots, and 1 mission with 6 tip missions, and they're just not matching up.  All contacts had been turned in as well.  I did consider the possibility of detective contact bank missions, and I did have one detective waiting to speak with me, but again, he's in a spot that doesn't have a gold dot.

 

Likewise, I wondered if gold dots represented Giant Monster locations currently active, but that's a bust, too.

 

Any refinement of the missions/tip mission idea that might make it fully work, or perhaps another explanation?

 

[Techwright]

On 8/8/2020 at 9:32 PM, cranebump said:

Maybe an unlocked new contact?

Sorry, forgot to answer this one.  I doubled back to check, and no, that doesn't fit either, as seen below.  I appreciate the suggestion, however.  

 

Interestingly enough, when I checked this particular menu, a gold dot had disappeared.  It had previously been on Night Ward, where I have several untapped contacts, and a few minutes later, its not there.  This makes me think the gold dots represent something happening real-time.  I considered previously that it might be events, like a Rikti invasion, but I've not been able to definitively answer that yet, though it looks like a "no" on that too.  Perhaps its a combo of real-time things, like Rikti invasions plus giant monsters events?  I've also wondered if somehow its tied into the LFG tool, maybe identifying recruiter locations, though I admit I'm grasping at straws for that answer.

 

[Patti]

They've always worked normally for me as mission markers.   Maybe yours are bugged on that character?   Have you tried other characters?

[GM Tock]

They should be mission markers indicating you have an open mission on that map, but they don't always work.

1 hour ago, Techwright said:

 

That would be an example.  If that mission is from Borea, she's a repeating mission contact, so those markers may not appear all the time.  (Ephraim Sha, Meg Mason, etc.)
 

59 minutes ago, Techwright said:

If I'm seeing the above correctly, you haven't talked to Maria.  They do not work on any contact you do not know yet.  Maria Jenkins in the left pane hasn't been "introduced" to your character, so you'd need to talk to her in person for those markers to start to appear. (Teleport to Contact first.)

[MTeague]

note that these will also show up for the zone even if you mission is complete, but not yet turned in. 

It doesn't check for "place you still have to go and beat up baddies". 

It checks only for "do you have a mission nominally in that zone?"   

 

Even if only remaining objective is "return to contact", you'll still get the marker in the zone where the door mission is. (not necessarily the zone where your contact is)

Edited August 16, 2020 by MTeague

[KC4800]

Just a tip, you want to clear these before you change factions at Null the Gull.