Make Vidiot maps standard.

[Kal5]

You use them.
They use them.
Most any player in the know uses it.

But new players who need it most are left out, have no idea how to install it, or that it exists. 

Please consider making Vidiot maps standard with the game install.
They are clean, informative, and well done.

I would normally argue counterpoint at this point in a suggestion post, but I really am not seeing a con to this to argue against.
 

Edited May 17, 2022 by Kal5

[The_Warpact]

As a person who isn't too tech savvy I'd support this. 

[UltraAlt]

1 hour ago, Kal5 said:

You use them.
They use them.
Most any player in the know uses it.

 

I don't.

 

1 hour ago, Kal5 said:

Please consider making Vidiot maps standard with the game install.

 

I don't want it automatically downloaded into the game.

 

If I want a Vidiot map I can search for images of them on the internet.

 

You can get tip missions for exploration badges in a zone by street sweeping. You will only get a new tip mission for exploration badges that you don't have yet.

Homecoming added these to the game.

 

Who really "needs" Vidiot maps and why?

[AboveTheChemist]

Please no.

[ZeeHero]

Not until it doesn't break the map on areas like perez park.

[AboveTheChemist]

57 minutes ago, ZeeHero said:

Not until it doesn't break the map on areas like perez park.

 

If you are experiencing issues with vidiotmaps, feel free to post details in the vidiotmaps thread and I can address them there. I definitely don't want to deviate this thread from its purpose, but if the issue you allude to is what I think it is, it was fixed over a year ago.

Edited May 17, 2022 by AboveTheChemist
typo

[arcane]

Idk what this is so the suggestion is definitely on shaky ground 🙂

[arcane]

22 minutes ago, Krimson said:

Vidiotmaps is just a bunch of image files that replace the mini map in game. They add locations of things like Exploration Badges, Plaques, and Giant Monster spawns.

I just use ye olde internet browser if I need to find something in game 🙂 

 

Having locations of exploration badges in the game be a standard thing seems counterintuitive to the point of having to seek out exploration badges though. Seems that having that info in game should be reserved for mods.

Edited May 17, 2022 by arcane

[Doomguide2005]

1 hour ago, arcane said:

Idk what this is so the suggestion is definitely on shaky ground 🙂

Perhaps what is needed is a bit of refinement to the suggestion.  Remember the days of trying to find the Natural Store, dodging unseen Sniper attacks that would all but one shot your new maybe 32nd level Natural Origin character as you hunted for the contact?  That's where the "need" for something like Vidiot Maps was born and why it became a much welcomed resource.  That need is why the stores are now on your in-game map,  why tip missions exist to help guide you to exploration badges and probably a slew of other tiny QoL additions over the decades.  So no it's not needed now that we have much more robust and mature internet where AoL and Prodigy are history and Google is your friend.  So maybe instead of an automatic download perhaps links or even a notation of the existence of Vidiot Maps and other player resources that exist here on these forums might be placed on the page.

[UltraAlt]

 

54 minutes ago, Doomguide2005 said:

Perhaps what is needed is a bit of refinement to the suggestion.  Remember the days of trying to find the Natural Store, dodging unseen Sniper attacks that would all but one shot your new maybe 32nd level Natural Origin character as you hunted for the contact?  That's where the "need" for something like Vidiot Maps was born and why it became a much welcomed resource.  That need is why the stores are now on your in-game map,  why tip missions exist to help guide you to exploration badges and probably a slew of other tiny QoL additions over the decades. 

 

I guess I'm getting old. I don't remember the stores and contacts NOT being on the map and I started a week before episode 2 dropped. 

 

OH, is that "why" tip missions exist. I thought the DEVs were just adding something cool for the people that like to street sweep and explore the City.

Pretty much everyone wants to TT and Mission Teleport across the City so there isn't he kind of exploration there used to be or getting slowed down by stopping a purse snatching along the way.

I thought the exploration tip missions were a good way to let players get something from exploring the city and fighting enemies in each zone. I didn't make any connection at all that it was an addition to avoid downloading Vidiot maps.

[Oklahoman]

7 hours ago, Kal5 said:

But new players who need it most are left out, have no idea how to install it, or that it exists.

 

Much like Enhancement Diversification, the Law of Fives, and the entire Incarnate System. I think most of us regulars forget how much we have had to learn and study stuff outside of the game itself to really succeed. Someone new to the game would be forgiven to just throw up their hands and leave.

 

I support your idea - it's just replacing images in-game with superior versions. I'd also love for us to move to 16x9 images when zoning, just as a simple cosmetic thing.

 

As for the other stuff I mentioned, maybe an NPC in Atlas Park you can walk up to and ask for advice on your build. "I see you six slotted Brawl - maybe those slots could be better used elsewhere?" "I see you slotted all damage on your primary attack power. Do you know about the benefits of Enhancement Diversification?" You can make it a Gull if you want, I don't care.

[Doomguide2005]

Well I'm sure they added tip missions for a variety of reasons and I doubt that Vidiot Maps existence played much of a role.  That wasn't my point.  My point was they are both ways to satisfy a perceived issue by the player base at large -> finding a specific badge in a very much subjective timely fashion.  And yes using Vidiot Maps to locate a badge, particularly one you've spent some fruitless time hunting for on your badger was something I certainly did.  And while my friend whose blaster was getting sniped repeatedly while trying to find Agent Six got my help in finding the store contact rather than use Vidiot Maps to do so I'd 'heard' stuff about folks doing just that.  And over the years this isn't remotely the first time this suggestion or one very much like it has popped up.

 

Edit:  I said the issue was finding a badge which is too specific.  Really as Oklahoman says way better than I did, it's about finding pretty much anything you might be curious about.  Vidiot Maps was really just a very early resource I came across early on that was valuable as a source for finding all sorts of things not just badges.

    

Edited May 17, 2022 by Doomguide2005

[Marine X]

Just a note, since @The Philotic Knight added Vidiots Maps as a mod that's install can be handled by COH Modder there has seemed to be a huge decrease in issues installing it. Both are available through the "Tools, Utilities & Downloads" Section of the forums, and the instructions are very easy to follow.

[PeregrineFalcon]

1 hour ago, Oklahoman said:

As for the other stuff I mentioned, maybe an NPC in Atlas Park you can walk up to and ask for advice on your build. "I see you six slotted Brawl - maybe those slots could be better used elsewhere?"

I really love this idea!

 

An NPC in Atlas and Mercy that explains a LOT of little details that aren't otherwise explained in game: Enhancement Diversification, Bodyguard Mode, The Law of Fives, etc.

 

I don't even think it would need to adjust to the AT of the character, perhaps just a list of various topics that the player can click on to get another window with an explanation of that subject.

[arcane]

Brawl is a dope place for 5 Hecatombs or 6 Superior Blistering Colds tho, that NPC can gtfo

Edited May 17, 2022 by arcane

[golstat2003]

3 hours ago, UltraAlt said:

 

 

I guess I'm getting old. I don't remember the stores and contacts NOT being on the map and I started a week before episode 2 dropped. 

 

OH, is that "why" tip missions exist. I thought the DEVs were just adding something cool for the people that like to street sweep and explore the City.

Pretty much everyone wants to TT and Mission Teleport across the City so there isn't he kind of exploration there used to be or getting slowed down by stopping a purse snatching along the way.

I thought the exploration tip missions were a good way to let players get something from exploring the city and fighting enemies in each zone. I didn't make any connection at all that it was an addition to avoid downloading Vidiot maps.

 

I thought Tip Missions where part of the Alignment system, and came at the same time no?

[ZeeHero]

5 hours ago, Krimson said:

Vidiotmaps is just a bunch of image files that replace the mini map in game. They add locations of things like Exploration Badges, Plaques, and Giant Monster spawns.

Sounds like some of those files get corrupted somehow in downloading, as the install was done correctly.

[Ghost]

I don’t use them, so I vote no 

[Rudra]

1 hour ago, golstat2003 said:

 

I thought Tip Missions where part of the Alignment system, and came at the same time no?

You're thinking the alignment tips. The explore tips are a new addition. And to the best of my knowledge, were added to help people find the explores.

[biostem]

12 hours ago, Kal5 said:

You use them.
They use them.
Most any player in the know uses it.

But new players who need it most are left out, have no idea how to install it, or that it exists. 

Please consider making Vidiot maps standard with the game install.
They are clean, informative, and well done.

I would normally argue counterpoint at this point in a suggestion post, but I really am not seeing a con to this to argue against.

 

If it's an OPTION, that one can toggle on or off as they see fit, then sure.  As a default for everybody, hard pass!

[Bill Z Bubba]

4 minutes ago, biostem said:

If it's an OPTION, that one can toggle on or off as they see fit, then sure.  As a default for everybody, hard pass!

 

This seems like the most logical answer. Default Off. Allow On. Everybody wins.

[Rudra]

I like Vidiotmaps. As often as I can't find anything I'm looking for, it helps me a LOT. There are those that don't like it though. Instead of making Vidiotmaps part of the game, would it not make more sense to ask for the explores and plaques to be selectable options on the map? ... well... maybe not explores since we have the explore tips now... but maybe the lore plague locations? ... except maybe in Praetoria where most of those are graffiti instead of commemorative plagues....

 

...

...

...

Know what? I'm not going to be for or against this idea. Too many things Vidiotmaps provides doesn't really make sense on an official map, but most of it I want. So... y'all have fun with this thread. I'll keep reading it, but I don't expect to have any other opinions on it.

[UltraAlt]

3 hours ago, golstat2003 said:

 

I thought Tip Missions where part of the Alignment system, and came at the same time no?

 

Yes. Tip missions have been around for a while, but ...

 

 

Tour Guide Missions

Issue 27, Page 2 introduces a brand new type of mission: Tour Guide Missions. These are special tip missions which drop when street sweeping in most zones, and will direct you to any exploration badges that you haven't yet earned in that zone. This is especially helpful for unlocking Long Range Teleporter destinations without needing to rely on VidiotMaps.

 

Detailed Info

• Enemies in most zones now have a small chance to drop a Tour Guide Mission Tip
  • The tips will only drop when street sweeping, by defeating enemies out on the streets (critters spawned through other means will not count)
  • The tips will drop regardless of your level - grey conned mobs will still drop tips - however, the tip drop rate increases based on the rank of the enemy you're fighting (ie: bosses are more likely to drop tips)
  • Tour Guide Missions are classed as Tips, and will show up in the Tips tab of the Contacts window
  • You can only hold one tip per zone at a time, but can carry a total of three
• Investigating this tip will direct you to one of the exploration badges in that zone
  • Once accepted, these missions cannot be abandoned, autocompleted, or team completed - you must visit the badge location, which will auto-complete the mission
  • If you earn the exploration badge for a specific tip before investigating it, it will point you towards a different exploration badge in that zone
  • If you earn the exploration accolade before investigating the tip, you will only be able to dismiss it
• They do not grant any additional rewards beyond the badge
• All zones which can be unlocked in the Long Range Teleporter have Tour Guide Missions set up (apart from Pocket D and Kallisti Wharf), which is a total of 288 missions!

Step 1: Go. Hunt. Kill Skuls.

 

Step 2: Acquire Tips.

 

Step 3: Collect Badges.

[golstat2003]

14 hours ago, Rudra said:

You're thinking the alignment tips. The explore tips are a new addition. And to the best of my knowledge, were added to help people find the explores.

ahhhhhhh.

[ShardWarrior]

18 hours ago, Oklahoman said:

As for the other stuff I mentioned, maybe an NPC in Atlas Park you can walk up to and ask for advice on your build. "I see you six slotted Brawl - maybe those slots could be better used elsewhere?" "I see you slotted all damage on your primary attack power. Do you know about the benefits of Enhancement Diversification?" You can make it a Gull if you want, I don't care.

 

Love this idea!  I vote for Back Alley Brawler to take on this role in Atlas.