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Warlords of Draenor: New quest and map interface
The quest UI has received some tweaks and changes in Warlords of Draenor -- no longer simply a quest log, it has been renamed to the more appropriate Map & Quest Log instead. Hitting L for your quest log will now bring up a new pane which combines both map and quest log into one handy place. You can still hit M for a full sized map, but it almost isn't necessary with this new feature -- the drop down menus at the top of the pane will let you switch between continents, and then sub-zones within those continents. It honestly reminds me of the current Dungeon Journal UI, which lets you choose between expansions, dungeon or raid content, and then individual dungeons or raids for boss strategies and loot lists. And frankly, this is one of those quality of life changes I didn't really realize I needed until I saw it in action.
Pandaria makes its appearance on the world map
MMO-Champion has revealed that the latest beta build, 15739, will finally put Pandaria on the map. The fog of 10,000 years has lifted, and the elusive continent's position has finally been established, at least to the satisfaction of Azeroth's cartographers. (That really must have been quite some fog.) Beta testers on Pandaria will no longer appear to be somewhere in the swirling midsts of the maelstrom, which will likely be a relief. While the zone map itself has been accessible to folks on Pandaria almost since the beta became active, its exact position relative to the other zones has not been established until now (although we've always known it'll be in the southern area of Azeroth). It's positioned opposite Northrend, occupying that conspicuously empty bit of the map. It looks, then, as if the continent might be accessible via ship rather than purely via portal, which would fit in well with Blizzard's ideas on increasing the time players spend in the world it's creating. It does make me wonder whether any future expansions will create more continents in this area apart from those four or whether any future zones will be on an Outland-esque plane on a different map. Sure, there's room for more land mass either side of Pandaria, but then where would the pictures of ships go? Or perhaps a new zone will emerge in the middle, to the horror of the navigators of Azeroth's fleet. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
Guild Wars 2 fan compares new game map to original
Enterprising Guild Wars 2 player and Reddit member that_shaman went above and beyond the call of duty by providing a useful tool for the growing beta community: a giant, fleshed-out map of the new Tyria. In it, he fits the current explored player regions of Guild Wars 2 on top of the preexisting Guild Wars 1 world map to show just how faithful ArenaNet has been in staying true to its landscape and outposts. The full Guild Wars 2 map encompasses around 25 zones, six cities, and some odds and ends. Of course, not all of Guild Wars 1 areas are revisited in GW2 (at least, not yet), and Guild Wars 2 has a few areas that were never explored in its predecessor.
World map quest markers are good news for Loremasters in Mists of Pandaria
Completionists have lots of ways to obsess with the advent of achievements, especially those who simply must complete every quest -- the fastidious Loremasters of Azeroth. The really hardcore Loremasters have used mods to help them track what quests they have or haven't completed, but now Blizzard is giving them a new leg up when questing in Pandaria. It was a little easier to keep track of your progress in Cataclysm's largely linear zones, but Pandaria's zones offer you more freedom in what you're completing and when. To that end, the world map now shows you nearby quests on the world map. It isn't zone-wide, but it does work in a fairly large radius around you, so if you're flying or riding around and check your map periodically, you can see any unclaimed and available quests. It's worth noting that Pandaria's Loremaster achievements are based on quest lines completed, not an actual number of quests, but this should definitely help you track down each story to add that tick to your achievement. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
World map and points of interest in latest Final Fantasy XIV update
When news starts coming from Famitsu regarding Final Fantasy XIV, it usually heralds information coming direct from Square-Enix shortly thereafter. Only a short time after the leak that gave us a look at the world map and some of the points of interest, the official site updated with more information on the world. While there was some information accessible from the prior scans, the new section on Limsa Lominsa details the city extensively, as well as adding sections for the two other city states, Ul'dah and Gridania. Although the three states each bear some similarities to Final Fantasy XI's great nations, they're quite different in feel and in scope. The biggest similarity seems to be that much like the previous game, they're filled with distinct personalities and locations. Limsa Lominsa is the only city to get full detailing on its landmarks, but those range from the former pirate dive that's been turned into the adventurer's guild (The Drowning Wench) to the city's center at an ancient swamped battleship (The Mizzenmast). Final Fantasy XIV fans are encouraged to take a look at the official site for its updates, which continue to paint the world of Eorzea in broad strokes.
Patch 3.3: Blizzard previews new quest tracking UI
Looks like the newly-renamed Dungeon Finder isn't the only new UI feature we have to look forward to in Patch 3.3 -- Blizzard just released an official preview of its new Quest Tracking feature, and it looks great. It seems to have a number of the features that ZorbaTHut's great QuestHelper addon does, which follows Blizzard's pattern of poaching the best third-party UIs for use in the stock UI. Our UI whiz Gregg Reece covered the feature briefly last week, based on what was active on the PTR. For those who haven't fiddled with it, new additions to the UI include: Enhanced World Map: The large world map is now separated into four active panes. Quests are automatically tracked on the map and listed to its side. The quest log entry for the selected quest is located below the map. Areas of Interest: Shows what area on the map your quest's points of interest can be found, represented with a blue polygon. If mobs populate a large area, the map will indicate it. If you need to find one specific doodad, that'll be on there too. If there are multiple spawn areas for a mob or doodad, the map will automatically locate the one closest to you. Pop-out Map: Players can utilize a smaller zone map outside of the normal full-screen map to track progress and get their bearings. Better Tracking: Tracked quests outside the map will now indicate your progress with a number for items found or mobs killed and will indicate whether you've already completed it. And more! The main thing I notice is missing (so far) is the arrow that indicates where you should head next on the World Map, like QuestHelper or Carbonite, but who knows if that'll even make it in. Blizzard says that the new UI will work with nearly every quest in the game, regardless of type. You can check out the official preview here. %Gallery-77572% Patch 3.3 is the last major patch of Wrath of the Lich King. With the new Icecrown Citadel 5-man dungeons and 10/25-man raid arriving soon, patch 3.3 will deal the final blow to Arthas. WoW.com's Guide to Patch 3.3 will keep you updated with all the latest patch news.
Patch 3.2 will show quest objectives on the world map
The patch 3.2 PTR patch notes have been updated again; I still expect the PTR to go live sometime today. The only new information in this iteration of the notes is what they'll be marking in the way of quest objectives on the world map, and with what markers. We already knew they'd be doing something like this, but we didn't have the specifics. User Interface: Quest creatures and objects will now show on the player's world map. A skull graphic will be placed on the map in the general area where creatures players must kill can be found. A glowing skull graphic will be placed on the map in the general area where creatures can be found that drop quest objects. A gear graphic will be placed on the map in the general area where players must loot objects found in the world. A chat bubble graphic will be placed on the map in the general area where players must interact with a specific NPC. X marks the spot on the map where players must reach, discover or explore a designated area. A yellow question mark graphic will show on the map to provide the location of a NPC whose quest the player has completed.
Sunwell Isle map and PTR news
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/playable_web_games/New_Sunwell_map_is_discovered_for_World_of_Warcraft_Patch_2'; Thanks to Michael for alerting us to a post over at the WoW LiveJournal. He has managed to piece together a map of Sunwell Isle and the new Azeroth world map from the beta files currently available for patch 2.4. Of course, this is just beta information and may change at any time.As far as the PTR goes, you can now download the patch files. However, when you try to copy a character you get the error message "You have no characters on Anvilmar," or what ever server you live on. This is because while the patch files are available, the server is not up yet.Stay tuned to WoW Insider all this weekend for the latest patch news!See the new maps after the break.
