Anyone else disappointed by the recent maps on wizards.com?

[clockworkjoe]

I just looked at this today http://wizards.com/dnd/images/mapofweek/02_Cliff_72ppi_v2i2e.jpg and was really disappointed by it. Compare it with one from 2000 http://wizards.com/dnd/images/mapofweek/Dec_X14.jpg

The recent map isn't really even a dungeon, as it only offers one lousy chance to change directions. Extremely linear and small and no character or anything interesting about it.

I want maps that offer something useful for the DM, such as an exotic locale (like the petrified great worm) or incredibly large and complex so a DM has plenty of room to flesh the dungeon out. A small dungeon with no branching paths is worthless. What could a DM use it for?

Furthermore, does anyone else prefer the old school style of old dungeon magazines and modules that offer the map in simple black and white that accurately map the dungeon out without room for misinterpretation as some recent maps have done?

 

[Sorren]

Depends on what you like. Personally, I like the smaller one since I don't care for ungodly long dungeon crawls. The larger have their uses, but the smaller are more useful to me personally. Another problem, I spent a little time looking at the larger one and I have a hard time coming up with an even semi-logical reason for such architecture to exist.

I just hate the "artsy" maps that are useless as a gaming aid. There are more than a few of those in there.

 

[buzz]

Ask for your money back. Oh, wait...

 

[Sorren]

Ask for your money back. Oh, wait...

Actually, some people have paid for them. See the Map Folios.
But yeah, you can get them free if you want them and have net access.

 

[Korgan26]

I agree, everytime I look for a map and end up at wizards it is disapointing, although the map you like is from a module and I would expect them to be better. (I think it was axe of the dwarf lords or axe of the dwarven kings, something like that.) I do wish they would post better maps though.

Z

 

[der_kluge]

Lamest. Map. Ever.

I think they'd be better off just canceling the whole free map thing, versus giving us garbage like that. That's insulting.

The other map you reference is from some module, I think. It's a dwarven keep, and is covered in like 5 or 6 total maps. It's enourmous. But, it already existed, and they just posted it. That first map was probably something someone drew up in a half an hour, and slapped on the website. That thing is ludicrous.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

These Maps are FREE & they post one a week! Some are better than others, but complaining about it is kind of like complaining about the food when you are an invited guest for a free dinner.

Paizo is the one I have a problem with - They won't post maps from Dungeon online beacuse they think that will cost them magazine sales. (!) I would think it would be the opposite, actually. "Hey Cool Map - I might have to get that issue!"

When WoTC had electronic copies posted for maps from Dungeon, I used those issues more than any before or since.

 

[micromaximum]

I like the free simple maps. They're actually really useful if you need to design a short adventure or design an adventure that calls for multiple simple locations rather than a single complex location. I also prefer quality over quantity and I've found that most of the time the larger a dungeon is the lower the quality of the individual encounters. I'd rather see four or five really good ideas packed into a simple map instead of twenty or thirty mediocre ideas spread out over an extensive map. I've just seen too many rooms featuring vermin ambushes, humanoids with nothing to do and traps a blind man could spot.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

While the first map you posted is pretty weak, the second one is pretty dang useless to me - I would never create a dungeon that big and random looking. There are a lot of really good maps in the map archive - I've downloaded every single one of them, cause you never know when you might need something that fits just right. And what fits just right for me, might not for you, as in the above case.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

Both maps print out. Both are free. Both are useable in their own right.

WotC is free to keep insulting me with free stuff. I'm cool with that. I'm also cool with being insulted with free cars and guiness. I'm a very tolerant individual that way.