Wilderlands of High Fantasy: Sucky Maps

[Steel_Wind]

The maps aren't any different that any other map that I've got from WoTC, Dungeon magazine or any other. Its the same paper, material whatever. I don't get what all the complaining is about, other than just something to complain about.

It is indeed the same as the paper you will find in Dungeon.

And that's the problem. If, say, a cat walks on the new style map - the claws go through it easily.

You'd have to have a pet mountain lion for those claws to go through the old maps.

Which leads me to expect that you don't have the old Judge's Guild maps for the Wilderlands.

If you did - you'd know what the complaining was about.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I'm familiar with the old JG maps for the Wilderlands, and have owned one of the original parts of that setting for a long time. The maps are, indeed, sturdier than anything produced by anyone today. They're almost to the point of being sturdy enough to be a battlemat. But, as was said above, the NG guys early on said that making such maps would be prohibitively expensive for the project. It's too bad, really, but is a reality we have to deal with.

 

[Mystery Man]

It is indeed the same as the paper you will find in Dungeon.

And that's the problem. If, say, a cat walks on the new style map - the claws go through it easily.

You'd have to have a pet mountain lion for those claws to go through the old maps.

Which leads me to expect that you don't have the old Judge's Guild maps for the Wilderlands.

If you did - you'd know what the complaining was about.

While I don't personally have one of my good friends still has his JG material from back then so yes I have seen the old maps so don't be condescending. And another thing, that was almost 30 years ago! At what point did you expect anything different that what every other publisher including Necromancer games has put out for every other product they have? If you did, you have only yourself to blame for your disappointment.

 

[MonsterMash]

Though I would have loved the maps to have been on the same paper as the old JG ones the current ones will do ok.

 

[Buttercup]

It is indeed the same as the paper you will find in Dungeon.

And that's the problem. If, say, a cat walks on the new style map - the claws go through it easily.

You'd have to have a pet mountain lion for those claws to go through the old maps.

Which leads me to expect that you don't have the old Judge's Guild maps for the Wilderlands.

If you did - you'd know what the complaining was about.

So would you have been willing to pay two or three times as much for the higher quality paper? Necromancer already isn't making money on this product, if they had used the more expensive paper they might well have gone so far into the red they would never have climbed out.

 

[Crothian]

That being his point. I have the new City State book. I'm almost afraid to unfold that map, and I take very good care of my stuff indeed. I just use one of the thick paper maps I picked up at a con. My original 20-something-year-old map is still fine, with no rips or tears.

The maps are not going to rip, that's my point. I've got the City State book and the maps are just fine. In fact I've yet to ever have a map rip from normal use.

 

[Steel_Wind]

Well, I have to wonder why someone is making a product to not make any money on it. I'd rather they priced it higher and made money for their trouble.

And yes, I'd have paid for thicker quality cardstock. As it stands, I guess what a person has to do who is concerned about them is laminate them right away.

I've done that with Sov Press' Age of Mortals Krynn maps as well as the Age of Worms maps from Dungeon. Lamination is the only practical way of using a lot of these maps in play.

It all goes to components and costs I guess. I thought the maps that were being produced even in 2E (Birthright maps, say) were thicker stock than those contained in this box (and yes, some other 3E boxes). I may be wrong.

I do love the new books. It's a shame we can't have the old map stock though. Would have loved ot have those maps on "pebblestock" - all brand spanking new again.

 

[Crothian]

The maps from my Birthright box sety feel about the same as the Wilderlands maps.

 

[vic20]

The new books are really, really cool and I highly recommend the boxed set for this reason.

But the wilderlands maps? Ugh. Very uncool.

The maps themselves are the same layout as the old maps. I don't really have a problem with this - that's fine. The images of the terrain are fine too.
...
These new maps are printed on a glossy paper that looks like they will rip in the first session they are unfolded to be used in.
...
Our original Wilderlands of High Fantasy maps are still in use. There is not a snowball's chance in hell that the new 3E maps are going to be around in usable from 25 years from now unless you go have them laminated right now.
...
Great books - very disappointed in the maps though.

I have almost all of the original maps. Yes, they are beautiful, and very sturdy. I also have concerns about the "survivability" of the maps as provided in the box. My Altanis map was already torn at the center fold, and I have only "used" the map for a week.

I highly recommend picking up the pdf map-sets to accompany the product. For $18, you pick up the most flexible and powerful version of these maps that have ever been made available to the gaming public. If you know your way around photo-shop (or kin) software, have access to a laser printer and paper-stock to your liking, you can generate zoomed-in "sub-regional" maps, player maps, or whatever you need.

I don't think it's fair to call the maps "Sucky" in the Subject line of this thread. A lot has changed in 30 years. It's not like any other publishers are releasing maps that hold up when compared to Judges Guild standards, circa 1977. Why single out this product to hold to this standard, especially when one considers the low (no?) profit margins that they are operating within to get this product into the hands of the fickle gaming public.

To release the product that would have inspired a "Wilderlands High Fantasy: Maps up to snuff" review from you would represent increased business risk. How many boxes would you make and be able to sell if the boxes retailed for $90-$120? The Profession (publisher) check that this product represents would have its DC bumped by 5 or 10 for each "quality" bump. At least, that's my read.

I really hope it works out as well as it possibly can for them. I've purchased 2 copies of the box (archival backup for the inevitable decay over the next 10-20-??? years of usage), as well as the PDF versions for quick access to cut-n-paste preperation/presentation. I'll be rendering map-views from a Dell 2300MP projector onto the gaming table this winter, and these pdfs are a godsend. (I'll post about my experiences with tackling that particular challenge at some point in the "Coolest Gaming Setup Evah" thread.)

 

[Steel_Wind]

The new maps will be available at the NG site in PDF format. What this means is that, if you really want to, you can take the map files to your local kinkos or whatever and have them printed 17x22'' on the nice paper of your choice. To me, that's a good compromise.

Aye - not bad.