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In 2004, Blizzard published one of the most incredible games of all time: World of Warcraft. Today, people are still flocking to WoW in droves — when this video is being released, Season of Discovery is blowing up and the Classic and Vanilla World of Warcraft game is once again being played by millions. Azeroth is eternally popping off. People have made a ton of videos about the game of WoW, but has anyone ever really talked about the maps?
Well, in this video, we’ll review the history and legacy of the maps of World of Warcraft, and decide whether they are awesome or awful. I’ll specifically focus on the maps as they were released in the original vanilla game in 2004, but also touch on the broader role of maps in video games and MMOs. We’ll talk about the full zone maps, as well as WoW’s minimap, the gameplay and mechanics of the maps, the development of the game and the graphics, and some of the inspirations that played into the development of Azeroth’s cartography.
The maps are remarkable in that they feel very simple compared to most games today. There are few, if any, icons, and everything is hand-painted and unique across the zones — they aren’t just screenshots of the terrain. WoW’s maps bring you into the game in an immersive way, and though they aren’t nearly as convenient as the maps World of Warcraft has in retail WoW today, they are perhaps better for getting players deeply involved in the game.
The maps of Azeroth are distinct, unique, and memorable, and they are a big part of why a game like WoW hooked so many people for so many years. I hope you enjoy the video.
All music and rights belong to Blizzard. Video clips from numerous streamers and in-game footage.
#wow #worldofwarcraft #cartography
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No one understands that not having a map is actually fun. Being frustrated and not being able to find something or being able to get lost in a city/forest is one of the most immersive, fun experiences I've ever had outside of reading a book. Too many people can't handle not getting their way within 5 mins. I want to be able to ask myself, "I wonder, what's over this mountain range? What's at the end of this road?" without just pressing M and seeing the answer. I want to be able to get lost in a forest and figure my way out or better yet, find a random stranger and ask them if they know the way out. But no, muh maps.
Modern players literally cant handle any real exploration, its just plain sad.
1:09 That's Yakuza like a dragon. 1:13 That's Far Cry 3.
I remember when these games were challenging…
I like that Commodore Pet in the intro. Good job. I'ma sub.
Bro, Retail Wow maps are great; my problem is the lack of testosterone in Retail Wow. I'm waiting for them to ask about my feelings
I prefer the world map in vanilla thru wrath. But the added Dungeon and Raid maps were a really really nice addition. I understand the mystery and discovery of it not having maps and why people like it but for me its a nice quality of life thing. It gets old taking a wrong turn or playing with a new person who hasnt done the dungeon and if we wipe he can find his way without someone having to wait and show him.
Blizz should have forgotten about upgrading WoW long ago and let life develop naturally in it as it happens in real life.
7:57 I like your name bro
2024
Wow maps are notoriously bad in both versions.
Ever since I started wow i complained about the maps.
One of the few things I would change about the vanilla map would be fog of war is removed account-wide upon exploration if you toggle that option in user settings
I remember when I first started to play WoW, I started off as a night elf, and I would spend my days looking over the great sea wondering what was out there beyond them map. I've always imagined it to be a giant arathi empire, hidden behind a wall of storms.
I remember when i first started playing the game, and I had one of those poster maps. It was such a magical and wonderful experience exploring the world for the first time And constantly checking that map while playing. Its hard to recapture that with later expansions to the same degree. Convenience is both a huge plus and a huge negative. Its really hard to find the right balance and that balance changes over time too. I think Wow did an incredible job with their maps. I still remember the feeling of constantly wondering what was beyond certain walls, and used to love watching those exploration videos people would do by wall jumping or other stuff. No other game that I can think of made me care about a map like this game did.
SWG had some ass planet maps, just very meh colored and bland. You can see cities and major ground features but it looks horrible and not as good as wow's maps. Even pressing M only opened a green overview showing where buildings were.
Back at mop when i was a broke teen, i played some starter edition. I reached so many places with just the 40% riding. It was amazing. I spent ages time just exploring and trying to reach unreachable places.
it's like paintings where the overly detailed leaves less for your imagination to create the world.
I can't stand ashenvale dead ends haha
When I first hit WoW's maps, they strongly reminded me of the maps from the Thief series by Looking Glass studios. The same, hand written, in-world, vague but helpful style.
love it, sexy maps addon is great for googlemaps minimap
I think We all took map design for granted when the game originally launched in 2004. The way the maps worked was terrific and certainly gave you a sense of exploration and discovery.
I remember playing this in my 20s. The world was so full of people and wonder, it just filled you with wonder. This was considered a 'casual' MMO back then (Everquest was the Hardcore MMO at the time). Reviews use to say you could log in for an hour and accomplish something. Eventually, the world became less and less populated as they had the Dungeon finder, but part of the fun was getting to the dungeon, and maybe running into the opposing faction waiting for the rest of their group, and you'd have these spontaneous fights organically. Those were good times!
The maps of WoW especially the classic are so great. Other games with amazing maps are Morrowind, and Fable TLC (EVEN THOUGH IT WAS LINEAR I FELT SOMETHING WAS THERE AND THERE WERE SO MANY MYSTERIES IN TERMS OF FAN THEORIES ABOUT THINGS)
Kingdoms of amalur had interesting maps too. The game is like Fable and Wow and Diablo 2 had a baby, it's super immersive. More linear Maps like Pokemon RBYG GSC Frlg RSE And BW2 are all great too. On that note Diablo 1 had a great map D2R as well! (And LOD)
Simplicity sometimes is the best. Other times a vast land is better.
WoW seems to have an overarching feeling of magic around the lands, just as strong as Morrowind had an air of complexity and mystery (thrown into a world where you know basically nothing at all and learn where 3 thousand areas are lol) with the sprawling deep caves. Also FF7 and IX maps were great, the mysteries and intricacies of FF9 stay with me and the atmosphere is amazing. Tiny icon you run into becomes a vast area. Q's marsh and such
Good vid to wake up to
Everything in classic is better.
Warcraft is highly derivative of Warhammer. That's where the look comes from, especially the chunkiness, which is an artifact of how the minis need to be built to be sturdy enough to be handled at the scale they're at.
Retail is so far away from classic in everything, we can call it simply another game. The Trailer for the Dragonflight could be any other game, just change the title.
I prefer WoW …
The great thing about WoW vanilla's focus on immersiveness and intentional obscurity is definitely how it forced you to talk to other players. Where is that quest item? How do I get to that place? Which enemies drop that thing? How do you find your way throught this dungeon? It created a vibrant and alive community, instead of a single player experience.
To be fair, you’d probably get someone t mark the location of your target on your map or do it yourself in some way.
But that's the thing, that's not the point of the game today. Back then it was to explore and to simply exist in this incredibly fantasy world. Today that fantasy world is a vessel, needed to min/max playstyle, gear and ladder climbing. Nothing wrong with that, but the core has changed and going back to the old maps would simply not work for the current audience.
I will say, WoW actually taught me the cardinal directions and how to use compass. Like if you got a quest in say Brill and it said "Go to the North West" it had me look at the compass and understand it. That said, it is all rose colored glasses. Modern maps are far more in depth, far more useful, and the WoW map was useful but often times it was more of a crapshoot. When they said go to North West, it may have been far closet to North, or even maybe North East.
Have you seen the maps of the states in the USA made in the style. They’re awesome.
i remember exploring at lvl 20 on my first mount, going trough all the zones, dying multiple times to high lvl enemy whos lvl i didnt even know because all i saw was a skull instead of their lvl, a random tauren joining me on my way, and talking and having fun just going from place to place, running from enemies, laughing. It was a simpler time
And that's why GW2 maps are better for me
WoW feels so… old.
I dont wanna be the savior of azeroth anymore, I just wanna go back to being an adventurer wandering the world and being a part of it.
Dungeons don't need maps. You heard me. Getting lost is part of the experience, the gameplay, the community. Finding someone who knows their way or not, is a choice just like real life, before technology replaced social interaction. Exploring the unknown and exploring the community is EXACTLY what it's all about. It's group content after all. Mapping everything out or worse, dumbing everything down into a corridor like FFXIV, is the death of dungeons as fun content.