Make treasure maps simpler?

joshisanonymous · October 29

I love the idea of treasure maps, but they're just too difficult to find without an addon, especially with how many of them you can accidentally stock up on.

For reference, I don't use an addon to find survey map locations. It sometimes takes a bit, but I can reasonably do it. This is true for both the visual survey maps and the written ones. On the other hand, for treasure maps, I have tried several times to find them without addons, and it's practically impossible. Hell, I could even incidentally walk right over the mound and still miss it because they blend into the ground so well in most cases.

I'd really like to do treasure maps without relying on an addon, but in their current form, it's beyond masochistic to do so. It would be great if the maps themselves gave more/better hints and/or if the mounds were more visible, maybe with a passive that makes them glow like we can get for chests.

redlink1979 · October 29

joshisanonymous wrote: »

(...) if the mounds were more visible, maybe with a passive that makes them glow like we can get for chests.

It would be great if they had the glowing effect.

Grafahel · October 29

I like them, most of them are pretty easy to figure out if you know the zone well enough, and I like the whole thing of recognising the general area and then finding the correct perspective to lead you to the chest. Yeah there are a few that are like 'this could literally be anywhere' but most of them have a pretty clear landmark. They're treasure maps, they're supposed to be a fun little diversion, not just a map marker leading you to a chest imo.

robwolf666 · October 29

You mean like a GPS system? 😏

DenverRalphy · October 29

I'd actually like it if instead of a fixed location, treasure maps triggered a mini-game where the map just got you into the vicinity of a digsite. Then have to play a mini-game to zero in on it.

HybridFreak · October 29

Having recently spent a ridiculous amount of time doing treasure maps (enough that my bank and all 8 storage boxes were overflowing with them) because I built up and accumulated so many, they're a massive pain in the ass and not worth the time it takes to go through them all. And it would be incredibly easy to make it so they aren't.

1. Have the treasure chest keen eye work on the dirt mound.
2. Make it so the treasure maps stack OR at the very least -
3. Give them the same treatment as surveys and writs with having them stack while unopened.
4. Increase the amount of gold in them

Even if they only stacked by zone, that would be a massive improvement. Something like - Treasure Map - Deshaan - unopened.

whitecrow · October 29

I like them how they are, but I wish I could get a "keen eye" for the dirt mound. It wouldn't have to be a ridiculous glow like the treasure chest one, but a more subtle one that shows when you are near.

BretonMage · October 30

I actually like looking around for the dirt mound, it's amusing when it's hidden a bit. But that's because I use an addon, adding a glow to it would make it too trivial with the addon. Any glow would have to be an optional one.

Edit: My biggest problem with using treasure maps without addons was always that I honestly wouldn't know where to even start looking, even in familiar zones. I always had to rely on external websites for that.

Horace-Wimp · October 30

DenverRalphy wrote: »

I'd actually like it if instead of a fixed location, treasure maps triggered a mini-game where the map just got you into the vicinity of a digsite. Then have to play a mini-game to zero in on it.

THIS is ALREDY a thing which is by no means fun. Games are suppose to be fun NOT work. Remember the way World of Warcraft worked prior to Cataclysm? If you didn't know s**t about the lore like me you were ****ed trying to find special quest targets. And God forbid anyone ingame would lend a hand to help you fins what you needed to further or complete those quests.

Perhaps you'd like ESO to be more like EverQuest with the timed corpse run where if you failed to find your corpse in time anyone could loot your corpse and take your stuff? Or lose a level whenever you die?

Jinazai · October 30

Yea i stopped trying to figure out the treasure maps, and zeni also stopped making maps that made sense.
I've gotten maps for forest areas where the treasure is pointed to be next to a... regular tree...

Necrotech_Master · October 30

i dont usually do treasure maps at all right now unless i need leads from them, and even then i would almost not bother doing them without either some online map, or the better case, which is an addon marking the in game map where the dig sites are

the biggest problem with treasure map chests is the leads are awful drop rate, and the rewards are barely equivalent to an intermediate or advanced level normal treasure chest

Maitsukas · October 30

HybridFreak wrote: »

Having recently spent a ridiculous amount of time doing treasure maps (enough that my bank and all 8 storage boxes were overflowing with them) because I built up and accumulated so many, they're a massive pain in the ass and not worth the time it takes to go through them all. And it would be incredibly easy to make it so they aren't.

1. Have the treasure chest keen eye work on the dirt mound.
2. Make it so the treasure maps stack OR at the very least -
3. Give them the same treatment as surveys and writs with having them stack while unopened.
4. Increase the amount of gold in them

Even if they only stacked by zone, that would be a massive improvement. Something like - Treasure Map - Deshaan - unopened.

Archival Essays from the IA and IC already exist, they should be made stackable (currently only 1 Archival Essay per Zone can be in the player's inventory) in the same manner as the Unknown Surveys and Master Writs are now.

joshisanonymous · October 30

Grafahel wrote: »

I like them, most of them are pretty easy to figure out if you know the zone well enough, and I like the whole thing of recognising the general area and then finding the correct perspective to lead you to the chest. Yeah there are a few that are like 'this could literally be anywhere' but most of them have a pretty clear landmark. They're treasure maps, they're supposed to be a fun little diversion, not just a map marker leading you to a chest imo.

I feel like you're in the minority there. Honest, I've really tried, and I've been playing since beta, so it's not like I don't know the zones, but it's still often a matter of luck more than anything for me.

And even then, I'd maybe be okay with it except that I get maps clogging up my inventory way faster than I would be able to do them without the help of an addon. If they were a relatively rare thing, then sure, I could use them as a diversion when I have nothing better to do, but when I get 15-20 in a week of casual play, I'd be spending the next week doing nothing but tracking down the chests.

robwolf666 wrote: »

You mean like a GPS system? 😏

I'm not quite sure what the intent of this response was, but no, that's literally the opposite of what I'm saying because that's what addons do.

Grizzbeorn · October 30

DenverRalphy wrote: »

I'd actually like it if instead of a fixed location, treasure maps triggered a mini-game where the map just got you into the vicinity of a digsite. Then have to play a mini-game to zero in on it.

The treasure currently earned via the maps isn't worth the extra effort of having to play a mini-game to find the dig-site.
If they revamped, and made better the treasure, then maybe, but not with what they grant now.

whitecrow · October 30

Jinazai wrote: »

Yea i stopped trying to figure out the treasure maps, and zeni also stopped making maps that made sense.
I've gotten maps for forest areas where the treasure is pointed to be next to a... regular tree...

Blackwood seemed especially bad this way. There's one that has three hills...

But I think most of the maps for earlier zones are quite good, with a recognisable landmark in view.

AcadianPaladin · October 30

I agree the treasure maps are way too vague. They used to immediately send me to the internet to get useful info. Then I got an add on and am happy with that.

As far as loot goes, it is not much. The reason I continue to do them is mostly for the leads they frequently drop. With regular use, they've helped my sticker book quite a bit.

BenevolentBowd · October 30

HybridFreak wrote: »

Having recently spent a ridiculous amount of time doing treasure maps (enough that my bank and all 8 storage boxes were overflowing with them) because I built up and accumulated so many, they're a massive pain in the ass and not worth the time it takes to go through them all. And it would be incredibly easy to make it so they aren't.

1. Have the treasure chest keen eye work on the dirt mound.
2. Make it so the treasure maps stack OR at the very least -
3. Give them the same treatment as surveys and writs with having them stack while unopened.
4. Increase the amount of gold in them

Even if they only stacked by zone, that would be a massive improvement. Something like - Treasure Map - Deshaan - unopened.

Stackable Treasure Maps, When? @ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_JessicaFolsom @ZOS_Kevin

katanagirl1 · October 31

Coming from console where we didn’t have addons for this until recently, I can’t believe some of these suggestions. They have been a life-saver for a miserable needle-in-a-haystack sort of task of matching up the exact perspective of a crudely drawn map within the space of an entire zone.

The only reason I do treasure maps anymore, since I have all of the overland gear drops, is for those miserable antiquity furnishing treasure map leads that are practically non-existent in some zones. I have no desire to make those any worse than they already are.

EDIT: typo

Northwold · October 31

I'd honestly prefer a scrying type minigame to having to stare at a picture and try to work out where the scribble is (or, realistically, go into a web browser and look up the location). I find them super tedious and just let them stack up until they fill my inventory and get destroyed. Surveys likewise.