Author: Kevin G.
Date: Dec 11, 2011
User Interface – Maps and Symbols
What the hell does a yellow triangle mean?
All new games come with their share of new symbols. Hopefully, a quick run through of some important ones will prevent headaches come launch.
First and foremost, learn to love the map (M-key for the win). The map includes a pretty good legend that identifies most of the regularly encountered symbols. Unfortunately, poking around a map is usually a low priority for people jumping into an exciting new game.
With launch just around the corner, why not brush up on the map interface and symbols to help hit the ground running.
The legend from the world map is shown below for reference.
Most of the legend symbols are self-explanatory. For instance, the player symbol is basically an arrow that points in the direction the character is facing. Many items from other games appear in The Old Republic with shiny new names. The Galactic Market Kiosk is just a fancy name for an Auction House. Also, Cargo Hold Access in akin to a Bank and Taxis are the same as Flight Masters.
Some things are slightly less clear at first. For instance, the elevator symbol designates a level change, but an exit symbol could also denote a level change if there are stairs instead of a lift. Exits symbols basically identify any point, except lifts, where the area maps switch.
An important thing to notice early on is the use of green. If an exit leads to mission objectives, the arrow is green instead of yellow. Although not shown in the legend, the arrows in the elevator symbol will also be green if a lift leads to mission objectives.
The mission objective and class trainer symbols both have green components that appear conditionally. For the class trainer, the green plus sign only appears when new abilities are available. With the triangular mission symbol, green designates a mission objective or mission turn in location and an empty triangle represents a new or available missions.
What is a bind point and how does it work?
Bind points are a beautiful thing and should be used as much as possible. An ability called Quick Travel allows players to return to a bind point. Many games have a similar mechanic that allows players to return to the most recently assigned “home” location.
The difference with The Old Republic is that Quick Travel allows players to go to any discovered bind point on the planet. Now there is no more need to debate over whether it’s worth it to change home locations to a new quest hub. Make sure to keep an eye out for bind point locations on the map and gain access new ones (approach bind point terminal and right click) whenever possible.
Quick Travel has a long cool down so Taxis provide another quick alternative to get around. In many cases, the Taxi location must be discovered before it can be flown to so also keep and eye out for these and unlock them as soon as possible.
Why does the vendor symbol look sort of like #7?
The “#7” looking symbol is used to represent vendors because it denotes a credit (monetary denomination) in The Old Republic similar to how the “$” represents the dollar. In the vendor window shown, the credit symbol is displayed to the left for the price of goods, but to the right for the player’s available credits (shown at the bottom).
World maps for planets in The Old Republic generally start mostly blank and are filled in by area through exploration. Empty hexagons represent unexplored areas. Below is an example of a partially explored map and a fully explored map.
The map system in The Old Republic is a refreshing upgrade that makes getting around a breeze. The movement triggered map translucency and the mission tracker are especially helpful features. The only major complaint is that it can be unnecessarily tedious to scour the map for specific vendors or trainers. For example, there should be an easier way to find a specific type of vendor (ie PVP commendations) without running a cursor over every vendor icon on the map. The ability to toggle on more than one item using the world map (without the magnifying glass) would also be a nice minor improvement.
