I didn't care for coordinates before, but having had difficulties meeting up with people beyond the safezone it does seem like something might be needed. However, I still don't want
precise coordinates. I'd much rather see a map function on the u-tool, with a 3D representation of the known game universe like this:
View attachment 1130
Apologies for the shoddy mockup, and thanks for the quick screengrab Okim
With this, users could plot out points of interest (and share them with friends) with a limited resolution - say, 50km cubes, or however small or large is ideal. Stations would not be automatically discovered when they are built, and would rely on player transmission and natural discovery to add them to the map, whether it be automatic or otherwise. Users within the same group/on each other's friends list/company/etcetera with their personal transponders active would be marked with the same resolution. Creating waypoints could be done through the U-Tool (ie typing the coordinates out) or created with a "place at feet" function - but again, with the same relatively imprecise resolution. The 'spawn' button would tie in with the game's insurance transfer feature, and the 'ships' and 'bank' buttons (if applicable) would only list the ships or items stored at that station, and not allow inventory transfer, etcetera.
Naturally, the map could be zoomed in or out, panned around, etcetera, especially to encompass the moons. I think this map style would encourage gameplay while not being too cheaty like Minecraft coordinates. Companies would be able to control map permissions, and their waypoints would be a closely guarded secret - after all, you don't want to share the locations of your ships, stations, and known resource nodes with just anybody.
While in-game solutions like the Yonder network and GPS buoys are really neat, I think a map is one tool that MMO players kind of take for granted, and that shouldn't be looked down upon. Right now, I have no reason to believe that I should go to the other side of Eos.. but what if I could purchase a set of waypoints from a mapmaker's company, and discover that there are nodes of valuable resources near XYZ station? Or that there's a ship combat arena nearby? I'd feel more inclined to explore without needing to browse Discord servers to find interesting locations.
