Map

Basics |

Instanced Maps
Unlike most Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games, Guild Wars is not totally persistent. Towns and outposts are always active and accessible by all players. Persistent areas are handy for finding groups, organizing excursions and buying needed equipment and skills. The rest of the game is not persistent , it is instanced. Although a bit confusing at first, it is nothing very complicated. When a group (or single individual) decides to go outside the town and participate in a quest, there is no actual traveling to the location. Instead of having to walk for 15 minutes in order to get to the quest area, the players will be teleported to the outpost/mission without having physically set a foot outside of town. This technique permits players to rapidly find intense action without any downtime.

Fog of War
When first entering the world of Guild Wars, the display map will appear to be rather empty and bland, yet this changes quite dramatically as characters progress through the various areas. As territory is explored, the map alters itself to correspond with the landscape [color and all]. A fully explored map will feature lakes, forests, deserts, coasts and jungles.

Area Markers [On the display map]

 

Yellow - Town/city
Grey - Outpost
Red - Player-versus-Player area
Green - Guild Hall location

All quest based maps are labeled with a number representing the order of which they should be completed [must be zoomed in to notice, all quest markers look alike from afar]

Mini-Map Draw Tool
Players can 'draw' their strategies onto the mini-map (pen tool like feature), although not very useful when alone; it does come in quite handy when part of a large group and especially when playing in a Player-Versus-Player matchup.