Can we get an updated map of the world?

Wiivren·Feb 6, 2017·6 votes·10,110 views

The title says it all. I have been putting together a campaign setting for DND 5e and it would really help if I can get an updated map of the world because a lot of what the old map showed has changed. :)

33 Comments

RiotBioluminescenceFeb 6, 20177 votes

The Medarda Heirloom map is the most detailed partial map released so far: http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/featured/piltover/medarda-heirloom

The Freljord Map and the Shuriman Tablet have also brought some details, though the Tablet in particular has some serious flaws (its orientation for one). http://vignette2.wikia.nocookie.net/leagueoflegends/images/9/94/Freljord_Map.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20161020025101 http://na.leagueoflegends.com/en/creative-spotlight/reksai-scourge-desert

SpideraxeFeb 6, 20171 votes

Do you think Black Mist Bilgewater map is a good representation of the seas

SharjoFeb 6, 20171 votes

Probably not. Space is probably adjusted to accomodate the two on the map and allow for easy visual representation of Harrowings.

SpideraxeFeb 6, 20171 votes

Ah gotcha, especially with sea scale and what not though you think it may be more accurate then the old one where it showed Bilgewater was like a hop and a skip away from Ionia

Xodiathe4bdn1Feb 6, 20171 votes

I was told no full map will be given for long while cause a limited map limits the the champions released right? The shurima puzzle map is not put in order Will we ever see the complete picture

RiotBioluminescenceFeb 6, 20178 votes

{quoted}

I was told no full map will be given for long while cause a limited map limits the the champions released right? The shurima puzzle map is not put in order Will we ever see the complete picture

There are several reasons why we might not see a full map for a long while - or maybe even ever. It can make the world feel small (and too modern if everywhere is 'explored'), it can limit options for dramatically new additions (like a new continent or four - see Warcraft's ever-expanding world map), it implies that the majority of characters have access to that information too - and lessens the impact of well traveled characters like Gangplank, Ryze, or Taliyah.

You could argue (and several have) that all of those are manageable issues, or perception problems rather than unfixable issues, but even so they're just a couple more grains on the side of the scale against throwing lots of resources into a player facing world map just now.

Smaller, more personalized maps, are an easier route - they don't suffer many of the issues listed, as well as helping to deepen our understanding of the character or society that created the map. The scales more easily tip in our favor :)

Electro522Feb 6, 20171 votes

Hey Bio! What have you been up to? You disappear for a few days, only to reappear at random times. Makes me wonder if you're up to something.

RiotBioluminescenceFeb 6, 20176 votes

[{quoted}](name=Paleo Electro,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=z6MVsLE1,comment-id=0001000200000000,timestamp=2017-02-06T19:17:59.713+0000)

Hey Bio! What have you been up to? You disappear for a few days, only to reappear at random times. Makes me wonder if you're up to something.

Let me reassure you, Paleo - I am ALWAYS up to something.

I'm on temporary loan to another, new, micro-team within Riot at the moment, but I'll be back to my usual scheduled super-secretive stuff around March. So yes. I'm currently doing secret stuff until I go back to secret stuff.

Helpful, I know.

Electro522Feb 6, 20173 votes

{quoted}

So yes. I'm currently doing secret stuff until I go back to secret stuff.

If only we could get this secret stuff out of you. I've certainly tried......and failed.....in the past.

You know, I'll try this: can we expect any kind of announcement on any of your super secret R&D stuff this year? No need for a specific date, what it is, or how it will be announced; just if something will be announced sometime this year.

I mean, you've been at Riot for quite some time now. You ought to have something in pipeline......right?

RiotBioluminescenceFeb 6, 20172 votes

[{quoted}](name=Paleo Electro,realm=NA,application-id=6kFXY1kR,discussion-id=z6MVsLE1,comment-id=000100020000000000000000,timestamp=2017-02-06T19:46:12.274+0000)

If only we could get this secret stuff out of you. I've certainly tried......and failed.....in the past.

You know, I'll try this: can we expect any kind of announcement on any of your super secret R&D stuff this year? No need for a specific date, what it is, or how it will be announced; just if something will be announced sometime this year.

I mean, you've been at Riot for quite some time now. You ought to have something in pipeline......right?

<Engage question dodge mode!>

Well, no, I can't tell you about the R&D work, but I could say that the small team that I'm on temporary loan to has a real, definite, deadline coming up. Unfortunately it will impact a vanishingly small number of players, but any players at all is better than no players, right?

Electro522Feb 6, 20172 votes

{quoted}

<Engage question dodge mode!>

God damnit! Eh, I tried......and failed......again (one day....)

Vanishingly small......can't say I've ever heard that term used before. Now you have to be cryptic too? sigh I love you, Bio, but I also despise your secretiveness! (See, I can come up with words too!)

Either way, I look forward to whatever you are working on......whenever it will come out.

WiivrenFeb 10, 20171 votes

"vanishingly small number of players".... could this mean players that are into lore? or could this mean players that play dominion? (is dominion even still a game type?) Either way, I'm always excited to see what Riot does and honestly, I'd love to get a job there doing literally anything. (prefer to work in lore somewhere though lol)

WiivrenFeb 10, 20171 votes

Doing other secret stuff to then go back to the usual secret stuff... MAKES PERFECT SENSE!! :D Ziggs just blow up the secrets so we can read them!!!

HellioningFeb 6, 20171 votes

We already know way more about the world than anyone else does by virtue of knowing that Bard, Asol, Kindred, and Tahm all actually exist. I don't see why a map is the real problem here.

The issue with in-universe information being relayed to us by in-universe people is that it has very obvious bias. This is a really bad thing for fiction; how are we supposed to hold an informed opinion on a fictional subject if all we get is designed to make one side look better?

RiotBioluminescenceFeb 6, 20177 votes

{quoted}

We already know way more about the world than anyone else does by virtue of knowing that Bard, Asol, Kindred, and Tahm all actually exist. I don't see why a map is the real problem here.

The issue with in-universe information being relayed to us by in-universe people is that it has very obvious bias. This is a really bad thing for fiction; how are we supposed to hold an informed opinion on a fictional subject if all we get is designed to make one side look better?

I could argue that every piece of information (except perhaps mathematics) contains bias - even if that bias is often unintentional, innocent, or harmless. You've seen that even Google Maps has different country borders depending on where in the world you access it from? Because even the edge of a border, or the ownership of an island, is fraught with political meaning and bias.

However, I concede that it's a weak argument. A photograph of the planet, unmodified and raw, is very hard to find the bias in - and we could indeed release something like that - but it would fall prey to the other issues of restricting our future options, making the world feel small (blue marble like) etc.

Personally - and you're very free to disagree with me here - I find the biases to be highly informative. That Jago didn't bother to label some of the ports doesn't help us acquire perfect knowledge of the geography of the planet - but it does tell us how important those places are to him and his business. That the Shuriman tablet doesn't conform to a linear scale is a pain in the ass for people who want to know its square kilometer area in comparison to Noxus, but suggests that they thought in more relativistic terms than absolute - which could be insight to their thought processes.

You'd not get either of those things from a satellite photograph, instead getting cold hard facts. To be clear - I totally get it if this pisses you off. They're both valid directions and at the moment, we're going with the cultural bias one.

As for your last question -

how are we supposed to hold an informed opinion on a fictional subject if all we get is designed to make one side look better?

The same way any historian does - by reading between the lines, by applying what you know of the culture and biases, and by finding multiple (equally biased) sources to compare and dig the truth out of.

MrFluffyPuffyFeb 6, 20171 votes

However, I concede that it's a weak argument. A photograph of the planet, unmodified and raw, is very hard to find the bias in - and we could indeed release something like that - but it would fall prey to the other issues of restricting our future options, making the world feel small (blue marble like) etc.

What if we see "sketches" of a map by an event or a new champion or champion rework.

Like if Gangplank (example) would be reworked, then we could see a bigger map (not the whole world map) with more regions and how they are connected to each other. But because of it being only a sketch which Gangplank draw or plundered it from someone at some point, we don´t know if everything on it is true and if there aren´t regions which they didn´t explore yet.

For Gangplank I could think of that he has a map which is more accurate at coast regions near Bilgewater and gets less accurate the more it goes away from it. To a point where it´s unfinished and doesn´t have regions like Demacia or Noxus in it, but more of Isles like the Shadow Islands or Ionia.

It would give us as players more insight but doesn´t tell us to much. And if there would be a chance in the future it would be good to see it. (Maybe the Piltover/Zaun map tried to accomplish this goal, but for me it was to much zoomed in or confusing, because me trying to compare the old map with this map).

HellioningFeb 6, 20171 votes

A photograph of the planet, unmodified and raw, is very hard to find the bias in - and we could indeed release something like that - but it would fall prey to the other issues of restricting our future options, making the world feel small (blue marble like) etc.

Riot hasn't exactly had any problems with changing things because it restricted their future options, and I feel that the current state of lore has made the world feel very small. I don't see how either of these would preclude releasing a 'bird's eye view' map.

Personally - and you're very free to disagree with me here - I find the biases to be highly informative. That Jago didn't bother to label some of the ports doesn't help us acquire perfect knowledge of the geography of the planet - but it does tell us how important those places are to him and his business. That the Shuriman tablet doesn't conform to a linear scale is a pain in the ass for people who want to know its square kilometer area in comparison to Noxus, but suggests that they thought in more relativistic terms than absolute - which could be insight to their thought processes.

And if I cared about what Jago thought, or about what a dead and/or dying race's thought processes are, that'd be comforting. (Plus, the second one could just be a shitty mapmaker.) We don't know if Jago is typical of his nation or business in terms of biases, so all we know from the first map is 'this is what this one particular person cares about'.

The same way any historian does - by reading between the lines, by applying what you know of the culture and biases, and by finding multiple (equally biased) sources to compare and dig the truth out of.

And if we had multiple, equally biased sources, or if we knew a lot about every culture, that'd probably make me feel better.

Yes, I understand that we're still in the early stages of new lore. Those future equally biased sources and cultural information will probably come in time. But we don't have them now. And I'm really tired of waiting for lore.

LostFr0stFeb 6, 20173 votes

I like the biases too. I can glean a lot more from those maps. I especially appreciate when a place is named after an item found there or something like the "gold and ~~sun~~ sing stone" in the Medarda Heirloom map. Plus biased maps tend to have more pictographs, which are always fun to interpret.

SharjoFeb 7, 20172 votes

The Medarda Heirloom was great for that because the inherent bias of Jago gave potential insight in to the culture and structure of the various areas he was doing trade with. Kumangra comes to mind and how he's went through five or so contacts in that time.

AMYS GRAVEFeb 10, 20171 votes

but it would fall prey to the other issues of restricting our future options, making the world feel small (blue marble like) etc.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/The_Earth_seen_from_Apollo_17.jpg

I look at that and feel nothing but awe for the world we live in. imho it makes the world feel more personal and really emphasizes that we own it. It may be a minuscule speck in the universe but seeing it fully and wholly doesn't make it feel small but raises its importance greatly.

Xodiathe4bdn1Feb 6, 20171 votes

After the revamp of outdated regions are there plans for new regions to be added

UltîmaFeb 6, 20172 votes

So...

How about a map of the known world then?

GenoXxFeb 7, 20171 votes

Isnt the world small? Runeterra is the name of the planet right?......Shadow Isles being where Antarctica is

SharjoFeb 6, 20173 votes

They're gonna release maps, but the maps themselves have to be story relevant, as in maps that would exist in lore and have something more to tell than just geography. The Medarda Heirloom speaks to the Trade Clan's ship routes across Valoran and the Southern Continent, and gives insight in to various locales across the world. The Shurima map is culturally significant since it's an artifact and the Harrowing Map told a bunch of information about the Harrowing.

They ain't gonna just give us a map. It's gotta be an important, usable and lore relevant map.

Xodiathe4bdn1Feb 6, 20171 votes

Well when you put it like that then heres to me hoping galio brings us a map of demacia

SharjoFeb 6, 20171 votes

I could imagine Noxian scouts making a map to track Demacian patrols and stuff, including Galio's favourite spots and the like, though not 100% convinced we'd get a Demacia map with Galio.

WiivrenFeb 10, 20171 votes

Well, I think I will just make my supplement book for 5e as I gain information from the lore teams. When I'm done, I'll make the google doc that I'm writing it in public and hopefully other people will love it!!! Hopefully Rioters will love it and offer me a job ;) Or hopefully they will love it and offer me a round trip to visit the studio or they will just love it!! :D

XIII VanitasFeb 7, 20172 votes

Ezreal [triggered]

WiivrenFeb 10, 20171 votes

sigh... Ez... get out of here!!! I need a map!!! :P

Tesla EffectFeb 6, 20171 votes

We got a large chunk of the world revealed, thats something. Specially since not every faction had its lore event just yet. So wait...

AMYS GRAVEFeb 6, 20171 votes

If they don't encounter a mummy boy with acid tears that throws a tantrum for some AOE damage when it drops below a certain HP threshold i'll be disappointed in you.

WiivrenFeb 10, 20171 votes

IF that would happen it all depends on their decisions but believe me, the first chance that I can logically make that be what happens, I will!!! :D