Waterdeep

[Nysan]

Had some time to sit and think for a second and an idea came to me about people getting lost in Waterdeep and other places. Perhaps place sign posts on certain well traveled roads naming some places people would like to get to and their direction.
Example :

You see a weather worn post marked by several signs.
Font of Knowledge <---
Market Square --->

Thought it might be an interesting addition to Waterdeep and even other cities to make getting around ic easier. Thoughts, comments, questions anyone?

N.R.

[Anson]

Or you can do as this newbie did and construct a graph paper map for reference. It is a long and sometimes boring/confusing process but in the long run it pays off (I think). I still have not completed it and when I think I have with certain areas I am often proven wrong on future visits. I know I have offended some in the market square by my ooc cartography practices as I was too busy to RP with a good many of the regulars there.
That and I read somewhere "character A" running in and out annoys veteran players.
It is all in good fun that I am laying out the groundwork for later roleplay. So many of my friends would never grasp the concept of 'learning' from a game. In fact, they prefer 'hack and slash'.
Anyway, it has taken several rewrites (the map) and some areas overlap (so I used footnotes in those particular grids) meaning my character did quite a bit of walking back and forth (pacing the perimeter, if you will). And I don't care all that much for pregenerated maps - so much of the city is missing from the ones provided for IC. Thusly, my labors are not available to any but ME, ME, ME.
Good luck finding your way around the city of splendours.

[Jerigo]

Your undertaking certainly sounds like an ambitious one, though I must speak up in regards to your penultimate sentence. You may want to take a look at the map of the game's wilderness that Janon made after the new eastern wilderness section was introduced to the game. Unless I am mistaken, creating that map was both time-consuming and tedious. Though he could have kept his creation to himself and left everyone else to do the same exact work all over again on his or her own, he instead made it available for any player to view freely. By doing so he has allowed the other players in the game to concentrate on things like roleplaying rather than "ooc cartography," as you put it. The same goes for all the other players who have submitted maps for the rest of the players to use. You may want to consider doing something similar.

[Exer]

I've made a really good map with zmud. I'm not sure what the rule is for me to send you a copy. I guess since you can get yourself a map from a store, there should be no problems for me to offer you the zmud version.

Thoughts anyone?

[Anson]

I am not opposed to the sharing idea, Jerigo; however, as I said, the worthiness of these maps ( mine included ) to players who have not traversed the area is ( in Waterdeep City, anyway ) at best questionable. I have not seen the wilderness map ( unless you mean the one with letters and question marks all over it ) and I am pointing out that the graph paper map I am creating is a reference only. I've noticed rooms have a tendency to close and new ones open.
Also, Exer, unless I am using my IC store bought map incorrectly, I'd say they work as well as the telnet map that appears in the upper right hand of my computer screen ( the one that gives me options on where I am going vs. just having n, s, e, w, u, d as options). And so my 'zmud' map of Waterdeep gets no use (mind you I may not have unlocked all of it's secrets, yet). On the old message boards, one of the imms said the reason for not emphasizing maps, per se, is that IT IS time consuming, so they just use the 'in game' zmud. This makes sense because ICly one can see signs and the like when moving around Waterdeep (as in real life, in many countries, pictorial signs help tourists in their travels).
As far as making maps and posting them on line ( such as my graph map ), too much info starting out would take some of the fun out of RPing the mud. Have either of you read FR novels wherein major cities have 'city guide' guilds (in Waterdeep, part of the Map Makers Guild, according to FR 2d edition material). I admit most of what I have is outdated material ( it has been years since I last RPed).
And so I was not putting anyone out ( nor meaning to ) when I frowned on usage of Janon's maps ( which is also why I did not specify ' Janon's maps' ). 'though now I have - but to get my point across. I will also add, Janon's wilderness map makes sense as the wilderness is a much larger area to traverse with many many more possibilities for adventure. Waterdeep is a small undertaking compared to that, so my thanks to Janon (honestly). Well, as this is my first mud and first foray into fk, I must be getting more involved in RPing Anson the Lost. So, until next time, enjoy your travels.

[Legault]

I uses to be bad at at wandering Waterdeep but now I can find lots of stuff let me know if you need help.

Please do not use the boards for IC purposes. It would be better to say "If you need help finding your way around, try asking some PCs within the game." Do not use this space to advertise your personal services. - Lathander