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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Worth it for Some People, December 1, 2002
By A Customer
The Maps of Myrist is a colorful addition and is worth the buy for a true collector. Despite all the nay-saying reviews I read here at Amazon.com I purchased this book anyway and was pleasantly surprised to find the book to be of much better quality than I expected.First of all, the book was a lot smaller in size than I had previously anticipated. I was expecting it to be the size of a large portfolio, but instead it turned out to be a much more compact size. This is incredibly convenient as it doesn't take up too much room of my already limited desk space. In addition to that, the book is spiral bound (as you can see from the picture), which helps to keep the pages open when you need a constant reference. Now lets get down to the nitty gritty. The maps are arranged entirely in alphabetical order (except the Planes of Power, which is a seperate section in the back, which I will talk about in a minute). So far this has made the maps easy to locate as long as you know the name of the zone in which you are seaching for. Some people feel it would have been better if the maps had been grouped together by region, however nifty zone-connection maps in the back of the book give you a good indication of how all the maps connect together. With the maps alphabeticallized, you will not need to constantly refer to a table of content to see which order the maps are in. Each map is hand drawn in a 3D isometric fashion, which gives them a very nice appearance that you won't find on any online reference. Each map is marked with points of interest (for the most part) and zone exits. Each section has some useful information, like Bestiary (or example monsters for zones with huge monster lists), Dangers, Benefits, Background (my personal favorite) and Notable NPCs. Each story opens up a whole new dimension to these places that have been reduced to nothing more than hunting grounds for most players. So with all the praise, what are the downsides? Well, for starters, the Atlas is not the answer-all cheat guide that tells you the spawn locations for the hardcore campers. The guide is generally a book of lore that still tries to capture some of the mystery of the game. If you swear by the /loc command, than you will sorely be disappointed as this game does not have grids over the map. Also, the maps are generally vague in markings. You will not have a marker for every point of interest. In addition to that, not every zone has a complete list of monsters. You won't find monster spawn points or an references to NPCs on the map. In short, this map will severely disappoint any hardcore EQ junky that heavily depends on online guides to even play this game. This atlas was more geared towards the adventurer who likes to have a little mystery and yet know enough about their surroundings to appreciate them and to not get lost. Also the book is a good reference of what zones you should be in at what level. Lastly, the maps for the new Planes of Power are non existant, which is unfortunate. Unfortunately, the book does have some errors. I've noticed some missing details or some wrongly place details in some locations, as well as the famous Dreadlands level typo (the book lists the level range as 1-10 which is far from the truth). All in all I think this book is excellent addition for people who like to explorer, for people who like lore and for new players. Hardcore gamers should steer clear of this book.
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by Robert Marks
by Prima Games
