I love when magazines come sealed in plastic. It always means there's some great "extra" hiding inside (unless you're talking about porn and then ... well, I won't go there). So I finally get Dragon #337, I tear open the plastic and there is an awesome poster map. I love poster maps!! I open it up to ooh and aah over the superior artwork when ...what's this - in huge letters "Drow Outpost". This ridiculous title printed right in the middle of the map is not only unneccessary but immediately drops the value of said map by about 85% in my estimation.
There should never, never, NEVER be writing on a map intended for miniature/battle mat purposes unless that writing actually appears on the floor of the room your characters are standing in! The great thing about poster maps and using miniatures is they go a long way in helping players *get into* their part and help them visualize the action. Nothing spoils that entire point faster than big letters scrawled across the playing surface. Sure it was on a non-grid area, technically inside a solid wall but that doesn't make it any better. The writing might as well say "This is a pretty piece of paper, please place your little plastic figures here".
Secondly, if the creators of this map are going to ruin the moment and destroy the atmosphere the least they could do is impart some crucial knowledge to me. You already explained in the text exactly what the map portrayed and even where it "fit" in respect to other map locations. Why do giant letters need to scream this obvious information to my players? Did they forget in the last nanosecond where they were? Gee, if only we had a map or some visual clue to where my character is right now ... Oh yes, I do but aw... I'm still confused - am I in the desert or a volcano?... hey, what's this ... giant letters ... AHHH, now I remember, I'm in the drow outpost!!!
One of the great things about maps, well, every other map than this one, is that before/after you've used that particular map for the adventure in which it was intended, there's no rule that says you can't use it again and again in as many different locations/scenarios as your imagination allows. The problem is that this map now has zero versatility. If I try to use it somewhere else, it's either no surprise that your characters just stumbled onto a drow outpost or the DM has to break the story to compensate for the fact that you are describing one location when the map is screaming that this is, in fact, a drow outpost.
As you can see by my scathing sarcasm and condescending tone... I was very disappointed in this mistake. I expect better of Paizo. I'm not sure which artist drew the map (and he/she might even have been responsible for the glaring ID tag) but I'd be upset if I was him/her for destroying a nice piece of art and limiting its usefulness for no logical reason.
it was a rather odd choice on Pazio's part
I must confess... I didn't think it was that big of a deal. The map works fine as a drow/gith/svirfneblin/grimlock/illithid/etc. outpost, and the label didn't seem that important to me. If you can suspend your disbelief sufficiently to play D&D in the first place, it shouldn't be that much more of a push to ignore the text. That being said, I do think the "Drow outpost" label should've been smaller.
Nobody else found this annoying, huh? Okay *shrug* I guess I'm the only one ...
interesting ...
No, it is annoying. The same thoughts had occurred to me upon seeing the map. I don't use the maps, though, so to me it is simply a waste anyway. As well, my players get the same mags, so, whatcha gonna do?