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Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Eve Stragetic Maps - Review

I recently bought and received the Eve Strategic Maps, and I've been playing around with it for a few days.  If you've been thinking of buying it I hope this review can shed some light.

Shipping: 8/10
I ordered it on May 7th and received it on the 14th.  Considering I live in The United States and it shipped from England this is more than satisfactory.  It seemed like it took forever, but that was just because of my excitement.

Packaging: 6/10
The packaging was adequate.  It came in a folder like cardboard box.  My only concern with this is if it had been raining and left outside all day it is very possible that the contents could have been damaged by the water.  The book itself was not wrapped in any plastic protection to prevent this.  A small issue probably, and it didn't affect me, but I would have been very upset had it been warped because of a rainy day.

Presentation/Artwork: 9/10
The cover photo is well done, though I would have liked something other than a Noctis.  The main bulk of the maps are well organized with clean lines and grids.  The color scheme is perfect for easy reading.

Useability: 10/10
Each region is given its own page and is listed alphabetically, so it's very easy to find.  It also has a table of contents with what page number the specific regions are located on.   The legend is very detailed, covering what each color, line, bar, circle, arrow, ect... means.  Each region has a listing of the NPC rat that lives there with what damage type to use against them, as well as the controlling faction in empire space.  It clearly shows resources, security level, complexes, station services, outposts, COSMOS, and everything you could want to know about the system.  It does all this without cluttering up the map as well, which with that much info is an accomplishment.  I find it does it more cleanly than both the Dotlan and Ombey maps.  Trade hub system names are also clearly shown in orange to make them stand out from every other system.  There is also an index with every system name in the game at the back of the map so you can quickly find what page and grid it is located at.

Quality: 8/10
The book is spiral bound and before I ordered it this concerned me a little bit.  Everything I have ever used that's been spiral bound has torn apart in a matter of weeks.  I have no fear of this happening with the maps.  It is printed on thick enough paper that, as long as you're careful and not an idiot, won't tear from day to day use.  If it was laminated I would have given this a 10/10 because it is still possible to ruin it by spilling liquid on it, and lamination would prevent it from being torn even if you are an idiot.  Short of full on lamination though, this is as good as you can ask for.

Extras: 6/10
It comes with a big poster of all the lowsec regions for you to hang on your wall.  I don't think this will be useful to most people because the systems are printed so small that by hanging it on the wall you won't be able to easily see it while sitting at your computer.  It is also printed on standard poster paper so its longevity is in doubt.  It does look cool though, sort of like an old map you might hang on your wall.

It also comes with some small yellow stickers you can put on the maps for when new outposts are built.  If you live in sov null this might come in handy, but as I don't I'll have no use for them. 

Overall: 10/10
When you take everything into consideration there isn't much more that you could ask for.  I had a high expectation for it and have kind of nit-picked at it, and I'm still impressed.  If you have multiple monitors you might not need them as you can have Dotlan open next to you while you fly, but for anyone who doesn't, which includes me, the Eve Strategic Maps are worth every penny.  I highly recommend them to anyone who is wanting an atlas for eve.

Here I've posted some pictures to give you an idea of what you'll be getting.  Sorry about the quality, my phones camera is terrible.

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