MechanicalLens
Refugee
Credit to @Roland for this proposal. 
I get it. Navezgane is meant to be the stereotypical American midwest (or just the North American continent in general) where everything is spread miles apart from each other. From a gameplay perspective, however, I would always recommend a new player to give RWG or one of the pregen maps a try instead, any day of the week. As part of its nature, POI locations are sparsely populated, with only a small quantity of (admittedly small) settlements dotted throughout the map here and there. In my opinion, for this and various other reasons, Navezgane is a nostalgic relic of the past that has aged like milk, and it's something a mere update to city streets can't fix.
Instead of this turning into a proposal to collapse the foundation and rebuild from the ground up, I would like to address a bare minimum problem in that many of the traders are located a healthy distance away from any large settlement, and let's face it, most players are going to settle by the farm near Diersville, if not Diersville itself, which is at least a couple clicks away from either Jen or Joel. (As someone who has played Navezgane recently, if you're going to play it legit and not spawn in a bicycle or some other vehicle, please, settle by a trader and grind out those early jobs and acquire that guaranteed bicycle reward for T1 completion.)
It would be nice if a reshuffling could take place in a future update. Below are three maps, the first displaying the current location of the traders, and the second and third proposing alternative, likely preferable locations for them (and I'm holding a certain bias towards map #3).
Map #1. Current trader locations.
Map #2. Hugh's location is left as is. Joel is moved closer towards his original location back in the day. Jen's compound is moved to its original location back in A20 (and is interchangeable between herself and Rekt). Rekt's compound location remains as is, and is interchangeable between himself and Bob. Bob's compound's location is moved Southeast, closer towards the desert city, and is interchangeable between himself and Jen.
Map #3. Joel's, Hugh's, and Jen's compound locations remain as is. Bob's location is moved closer to the desert city, much like in map #2. Rekt is moved out of the wasteland and is placed just West of the farm and cornfields located Northwest of Diersville.
Regarding map #3, here is my logic for the relocations of Rekt and Bob.
Bob: He is currently a little too close to Jen, only several hundred meters away, leaving the desert town fairly isolated. If need be, an additional bridge could be located further South, just West of his compound, to allow easy vehicle transport.
Rekt: No-one is going to visit Rekt, not just for his personality (lol), but his compound's current location. It's in the heart of the wasteland, and with the upcoming eventual biome progression overhaul, and presumed wasteland radiation, this will add another roadblock into accessing him. This is of course not to mention he's the most logical starting trader, and why is his farm in the middle of rubble-infested territory, anyway? Having him located close to Diersville and the iconic cornfield intersection makes a lot more sense for both immersion and gameplay. Newly spawned players will either have access to Joel or to Rekt as their starter traders, and both are fine choices. Jen is not too far away if you prefer her, once you get a bicycle.
Alternatively, Jen could be moved Southwest, either below the first wasteland town located near 0,0, or to the end of the desert on its Western edge along that main road heading into the larger wasteland town.
TL;DR: We need more settlement-adjacent trader locations, with Bob and Rekt being the main focuses here.
I get it. Navezgane is meant to be the stereotypical American midwest (or just the North American continent in general) where everything is spread miles apart from each other. From a gameplay perspective, however, I would always recommend a new player to give RWG or one of the pregen maps a try instead, any day of the week. As part of its nature, POI locations are sparsely populated, with only a small quantity of (admittedly small) settlements dotted throughout the map here and there. In my opinion, for this and various other reasons, Navezgane is a nostalgic relic of the past that has aged like milk, and it's something a mere update to city streets can't fix.
Instead of this turning into a proposal to collapse the foundation and rebuild from the ground up, I would like to address a bare minimum problem in that many of the traders are located a healthy distance away from any large settlement, and let's face it, most players are going to settle by the farm near Diersville, if not Diersville itself, which is at least a couple clicks away from either Jen or Joel. (As someone who has played Navezgane recently, if you're going to play it legit and not spawn in a bicycle or some other vehicle, please, settle by a trader and grind out those early jobs and acquire that guaranteed bicycle reward for T1 completion.)
It would be nice if a reshuffling could take place in a future update.
Below are three maps, the first displaying the current location of the traders, and the second and third proposing alternative, likely preferable locations for them (and I'm holding a certain bias towards map #3).
Map #1. Current trader locations.
Map #2. Hugh's location is left as is. Joel is moved closer towards his original location back in the day. Jen's compound is moved to its original location back in A20 (and is interchangeable between herself and Rekt). Rekt's compound location remains as is, and is interchangeable between himself and Bob. Bob's compound's location is moved Southeast, closer towards the desert city, and is interchangeable between himself and Jen.
Map #3. Joel's, Hugh's, and Jen's compound locations remain as is. Bob's location is moved closer to the desert city, much like in map #2. Rekt is moved out of the wasteland and is placed just West of the farm and cornfields located Northwest of Diersville.
Regarding map #3, here is my logic for the relocations of Rekt and Bob.
Bob: He is currently a little too close to Jen, only several hundred meters away, leaving the desert town fairly isolated. If need be, an additional bridge could be located further South, just West of his compound, to allow easy vehicle transport.
Rekt: No-one is going to visit Rekt, not just for his personality (lol), but his compound's current location. It's in the heart of the wasteland, and with the upcoming eventual biome progression overhaul, and presumed wasteland radiation, this will add another roadblock into accessing him. This is of course not to mention he's the most logical starting trader, and why is his farm in the middle of rubble-infested territory, anyway? Having him located close to Diersville and the iconic cornfield intersection makes a lot more sense for both immersion and gameplay. Newly spawned players will either have access to Joel or to Rekt as their starter traders, and both are fine choices.
Jen is not too far away if you prefer her, once you get a bicycle.Alternatively, Jen could be moved Southwest, either below the first wasteland town located near 0,0, or to the end of the desert on its Western edge along that main road heading into the larger wasteland town.
TL;DR: We need more settlement-adjacent trader locations, with Bob and Rekt being the main focuses here.
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