Global Map
The Global Map was the way PlanetSide originally showed the ten continents and three sanctuaries. Before The Bending occurred, all of Auraxis was still one planet. Therefore, the ten continents and three sanctuaries were all displayed on one map displaying Auraxis as one world of ten continents. However, after The Bending, Auraxis was split up into many different planets, and the Global Map was replaced by the Interstellar Map, and the Global Map became no longer accessible in game.
Along with the Global Map was the Cavern Map, which showed the six Core Combat Caverns. These were displayed in a circle with the active caverns shown and the time to unlock for the other four caverns. However, with The Bending, the cavern map was removed, as the caverns were now described as asteroids and became a part of the Interstellar Map.
Along with the Interstellar Map came the Battle Islands and the removal of Oshur.
Advantages of the Global Map
Many players are critical of the Interstellar Map, saying that the Global Map has certain advantages over the Interstellar Map.
Visible Lattice
With the Global Map, some users contend that the Lattice was more obvious. By clicking on a continent, a player could see which continent linked to what other continents and which warpgates are used. With the Interstellar Map, a player can only tell which continents link to each other, but must investigate the continent to find out which warpgates are used to link two continents together.
Population Locks
On the Global Map, Population Locks were very obvious to the user, as a population indicator for the player's Empire was placed on every continent in Auraxis that made it obvious to the player whether or not they could go to that continent due to population. However, with the Interstellar Map, a player must click on each individual planet to see how many spots are left on that particular planet.
Traveling Weather
With the Global Map, it was obvious to a player when weather patterns are going to move from continent to continent. However, this is completely impossible to tell with the Interstellar Map, and storms seem to be entirely random.
Criticism of the Interstellar Map
Many users complain about the Interstellar Map and want the Global Map back at least as an option over the Interstellar Map for the reasons stated above. Other users cite this as pointless as Auraxis is not a single planet anymore, and that the Interstellar Map performs all of the jobs that the Global Map did just fine.