My idea for tablets/scarabs which is also inline with GGG philosophy

what philosophy you ask? Randomness in everything even when opening maps

What actual puts people off this last iteration for endgame is that tablet became "scarab" from poe1 or worse, because you need the points in your atlas tree to make it truly meaningful
i understand that people hated the classic tablet system because it is a chore to "run a map in order pump maps" -> feels like we are being robbed of power
this kind of mechanic was made because GGG wants the atlas to feel like a fucking map, not a point-and-click-cookie-cutter-insta-buff

well, people are just frigging lazy period.
but maybe there is a common ground for both

without further ado, my idea is giving the map device a secondary function that is NOT open map function (could be another npc or device for this btw)

this function will allow you to select a completed map and give a radius which "sacrifices" unopened areas to pump others, like a "mobile tower from 0.3"
with one click you select and activate the function, and seamlessly click on the node and open the map

how much and specifics of this mechanic could be achieved from another type of currency that is concurrent with "map currency pool" like sextants in poe1, giving specific buffs to maps the more nodes are sacrificed and so on...

this way, we don't lose the topologic atlas design and makes easier and more chaotic for exploration, like "oops you sacrificed a unique map? now everything is more deadly, but more rewarding" -> no take-backs too

there are some kinks and problems to work with: like dead-ends in atlas, extreme linearization, loading times and whatnot, but i believe they are solvable in the short term

"sacrificing" a map is also inline with the vaal lore, since it is the vaal who detains the map travelling tech
the device is inspired from an astrolabe, just make it more active in directing ourselves