I consider myself an explorer, and I dislike using third party DBs overall, but as both the author and Nadril mentioned, when you get incorrect or vague directions, or even worse, pick up a quest and don't get around to it until 3 days later, having lost your point of reference for "to the southeast", having some info available is handy.

But really, quest goals aren't what I consider to be "exploring". They HAVE to tell you where to go, either in text or on the map, so you can get it done. What DOES benefit from exploring, though, is picking up the quests. In AoC, the traditional Fog of War is used to obscure new quest givers until you're in the area. With this method, you can look an an unadorned map and think "if I were an MMO designer, where would I place a quest giver?". If you head there, you might be rewarded with what you seek, or you might just get a cool scenic vista.