Passes are a bad game mechanic

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Oyjord Hansen, Mar 29, 2018.

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  1. Oyjord Hansen

    Oyjord Hansen Avatar

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    Hi all,

    Why are there such difficult passes for noobs to get past just to see other parts of the world?

    It's insane to think a player in their first week or even two could get through a Tier 5 pass to go play with a friend on the other side of Novia.

    As a vet I find myself spending more time than I should either escorting my young friends across passes or crafting Teleport scrolls.

    What's the point of such a restrictive geographical division?

    TIA.
     
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  2. Aelender

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    I think scaling the cost (based on level) of the Mages at the entrances would help a lot. The flat 1,500g is a bit much, especially for lower level characters. It currently does discourage overland exploration for new players in its current state.
     
  3. Lord Tachys al`Fahn

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    The passes are there on purpose, and exist to divide the world into discreet regions, each of which has its own resources that it has in abundance while having others that are more rare. This is supposed to create regional markets and give players a reason to ship goods into other areas and potentially be able to sell their goods for more in areas where those materials are rarer. There are other things available in them, but those are the primary reasons for their existence.

    Does it work? No. Teleport and recall scrolls allow players to completely bypass these in certain limited ways. Even if you don't make use of the highly expensive mage or use the player-level options, it is still possible to make it through most of them as a straight off the boat avatar, you just face the risk of dying.
     
  4. Waxillium

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    The passes are a bit of a failed experiment that nobody wants to take the blame or credit for.
     
  5. Lesni

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    I suggest you try the Grand Tour.
    https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=84930
    It will allow you to discover the lands and show you how to get past some of the more difficult areas.

    The Lunar Rifts allow passage without going through the bad places.
    As a new player you can find one in Blood River, Solace Bridge or Highvale and it will transport you to other places.
    Here is a way to tell where it will go and when:
    http://sacrifice-guild.enjin.com/lrchronometer

    BTW Welcome to the community.
    Friend Lesni in the game and I will try to show you around.
     
  6. Diab Blackbow

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    A lot of places have zones that are set to certain levels. This is nothing new.
     
  7. Lord Tachys al`Fahn

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    It isn't a level restriction. In any region that these passes separate, you can encounter nearly every tier adventure area available.
     
  8. Diab Blackbow

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    Thanks captain.
     
  9. Pounce

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    I think they add a little spice, you can go with lunar rifts or use scrolls or find ways around them, or risk getting your tailfeathers singed running through at lower levels.

    If you have not figured out how to bypass them you are not ready to explore really is my opinion though
     
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  10. Aelender

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    Exploring the overland map should be encouraged as early as possible, IMO. Once you know what skulls mean and can handle 2 skull road encounters you should be encouraged to travel around the map by foot. Encouraging map exploration allows people to find new areas to check out, POTs that look interesting, and in general a familiarity with the world.

    What should not be encouraged (again, my opinion) is spamming friend invites and using teleportation scrolls to bypass organic travel.

    The current set up of the passes, while the original idea may have had merit, now just unnecessarily impede early exploration (and exacerbate the teleportation abuse).
     
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  11. uosylence

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    I rolled a new character on the launch day and ran through two control point passes a few hours later and lived through both. run, heal, run, heal......
     
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  12. Elwyn

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    It doesn't take much to learn which passes you can just run through. In particular, Eastreach Gap and Nightshade Pass. With those two, the only place on Novia that you can't reach is Drachvald (the far northeast). Vauban Pass does kind of suck. If you can get away with sneaking around Blood Bay long enough to collect the entrances, you don't even need to stay in there for 30 seconds and you can use it to get in and out of Drachvald. (at least until someday they make ferries take time... then you don't want to be distracted when the ferry ride ends!)

    And then there are also the lunar rifts. You can find schedules for it (not in-game) to know how long until it's going the way you need. This one is mine: http://xi6.com/i/sotaclock.html
     
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  13. Barugon

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    If you Exit to Menu while in any pass then Start on World Map, you will notice that you always end up on the same side of the pass. If you think about it carefully, you can use that to your advantage. ;)
     
  14. Miganarchine

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    They are easy! just run through, if you die it don't matter just float to the other side and respawn at the gate.
     
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  15. Almar

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    Use the moongates, they’ll get you past most passes, if you are prepared to wait for the zone you want to come up. Some passes are difficult even at medium to high level.
     
  16. Trihugger

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    I spit my water everywhere reading this one. OMG that was funny.
     
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  17. Numa

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    There's got to be something of value in the middle of the passes that would make going through it worth your time even for single players. The Phoenix quest is one though that's a one time thing only.
     
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  18. Cherico

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    I also don't like the passes!

    Yes, you can run through (or better, die-through - but then your armor will lose durability), but this takes so much time (loadingscreens)!
    But you can reach every zone on the overland-map when take some detours - except Drachvald and South Paladis.
    But the Nightshade Pass between South Paladis and Midmaer is "just" Tier3 and realy to run/swim through easy (but thats not an excuse for that damn loadingscreens *g*)
     
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  19. Oyjord Hansen

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    Money is very tight in this game. Very. So I'd suggest a 100g mage portal fee to get through the passes. It'd be a nice little gold sink while still not punishing lowbs that badly.
     
  20. Lord Tachys al`Fahn

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    Why pay the fee? You can get to almost all places in the game by using the lunar rift for free?
     
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