Do new players use the Gondolas in Ardoris?

One of the reasons I love Ardoris so much is the fast travel there. I can get anywhere I want in the city in a flash.
But for some time I have been wondering if new players know about and use the boat system.

Back in the old days there used to be NPC boatmen in Ardoris that you had to talk to in order to get them to take you around the city in their gondolas. One stood right at the default entrance at the North Bridge, so you couldn't miss him. You learned immediately upon entering the town that there were numerous places he could take you to.

When they reduced the number of NPCs to improve performance they made it more difficult to find the boats, which are not gondolas, but unobtrusive-looking row boats. If my memory serves me correctly, I think there is still a sign at the North Bridge where the boatman used to stand, but the sign itself is unobtrusive, and the boat is not visible from the town entrance. You have to go down a few steps to the water to even see the boat. In the town itself some boats are weirdly stacked on dry land (I am thinking of the ones next to the blacksmith in Sequanna Square and at the Oracle). As a new player I would never think to click on one to use it. In the player instructions the boats are not mentioned as a means of travel in Ardoris.

Am I not giving new players enough credit for discovering new things?

 

i took a new char there just a few days ago. while the default entrance is the north bridge, my new char with no entrances to choose from, her first time in, was sent to the east entrance. so i wandered down the hill, past the anti-outlander homestead, to the riverside and saw what there was to see there. new players are either discovering the boat or they're swimming their way into town.

 

I used to love going to Ardoris and then they rebuilt it.
The Cherry trees are indeed lovely, but they really mess with my camera.
Now, I dread going there at all..........
Sequanna Square ain't what it used to be.

 

I used to hate Ardoris until I discovered those things. So I am assuming like myself nobody else new about them when they first went there.

 

I actually love the cherry trees (I don't stream or take screenshots where they would get in the way), but I dislike the wooden structures that block the view of the row houses.

 

erm...holy Pancake
I've been in Ardoris for years but rarely. I know the boats at the entrance. But gondolas in the city to travel fast? I did not notice. But a very nice thing ...

 

but with the Sprint Skill (light Armor) its not to hard to overlook a lot when closeness passes by.

 

The destination menu for the gondolas mean nothing to new players. As a result, they may find them, inspect them, and prefer to explore the city on their own recognizance.

But once you get to know the city, the gondolas are quite convenient.

 

I do feel some concern that without an NPC standing next to them, the "gondola" boats are well camouflaged most of the time, in a stack with another boat, on the bottom, and the more plain looking boat of the pair. The north gate boat is the least un-obvious one.

 

I use dash, so using the gondola only saves me like 15 seconds. Now don't get me me wrong I love them, and there's circumstances where I do use them, but because the city is so small, it's not that big an issue. (if I wasn't a light armor person with dash, OH YEAH I'd use those gondolas ALL the time hehe)

 

Nice but also if some thought is given to atmosphere part of the gondolas. I wish we could see ourselves get on them animation and travel a little but that is wishful thinking and a bit larger budget minded detail

 

That would be neat, but I've always been confused by the Gondola in Sequanna Square since its not actually by any water hahaha

 

Yes! Thank you Kara.

I've met dozens and dozens of new and old players alike who had no clue there was lots of fast travel options in Ardoris.

Early on in the project there was a design decision to make all Fast Travel which went to NPC towns/locations (ie not POTs) have RED sails on ships or RED canvas on wagons.
This was great, one could easily designate assets which was Fast Travel.

However when they ramped up the production of scenes etc this Design Decision was lost (among many other).
Which reduced the usability significantly and which removed the discover-ability of these Fast Travel assets since they now can look like anything and have any color. (The very discreet greenish signposts come to mind).

Here is an old post of mine detailing the issue at hand, same observations as @Kara Brae but with some more details.


https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?posts/895674/

"

R47 but been like this since the optimization work for Ardoris back in before R41.

For optimization you replaced the NPCs with boats. Which is fine but the choice of the asset and coloring breaks two design decisions.

The first is that due to the narrow channels Ardoris would be like Venice and have gondolas. It is one of the flavors of the region.
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=57792
IRL this is because the oars on a rowboat sticks straight out and thus two rowboats can't pass each other without a mess. While with punting the punt goes in line with the vessel.

The second design decision is that for quick travel Red Sails, Red Canvas etc goes to game locations. While White/Beige sails or canvas goes to player estates (POTs).

By breaking those design decisions you have made the quick travel assets almost impossible to find.
This since the beige row boats you use A) don't look like they belong in Ardoris B) don't stand out visually C) looks like they will take you to a player estate.

So I've talked to many visitors and even to citizens of Ardoris who had no idea about the quick travel services.

Solution:
Replace the asset with Red Gondolas.

They fit in while visually standing out and indicate that they go to game locations.


So the above is the bug report. But I thought it prudent to include related feedback as well.

• Rename the locations where you want to remove the "gondola station" bit since there is no difference anymore.
• I'd advice adding ticket booths as quick travel assets. They don't look miss placed when on land. If you have iron grid as the 'window' they don't need a visual person. They can be re-used in multiple cities.
• If you don't add ticket booths then for Ardoris you need to move the quick travel from the land locations to nearby waters.

"

 

Even if you decide not to bring the Gondoliers back, the signs are still there, and they should have the possibility, like the town signs, to enter places fast (like it is now with the boats).

Beside that:
It was great to be welcomed by a Gondolier and to have the Venice flair
Also the main entrance leading over the bridge to the Oracle should again get more alive with a few people. It's the main city of the perennial coast

 

Actually, the boats were there all the time. You just didn't notice them with the NPCs standing next to them, and because they used a rather plain boat design. Also, the gondolier signs are still there, but they don't do anything; you can't click on them.

 

.
Um actually...


The boats that were next to the NPC gondoliers were the greenish/blue gondolas with a rack if on land.
Further those assets were not clickable, you had to click the NPC.
So the current boats were not there back then.

The fast travel was introduced in R20
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=52215

Gondola signs in R22 but you were never able to click on them, you had to click the NPC.
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=53590

Here you can see the old gondola asset on the left of the wall which was next to the now removed NPCs, then on the right you have the new fast travel rowboat asset which is clickable which didn't use to be there.



You can also see this in the old entrance into Ardoris then the gondolier NPC used to stand right before the bridge, then in the water behind him there was the greenish/blue gondola asset.
Then after the change they removed the NPC and after the stairs down they added the rowboat asset.
But the gondola asset is still there next to it, just not clickable.

So it is not the same boats.