E... T... Zone... Home...

Discussion in 'Housing & Lots' started by Schwanke, Aug 14, 2015.

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  1. mikeaw1101

    mikeaw1101 Avatar

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    I think a lot of people are hoping to be able to pilot their own ships and not just have them be 'gates' to other areas (like they are now)...
     
  2. Phiedrus Oliva

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    Travel can (and should) be meaningful. I also agree that travel shouldn't be a grind. As with most of discussions between two sides, I think the sweet spot is somewhere in the middle. The thing is where should that middle be placed.
    I believe there should be some teleport capability. But this is dangerous, because once that capability settles down and becomes normal, many will ask why there is still some travel to be done, and start claiming more teleport capabilities. That's a fact. And, to my taste, too much teleport capability is as bad as none at all.
     
  3. mikeaw1101

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    Agreed. If that worst case scenario happens, then the devs should just stick to their guns and keep it limited (very limited).
     
  4. mikeaw1101

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    Also, hopefully mounts won't just *magically* disappear when zoning from the map into a random encounter, and once inside a zone the enemies should be able to kill your mount. The current el-cheapo copout way of implementing mounts, by just having them disappear when they get hit (or when you dismount), is SOOOOOO lame... I understand it's a programming issue, but it's still very lame regardless... And every single modern MMO with mounts does this... UO is the only game I can think of that had remotely realistic mechanics for the mounts. Even if we can't get that, I hope we can at least get something better than this lazy trope used by *yawn* every other game, even AAA ones.
     
  5. Akrondar

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    I agree that magic travel is a BIG problem for the economy. But i also think it is important to have magic travel for social reasons. what would i do?

    I advocate for naked magic travel (ok, maybe cloth only) with empty bags.

    Some ideas to spice it a bit:
    Distance could affect the accuracy of the destination.
    Traveling large distances could kill you directly.
    Traveling large distances could spawn you in a space between dimensions plagued with magical beings (you should scape from them)
    Player made portals (destination accuracy based on caster skills), naked prerequisite still needed.
    ETC.
     
  6. Lord Dreamo

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    I actually really like the idea of areas being hard to get to. I traveled to my friend's POT on the other side of the world and it was the first travel experience in an MMO since EQ1 that really got me excited and felt like a journey. A journey that really was somewhat diminished by the fact that I could just zone my way back home after.

    I would like to see pack mules or some sort of tool to help a big move. Traveling across the map with all your belongings at -70% speed is brutal even more so when you get to those control points... Ouch!

    The way the world is designed you don't need to be able to get everywhere all the time though. More casual players with less time might feel more landlocked. But they will also enjoy the experience that much more when they do make a big journey to somewhere new. And find some resource really cheap and bring it back.

    Providing accessible gameplay doesn't mean everything has to be accessible for everyone at every moment they play. That's where I think modern MMORPGs have kind of lost some of the magic.

    The world just has to be interesting enough to make long travel fun. Which I think SOTA does well by having the overland map and not requiring you to slog through miles of phoned in space meant to make the world bigger.
     
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  7. Barugon

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    I don't really care too much about magical travel but I think zoning to your lot must stay. I also think that the time should be shortened. Fifteen minutes is just too long.
     
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  8. Quenton

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    A ritual you have to set up by hand could be a cool idea.
     
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  9. Sold and gone

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    I have in the past mentioned that it should take 3 or more people to initiate fast travel. It would be a thing that could not be initiated to just farm/recall/bank rinse repeat then. :)
     
  10. Numa

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  11. Phiedrus Oliva

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    hmmm.... not sure one should depend on others to do things. It's a good point to avoid farm/recall/bank rinse repeat, but I don't quite see that groups provide advantages: not everyone is lucky to live in a crowded timezone, others simply like to play the lone wolf way, etc.
     
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  12. Adam Crow

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    What would stop 3 people from farm/recall/bank? I don't think it would be very hard to find a couple people to do that easily. Especially if it's the only way to fast travel.
     
  13. Elwyn

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    ...or anybody serious about it will just get extra accounts and multi-box.
     
  14. Sold and gone

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    I'm positive its already been done.
     
  15. WrathPhoenix

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    We hear about this topic and we see this topic go around and around and around all the time. On one side, people talking regional economies as if the difficulty of travel alone is the deciding factor of a regional economy... and on the other people talking about fun and accessibility.

    The reality is that neither side is either right nor wrong.

    Those who talk about fun and accessibility have a point. Except to argue is fruitless because it is already stated there will be some magic teleportation methods. We just arent there yet in development, so we have to rely on zone and other mechanics for now. That said - control points for example are called control points for a reason. Every control point has a way around it, but both still requires a bit of work to get through. That's just part of the game.

    Those who kick and scream about "Regional economy" has a point in the sense that regional economies ARE intended to be part of the game. But if you're thinking you need to stop fast travel methods entirely or make it like an epic journey to travel to the next town.... you probably havent played the game much. I say this, because right now there is every indication that regional economies are going to crop up no matter what. There is also every indication that control of any one central resource or global market is going to be more or less impossible BECAUSE of those regional marketplaces.

    Because we have fast travel, zoning to lots, and all kinds of stuff in the game right now that make travelling super easy (much of which is going away) and there are ALREADY regional economies in place. Prices vary from kingsport to ardoris wildly and yet they are just a double click of a boat away. Something that sells for 1000 in port phoenix may be 6,000 in ardoris and 3000 in exceter, yet may be as little as 500 in radio city. This is already happening in pre alpha and as of yet has not needed any added difficulty or other incentive for it to happen.

    Yes, we will have to walk many places and learn to explore a bit as part of the gameplay. It can be scary and confusing but it gets better after a while. That said, yes there will probably be fast travel methods implemented and they will not likely be methods in the difficulty scale between "learning to ascend to a higher plane" and "writing a dissertation on particle physics" difficulty levels that all of the regional economy folks rant about. We already have regional economies forming and they are only getting more mature.

    TLDR: Portalarium is not going to implement features that make the game a hapless world devoid of fun. Nor are they going to do anything that destroys the sense of economy or regional identity they have worked so hard for. Game's still in development, RELAX everyone - we'll get there! I promise you it will all be okay :D
     
  16. Elwyn

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    To be fair, that's because people don't want to bother to enter Kingsport because it's small (relative to Ardoris). It's like someone with a private vendor off to the far left side of Owl's Head where nobody goes. (I didn't even know it was there until a few weeks ago!) And even then, Ardoris feels more like an overflow for selling things Owl's Head. It goes dead right before a new release. And if Brittany turns out to be really big, Ardoris may suddenly become like a small town that had a bypass highway built around it.

    I think we will end up with some regionality once we have enough players. The pre-alpha player base isn't too bad, but hopefully release will be at least ten times that and each Owl's Head / Ardoris sized city will have enough people in the region to have its own decent economy.
     
  17. WrathPhoenix

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    I agree, but you are reinforcing what i am trying to say. Player choice, the activity level of the region and its towns, location relative to other resources, etc all contribute to what makes regionality happen. It isnt just the fact that something is either easy or hard to get to.
     
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  18. Lady Caelee

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    With the proposed death of /zone and possibly no rune or comparable moongate system to replace it, I fear that will then limit many players to a much smaller area of the map. If the intent is to make players walk to a distant designation and pass through dangerous areas forcing them into a "buddy" system, then players that usually play solo would now have to find "friends" to group and adventure with.
    What if my friends no longer find it worthwhile to make that journey...they would rather stay in this corner of the world and make do with what we have then to make a trek like that daily. I would have to learn to be a solo player (again) and make the journey on my own or resign myself to the area within reach.
    And what of the party that was to meet at a boss for a group event but are now waiting more then 20 minutes on those that don't know the way and the group begins to break up. Those who know how to get there will always be waiting on those who don't or will simply not group with them to begin with.
    No more swift travel to guild meetings or events...the list can go on....
    I think instead of forcing you to walk the map and learn from it. it will force many into a much smaller world, limiting your adventures to what others want to do. I prefer being self sufficient.
    I love playing with others but I no longer want to be dependent on them. I certainly don't want my ability to gather resources to depend on if I can get a suitable party to get thru these check points or past mobs.
    We do need a form of travel that can cross the map at least to a given area. Moongates and runes (O how I loved runes) accomplished that. /zone, to a lesser degree, was also acceptable. I fear taking it out of game without a suitable replacement will condemn my character to a lonely existence crafting and farming. I am ready to begin making runes as we speak.
     
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  19. Sold and gone

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    There will be fast travel in the game, as they have already stated. What it is is not known for sure yet. We do know that the cost will make you second guess why you need the fast travel. :)
     
  20. Duke William of Serenite

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    Using a rune and teleporting should only be done by a mage with such skills just like taming.

    I think its safe to say that creating the magic that a rune will need takes the skill of a mage.
     
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