Question about town to town travel

Hi... So I sent an email a couple years ago to the developers asking if the traveling between towns would eventually be normal and not some weird mini map with a mini character. As a huge part of the glory days of UO were the dangers and lengths of travel, and without that I feel this game is pointless. He assured me it would not be the way it is now eventually... But I came back and it is still like this. I am pretty ignorant to the development of this game so far... does anyone know when this aspect of the game will change? Are they truly intending to change the travel method?

 

Nope, not going to change at this point. It is part of the game. Personally I'm a fan of the overland map, it has come a long way and glad they changed from the original overland map idea awhile back. Now who knows what the future holds, for ship travel and such, but is all E2 and beyond.

 

Map travel is only one way to travel and that part will stay.

There are now some reasons to travel the map atm one is for random encounters which will be enhanced later but atm are a great resource gathering spot that you have all to yourself, also town sieges are found on the map. Expect more as we go a long. For the moment in your bank you will find a few recall and teleport scrolls which you need to drag to your non combat bar. Also you can talk to any towncrier and bind to one to have a place to recall at the end of the day if you do not have a lot deed placed to recall to. You may also teleport to friends using the teleport scroll if you have added any to your friends list. Reasons to travel the map are suppose to be coming but remember if you are encumbered atm you cannot teleport or recall but sometimes you can use a strength enhancing buff that increases it enough to allow you to teleport or recall. It does take some getting used to do travel the way this game got designed but there are aspects of the game that are coming in all the time that are simply amazing imo. Later we will have mounts to speed travel up, we will have boats, and we just got our first iteration of airships.

We are no means done with this game and all the many surprises that it may hold. So perhaps if it is not something you want to dig deeper into to find out what is good about it then check back later. I am Majoria in game and I would happily show you some things and help in any way I could. If I cannot answer your questions I can find someone to answer them for you. *cheers and best wishes*.

 

Are you saying there will not be a traditional way to travel (i.e. like in UO, and most other MMOs) in the game? Or are you saying there may be later? It certainly is a deal breaker for me if this map is the way it is going to remain. It is boring and makes me feel like I am not in an actual world. I very much doubt I am the only person who feels this way. That is fine if there are people who like the map travel, and prefer it, but not having the option to roam through an open land makes this game incredibly unappealing to me.

 

I'm sure there are other who feel the same way you do. However, for everyone person who loves spending 3 hours to travel from one place to another, there will be another person who would not spend more than 10 mins just to commute between map.

That old Glory days in UO where people actually spent time "risking" themselves traveled from one place to another only last for a few months, then everyone just use recalls and gate travels instead anyway.

Also note that the concept of overland is nothing. Actually, it's been around way longer than before UO even exists. Not sure why would think it would be changed since the decision had been made years ago.

While I agree that overland is currently still boring, but I don't think making an open world is really a solution to curb boredom either.

 

I do not believe an open world is as dismissive as you say simply because people recalled in UO eventually. The issue with UO was they made the lands boring. The expansions added lands that werent accessible via roads, seas, etc... But it is a game based on the knowledge of video game making in the 90s and suffers from its limited world. Virtually all MMOs have an open world. Sandbox, open world type games appeal to the majority of people, which is why they are advertised that way. If I wanted a game of zones I wouldnt go on an MMO. DDO did it somewhat like this and that game didn't have lasting appeal either (the world travel being one of the issues people complained about). But as you said, if someone doesnt want to explore the land, they have the option to recall, or whatever. Why force this overhead map on everyone? Not putting in an open world just makes them not have to design an interesting looking world, which is a significant factor in an MMO.

 

To answer the OPs (underlying) question, I imagine zone to zone recall would make it easier to bot unattended like in UO. Which is another reason why it probably won't be added.

 

The game is open world. 100% actually, just not contiguously open world. The world map is the normal way to travel. As a fellow explorer i can tell you there is far more than enough in game already in its unfinished state to explore to keep you busy for a while. From rocks to climb to get hidden swords to eerie suicide notes found in the wold, to dungeons with illusion walls you can pass right through.

All MMO's have zones by the way, whether you recognized it or not. Even UO had them. As do many open world single player RPG's. Even skyrim and fallout had them. Same with baldurs gate, pillars of eternity, the list goes on and on and on... This game just happens to be multilayered with world map, town/adventure scenes and sub dungeons to each.

 

I'm hoping to see more scene to scene travel. For example, would love to traverse all of Ravenswood that way. Also, I think you can currently travel this way through all Brittany scenes and even travel to Kingsport without ever using the overworld. And AFAIK, the entire underworld is scene to scene. There is no "underworld" map you travel on.

 

You can travel conventionally, but you must do it underground. There are entrances to an extensive underground network in places like Kiln, Serpent's Spine Mine (has two), Soltown graveyard, etc. You will need to battle bosses to obtain keys to underground passages, and there is a chance that a key will break after use.
All above ground travel uses the world map, which is a form of fast travel where you stride the world as a colossus, potentially coming across random encounters or town or city sieges that will pull you into an adventure scene.
There are also teleport and recall scrolls, but they are the most boring option and I suspect you have little interest in those.

 

UO is a different beast with its ruins. SOTA is not UO, you can walk across the whole map (not counting time in a pass) in probably 5 minutes. SOTA *is* like all of the other MMO's since UO. You generally spend as much time walking to places (if not less) then any other game I have ever played except UO.

 

The Overworld Map has been a design feature since the beginning. I don't recall a time where they said it would be going away. They HAVE said that the Overworld would get more activity, such as encounters, sieges, weather and much more detail.

As a design decision, the Overworld allows for a more dynamic map. Changes to a scene can be swapped in without have to rework the map as a whole. A single-scale map, ala UO would require an entire map replacement every time a geographical change was implemented.

 

Well they added roaming encounters which adds some flair, although it would be nice to see more variety in mobs. Hopefully pickpocketing and fishing will be possible in overworld map as well.

 

They've mentioned they'll add additional encounters in the future. As for pickpocketing, I don't think it's feasible for the simple fact that there's no combat on the overworld map. If someone is able to pickpocket without fear of death, then it's a serious problem. There were player suggestions that PvP players could pull eachother into a scene similar to roving encounters, but it wouldn't work for pickpocketing because it would put the player into high alert.

I think pickpocketing should remain the way it is now as far as access to it's use on the overworld.

 

Obviously it would need to be balanced and extra mechanisms added to ensure it is fair and that there are legitimate defenses against it. This is the same with fishing; I'm sure many tweaks would need to be made to make it work. Long-term, with an eye towards making the overworld map more and more featureful, it would be nice if some form of pickpocketing would be available in overworld. Not as it is in current state.

 

The world map is not an adventure scene. It is a form of fast travel, where we take on the form of giants able to stride quickly across the landscape. There is no resource gathering on the world map. Yes, random encounters and sieges occur and trigger a form of PVE, but note that they pull you into an adventure scene - no PVE takes place on the world map. In my opinion the same should apply to PVP in all its forms (including pick pocketing).

 

Sometimes my ideas require imagination. Never mind ;-)

 

I get that the game is technically open world. that was not something I am confused about. I actually already explained UO had zones that were non connecting (zones) above which is one of the reasons the expansions did nothing to help it. My point is this map travel is lame, and not interesting. If you prefer games that way then im glad you like it... but I find it completely boring, and unappealing. I am not basing everything I believe on UO. We appear to have a difference of opinion, and "keeping myself busy" was not the original point of my post. I wanted to know if they plan on allowing real time travel (like WoW, or even non MMO games Elder Scrolls etc...) rather than going to a mini map that I feel completely sucks me out of the experience. The answer is no, they do not plan to change it. It is a deal breaker for me and I will stop supporting the game financially, but I am glad that you all enjoy it.

 

Sorry, that sucks...I think it's something that doesn't really change the fundamental activities of gameplay, but is nonetheless kinda weak and immersion-breaking. Maybe when the game is closer to being done, other fantastic features will make enduring the overworld map worth it to you.

If not, fair thee well. *salute*