The problem with Sota from a casual players point of view

Convenience is a matter of perspective. Providing housing in "localized" due to (game engine induced) geographic constraints creates culture, closer ties, and community. Star trek beaming all over the place is disconnected and actually makes everything into everyone's favorite word: "meaningless".

/me pauses to revel in the parties we had on UO's Fire Island, and our local PK-run city that only players living on Fire Island ever really knew about

Btw - things will be very different for Drachvald after the next release. Much different after more subsequent releases.

 

Well said sir, well said across the board.

 

No one here needs to leave the thread. I think @Baratan is respectfully taking part of this discussion, and being constructive in one way or another, like others participants in this topic. In fact he brought a good idea

 

I've been playing Skyrim over the last couple days. I've found the fast travel system to be amazing. I go out and adventure and when I complete a quest and want to complete it, I fast travel to the quest giver. Then I go on more adventures, exploring the world, getting quests, etc. etc.

So I'm sympathetic. And frankly with loading times, SOTA not having fast travel is one of the reasons I just log in every 2 months to reset my lot timer rather than playing the game. BUT I don't want to get rid of local banking OR control points or render them pointless. I want to encourage exploration.

My suggestion:
Put a wagon, horse, and wagon driver at the entrance of the main city within a region. For XXX gold, they will "fast travel" you to any other regional capitol (except Owl's Head). For SPO and MP modes, when players control the control points you get a 50% discount. When players don't control control points, you pay full price. This will save on time, still encourage exploration, and keeps local banks/control points relevant. For Single-player Offline, have a randomized chance for the discounted price.

 

Yes, but you have to remember that Skyrim -- like its multiplayer counterpart in the form of ESO -- has an interest in people having a good time when they game. Lots of challenges, but the boring stuff is dialled back a bit.

There is an underlying attitude in SotA (and indeed in some posters on this forum), that something isn't "hard" unless it's also a total snorefest and adds time to the game for no good reason other than, "... it's realistic, man".

So I don't fault you for playing Skyrim and realising, "Hey, among the challenges I'm facing like the combat and the puzzles, my time isn't being needlessly sucked up with pointless travel once I've already discovered an area..."

 

The caravan idea is an excellent suggestion and I hope that this and other ideas will be adopted by Port to address the current tedium of travel without compromising the future vehicle and mount travel modes to come.

 

I am still able to immerse while doing this and i do.
But i'm maybe an exception.

Like all the ideas of various rowing encounters / vendors, maps...
The ow map should be worth exploring and the encounters variations would be the first steps.
These Encounters need to have more things worth exploring.

It's not good people think of traveling an rowing encounters as timesinks and beeing worthless.
They aren't but i agree that it need to improve.

 

In all of my long years of following MMO's these posts and players are often the most damaging to the game they are supposedly fans of.

If I was a new player coming here and reading this I would be immediately put off.

Firstly it suggests that the poster has some inside knowledge of the developers mind (which they really probably don't) or are being incredibly self important in their opinion. Whatever was promised during kickstarter can change and the devs can look at the game over time and decide to change systems. Even if you can find evidence to back claims up comments like "It's as intended" holds no water in MMO design and how things evolve over time. Especially if its clear that the game is financially struggling at any point. It's happened time and time again. Niche MMO's die.

The most negative aspect of these posts though is that no matter how many winks or smilies you put, it's very condescending, short sighted and elitist to suggest that "if you want YetAnotherMMO this game is not for you". You nor I have no idea what this game will be when it is released. Maybe some form of fast travel will be put into it. Maybe crafting will be made less of a chore. The fact is we don't know and you suggesting, however nicely or vaguely you put it, that the OP should go somewhere else is just so......arrrghhhhh.

This game needs to appeal to more people than it currently is to survive. Not just the staid, curmudgeonly players who want to hold to their own gaming nirvana. To the OP. I've stopped playing as well although for different reasons. Maybe keep checking back like me to see where things are headed. Maybe at some point it will fit in with what you are looking for.

 

True

 

Funny that people talk about "survive" even before the game is released.

 

Think its a fair statement to make when you take into account the X amount of money they needed to reach their goals, has been extended. The time frame before release has been extended = more overhead and production costs.
A lot of games dont survive to make it to release, especially when not funded by a major brand.

And I think people can watch the game progress, and some will form the opinion that it wont magically fill the population on release.

think that is very true.

That being said, i just walked from owls head to spectral mines.. in like 3.5 minutes.
I think the travel time is a little exaggerated in the thread, as much as i prefer fast travel ( the walking is blatently boring to me)

 

My argument was that, if you move away from a particular location, someone else will find it appealing and take your place. I never said everyone should move out... I'm saying YOU should move out since you clearly have a problem living where you are.

 

You are not the exception.

 

I'm currently a very casual player, since my work schedule won't allow me more then a few hours a week to play, and would hate to see more fast travel options then we currently have. In fact I'd be in favor of completely removing teleport, or at the very least reworking it's function to not make it a game of friending every person you meet so you can use them as bind points. All that is really needed is more variety in roving encounters for those of us that like them and faster load screens. If I only have an hour to play and it takes me less then 5 minutes to get there I don't see a reason to complain about it. Usually it takes me a lot longer anyway as I'm one of those people that can't pass by a roving encounter without going in. There have been days I logged in and ended up only having enough time to get where I wanted to be before having to log out and take care of other stuff and that's okay too, just means I'm there already when I get back to the game.

 

As I said before if the overworld map would be more interactive.

Roaming encounters worth hunting etc.
Ore spawns people trying to claim...
etc etc... travel time could really become interesting and not just a boring time sink.

 

That's the difference between playing and working/ grinding imo.
Absolutely signed.

 

These someone else's will proabably only live there cause there is no other room left. Does not mean they are happy with it. Just means they are willing to take some pain for playing the game. But find it appealing in it's current state without locally only available raw materials, you serious bro? Then why did everyone move to Brit?
The game is designed so some places have less value. Some people will put up with this some don't. I see it as problematic for the health of the game if not everyone is on equal footing with the housing. I mean people spend a lot of money on housing and still have to put up with this.

 

What? You argue with Uo? You bring an argument that supports me you realise this? No one knew about doesn't have anything to do with fast travel.
Your argument only is valid if people "lived" in Sota" alas not everyone is all the time online, though I wish I could. Culture (the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society.) develops where people meet. But the travel system is segregating them. I fail to see your logic.

 

Wow, just wow. Indirect insulting at it's finest. Thanks!
I will just take out one of your arguments:
...if you never tell anyone you exist. You know, there are printing presses, and you could run around handing out flyers to everyone you meet that you exist and have "+5 bananas" for sale on your vendor thats near the east entrance to Jhelom... erh uhm I mean Xenos .

Sure, all the players will start reading my commercial books. Because everyone loves to read commercials! Imagine everyone spamming books with commercials to her vendor.
And sure I will start handing out flyers. This is a paid job in reality and horribly paid, calculated on the result it brings. And it is done in areas where you can hand out dozens of flyers within a short time. Try doing this in SotA.

By your arguments I believe your definition of casual is not the same as mine.

 

Another thing:
We get fast transportation inside of cities. This is proof, that also Port thinks the travelling is too slow. (At least inside cities.)
But I don't agree with this way of implementing it. It feels clunky and strapped on.
From my perspecitve, while travelling somewhere the travelling inside the city was the least tedious, because I could encounter NPCs and players.
Now this kind of travel is skipping the part where most player interaction could develop, because cities are a natural place for people to meet. If fast travel is no problem there why is it anywhere else?
Why can't New Britanny residents be bothered to walk home? Isn't the walking part of the property value?
Feels like Port is paying attention too much to details and not keeping the whole situation in mind.