Game completely instanced?

Was so excited when entering R7 weekend, it was my first try at the game.
Everything looks fine for being pre alpha and I am very happy except for one thing.
One big thing.

Is the whole game instanced or is it me who got that all wrong?

When you leave a scene or town you automatically gets forced into the overland map.
This instances the whole world, call it scenes or whatever, and I hope this is only for pre alpha.
It completely kills immersion.

I want to run around free to my own liking and when I want to travel far or fast I can use the
overland map.
Will this change or will it stay with scenes and forced overland map?

 

Yes, the entire game is a series of instances stitched together either by direct portal links (ie: The Graff Mines via the Lunar Rift, or the Kingsport Sewers, Owl's Head Clink, etc.), or via the overworld map.

This was the original intent and design of this game from the outset, and is not expected to change.

 

Anyway the overworld map will be more interesting and will have events in the future.

 

What events do you mean a new graphical visual of your next instance or playable content on the overland map.

 

Payable encounters, pvp centered resources, hunting, and that kind of stuff.

 

There will be things like random encounters, ans such on the over land map, as well as visual encounters that roam, ie a gypsy caravan that moves around the overland map.

 

PAYABLE not more nickel & diming

 

I think he means that for example a gypsy caravan shows up on the overland map and you can interact with it, in a scene.
Other things i can see coming is for example a dragon flying around on the overland map.

 

WOW moving caravans on a map a real blast from the past

 

*face palm*

Way to jump on a typo there.

 

You know, to write with hoofs...

 

Will give the game a chance anyway, hope they know what they are doing.
I just find it strange that they choose a world thats completely instanced and
at the same time empathizes how important immersion is for them.

A loading screen in my face as soon as i want to go somewhere kills immersion for me
no matter how nice the overland map is.
But maybe it will work.

 

Well, they must improve the loading screen time... We already wrote long about the dual map, but that is not going to change, and has some positive points. So we should concentrate in them. Anyway you are lucky, this map is already much better that before.

 

"Immersion" is a fairly personal concept.

Myself, I don't find the overworld map at all "immersion breaking". It is simply a part of the game, a representation of the world-space in a different manner.

From the various posts made on the forum though, I do know a lot of people find transitions of that nature to be jarring.


As for *why* they are doing it : You may want to listen to Chris' original chat on the subject : https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=3095

 

The reason for this instancing is as an alternative to having different shards/servers.

Instancing the whole map is a lot gentler on the game servers bandwidth, and tbh I think it's a pretty brilliant idea.. instead of having 20 different servers where people create an avatar and whom you will never have a chance to meet if you created yours on another server.

I think the current idea is to implement a system of prioritising when you enter an instance. Party members - 100% the same instance of course... and then hierachical down through friends, guildmates, people you recently talked with etc.

 

Well the instancing is really a lot of different shards of the same instance there could be 1000's of different parties/individuals going into the same instance at once if it main feature like a dungeon.
Shards could break the massive time zones up, US, EU Asia. Pacific and also make more housing land available to more players

 

I gotta say, I am also finding the transitions to the world map to be a bit umm, unnatural. Between load times and trudging through the overland map to another hex, I think I spent as much time there as in the actual game! That is a bit of a problem for me.

I think the best thing the devs can do to lessen this negative effect is to reduce the loading times and speed up the transition between hexes. If we were quicker into the overland map and quicker to our destination, I don't think this "jarring" experience would be nearly as problematic. It would allow for a more seamless experience.

 

I agree with all you are saying Doppelganger and having listened to and read Nraas link
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/?p=3095
I think, my own personal view is, that they choose the dual map system for convenience, simplicity and
cost saving.
Its a more simpler, time saving and cost reducing solution then to create an open world.
He states other arguments but he comes back to these reasons time after time
and maybe it was required due to the circumstances with a relatively small team and lack of funds.

 

You just wait till it's full of critters and monsters, with random encounters and such. I have high hopes for the overland map. Personally I expect it will, when finished, contribute more to the game than it takes away.

 

Good God No. This is the last thing in the world I want to have to deal with on a map while trying to get from point A to point B. I know they've talked about it and even talked about getting sucked into hexes while trying to travel. I hate this idea. I've just been hoping this is one thing that won't make it into the game.

The map itself is bad enough, (and I prefer the old cloth map if we have to have one), but it's not a game breaker for me. But being forced to play funny little games on the map when I'm just trying to get somewhere is just taking it too far, in my opinion.