Time for fast travel?

All good ideas. Was thinking that if it were a magic tree, it would probably be in MOON due to lunar rifts/moon gate magic, but i can see those as well.
Remember in other older MMOs you had to have certain classes group with you because only their class could teleport you around? Could be here too, available to those who specialize (in Moon for example). So many ways to compromise this without completely stonewalling the concept.

 

Holy crap! I was on the test server a while ago, and tried running on the world map with Potion of Wolf Speed activated. I was running so fast I couldn’t even use the + key on the number pad and then just course correct using the mouse because you run so damn fast! LOL.

Interestingly, you can out run all of the overland encounters, even while not on a road surface.

That was extremely enjoyable.

 

Umm. Disagree 100% lol, but ok.

 

I'd even settle for some non-instantaneous forms of fast travel that took you somewhere, be it automated like:
Wagons
Carriages
Horses (Mounts in general... i strictly draw the line at chocobo like creatures)
Automaton mounts - Nothing says, "I've come to trade", like showing up on a firey steam-driven, metallic beast of death.
Boats (various vessels)
Airships & Balloons

Also, having some teleportation circles that function all the time without having to wait an hour to get to the one you want would be nice as well. As it is, the moongates are pretty much just eye candy except for new players, who may not know other ways to teleport or get around better.

 

Well the thread has gone quiet. It has served it's purpose. I have therefore closed the poll.

All I can say on the matter is yet again I have the finger on the pulse with regards to mmo gamers. Clearly the visionaries agree with me on the subject making up the majority. I would go even further and say if this was a global poll of mmo gamers, I am 100% sure that my view would still command an overwhelming majority......far greater than in this forum.

The 'local' economy argument holds no water and never has. The teleportation to other players on a "friends" list fundamentally wrong. Lets have true fast travel and truly promote exploration. Lets allow those who live in the middle of nowhere the ability to promote their space. Lets see players turn their houses into public rune libraries again. Lets bring back some UO nostalgia.

Lets Make Avatars Great Again!

Thank you and goodnight.

 

Yeah your thread made me rethink the regional economy thing and post a thread on it:
Regional Economy & Seeing More Players

Spoiler

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f.../regional-economy-seeing-more-players.131951/

These ideas would cross over into some other things players have been wanting as well.

Ideas for Regional Economy:
1.) Have the various regions hold some regular/basic goods to sell between regional business hubs (like herbs, medical supplies, arts, furniture, etc - These would be basic blocks of the item to buy, transport & sell). The take on this is from various games like the old Wing Commander spin-off "Privateer" to more modern versions like Black Desert for example.
2.) Also include regional only blocks of goods to trade as well (perhaps even some rares showing up).
3.) While players COULD carry these goods on them back and forth, there eventually would be pack animals, carts, wagons, carriages, etc for transport between trade regions. Limiting factors to getting them could be costs of acquisition, built materials (for crafted ones), and maybe quest for starter variants.
4.) The pricing for goods when selling to another area would be both influenced by players, some RNG to represent changes instead of flat/same rates all the time, and perhaps "regional events" which affect those areas.
5.) Crafters could be given new recipes, craft incentives/old UO BoD type stuff, or the ability to use some of these goods in lieu of other materials, rarer may substitute T2-T3 and so on. Crafters could also offer to pay more for the goods so players bringing their goods over will sell to them instead.
6.) Turn-in NPCs where these goods would generally be sold to would hold onto them until a certain number was aquired and/or time period transpired before those goods would show up in their wares. However, the pricing will be much higher than in the region of origin of the gooods and there would only be "x" amount to be sold in a time period, regardless of how much was sold to it, so it wouldnt overflow markets and the goods would still be limited.
7.) Have regional objectives pop up where different goods are more sought after due to some kind of an event in the area. For example, the local militia near Etceter may put up an alert that it's army needs more of "x" and "y" in order to supply troops or build "Z" to fight off cabalists. Or could be to "rebuild" homes of those affected by the sieges, etc etc. Then you could get more for certain goods though it may be riskier going there due to random encounters. Also, these wouldn't be limited to traders, could be things for adventurers/fighters to tackle as well.
8.) Random encounters - If you're running regional trade missions for the special requests/tasks, then you could possibly have greater encounters or *special* encounters along the way instead of the typical roving scenarios we have on the roads now. These would only affect those with the trade missions (maybe make it a quest when selected? so it differentiates from others) and not other travelers.
9.) Incentives for Multiplayer Mode - If you choose to do these things in private/party mode, you do have that option, however... the incentive would be that if you do it in multiplayer mode, you would get full returns for goods and xp. Outside of multiplayer mode, you would only receive 70% of the gold you would make and only 70% of the exp earned (or more depending on results). This way more would be inclined to go overworld where everyone could see player moving around.
10.) Doing the trade runs and trade missions would net you gold, producer xp and a bit of adventure xp so you're still gaining some constantly.

What would this do for everyone?
PROS:
1.) You would actually have the Regional Economy in the game now.
2.) You would have reasons to visit other trade regions in game.
3.) You would get Pack Animals!
4.) You would get carts, wagons, carriages, boats for transporting goods, mounts!
5.) You would have and actually see more players running across the map, be it on foot, wagon, boat, etc, and more would be inclined to play in Multiplayer Mode (still doesn't help for those just fighting/grinding, but its a start).
6.) You would get additional means of travel/fast(er?) travel.
7.) You would have new goods introduced into the game to trade, as well as rares.
8.) Would give new things for crafters to chase for or deal in
9.) Would create hot spots of activity for events to pop up.
10.) Creates an alternate way of earning money and producer xp.
11.) Creates a base turn-in NPC for craft/trade goods, which then could be used for other things, like the example of UO's BoD system above.
12.) Possible added fun of new random encounters for those on trade missions and events.

As for CONS and possible other PROS, I'll leave that to you. If you think's its a worthy endeavor, please feel free to add your 2 cents on how to make it better or viable with the game.

But it may not be popular or people may want the team to work on other bigger issues atm, and I can't blame them. Thought it would be a decent idea nonetheless.

 

Majority is not synonymous with Correct, lol!

It's working as intended.

Agreed. This is blasphemy!

Has no bearing on the desire for exploration. This is strictly a "QoL" ask.

This is how real estate works. Location is everything. Not every property is supposed to be valuable.

While we're at it, let's bring back the need to spam "Vendor Buy! Vendor Sell! Guards!". I miss that.

Let's worry about getting the first Great, before achieving it 'again'.

Good Night! Sleep Well Avatar!