oneADseven said:Tanix said:EQ 2 did that, it failed in many ways to eliminate the process of making travel significant. EQ 2's travel I felt to be a shallow replacement to what existed in EQ. /shrug
I'm guessing that you're selectively reading here. EQ2 did one of the four things that I suggested, which is the attunement process. There were no faction requirements or meaningful quests associated with unlocking them. There was a one-time server event prior to KoS that unlocked some of the spires for the entire server but that isn't what I was suggesting. Once they were unlocked, anybody could walk up to them and voila, they were attuned. There were no random/dynamic events that prevented players from using them and there was no XP-cost reagent. The spires/rings could function as a traditional key/flag system. Every player would need to unlock the flag/key individually before they could interact/attune, but even then, it would still cost an XP reagent.
Not at all, regardless if a player had to jump through hoops to gain the reward (the quest line to open up the ring to Zek was initally a long an involved one), it doesn't matter to me. That is, travel being invalidated by accomplishing a task is the very point I am making. Such constructs are counter to healthy development. My polnt is, no means of fast travel should be provided to players because they experienced the content of an area. Regardless if they have searched every inch of a zone, or brought pies to the monarchs of it, travel should still be an obstacle. /shrug
Tanix said:Not at all, regardless if a player had to jump through hoops to gain the reward (the quest line to open up the ring to Zek was initally a long an involved one), it doesn't matter to me. That is, travel being invalidated by accomplishing a task is the very point I am making. Such constructs are counter to healthy development. My polnt is, no means of fast travel should be provided to players because they experienced the content of an area. Regardless if they have searched every inch of a zone, or brought pies to the monarchs of it, travel should still be an obstacle. /shrug
My point is that your claim that EQ2 already did what I suggested was a far reach from being accurate. If you're going to quote me and reduce my post to a "That was already done and it was failed/shallow" kind of comment, at least have your facts in order. As far as Pantheon is concerned, it's been suggested quite consistently over the years that teleportation abilities would allow players to fast travel to other locations, but only after they travel there manually first. Both the druid and wizard have teleportation abilities per their official reveals. In the end, I hope the teleportation process is far more involved and demanding than not. I agree that travel was shallow in EQ2 which is why your response didn't make any sense to me. That's the exact kind of situation I would want to avoid and my post was predicated around that mindset.
Yeah I don't think they are buying either, given we already know two classes will have teleportation spells. Also you seem to be arguing for more tedious travel than even EQ (where you could get pretty much anywhere within 15 minutes with a port) which I wouldn't count in being a thing. And of course the FAQ:
19.0 What can you tell me about travel in Pantheon? Will there be teleportation? Will there be any limits or restrictions?
Pantheon will have meaningful travel -- players will need to travel to new areas and face the dangers that come with such a journey. That said, there will be spells like 'Call of the Hero', which summons an ally to your side if they are grouped with you. There will also be a caravan-like system, where a player can log out whilst in a group and then log back in and still be with the group, even if that group has moved. There will also be additional ways to help groups come together and stay together. But it's also important to note that this doesn't mean people will be able to travel as they please, to anywhere in the world, at a whim; especially if they haven't travelled there by foot or horse at least once (e.g. players will need to unlock certain regions by travelling there first). More details to come as we get closer to beta and launch.19.1 Will there be mounts and other ways to increase a player’s travel speed?
Yes, there will be a variety of mounts, as well as spells and abilities that can be obtained which increase travel speed. Players will also be able to acquire items for their characters that allow them to climb vertical surfaces.
oneADseven said:Here are a few things I'd like to see when it comes to teleportation:
1) Before any player is eligible to teleport to a location, they must first visit the druid ring or teleportation spire in person and attune to it.
1A) The attunement process could have several prerequisites, depending on how exotic the location is. There could be a faction requirement or a quest that needs to be completed. There could be some sort of deity favor cost where you have to sacrifice items to an altar.
1B) The "event system" could include random scenarios where these spires/rings are taken over by hostile NPC's. During this time, players wouldn't be able to utilize their teleportation abilities. Players would have to travel to these locations manually and then clear them of threats before they become active again.
2) There should be some sort of reagent cost for the player being teleported. Ideally, this reagent could only be purchased with XP. Wizards/Druids would be exempt from this cost.
I am a huge fan of meaningful travel and I don't think teleportation spells should enable a flippant mindset when it comes to navigating the world. By attaching an XP cost you're essentially trading time for time. If you are attuned to the spire, and it isn't taken over by NPC's, and you have the reagent necessary, then you can make the decision on whether or not you should utilize a teleportation spell. While I can appreciate the history of emergent "Taxi Services" in MMO's, I feel like many players have grown accustomed to having these sorts of things available. It makes the world feel small when you're a button click away from circumventing meaningful travel requirements.
As long as there is an appropriate cost for the action, I think teleportation spells are reasonable. As we know, though, there will be plenty of players offering their services for free, or maybe with an expectation of some sort of tip. It shouldn't be that easy, and it shouldn't be that simple. Where you are in the world, what you are doing, and where you are bound ... all of these things should matter. I want to see a return to the feeling where players can feel far away from "home." This is a core ingredient of the "adventure recipe" that has fizzled away over the years. Getting this right would have a pretty big impact on regional trade markets and that's really important seeing that a flourishing player driven economy is key to Pantheon.
Here, I quoted it so you can read your original post, the ONLY thing you say about Wizards and Druids is
oneADseven said:2) There should be some sort of reagent cost for the player being teleported. Ideally, this reagent could only be purchased with XP. Wizards/Druids would be exempt from this cost.
You specificly state a player being teleported would have to pay with an Xp regant, Wizards and Druids would be exempt from the cost. So what you have laid out is everybody that has been there ports, just Wizards and Druids port free. This is INDEED counter to the point Tanix is trying to make. that you seems to fail to see due to "This is not how it worked in EQ2" Ok we get it... EQ2 didn't do it like that.
If thats not what you ment maybe you should be more clear and quit putting people down and trying to discredit there arguments to save face for yourself when you fail to explain yourself clearly.
ok i don't want my answer to start any fights. i usualy don't like to post where fights have already started. But the topic is a good one.
The OP simply asked: how long is too long for a group to wait while waiting on someone to travel.
I agree with what most are saying: 5 to 15 (maybe 20) in general. but there is more to that question... think of EQ 1: if i were in EC Tunnel; i could /shout LFG in gen chat; lev 13-ish. i could easily reach Lava Storm (Nejena) or Upper Guk, either one, in less than 15 minutes. Specially if i could snag a sow.
I wouldn't try looking for a group in Unrest or MM if i were standing in Halas and had no fast travel. if i want to group in MM or Unrest etc. i should travel, THEN look for a group in that area.
For "other" types of travel, i don't want teleports all over the place. I think there should be 1 wiz portal per continent and 1 druid ring per continent. And a couple boats.
I also like "origin" and "gate" options too. (along with Bind Affinity) that gives 2 fast travel points. i like having 2 self travels.
I hope zone layout in Pantheon follows that "magic" in EQ where City's separated things and made it a challenge to get there. To get to Lava, Najena, Sol A or Sol B, you HAD to go thru Nek forest, home of the dark elves. To take the "Fastest" route from EC to Qeynos, you had to deal with HHK guards (i was KOS as Dark Elf). Going the long way, you HAD the cut thru Ogguk (ogre home) and the swamp, which was the troll home.
The story that had "you have been killed by rahetop" was awesome. You should be able to die in every single zone of the game. That was there rest of the magic in EQ travel. in EC you could be lev 2 or 40 and die to a griffon or hill giant or shadowmen. Not to mention the other 75 kinds of mobs that roamed the zone.
I am open to many ideas on the subject of travel. i just always go back to EQ1 i loved how travel was really hard at first and got easier at High level.
Going to try and put this back on track.
In order for travel to be "meaningful" it should be a large enough obstacle to impede ALL players, regardless of level or achievement. Even for those who gain ablities, items, etc... travel should always be a long an aduos journey. You should not reach a point where travel becomes insignificant because you have all the speed and abilty to remove the obstacle. Travel should always be an obstacle regardless, but those achievement should give a noticable effect to be an accomplishment concerning the obstacle of travel.
As I said, people should always seek to gain help through ports and run speed regardless of level of achievement. I think in order to retain this level of obstacle in travel, travel must be much longer in general to what I see many here describe. As some have pointed out, what purpose is there in having all these travel aids (spells, abilities, items, etc...) if travel is only minutes of time anyway. Travel should be an obstacle even with these aids.
People say they don't have time to travel and group in a given dungeon in the same play session. Correct, if you likely only have a couple hours of play, you won't be able to accomplish much if travel is meaingful. That said, you can plan ahead, pick a location you plan to group at and take a day or two to travel there, then log out ready for your next session to group in a given area. This was how many of us in EQ grouped due to the time it took to travel, we planned our groupings.
As I said previously, I would prefer a more restrictive application of ports than that which was in EQ, but mainly because I really want to preserve the signifiance of travel because it has an effect on more things than just world size. It has subtle effects on everything we discuss from trade, death, class/player interaction, recovery, exploration, etc... You change one simple thing and it can cascade throughout the game having numerous unforseen subtle consequences in play. That is why I think EQ was in many ways the perfect storm of features that created a very addictive and immersive experience and I would like to see that spirit recaptured with Pantheon.
oneADseven said:1) Before any player is eligible to teleport to a location, they must first visit the druid ring or teleportation spire in person and attune to it.
When EQ1 released the Velious expansion, there were dragon rings scattered throughout the continent. Before players could port to or be ported to those locations they first had the visit the ring and pick up some shard thing off the ground. Wile I can see why this was done, to slow the progression of players through the continent, that slowdown lasted about a week. Within just a few days everyone who wanted to go to Velious had their dragon ring shards. Quite quickly the need to go there first was just removed. In the long run being forced to visit the location first had no effect at all.
I still find it funny that people are quoting the FAQ as if that is some document written in stone, describing with utter surity what will be in this game 2 years from now when it is released. That FAQ is an out-of-date list of hopes and desires that should be taken with a huge grain of salt. Stop using it as the basis for whatever argument you are trying to defend/present.
Pyye said: Any of you want to discuss “Travel Time”??
Yes, I would actually.
Travel time is a necessary time sink. It helps slow down progress through the game, increasing the amount of time necessary to go through all the content provided. Getting around too quickly forces developers to create new content in a shorter time span. Then there is the point that reaching the furthest corners of the world, well away from civilization, where the lands are filled with the most deadly of creatures, should take quite a length of time to get there. The rewards you can earn, the XP you can gain, have an upfront cost that needs to be paid..that of time. Just as the greater the reward the greater the risk involved, so should there be a greater investment of time necessary.
Put a teleport location too close and you not only increase the speed at which players can consume content you make the time cost to reach that content irrelevant.
I look back at EQ1, again, to see where the wizard portals/druid rings were located and they were not all that convenient really when you compare their location to the highest zone nearest to them. Only the Lavastorm druid ring was actually the most convenient portal for reaching a dungeon, literally a 5 second run from the portal to the SolB zoneline. What did the North Karana wizard portal get you near that was actually worthwhile? Nothing. Then there was the Cazic Thule wizard portal which was more a deathtrap than anything approaching convenience. Kunark was no better really. The Dreadlands portal were clear across a huge zone from Karnor's Castle and without levitate and SoW it was fraught with danger. Getting to Sebilis was quite a run no matter what. The Dragon Rings in Velious were again not hugely convenient for quite a good portion of the continent. Temple of Veeshan and Dragon Necropolis were both a danger filled run even if you did port into Cobalt Scar. It was PoP that truly shrunk the world and made travel immaterial and forever irrelevant.
So while some people want to put a hard number on the length of time needed to get from any point A to any point B, that is a lousy way to look at it. Time needs to be commensurate with the boons one expects to get from the destination.
Vandraad said:When EQ1 released the Velious expansion, there were dragon rings scattered throughout the continent. Before players could port to or be ported to those locations they first had the visit the ring and pick up some shard thing off the ground. Wile I can see why this was done, to slow the progression of players through the continent, that slowdown lasted about a week. Within just a few days everyone who wanted to go to Velious had their dragon ring shards. Quite quickly the need to go there first was just removed. In the long run being forced to visit the location first had no effect at all.
Which is why I followed that up with additional details of how the attunement process could be more involved. If it's as simple as visiting the location and picking something up from the ground, of course it isn't going to be that effective. I think this is an opportunity to create meaningful quests, faction implications, and real-time events.
Vandraad said:I still find it funny that people are quoting the FAQ as if that is some document written in stone, describing with utter surity what will be in this game 2 years from now when it is released. That FAQ is an out-of-date list of hopes and desires that should be taken with a huge grain of salt. Stop using it as the basis for whatever argument you are trying to defend/present.
I disagree with your assessment. I don't use it as something that is "written in stone" but rather to provide insight on the "hopes and desires" that have been expressed. If you think it makes more sense for people to base their arguments off of personal hopes and desires rather than something that has been directly connected with the plan for the game, no matter how farfetched that may be, that's your prerogative. It's also important to consider context. We see a lot of comments that suggest something like "That would defeat the entire point of the game!" When someone says something like that, it can be easily refuted by cross-referencing it with the "hopes and desires" that explain, even if in vague detail, the underlying design goal of whatever topic is being discussed.
For example ... if someone says that the entire point of the game is to be terrified of death, I think it's easy to dispute that claim. The death penalty is a hot topic and it's been explained very consistently over the years that while VR wants players to respect the environment, and even fear it, they also want them to be enticed by it. They don't want to discourage players from adventuring/exploring or taking risks so there is a bit of a balance that needs to be struck. Maintaining a hard position against that mindset runs counter to the vision. We're all free to analyze the information that has been revealed and draw conclusions. If someone were to come into a thread and say the entire point of the game is about raiding, it's pretty much a guarantee that others would respond by referencing the FAQ that very clearly states otherwise. This allows for discussion to remain on-topic and within the context of this game rather than hopes and desires of seeing it emulate something else. If you have a better basis for argument (especially when it involves hard stances that attempt to invalidate the position of someone else) please feel free to share.
oneADseven said:Vandraad said:When EQ1 released the Velious expansion, there were dragon rings scattered throughout the continent. Before players could port to or be ported to those locations they first had the visit the ring and pick up some shard thing off the ground. Wile I can see why this was done, to slow the progression of players through the continent, that slowdown lasted about a week. Within just a few days everyone who wanted to go to Velious had their dragon ring shards. Quite quickly the need to go there first was just removed. In the long run being forced to visit the location first had no effect at all.
Which is why I followed that up with additional details of how the attunement process could be more involved. If it's as simple as visiting the location and picking something up from the ground, of course it isn't going to be that effective. I think this is an opportunity to create meaningful quests, faction implications, and real-time events.
If the quest is finite, then it is as he is saying, it will be done and then won't be of any value anymore. Content where the player can circumvent something as important as travel by doing a one time quest is poor design in my opinion. Travel must stay as an obstacle even when people gain rewards that aid in it.
There is already an expectation that teleportation spells will be in-game. It was just mentioned in the newsletter that both wizards and druids will be able to teleport. My post isn't meant to come off as a way to "circumvent travel" but rather increase the requirements necessary before a player can be eligible to teleport to a given location. In other words ... the game can function like EQ where you had to pick something up from the ground and then you're eligible to receive a teleport to that location. Or ... there could be other requirements that extend far beyond picking something up from the ground. The attunement process could include layers of questing and faction, and the druid ring / wizard spire could also be tied into an event system where enemies take them over. I have zero desire to see teleportation and fast travel more accessible. I'm fine with them existing but I'd like to see an involved attunement process and an XP reagent (consumed by the player receiving the teleport) that helps ensure that players don't leverage fast travel so flippantly.
On the topic of "unlocking" teleports:
What if, in order to execute a group teleport, you needed a very rare dropped or harvested reagent that came from the place you were teleporting to? This reagent would be consumed on casting the spell. Thus, even if you knew the spell to teleport your group somewhere, if you lacked the reagent, you wouldn't be able to take them to that place. Likewise, if you used up your last one, you wouldn't be able to teleport to that place again until you acquired more.
Obviously there are many, many details that would have to be thought through. For example, is the reagent a requirement for the caster only or for everyone in the group? Is the reagent flagged lore so that people can only have one at a time? Is it tradable? Just how hard is it to acquire and how do you prevent someone from trying to monopolize the supply of it? I don't have the answers to any of those questions - this is just a simple idea after all. However, if implemented well, could this concept potentially prevent group teleports from becoming too convenient for players?
Nephele said:On the topic of "unlocking" teleports:
What if, in order to execute a group teleport, you needed a very rare dropped or harvested reagent that came from the place you were teleporting to? This reagent would be consumed on casting the spell. Thus, even if you knew the spell to teleport your group somewhere, if you lacked the reagent, you wouldn't be able to take them to that place. Likewise, if you used up your last one, you wouldn't be able to teleport to that place again until you acquired more.
Obviously there are many, many details that would have to be thought through. For example, is the reagent a requirement for the caster only or for everyone in the group? Is the reagent flagged lore so that people can only have one at a time? Is it tradable? Just how hard is it to acquire and how do you prevent someone from trying to monopolize the supply of it? I don't have the answers to any of those questions - this is just a simple idea after all. However, if implemented well, could this concept potentially prevent group teleports from becoming too convenient for players?
That would mostly kill the spells or otherwise make them only used to make money. Even with commonly available/purchasable items this tends to be the case.
Just like how mana regening takes time...travel should take time. This was discussed before in another thread basically about port classes or everyone should be able to port. Some people think they have a right to travel fast, just like the druid/wizard, but will allow something like the enchanter to monpolize clarity, which regens mana and makes your group way more efficient at killing with little down time.
I am for druids/wizards having to travel to unlock their respective spires. That's fine. Maybe Each spire/ring will have a vendor like EQ where you can buy spells for your class.
In terms of traveling I measure it by EQ, since that is the only MMO I have played where travel meant something. When people say 5-15 mins, like the OP, are you under the assumption I am in Qeynos with no speed buffs and wanting to go to Blackburrow(little less than 5 mins), or Permafrost(around 10 mins)? If so then that isn't what should be discussed. If we are talking about going from Qeynos to Freeport lets say that should take 15 mins or something...then the world you want will be very small indeed. I would think Qeynos to Freeport should of been a longer run than it was in EQ.
Now lets take the longetivity of the game into consideration. I find it would be a lot more healthy if Druids/Wizards are the only people to port for a few reasons. One, it gives them something unique that reduces time, like Enchanter with Clarity, clerics with the 98% rez, Shaman with canni, etc. All of these abilities reduce time in some way. So arguing that this is a strawman because I point this out is very stupid imo. Second, these classes don't get ports right away, so everyone will be stuck in the same boat for awhile exploring the mysteries of this game.Thirdly, by the time these classes get ports, if designed correctly, then people complaining about running back though a zone for the nth time can just get a port to an area that is close to where they want to go.
Thread cleaned up of most off-topic and personal attacking posts.
This needs to stop folks, petty arguments are growing in number and creating work for me, they are in breach of the guidelines and further action will no be taken if people act in a hostile, over opinionated or overbearing manner.
Our community is a very mature and social one and I take exception to a few people disrupting the normal positive vibe on these forums as it ripples out across the wider gaming community too, so again, please be respectful and if someone doesn't agree with you, just walk away or risk further action taken for inciting or engaging in inflammatory back and forth discussions.
Iksar said:Nephele said:On the topic of "unlocking" teleports:
What if, in order to execute a group teleport, you needed a very rare dropped or harvested reagent that came from the place you were teleporting to? This reagent would be consumed on casting the spell. Thus, even if you knew the spell to teleport your group somewhere, if you lacked the reagent, you wouldn't be able to take them to that place. Likewise, if you used up your last one, you wouldn't be able to teleport to that place again until you acquired more.
Obviously there are many, many details that would have to be thought through. For example, is the reagent a requirement for the caster only or for everyone in the group? Is the reagent flagged lore so that people can only have one at a time? Is it tradable? Just how hard is it to acquire and how do you prevent someone from trying to monopolize the supply of it? I don't have the answers to any of those questions - this is just a simple idea after all. However, if implemented well, could this concept potentially prevent group teleports from becoming too convenient for players?
That would mostly kill the spells or otherwise make them only used to make money. Even with commonly available/purchasable items this tends to be the case.
@Iksar - are you just basing this on how peridot-buffs worked in EQ? Or is there more to it than that? Not questioning your opinion, just trying to better understand the scenario that you see playing out here. :)
I think the 5-15 minute travel time you suggest is good but not from anywhere in the world. There should be kind of a centralized area in different regions of the world where people could set up base. Regionalized marketplaces sound like they will be a thing. These areas should have bankers, vendors with the basics, and of course be able to bind there. From these hubs you should be able to get to at least one major city and zones to group in with in 15 minutes. Of course without global chat channels people will have to run zone to zone LFG or hang out in the hubs where a lot of groups will probably form.
Lotro online has massive maps and alow mounts.
This may be fine at the start when players are amazed by it all, but devs needs to think long term, that amazing landscape we love now we will grow to hate decades later when we need to keep slowly riding past it.
Fast mounts basically :)
Grimseethe said:Lotro online has massive maps and alow mounts.
This may be fine at the start when players are amazed by it all, but devs needs to think long term, that amazing landscape we love now we will grow to hate decades later when we need to keep slowly riding past it.
Fast mounts basically :)
When your high level, but can't teleport, it nothing to drop 20GP to a lower level player who can teleport. In turn the lower level charater can't tank, but they can teleport. I rogue can't teleport, but can drop a rope. Class interdependencies solves the travel problem and is beneficial to all.
and ofcourse mounts in due time.
Nephele said:On the topic of "unlocking" teleports:
What if, in order to execute a group teleport, you needed a very rare dropped or harvested reagent that came from the place you were teleporting to? This reagent would be consumed on casting the spell. Thus, even if you knew the spell to teleport your group somewhere, if you lacked the reagent, you wouldn't be able to take them to that place. Likewise, if you used up your last one, you wouldn't be able to teleport to that place again until you acquired more.
Obviously there are many, many details that would have to be thought through. For example, is the reagent a requirement for the caster only or for everyone in the group? Is the reagent flagged lore so that people can only have one at a time? Is it tradable? Just how hard is it to acquire and how do you prevent someone from trying to monopolize the supply of it? I don't have the answers to any of those questions - this is just a simple idea after all. However, if implemented well, could this concept potentially prevent group teleports from becoming too convenient for players?
I could see a combination of OneADseven's 'atunement' and your reagent. You do first need to go there and 'stand around' for some period of time to attune to the location, then, to teleport to or be teleported to you also need a reagent. I wouldn't make it a rare drop, but something you do need to acquire from the area (perhaps a gem/ore from a local harvesting node). Make it stackable, allow collection through the generic harvesting skill so you can keep a bunch on your at all times. This then gives industrious people a marketable item so some people can just buy the reagent off the market while others, if they so desire, can just collect their own.
Caine said:and ofcourse mounts in due time.
The problem with mounts is they become a one time solution for all. The very essence of mounts is a class circumvention requirement in play. Think of it in the same way that PoP invalidated ports from specific classes, so would mounts invalidate run buffs from every class.
What I don't want to see is the game sunset its abilities. That is, like old EQ did and many MMOs, players were given faster and faster solutions that everyone could get until the point where everyone could achieve the same results in those areas, there by making the special abilities those classes provided, generic and useless outside of their own personal use.
The goal is to require all classes to be dependent on each other regardless of level or achievement. This is also why I am a bit leery on giving items that provide speed buffs to players. Journeyman boots were ok, but they were never as fast as the class spells.
Now you could do the same thing with a mount, but I think the mount should be as difficult to get as the JBoots were if that is the case. What you don't want to do is allow everyone to pick up an item as such quickly, it should be a coveted item regardless of level (as a monk, I used JBoots all the way up the levels).
I brought up an idea a while ago about how you could avoid the game running into this problem by attaching a development system to a zone, even having items/spells/skills and sub levels be specific to a zone. The benefit of this is that if someone obtains a cap of achievement to a zone, it doesn't translate to the next zone, so there is always a means to progress vertically while you horozontial move throughout the game. You may be in a desert zone where you learn skills specific to that desert (run speed, vision distance, identification of the wildlife, etc..), you may find items that help specifically to that zone, but are less useful outside of it.
Point is to keep a continual obstacle of progression. Run speed can be a real problem if it isn't carefully implemented as you end up with everyone running around at bard speed, invalidating class differnce, travel obstacles, dangers, etc... while at the same time creating future development problems due to the fact that you can only make players run so fast.
@Tanix Nice thoughts. I also do not want to see something like mounts sunset a great game’s abilities. I want Pantheon to be great; not go down the direction of games that have either failed or are losing subs by the millions. Anyway, your ideas and points on travel/speed are well-taken. :)
#communitymatters #makenightmatteragain #riskvsreward
Vandraad said:Nephele said:On the topic of "unlocking" teleports:
What if, in order to execute a group teleport, you needed a very rare dropped or harvested reagent that came from the place you were teleporting to? This reagent would be consumed on casting the spell. Thus, even if you knew the spell to teleport your group somewhere, if you lacked the reagent, you wouldn't be able to take them to that place. Likewise, if you used up your last one, you wouldn't be able to teleport to that place again until you acquired more.
Obviously there are many, many details that would have to be thought through. For example, is the reagent a requirement for the caster only or for everyone in the group? Is the reagent flagged lore so that people can only have one at a time? Is it tradable? Just how hard is it to acquire and how do you prevent someone from trying to monopolize the supply of it? I don't have the answers to any of those questions - this is just a simple idea after all. However, if implemented well, could this concept potentially prevent group teleports from becoming too convenient for players?
I could see a combination of OneADseven's 'atunement' and your reagent. You do first need to go there and 'stand around' for some period of time to attune to the location, then, to teleport to or be teleported to you also need a reagent. I wouldn't make it a rare drop, but something you do need to acquire from the area (perhaps a gem/ore from a local harvesting node). Make it stackable, allow collection through the generic harvesting skill so you can keep a bunch on your at all times. This then gives industrious people a marketable item so some people can just buy the reagent off the market while others, if they so desire, can just collect their own.
If the item is a rare drop, you end up tying ones ability to find travel of this nature to the random number generator, which creates problems in itself. Risk vs reward is important here. If the time and effort to seek a port is more than the time to run to the place on foot, well... the risk is far more costly than the reward.
I don't think it needs to be that involved. Just place port locations in areas that are "risky" (ie you can get attacked if you aren't careful) and are not close travel points to a specific location (dungeon, city, etc...). The player then can reduce their travel time using the ports, but.. there is still a requirement of travel, just a reduced one and the danger is present in the areas they are at. How dangerous, and how far they should be away from those points is the key. It should feel like an advantage to use a port, but it shouldn't be such an advantage it circumvents the obstacle of travel, merely aids in the process.
I would not like to see game play aspects tethered to the player trade market as it always tends to end up in abuses and gimmicks, especially when the plat sellers get involved. I think every requirement in play should be achieved through play specifically and not allowed for advantage using the player trade market.