Hi All! Can anyone shed some light on how zone travel will work? Will there be stations that you can go to with mounts (I assume there will be, but heck you never know)? Will you be able to travel easily from continent to continent?
As for mounts, for the base mount will it be expensive to the point where it is hard work? I hope that is the case where a mount is a true achievement to have and not easily given out. I remember being a new player to EQ and other MMOs and seeing players with a mount (even if the mount was a nag of a horse). I remember thinking that is really cool. That is something to work for and achieve. \
Thanks!
I do get the impression travel is going to be intended to be meaningful and not involve a lot of click button>go to place types of fast travel.
Which I am totally fine with.
I don't know that there's been any discussion of mounts, especially not any specifics. I like the idea of mounts being a somewhat prestige item, at least to initially acquire. I don't really have a problem with there being a lot of cosmestic options that are fairly easy to acquire once you have the ability to use mounts, and then possibly some few that are much cooler or have better stats or whatever, that are more difficult to obtain.
The team has talked about mounts from a technical perspective in the very distant past but nothing recent or really indicative of the current vision for player travel other than a pretty firm statement that flying mounts will not be considered for launch. As you might guess, we supporters have a lot of widely varying opinions on how things could/should work.
I think a safe assumption might be that the game launches without mounts at all, and then we potentially get them later in an expansion or a patch. I think this is perfectly acceptable, it would allow VR to determine the best way to add them in to enhance the game experience without making travel too easy.
here's a discussioin on mounts :)
https://www.pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/10427/community-debate-keeping-it-purely-immersive/view/post_id/200957
From the FAQ:
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.
19.2 Will there be flying mounts?
While there will certainly be flying NPCs, whether or not players will have the ability to fly is undecided at this point. What we can say is that if we do offer flying mounts, either before or after launch, the goal will be to make travel more fun; not to allow players to avoid, bypass, or skip over large chunks of content.
We've not finalized how sea travel will work at launch, but eventually you'll be able to sail ships around the world (definitely post-launch). Before all of that is implemented, however, and by launch, some limited class abilities like those that teleport you over land would likely teleport you over water as well.
As for Swimming, it is not only an option but a very important skill with one of our player races being aquatic. Spells and items that give your character underwater breathing can also be obtained.
bigben0 said:Hi All! Can anyone shed some light on how zone travel will work? Will there be stations that you can go to with mounts (I assume there will be, but heck you never know)? Will you be able to travel easily from continent to continent?
As for mounts, for the base mount will it be expensive to the point where it is hard work? I hope that is the case where a mount is a true achievement to have and not easily given out. I remember being a new player to EQ and other MMOs and seeing players with a mount (even if the mount was a nag of a horse). I remember thinking that is really cool. That is something to work for and achieve. \
Thanks!
Ever heard of Oregon Trail game? It will be like that.
https://classicreload.com/oregon-trail.html
Or Dark Souls, where you barely make it alive to the next campfire.
welcome weary traveler to the stellar express!
we take great pride in our teleportation services. our reagent hunters ensure the highest quality materials that prevent you from falling from the skies *chuckles*!
our failure is 50% less than our leading competitor! that's at 75% success rate in which you won't die :D
emergency insurance package including a two minute slow fall and waterbreathing potion with option increase duration ^.^
-stellar express teleportation accuracy is guaranteed to land you with a 50 leagues radius-
the wizard council in regards to transportation magic bureau is not liable for any incidents or accidents that may occur in regards to teleportation. use of portals is more stable. please support public portals even though it costs 7000% more money than private teleportation mages. your life is more important than a cheap and affordable way to get around. use portals not teleporters or those filthy primative ways of 'getting around'. advisory mandate by the tmb.
Watemper said:@Aich lol Oregon trail....good times.
LOL yeah man, even better on Floppy disk :P I swear tho thats how EQ1 felt to me, you had to plan, even for a Kelethin to Kaladim run, and dont you dare get off that road else you lost for days.
Yeah meaningful traveling is the best, honestly as for mounts I could care less if they ever exsist, especially no to flying for sure, though but if mounts didn't exsist for at least 2 expats I wpuld be fine with that, as it a way to still communicate with the community and everything else that goes into traveling being meaningful.
bigben0 said:Hi All! Can anyone shed some light on how zone travel will work? Will there be stations that you can go to with mounts (I assume there will be, but heck you never know)? Will you be able to travel easily from continent to continent?
As for mounts, for the base mount will it be expensive to the point where it is hard work? I hope that is the case where a mount is a true achievement to have and not easily given out. I remember being a new player to EQ and other MMOs and seeing players with a mount (even if the mount was a nag of a horse). I remember thinking that is really cool. That is something to work for and achieve. \
Thanks!
Frankly, I hope there are no mounts. For a game with a core tenet of class interdependence, circumventing your slow run speed or lack of strength with a mount seems counter to the values of the game. If there are mounts that just carry everything for you, then why have weight limits, and if there are no weight limits, then why have a mount? /shrug
‘meaningful travel’- now there’s a subjective description.
Its going to be a difficult balancing act to make travel more than trivial but less than time-wasting.
The nostalgia for EQ circa 1999, is highly romanticized at times here.
I have no delusions that spending the majority of my limited playtime travelling (as frequently happened in original EQ) will in any way be a supportable or desired feature to today’s game player.
But, I am always willing to give VR the benefit of the doubt to reformulate old skool mechanics without the old skool problems.
Grayel said:I have no delusions that spending the majority of my limited playtime travelling (as frequently happened in original EQ) will in any way be a supportable or desired feature to today’s game player.
If by "today’s game player" you mean "the vast majority of people playing computer games" you may actually be right, but that's immaterial here because Pantheon is deliberately targetted at a niche market. We are still many here (I sincerely hope) who actually see travelling as playing the game rather than a waste of time. This does not mean that we expect to spend most of our time running, it just means that we want locality to matter.
Jabir said:Grayel said:I have no delusions that spending the majority of my limited playtime travelling (as frequently happened in original EQ) will in any way be a supportable or desired feature to today’s game player.
If by "today’s game player" you mean "the vast majority of people playing computer games" you may actually be right, but that's immaterial here because Pantheon is deliberately targetted at a niche market. We are still many here (I sincerely hope) who actually see travelling as playing the game rather than a waste of time. This does not mean that we expect to spend most of our time running, it just means that we want locality to matter.
There is a line between meaningful travel and a waste of time, though. Running from Kelethin to Qeynos the first time was an amazing and terrifying adventure full of wonder and discovery.
The second time it was just a hassle. Long travel times shrink the world because people want to join groups and play the game, not run across the world only hoping there will either be a group there or the group they're joining will survive the wait. They will end up just staying in their own little corners instead of exploring.
I'm not saying we need instant click fast travel to all cities or anything like that, but long travel times for the sake of long travel times don't actually offer anything to the game experience.
Being able to unlock and use mounts with faster run speeds than players have normally is a decent compromise between keeping distance meaningful but not making it a tedious chore to be avoided.
Jabir said:Grayel said:I have no delusions that spending the majority of my limited playtime travelling (as frequently happened in original EQ) will in any way be a supportable or desired feature to today’s game player.
If by "today’s game player" you mean "the vast majority of people playing computer games" you may actually be right, but that's immaterial here because Pantheon is deliberately targetted at a niche market. We are still many here (I sincerely hope) who actually see travelling as playing the game rather than a waste of time. This does not mean that we expect to spend most of our time running, it just means that we want locality to matter.
Actually Jabir, we agree more than we disagree - probably- I wish you also quoted the part where I said- "Its going to be a difficult balancing act to make travel more than trivial but less than time-wasting."
I am an explorer at heart, I love checking out all the nooks and crannies, discovering vistas, and the odd little touches that the hard-working devs throw in out of boredom and humor. WHEN I WANT TO. I don't need/desire the artificiality of running for running's sake (to make the world feel bigger) and begging for a SoW- those days are gone I hope. I want the wide-world to matter when you want it to!I am very excited for the Perception System, I think it has amazing potential to make exploring a viable part of the game for more than those who just love to explore for exploring's sake alone.
However, I don't want the old EQ slog, maybe some do. I hope that travel is designed to be an aid to grouping and getting to where you need to be. That being said-
I think (and hope) that there is a "meaningful" balance between trivial and time-wasting when it comes to travel. Not everyone is an explorer, so the game needs to meet their needs too.
I know that I am willing to trudge all over the place WHEN I FEEL LIKE EXPLORING- but is everyone? That's my concern, hitting that sweet spot that staisfies most (you can't please everyone).
Crazzie said:Here is a good joke for everyone... How many games have you played in the last 10 years that are "walking sims?"
lol funny
Everyone wants a nice long journey but when it comes down to it even the Owl takes the shortcut to the center of the toosie pop.
For the young crowd, here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6rHeD5x2tI
And here it is again. People ruined by expections of their own self importance.
Travel
Death
Exp
Grouping
It's easy to see why games changed from being good for the right reasons (challenge, requiring patience, punishing carelessness, encouraging socializing) to being bad for the obvious reasons (people complaining about their own self importance, desires to get to the action now rather than realizing the adventure is in the journey, I pay money give me what I want attitudes).