I don't mind the speed as long as it makes sense,is believable even in terms of Fantasy.Right now too many games are doing nothing more than a click of a hotbar icon,that is not realistic in anyway what so ever.
I prefer to see teleporting and warping around kept to magical classes,every player should not have this ability.That just further encourages solo play if everyone can warp on any class.Now if a game wanted to have you quest the ability from some mage,then i am ok with that,but games are just doing it the laziest possible way with no effort to make it look realistic.
I like the idea of putting in some really desirable locations that have no ease of access,so the lazy players never see it nor do they stumble onto it.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
On the topic of the OP's query about flying mounts,i will tell you i fully 100% expect flying mounts,that is how they sell cash shop mounts by offering better travel and other perks as well.If you could just warp around the game,you wouldn't need any mounts then no cash shop sales with mounts.Also players like their mounts,it is an area that can actually be improved on just like housing needs to hit the next level in gaming.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
I will be disappointed if they have fast travel in the same manner as the fast travel in GW2.
I enjoyed the travel in EQ1, it made the world feel big.
In GW2, the cost for the portal travel is a joke, it's so low it doesn't even make it hard to decide to use it or not, you will always use it. It makes the world feel very very small.
I would prefer they have boats ala EQ1, wizard and druid travel.
Insta travel - no matter how large and seamless your world is, makes the world feel small.
-Briz
I agree...the travel is a part of the adventure, too many ista travels ruin the feeling of exploration and make the world too small.
What is stopping you from traveling even if there are fast travel mechanics?
I already know the answer. "I dont want the temptation/I want people to play the same way I play."
It always comes down to "I want others to enjoy the game how I do" a lot of people are greedy consumers. Some people only have a few hours to kill. They dont want to spend 3/4 of it traveling, and the other 1/4 of their free time drinking after every single mob/actual gameplay.
Are you going to say "If they only can play 3 hours a day they shouldnt play at all?" That isnt a good marketing strategy for SOE when they have said their future is relying on EQN being a successful game.
What is a common trend for 3 of the biggest multi player games in the world right now? Call of Duty, League of Legends, World of Warcaft. Have an hour or two to kill? You can with those games. You can also play those games for 12 hours and benefit more than someone who plays for 2.
And even look at the growing sensation of cell phone games. On a break? Play your cell phone game. Wanna sit on the couch/in a comfy chair? Play your cell phone game.
Fact is - if there is fast travel, people will use it. I'm one of those people who prefer limited to no fast travel, but if the game has fast travel available at limited to no cost, I'm going to fast travel. And this is the case with most players.
The only way to get players to walk to destinations is by either removing that "temptation" or only provide it with a high cost. The argument I keep hearing about "Well if you don't like fast travel, just don't use it", just doesn't really work.
In the end you're going to piss off one group or another.
Which group do you think is larger, the group that wants the game like EQ1, or the group that plays 3 hours a day?
Again, I am not in favor of one way or the other, but from a business strategy standpoint, there is no way I'm shunning the majority of the MMORPG base.
I'm not really sure what you're getting at. If SOE wanted to make an incredibly easy and convenient game to begin with, they would have made another WoW clone just like every other recent MMO.
It also would make sense to copy WoW from a "business strategy standpoint" instead of going for the niche sandbox crowd, right?
Making the game have fast travel doesnt make it incredibly easy, that's my point. Bad game design (kill the boss, get the loot, do it again on Tuesday when the raids reset" is what makes the games easy.
I think SOE should be looking to maximize gamers time, and give more incentive to play more. If someone can only play for 3 hours, they should get 3 hours of meaningful playtime. Not 2 hours of traveling, half hour of forming a group, half hour of playing, then having to leave. And assuming they are going to a more sandbox approach, they are probably aiming for natural player-driven fun, not mindlessly smashing heads into the mouse and keyboard getting loot off PvE bosses.
Yeah, they could make no world, just dungeons, and when you log in, you instantly get grouped and play a dungeon to maximize time!
Someone doesnt get it. They arent making this game like EQ1. The ways you have fun in EQ1 probably wont be the same in EQN. There likely wont be camps you grind endlessly for hours with groups of people.
Fast travel /=/ bad game, get that through your head. Sandbox and Themepark generate fun in different ways.
Im fine with mounts, run buffs,recall spell,and specific class teleport spells.
but fast traveling is a huge immersion killer.It completely ruins the traveling aspect and any potential encounters you would have come across to your destination,which in itself is CONTENT.
Fast traveling is a huge contributor to these easy mode hand holding style MMOs today.
Do you guys realize some of the things you pretend to like would kill the games player base ? NO ONE wants to spend 30 minutes running across the world just to join a friend who has to log off now.
There are ways to do travel. Ships, Boats, Spells, Run Speed buffs etc. I don't support the wow, rift way or the way EQ is now, but there has to be some kind of fast ship travel this isnt 1999 no one wants to spend 15 minutes on a boat.
why not? why must everything be made easy????? why? once you start on this slippery slope you cannot slow down till everything is made easy and then .... oh wait, you all ready have it, its the sad state of mmorps now days.
seriously, you never played EQ then if your saying that, as a cleric i cant remember how many times i saved people, made friends, ran into cool things going on by actually travelling across the world.
15 mins for a boat? thats not bad, you chat with those on the boat, and face it, if you cannot coordinate with friends to play in the same region with you your doing it wrong, need new friends, or both.
I will be disappointed if they have fast travel in the same manner as the fast travel in GW2.
I enjoyed the travel in EQ1, it made the world feel big.
In GW2, the cost for the portal travel is a joke, it's so low it doesn't even make it hard to decide to use it or not, you will always use it. It makes the world feel very very small.
I would prefer they have boats ala EQ1, wizard and druid travel.
Insta travel - no matter how large and seamless your world is, makes the world feel small.
-Briz
I agree...the travel is a part of the adventure, too many ista travels ruin the feeling of exploration and make the world too small.
What is stopping you from traveling even if there are fast travel mechanics?
I already know the answer. "I dont want the temptation/I want people to play the same way I play."
It always comes down to "I want others to enjoy the game how I do" a lot of people are greedy consumers. Some people only have a few hours to kill. They dont want to spend 3/4 of it traveling, and the other 1/4 of their free time drinking after every single mob/actual gameplay.
Are you going to say "If they only can play 3 hours a day they shouldnt play at all?" That isnt a good marketing strategy for SOE when they have said their future is relying on EQN being a successful game.
What is a common trend for 3 of the biggest multi player games in the world right now? Call of Duty, League of Legends, World of Warcaft. Have an hour or two to kill? You can with those games. You can also play those games for 12 hours and benefit more than someone who plays for 2.
And even look at the growing sensation of cell phone games. On a break? Play your cell phone game. Wanna sit on the couch/in a comfy chair? Play your cell phone game.
Fact is - if there is fast travel, people will use it. I'm one of those people who prefer limited to no fast travel, but if the game has fast travel available at limited to no cost, I'm going to fast travel. And this is the case with most players.
The only way to get players to walk to destinations is by either removing that "temptation" or only provide it with a high cost. The argument I keep hearing about "Well if you don't like fast travel, just don't use it", just doesn't really work.
In the end you're going to piss off one group or another.
Which group do you think is larger, the group that wants the game like EQ1, or the group that plays 3 hours a day?
Again, I am not in favor of one way or the other, but from a business strategy standpoint, there is no way I'm shunning the majority of the MMORPG base.
I'm not really sure what you're getting at. If SOE wanted to make an incredibly easy and convenient game to begin with, they would have made another WoW clone just like every other recent MMO.
It also would make sense to copy WoW from a "business strategy standpoint" instead of going for the niche sandbox crowd, right?
Making the game have fast travel doesnt make it incredibly easy, that's my point. Bad game design (kill the boss, get the loot, do it again on Tuesday when the raids reset" is what makes the games easy.
I think SOE should be looking to maximize gamers time, and give more incentive to play more. If someone can only play for 3 hours, they should get 3 hours of meaningful playtime. Not 2 hours of traveling, half hour of forming a group, half hour of playing, then having to leave. And assuming they are going to a more sandbox approach, they are probably aiming for natural player-driven fun, not mindlessly smashing heads into the mouse and keyboard getting loot off PvE bosses.
Yeah, they could make no world, just dungeons, and when you log in, you instantly get grouped and play a dungeon to maximize time!
Someone doesnt get it. They arent making this game like EQ1. The ways you have fun in EQ1 probably wont be the same in EQN. There likely wont be camps you grind endlessly for hours with groups of people.
Fast travel /=/ bad game, get that through your head. Sandbox and Themepark generate fun in different ways.
What I can't exagerate, just like saying people had to travel for 2 hours to play in EQ?
Someone doesnt get it. They arent making this game like EQ1. The ways you have fun in EQ1 probably wont be the same in EQN. There likely wont be camps you grind endlessly for hours with groups of people.
Fast travel /=/ bad game, get that through your head. Sandbox and Themepark generate fun in different ways.
Classic Everquest was about as much like a themepark as a steak is like a hamburger.
Themeparks aren't bad for the things they emulated from classic MMOs, they're bad for the parts they trivialized or removed.
If you think SOE of all people is going to make the next boring sandbox game with shitty pve and no meaningful content outside of crafting and building, you are going to be disappointed.
Do you guys realize some of the things you pretend to like would kill the games player base ? NO ONE wants to spend 30 minutes running across the world just to join a friend who has to log off now.
There are ways to do travel. Ships, Boats, Spells, Run Speed buffs etc. I don't support the wow, rift way or the way EQ is now, but there has to be some kind of fast ship travel this isnt 1999 no one wants to spend 15 minutes on a boat.
Then they can choose the large variety of theme park MMOs that are out now to play instead.
With that said, instant travel should be incredibly limited. I would say nothing more than Wizard/Druid ports and something similar to the bind/gate mechanic.
Do you guys realize some of the things you pretend to like would kill the games player base ? NO ONE wants to spend 30 minutes running across the world just to join a friend who has to log off now.
There are ways to do travel. Ships, Boats, Spells, Run Speed buffs etc. I don't support the wow, rift way or the way EQ is now, but there has to be some kind of fast ship travel this isnt 1999 no one wants to spend 15 minutes on a boat.
Then they can choose the large variety of theme park MMOs that are out now to play instead.
When are you going to understand that SOE isnt targeting the EQ1 fanboys?
They need to make MONEY. Smedley admitted SOE needs EQN to succeed. I assume what he means by that are some people are going to get cut if their biggest IP isnt a big hit with their new title (EQN)
Making games is about MONEY. They arent trying to make gamers from the year 2000 happy. They are trying to make the gamers of 2013 happy. They need money because no one would be making games if they only lost money off them.
Survey says, more people game casually than hardcore, and that's the unfortunate truth for you.
Do you guys realize some of the things you pretend to like would kill the games player base ? NO ONE wants to spend 30 minutes running across the world just to join a friend who has to log off now.
There are ways to do travel. Ships, Boats, Spells, Run Speed buffs etc. I don't support the wow, rift way or the way EQ is now, but there has to be some kind of fast ship travel this isnt 1999 no one wants to spend 15 minutes on a boat.
Then they can choose the large variety of theme park MMOs that are out now to play instead.
When are you going to understand that SOE isnt targeting the EQ1 fanboys?
They need to make MONEY. Smedley admitted SOE needs EQN to succeed. I assume what he means by that are some people are going to get cut if their biggest IP isnt a big hit with their new title (EQN)
Making games is about MONEY. They arent trying to make gamers from the year 2000 happy. They are trying to make the gamers of 2013 happy. They need money because no one would be making games if they only lost money off them.
Survey says, more people game casually than hardcore, and that's the unfortunate truth for you.
The fast travel topic is something EQ1 'fanboys' and people that play sandboxes agree on. EQN is going to be a sandbox, it should act like a sandbox. The easy access instant travel is purely a modern themepark invention that should never be put into any sandbox.
NO ONE wants to spend 30 minutes running across the world just to join a friend who has to log off now.
no one wants to spend 15 minutes on a boat.
When are you going to understand that SOE isnt targeting the EQ1 fanboys?
LOL Lots of bold statements.
There are people who want to spend 15 minutes on a boat, 30 minutes running across the world. There are lots of them, just a minority of MMO players certainly but they do exist.
If SOE is not targeting the EQ1 fanboys why are they launching it at SOE Live to "their loyalest fans"? That is pretty clear and direct marketing at us EQ1 fanboys. Of course they are going to market to a larger audience but they have the EQ1, EQ2 players past and present clearly in their sights and they see this as a core audience that they need to get into the game.
YAY!!!!! More ambiguous garbage that answers absolute crap.
Wish people quite posting these absolute worthless quotes like they answer or even hint toward anything with the game.
I wouldn't say it didn't hint toward anything.
This is actually the first thing I've heard that disappointed me regarding EQ Next. I found Georgeson's indifference to fast travel in EQ Next to be a little unnerving.
If the girl on Twitter would have asked him in general about fast travel, I could understand him giving a middle ground sort of response. But this was directly regarding EQ Next, and instead of defending slow travel (a very sandbox/old school system), he defended fast travel (themepark to the core).
What is stopping you from traveling even if there are fast travel mechanics? I already know the answer. "I dont want the temptation/I want people to play the same way I play."
No it doesn't, it comes down to people dictating the way you play. "Hey guys I know you need me at that dungeon right now and everyone else used fast travel to get there...But I believe in experiencing the world so I will be there in 3mins instead of 10secs; sound good?" Yea that boat won't fly.
So the whole "Well if you don't like fast travel then just don't use it" argument is asinine.
Originally posted by hMJem
"Dude, he said its the largest sandbox, that means it is"
I really think he meant Largest Sandbox ever made to be a very literal thing. As in it will be the largest (area size).
"In the immediate future, we have this one, and then weve got another one that is actually going to be so were going to have, what we want to do, is in January, what were targeting to do, this may or may not happen, so you cant hold me to it. But what were targeting to do, is have a fun anniversary to the Ilum shenanigans that happened. An alien race might invade, and they might crash into Ilum and there might be some new activities that happen on the planet." ~Gabe Amatangelo
NO ONE wants to spend 30 minutes running across the world just to join a friend who has to log off now.
no one wants to spend 15 minutes on a boat.
When are you going to understand that SOE isnt targeting the EQ1 fanboys?
LOL Lots of bold statements.
There are people who want to spend 15 minutes on a boat, 30 minutes running across the world. There are lots of them, just a minority of MMO players certainly but they do exist.
If SOE is not targeting the EQ1 fanboys why are they launching it at SOE Live to "their loyalest fans"? That is pretty clear and direct marketing at us EQ1 fanboys. Of course they are going to market to a larger audience but they have the EQ1, EQ2 players past and present clearly in their sights and they see this as a core audience that they need to get into the game.
I actually want it to take hours if not days to cross the world. It should not be viable to travel from Kelethin to Qeynos on a whim.
only fast travel should be very limited. 1-2 classes with a group teleport ability, or a way to mark locations and then recall to them later (similar to UO or original EQ's bind / gate spells).
pay 15 silver to teleport to kunark from faydwer, no thanks.
Even Elder Scrolls games the uber sandbox RPG series everyone always points to has the simplest form of fast travel. And it really does make the world feel so much smaller.
Plane of Knowledge ruined the vibe for EQ1 though I can understand why they did it. By then the player base was not large enough to support everyone so disconnected.
EQ2 now just has a magic globe thing you click and then pick where you want to go. Worst part is, everyone just puts them in their guild halls so the player base literally sit in their own instances all day. No one even uses the cities. I logged on recently and I was on one of if not the biggest server at prime time on a weekend and I did not see one single person in the whole city.
I think the main problem is the "world" in pretty much every MMO is sectioned off with specific content for a specific level. Someone needs to figure out a way to break away from this.
A max lvl character might not mind travelling for 30 minutes if all those "old" zones he went through some how still posed a relevant challenge. And I don't just mean running through hoards of mobs.
GW2 is on the right track I think. I know people have a lot of complaints about how the DEs work and the lvl syncing. But I think their heart was in the right place trying to find a way to make the entire world relevant to a player at any lvl.
I would say an interesting progression system that gives a player clear advantages and things to strive for while not making him invincible to most of the world. I mean, it doesn't even make any sense when you think about it. The whole world needs to feel like something potentially dangerous and exciting. Not just the current area designated for your lvl.
I remember going back to...I forget the zone name in EQ2 and slaughtering Giants in one hit. I just couldn't help but think how incredibly silly that seemed.
Originally posted by Fendel84M Even Elder Scrolls games the uber sandbox RPG series everyone always points to has the simplest form of fast travel. And it really does make the world feel so much smaller.Plane of Knowledge ruined the vibe for EQ1 though I can understand why they did it. By then the player base was not large enough to support everyone so disconnected.EQ2 now just has a magic globe thing you click and then pick where you want to go. Worst part is, everyone just puts them in their guild halls so the player base literally sit in their own instances all day. No one even uses the cities. I logged on recently and I was on one of if not the biggest server at prime time on a weekend and I did not see one single person in the whole city.I think the main problem is the "world" in pretty much every MMO is sectioned off with specific content for a specific level. Someone needs to figure out a way to break away from this.A max lvl character might not mind travelling for 30 minutes if all those "old" zones he went through some how still posed a relevant challenge. And I don't just mean running through hoards of mobs.GW2 is on the right track I think. I know people have a lot of complaints about how the DEs work and the lvl syncing. But I think their heart was in the right place trying to find a way to make the entire world relevant to a player at any lvl.I would say an interesting progression system that gives a player clear advantages and things to strive for while not making him invincible to most of the world. I mean, it doesn't even make any sense when you think about it. The whole world needs to feel like something potentially dangerous and exciting. Not just the current area designated for your lvl.I remember going back to...I forget the zone name in EQ2 and slaughtering Giants in one hit. I just couldn't help but think how incredibly silly that seemed.
the elder scrolls series isn't a sandbox, its totally quest driven and has scripted events, you cannot make anything in the game except for your typical crafting armor, weapons, and potions etc.
NO ONE wants to spend 30 minutes running across the world just to join a friend who has to log off now.
no one wants to spend 15 minutes on a boat.
When are you going to understand that SOE isnt targeting the EQ1 fanboys?
LOL Lots of bold statements.
There are people who want to spend 15 minutes on a boat, 30 minutes running across the world. There are lots of them, just a minority of MMO players certainly but they do exist.
If SOE is not targeting the EQ1 fanboys why are they launching it at SOE Live to "their loyalest fans"? That is pretty clear and direct marketing at us EQ1 fanboys. Of course they are going to market to a larger audience but they have the EQ1, EQ2 players past and present clearly in their sights and they see this as a core audience that they need to get into the game.
I actually want it to take hours if not days to cross the world. It should not be viable to travel from Kelethin to Qeynos on a whim.
Honestly, I agree. These games should feel big enough to where going somewhere really is an adventure. You can still play for 20 minutes even if that doesn't get you from point A to point Z because there's still all the other points in between you can stop at.
Why can't the travel be part of the game? When did people stop wanting to adventure and just want go where they need to go and that's it. I feel this is along the same mentality of players who feel you should read all about a dungeon before ever exploring it. Or the mentality that Blizzard has where they show off all the next "tier" of gear in detailed screenshots before the next update comes out and say "Ok, there it is! go get it!"...yes...how exciting and adventurous that is.
Originally posted by Fendel84M Even Elder Scrolls games the uber sandbox RPG series everyone always points to has the simplest form of fast travel. And it really does make the world feel so much smaller.
Plane of Knowledge ruined the vibe for EQ1 though I can understand why they did it. By then the player base was not large enough to support everyone so disconnected.
EQ2 now just has a magic globe thing you click and then pick where you want to go. Worst part is, everyone just puts them in their guild halls so the player base literally sit in their own instances all day. No one even uses the cities. I logged on recently and I was on one of if not the biggest server at prime time on a weekend and I did not see one single person in the whole city.
I think the main problem is the "world" in pretty much every MMO is sectioned off with specific content for a specific level. Someone needs to figure out a way to break away from this.
A max lvl character might not mind travelling for 30 minutes if all those "old" zones he went through some how still posed a relevant challenge. And I don't just mean running through hoards of mobs.
GW2 is on the right track I think. I know people have a lot of complaints about how the DEs work and the lvl syncing. But I think their heart was in the right place trying to find a way to make the entire world relevant to a player at any lvl.
I would say an interesting progression system that gives a player clear advantages and things to strive for while not making him invincible to most of the world. I mean, it doesn't even make any sense when you think about it. The whole world needs to feel like something potentially dangerous and exciting. Not just the current area designated for your lvl.
I remember going back to...I forget the zone name in EQ2 and slaughtering Giants in one hit. I just couldn't help but think how incredibly silly that seemed.
the elder scrolls series isn't a sandbox, its totally quest driven and has scripted events, you cannot make anything in the game except for your typical crafting armor, weapons, and potions etc.
not tying to derail, just sayin..
haha I've totally made that point myself. But people always call it a sandbox so I gave up trying to figure out people. Heck, Elder Scrolls had quests before MMOs ever did :-p. People are worried about TESO not being a sandbox though...derp.
Elder Scrolls games are open world games, but not sandboxes. All sandbox games are open world games, but not all open world games are sandboxes. TESO is not even an open world game.
NO ONE wants to spend 30 minutes running across the world just to join a friend who has to log off now.
no one wants to spend 15 minutes on a boat.
When are you going to understand that SOE isnt targeting the EQ1 fanboys?
LOL Lots of bold statements.
There are people who want to spend 15 minutes on a boat, 30 minutes running across the world. There are lots of them, just a minority of MMO players certainly but they do exist.
If SOE is not targeting the EQ1 fanboys why are they launching it at SOE Live to "their loyalest fans"? That is pretty clear and direct marketing at us EQ1 fanboys. Of course they are going to market to a larger audience but they have the EQ1, EQ2 players past and present clearly in their sights and they see this as a core audience that they need to get into the game.
I actually want it to take hours if not days to cross the world. It should not be viable to travel from Kelethin to Qeynos on a whim.
exactly..
I want the world to feel like a WORLD,not some diorama you can hop across within 5 minutes.
Comments
I don't mind the speed as long as it makes sense,is believable even in terms of Fantasy.Right now too many games are doing nothing more than a click of a hotbar icon,that is not realistic in anyway what so ever.
I prefer to see teleporting and warping around kept to magical classes,every player should not have this ability.That just further encourages solo play if everyone can warp on any class.Now if a game wanted to have you quest the ability from some mage,then i am ok with that,but games are just doing it the laziest possible way with no effort to make it look realistic.
I like the idea of putting in some really desirable locations that have no ease of access,so the lazy players never see it nor do they stumble onto it.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Someone doesnt get it. They arent making this game like EQ1. The ways you have fun in EQ1 probably wont be the same in EQN. There likely wont be camps you grind endlessly for hours with groups of people.
Fast travel /=/ bad game, get that through your head. Sandbox and Themepark generate fun in different ways.
Im fine with mounts, run buffs,recall spell,and specific class teleport spells.
but fast traveling is a huge immersion killer.It completely ruins the traveling aspect and any potential encounters you would have come across to your destination,which in itself is CONTENT.
Fast traveling is a huge contributor to these easy mode hand holding style MMOs today.
why not? why must everything be made easy????? why? once you start on this slippery slope you cannot slow down till everything is made easy and then .... oh wait, you all ready have it, its the sad state of mmorps now days.
seriously, you never played EQ then if your saying that, as a cleric i cant remember how many times i saved people, made friends, ran into cool things going on by actually travelling across the world.
15 mins for a boat? thats not bad, you chat with those on the boat, and face it, if you cannot coordinate with friends to play in the same region with you your doing it wrong, need new friends, or both.
over 20 years of mmorpg's and counting...
What I can't exagerate, just like saying people had to travel for 2 hours to play in EQ?
Classic Everquest was about as much like a themepark as a steak is like a hamburger.
Themeparks aren't bad for the things they emulated from classic MMOs, they're bad for the parts they trivialized or removed.
If you think SOE of all people is going to make the next boring sandbox game with shitty pve and no meaningful content outside of crafting and building, you are going to be disappointed.
YAY!!!!! More ambiguous garbage that answers absolute crap.
Wish people quite posting these absolute worthless quotes like they answer or even hint toward anything with the game.
Then they can choose the large variety of theme park MMOs that are out now to play instead.
That Twitter discussion is about EQ2, not EQN.
With that said, instant travel should be incredibly limited. I would say nothing more than Wizard/Druid ports and something similar to the bind/gate mechanic.
When are you going to understand that SOE isnt targeting the EQ1 fanboys?
They need to make MONEY. Smedley admitted SOE needs EQN to succeed. I assume what he means by that are some people are going to get cut if their biggest IP isnt a big hit with their new title (EQN)
Making games is about MONEY. They arent trying to make gamers from the year 2000 happy. They are trying to make the gamers of 2013 happy. They need money because no one would be making games if they only lost money off them.
Survey says, more people game casually than hardcore, and that's the unfortunate truth for you.
The fast travel topic is something EQ1 'fanboys' and people that play sandboxes agree on. EQN is going to be a sandbox, it should act like a sandbox. The easy access instant travel is purely a modern themepark invention that should never be put into any sandbox.
LOL Lots of bold statements.
There are people who want to spend 15 minutes on a boat, 30 minutes running across the world. There are lots of them, just a minority of MMO players certainly but they do exist.
If SOE is not targeting the EQ1 fanboys why are they launching it at SOE Live to "their loyalest fans"? That is pretty clear and direct marketing at us EQ1 fanboys. Of course they are going to market to a larger audience but they have the EQ1, EQ2 players past and present clearly in their sights and they see this as a core audience that they need to get into the game.
I wouldn't say it didn't hint toward anything.
This is actually the first thing I've heard that disappointed me regarding EQ Next. I found Georgeson's indifference to fast travel in EQ Next to be a little unnerving.
If the girl on Twitter would have asked him in general about fast travel, I could understand him giving a middle ground sort of response. But this was directly regarding EQ Next, and instead of defending slow travel (a very sandbox/old school system), he defended fast travel (themepark to the core).
Bad sign my fellow gamers, bad sign.
Hasn't the theme of these forums since March 2013 been that Smedley's definition of a Sandbox likely doesnt match very many people's definition of it?
All the recycled stuff we've heard "There is no way this will be a full Sandbox game -- It's Everquest!"
"Dude, he said its the largest sandbox, that means it is"
"Smedley's definition could mean a hybrid Sandbox, it doesnt mean it cant have themepark elements"
So on and so forth. Anyone whose been on these forums longer than a month know how all the talks go.
A lot of people believe there will be some "themepark" elements to this game.
And personally I dont think super fast ground mounts or flight points/etc doesnt mean it isnt a Sandbox anymore.
No it doesn't, it comes down to people dictating the way you play. "Hey guys I know you need me at that dungeon right now and everyone else used fast travel to get there...But I believe in experiencing the world so I will be there in 3mins instead of 10secs; sound good?" Yea that boat won't fly.
So the whole "Well if you don't like fast travel then just don't use it" argument is asinine.
I really think he meant Largest Sandbox ever made to be a very literal thing. As in it will be the largest (area size).
"In the immediate future, we have this one, and then weve got another one that is actually going to be so were going to have, what we want to do, is in January, what were targeting to do, this may or may not happen, so you cant hold me to it. But what were targeting to do, is have a fun anniversary to the Ilum shenanigans that happened. An alien race might invade, and they might crash into Ilum and there might be some new activities that happen on the planet." ~Gabe Amatangelo
I actually want it to take hours if not days to cross the world. It should not be viable to travel from Kelethin to Qeynos on a whim.
only fast travel should be very limited. 1-2 classes with a group teleport ability, or a way to mark locations and then recall to them later (similar to UO or original EQ's bind / gate spells).
pay 15 silver to teleport to kunark from faydwer, no thanks.
Even Elder Scrolls games the uber sandbox RPG series everyone always points to has the simplest form of fast travel. And it really does make the world feel so much smaller.
Plane of Knowledge ruined the vibe for EQ1 though I can understand why they did it. By then the player base was not large enough to support everyone so disconnected.
EQ2 now just has a magic globe thing you click and then pick where you want to go. Worst part is, everyone just puts them in their guild halls so the player base literally sit in their own instances all day. No one even uses the cities. I logged on recently and I was on one of if not the biggest server at prime time on a weekend and I did not see one single person in the whole city.
I think the main problem is the "world" in pretty much every MMO is sectioned off with specific content for a specific level. Someone needs to figure out a way to break away from this.
A max lvl character might not mind travelling for 30 minutes if all those "old" zones he went through some how still posed a relevant challenge. And I don't just mean running through hoards of mobs.
GW2 is on the right track I think. I know people have a lot of complaints about how the DEs work and the lvl syncing. But I think their heart was in the right place trying to find a way to make the entire world relevant to a player at any lvl.
I would say an interesting progression system that gives a player clear advantages and things to strive for while not making him invincible to most of the world. I mean, it doesn't even make any sense when you think about it. The whole world needs to feel like something potentially dangerous and exciting. Not just the current area designated for your lvl.
I remember going back to...I forget the zone name in EQ2 and slaughtering Giants in one hit. I just couldn't help but think how incredibly silly that seemed.
the elder scrolls series isn't a sandbox, its totally quest driven and has scripted events, you cannot make anything in the game except for your typical crafting armor, weapons, and potions etc.
not tying to derail, just sayin..
Honestly, I agree. These games should feel big enough to where going somewhere really is an adventure. You can still play for 20 minutes even if that doesn't get you from point A to point Z because there's still all the other points in between you can stop at.
Why can't the travel be part of the game? When did people stop wanting to adventure and just want go where they need to go and that's it. I feel this is along the same mentality of players who feel you should read all about a dungeon before ever exploring it. Or the mentality that Blizzard has where they show off all the next "tier" of gear in detailed screenshots before the next update comes out and say "Ok, there it is! go get it!"...yes...how exciting and adventurous that is.
haha I've totally made that point myself. But people always call it a sandbox so I gave up trying to figure out people. Heck, Elder Scrolls had quests before MMOs ever did :-p. People are worried about TESO not being a sandbox though...derp.
Survivor of the great MMORPG Famine of 2011
exactly..
I want the world to feel like a WORLD,not some diorama you can hop across within 5 minutes.