›

Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Sign In Register

Quick Links

MMOSide Chat - Do You Like Fast Travel In MMOs? | MMORPG.com

SystemSystem Member UncommonPosts: 12,599
edited April 2021 in News & Features Discussion

imageMMOSide Chat - Do You Like Fast Travel In MMOs? | MMORPG.com

As Bradford played EVE Online this past weekend, one thing that he just could not stop thinking about is how much gametime is spent going from one place to another. As such, he started thinking about fast travel in MMOs, and how much he missed it in this one. Are you someone who likes fast travel systems, or do you feel that it makes MMOs too easy?

Read the full story here


«1

Comments

  • ultimateduckultimateduck Member EpicPosts: 1,309
    I like auto travel, not necessarily fast travel. The difference being auto travel is like getting on a horse that quickly takes you through the world from point A to point B, fast travel is just an insta teleport.

    I like the ability to auto travel once I've discovered the zone to auto/fast travel to. I don't think I should be able to fast/auto travel to a place I've never been.

    That said, Eve Online (in the picture) is a bit different due to the nature of the game.
    MendelHJ-NavarreOrthelianScot
  • k61977k61977 Member EpicPosts: 1,526
    Depends on the game itself. If it is a game where it takes me ten minutes just to get from point A to point B then yeah I usually like them. I get that they can take away from some aspects of games but my time is more important to me than just clicking on something like travel hubs, or auto travel from travel points or having to just sit there or run to a spot and wait so I can actually get back to actual playing and not just running.
    [Deleted User]Slapshot1188
  • foppoteefoppotee Member RarePosts: 537
    I like quick-travel & auto-travel systems, but I rather enjoy the effort & hurdle of having to manually travel between two locations first to activate any quick &/or auto travelling from then on.
    meerclar
  • AldersAlders Member RarePosts: 2,207
    Fast travel is fine as long as it's provided by the players and not the game.
    HJ-Navarre

     Blog - YouTube
    image
  • k61977k61977 Member EpicPosts: 1,526

    Alders said:

    Fast travel is fine as long as it's provided by the players and not the game.



    That is the exact opposite of what I would want. Nothing worse than seeing players spam need port here or there over and over. Worse is being the person getting messaged a thousand times to port someone.

    Personally for me it is fine having to find the portals first then being able to use them whenever. Don't mind having to go to portals to travel as long as they are no more than 5 mins from any spot. Other than that it is a waste of my time not actually playing but just running from point A to point B.
    [Deleted User]KyleranMendel
  • olepiolepi Member EpicPosts: 3,053
    I like fast travel to destinations that you have already discovered. You can go back using fast travel, the first time you have to go the old fashioned way.

    In space games, I like the idea of "wormholes" or some other type of rapid travel between systems, but this should be controlled by NPC's or by other players in PvP.  You have to earn the right to use them.
    [Deleted User]Kyleran

    ------------
    2024: 47 years on the Net.


  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    I prefer the way WoW does it to the way ESO does. In ESO it's just a teleport but in WoW there is actual travel on the flying mount, boat or whatever.




    [Deleted User]Sovrathultimateduck
    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

    ― Umberto Eco

    “Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” 
    ― CD PROJEKT RED

  • IselinIselin Member LegendaryPosts: 18,719
    Torval said:
    Iselin said:
    I prefer the way WoW does it to the way ESO does. In ESO it's just a teleport but in WoW there is actual travel on the flying mount, boat or whatever.
    I'm sort of the opposite as the flying doesn't do much for me. The boat trips are nearly instant. However, I never crash back to login when I travel in WoW. I can't say that about ESO at all, so WoW travel wins on that virtual alone. :lol:
    I use WoW travel for smoke or pee breaks :)
    [Deleted User]ultimateduck
    "Social media gives legions of idiots the right to speak when they once only spoke at a bar after a glass of wine, without harming the community ... but now they have the same right to speak as a Nobel Prize winner. It's the invasion of the idiots”

    ― Umberto Eco

    “Microtransactions? In a single player role-playing game? Are you nuts?” 
    ― CD PROJEKT RED

  • DarkEvilHatredDarkEvilHatred Member UncommonPosts: 229
    Learn to use wormholes. It's the only type of "fast travel" that I know of in Eve Online.
  • OrthelianOrthelian Member UncommonPosts: 1,034
    Basically no, and I especially wouldn't in something like EVE.

    I kind of appreciated it in FFXIV, where it seems highly recognized by the world design.

    Favorites: EQ, EVE | Playing: None. Mostly VR and strategy | Anticipating: CU, Pantheon
  • KyleranKyleran Member LegendaryPosts: 44,057
    Iselin said:
    I prefer the way WoW does it to the way ESO does. In ESO it's just a teleport but in WoW there is actual travel on the flying mount, boat or whatever.




    So you don't use the hearth stone feature, or sometimes kill yourself for a free trip somewhere?

    Do you fly or ride to all dungeons or just port there from the queue?

    Flying on a Gryphon was fun back in the day but now I prefer the convenience of ESO's way shrines and house porting.

    Porting directly to your friends at the way shrine nearest them is a pretty good feature too.

    Heck, I even like how ESO's mounts can be jacked to double time it, often encourages me to ride places instead of porting, though it sometimes results in me plunging off cliffs to my death if I'm sight seeing too much.

    ;)

    "True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde 

    "I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant

    Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm

    Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV

    Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™

    "This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon






  • Slapshot1188Slapshot1188 Member LegendaryPosts: 17,651
    I kind of liked how DAoC had it.  There were horse routes that could take you places swiftly (you could jump off at any time) and you could teleport from your frontier fortress to the other realms frontiers.  Once there it was walking.  Also, it was kind of cool how the teleport was not instant but you had to wait for set times.  This helped grouping as well as you'd start chatting with the other folks on the pad.
    KyleranMendelScotultimateduck

    All time classic  MY NEW FAVORITE POST!  (Keep laying those bricks)

    "I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator

    Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017. 

    Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018

    "Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018

  • AugustusGAugustusG Member UncommonPosts: 73
    edited April 2021
    If it makes sense lore wise I have no problem with it. There are teleporter in all hub in DCUO from the start permiting fast travel from metropolice to gotam and the watch tower and I made use of it like everyone without second guessing it once. Same between hubs in Marvel Heroes. These word have teleporters it makes sens.
  • AeanderAeander Member LegendaryPosts: 8,060
    Yes. A game that relies on inconvenience to function is a bad game. If fast travel and dungeon finders can "ruin" your game, it wasn't good to begin with.
  • Po_ggPo_gg Member EpicPosts: 5,749
    Since option is king, I like to have them around. I'm often in the mood of exploring and walking/riding all over the world, off the beated paths.
    Other times I just hop on the fast/auto travel option (stable mount in LotRO, taxi in SWTOR, etc.) and chill while my character enjoys the ride.
    And sometimes, when I'm in a hurry, I use the teleport options, be it game or player-provided (hunter/warden taxi in LotRO :) )

    All of those options have a place in game, and I don't think it'd make a game "too easy" as the article asks. I do prefer however, if the options aren't granted by default.

    With LotRO's example, stable mounts/locations players do need to discover themselves, which means getting there at least once "manually".
    Teleport, usually needs some deed (zone or racial), or gaining enough reputation with the faction in question to "unlock" it.
    Hunters/wardens, they need to complete different tasks in the zones or around the target location to "earn" the skills through which they can carry (teleport) other players there.



    That's my general view on the matter, but... the article was about EVE, and that's a unique beast in this regard.
    Don't get me wrong, I'd welcome the same auto-travel and fast travel options there too, since option is king - problem is, I'm a PvE player (and also not really playing EVE since many years now :) ).

    Travel is an integral, core part of EVE. Exploring and setting up your waypoints, design your routes and jumps, while on the other end the campers and trackers... while my PvE self would love (loved, in the past) a teleport system for safety, convenience and time save, I'm sure a lot of pvp players would hate the idea.
    Kyleran
  • jloost-gamerjloost-gamer Newbie CommonPosts: 8
    I like fast-travelling options, but I personally prefer it if there is an in-universe explanation and cost (e.g. carts in Skyrim, Hunters in LotrO etc.)
    Anything less feels a little immersion-breaking to me usually.
  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 24,427
    jloost-gamer said:
    I like fast-travelling options, but I personally prefer it if there is an in-universe explanation and cost (e.g. carts in Skyrim, Hunters in LotrO etc.)
    Anything less feels a little immersion-breaking to me usually.
    Welcome to the forums! :)
  • ScotScot Member LegendaryPosts: 24,427
    Anything that skips content in a game is problematic, especially in MMO's. Some MMOs are simply too small to need instant travel to my mind and fast automatic travel always beats instant.
  • VrikaVrika Member LegendaryPosts: 7,989
    I like being able to fast travel from one zone to another, or to the instance I'm going to run with group.

    But I dislike the idea that doing quests or adventuring within a zone involves fast traveling. It feels much more an adventure in a world when those trips need to be actually traveled.
     
  • Abscissa15Abscissa15 Member UncommonPosts: 70
    I think that the all-but-forgotten "recall" spell in UO was awesome. Mark a rune anywhere with an X-Y coordinate and you can recall to the exact spot. The downside was having to tote a bag of marked runes around but if you had a circuit to run it was unequaled - haven't seen that anywhere since to 90's.
  • ScorchienScorchien Member LegendaryPosts: 8,914
    Depends on the game really

        Some games it  makes sense like Eve

        Some games its necassary like UO

       Some games its detrimental and trivialize content like Vanguard
    Kylerankitaradultimateduck
  • RungarRungar Member RarePosts: 1,132
    edited April 2021
    I think a combination is the best method as no one method is good enough on its own. 

    Some places you can teleport to and others you have to take more mundane routes such as horses, flights and walking. 

    I do think getting back should be easier ( like home portal spells) though but not ubiquitous either like in other games. 

    I dont see why you would choose when the travel method can be part of the gameplay and vary with it. 

    I would add further that the reason why you dont take a portal to a certain place is not because the designer said so, but rather because there is something on the other end waiting to kill you if you try that such as a portal dragon or some creature that lies in wait for someone to portal in.

    Since it only aggros on portals people learn to not portal there very quickly and even though they are safe if they dont portal its still there  and ever present and they really dont know if it will attack, do they.  Likewise you dont want to take a horse where giant eagles soar above and are looking for a favored snack. You definitely dont want to take a boat anywhere near where leviathans live and lastly you dont want to walk into anklebiter territory on foot. 

    Anything in a mmo can and should be done in a gameplay mode. 
     
    Post edited by Rungar on
    .05 of a second to midnight
  • TheocritusTheocritus Member LegendaryPosts: 10,014
    In this day and age of instant gratification, of course people will want instant travel.....That 5 minutes that it might take to get to that destination is 5 more minutes that it takes them to get to max level, and we cant have that.
    Mendelultimateduck
  • kitaradkitarad Member LegendaryPosts: 8,177
    Depends on the game.
    Nilden

  • UngoodUngood Member LegendaryPosts: 7,534
    I liker fast Return Travel.

    Basically, the idea that we can explore a place at once pace, but once we have explored a region, we can quickly return it, like how GW2 has Waypoints. Once you unlock a Waypoint, you can quickly travel to it at any time in the future.

    I like that feature, as that makes me learn where I am going, as I have to explore first, but also removes the tedium of situations where I might need to constantly return to the same place or region time and time again.

    I also like quick return features from Dungeons in DDO, where I can just recall out of the Dungeon, no need to hike back to the exist.

    So, I like the idea of Quick Return, not so much Quick Travel as a general whole.

    But, as always, all things need to fit the game.
    Kyleran
    Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.

Sign In or Register to comment.