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Post by dyndrilliac on Nov 6, 2008 23:20:27 GMT -5
Is there a side project in the works to allow for characters that can use magic to be able to use some kind of method of quick transportation? Maybe not between some towns and such, but it would be nice to have a way to quickly move between districts of Baldur's Gate (especially once the banking system is finished, and if the Arena's operation becomes more transparent and it is less necessary for DM's to hold events there - for example, I wouldn't mind being able to just sign up for a fight, wait my turn, and walk in and be able to fight auto-spawning monsters designed for my level and character). Additionally, it makes since for a place like Candlekeep to have tricks for moving quickly from place to place using arcane secrets. Perhaps a high level successful Spellcraft check would be required to work the device?
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Post by broham2 on Nov 6, 2008 23:39:46 GMT -5
Another idea would be have a cave system that runs similarily to the current path of BG-farmlands-wolves-gnolls-ogres-goblins-Beregost.. but have it skip one or two of those.. for example a cave in the wolves that after a long stretch opens up into the edge of Ogres closest to Goblins, or in the goblins themselves. The actual placement wouldnt matter if it just shortened it up a bit.
Make it more difficult to compensate for the short distance, and don't allow to come out in the Gnolls so as to make that cell required to get to either wood. Not quite underdark, but Bugbears, Hobgoblins, something like that.. just a cave system.
It would shorten up some of the long walking time, give a new area for some of the mid-levels, and give a more secretive route for those wishing to pass undetected (like the increased number of drow I've noticed.. lol).
Just a thought.
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Post by Zealote on Nov 6, 2008 23:48:53 GMT -5
Oh my...a teleportation spell would be so nice.... But to port between areas is a DM Privilege! We wont give that up so easily! lol Im just kidding, i would like a lvl 9 spell like that. Can you imagine?
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Post by wildelf on Nov 6, 2008 23:58:20 GMT -5
I definitely think that alternate transportation would be good. A ferry NPC to take you down the river, or a cave network, or a powerful mage with portals to the planes (epic level mobs!) would be a very popular addition I would think. With how much DM jlf2n and I plan on expanding, we may need easier transportation at times.
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Post by DM Sir Carnifex on Nov 6, 2008 23:59:31 GMT -5
Hmmm *frowns*
Isn't the danger of having to walk through all those areas part of the fun? The ship idea that was talked about would be fun, but I don't like the idea of quick transportation. There was another thread about this and one point that was brought up is that quick transportation will negate a lot of RP.
About the caves system, I fail to see how going through a set of winding caves would make the distance traveled from one place to another shorter than the roads which run directly to the said places. It would be nice to have an alternative route to reach a destination, but I say that it should be a longer, more dangerous route than the roads.
Overall, quick transportation seems to me more like another method of getting to the grinding as fast as possible. That's my opinion. What direction the DEVs take is up to them.
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Post by blametherogue on Nov 7, 2008 0:11:45 GMT -5
currently, you die, and cant go back to your corpse. you go to the temple/elfsong every time. we are spending a lot of our time traveling the same path over and over. what if you need quick transport to get back, or closer to where you were? what if there is a dm event and you are on the other side of the server? there are still a lot of transition crashes due to nwn 2 bugs, which can throw you back to where you started if you didnt save location. just things to think about. i dont see the harm in taking a ship or wagon between beregost and baldur's gate, or least part of the distance. you would still then need to travel the rest of the distance on foot. i dont think we should be able to travel to any area, just between towns. walking part of the danger? yes. saving us precious time when we dont have all day to play? priceless.
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Bahlzeron
Member
sometimes it is better to keep ones mouth shut and seem a fool, than open it and remove all doubt
Posts: 43
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Post by Bahlzeron on Nov 7, 2008 1:49:53 GMT -5
^ | | what he said.
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sen
Active Member
Retired Dungeon Master
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Post by sen on Nov 7, 2008 3:03:07 GMT -5
Well, time to give my opinion on the "time" matter. The grinding is built MMORPG style. Of course dying costs your precious gametime. Time is about the only currency the MMORPG genre knows. While it isn´t great that spawning right back at your corpse currently isn´t working - maybe a scripter can figure out why sometime, you can still even travel the road south again in a few minutes. I consider the length of the road a stylistic device to simulate that this is a world, not just a summary of areas of which I can pick one and be there in a blink of seconds.
I´m not saying that I like having to travel for hours from town to town or so. But as it is, I can reach every possible area in 10-15 minutes (probably less).
My suggestion: Give us the oppurtunity to spawn in the temple of Lathander in Beregost after dying, but no quick transport please. Subways haven´t been invented yet.
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Post by dyndrilliac on Nov 7, 2008 6:49:55 GMT -5
zealote: A level 9 arcane spell would be unfair because only wizards and sorcerers specifically would benefit. It should be a caster skill check (spellcraft, concentration, or perhaps lore) to give all casters the chance to benefit. If lore was chosen, it would benefit other classes besides casters too. sircarnifex: At some point, the roads stop being dangerous and just become annoying. I have to run through the farmlands, wolves, gnolls, and possibly ogres or lizardfolk to get somewhere where I get more than 10-15xp per kill and everything doesn't show up as "Effortless" in the information pane. My suggestion (about a teleportation device that required a high level spellcraft check) allows for quick travel only to those that not only need it, but deserve it. Everyone else has to travel the old fashioned way. Of course, there would need to be different modes of quick transportation so that its not just casters feel the benefits, because that would be unfair. Also, keep in mind I specifically mentioned that the selection of areas to quickly go to needs to be limited to something like Candlekeep and the various districts of BG. I didn't say anything about picking a grind spot and being there in a blink of an eye Edit: While we're on the subject, I feel this is a good time to quote "Road Trip":This goes pretty much in line with what you are saying, only a shortcut by definition while being more challenging is shorter - having an alternate route that is both longer and more challenging completely defeats the purpose of having an alternate route. sen: A problem with making Beregost an option for resurrection is that it makes the Maltz quest too easy; A level 1 need just get the quest after character creation, die, res at Beregost, get the goods, die, and res at Elfsong. As much as you want to keep certain aspects of the game simple, the fact of the matter is it's a game, designed to be fun; not frustrating, annoying, and over-all not fun to play.
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atlas
Active Member
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Post by atlas on Nov 7, 2008 7:40:52 GMT -5
I still think there should be a world map like in the Baldur's Gate series. It's just up to the person using it to act like they have journeyed to the place they are going. The actual Sword Coast is not so overrun with monsters at every square inch that you will always run into a pack of Goblins on the way to Beregost. Those who roleplay will do so and those that dont, wont. And theres always the option of not using the world map if you dont want to.
Being able to summon a portal or use one that is only accessible to spellcasters or characters with points in a certain skill is unfair on those who play classes that dont get some of their special abilities in Neverwinter Nights 2. Like Paladin's not having Detect Evil. Otherwise having portals at Ragefast's tower and Candlekeep and whatnot that everyone can use would be similar to a worldmap only less cool.
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sen
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Post by sen on Nov 7, 2008 8:13:20 GMT -5
dyndrilliac:
I wrote a huge text, but found I could shorten it into one sentence:
For me, the server is fun because it sets limits fitting to the world (The limit of room f.e.), which my character has to face (he has to travel on the street), without becoming too annoying about that.
Part of these limits is, that they are valid for anyone, except some of the most rare and powerful beings in the realms (DM Npcs, at least a lvl 9 or epic spell)
Problem with restricting the teleportation: Non-arcane classes are at a disadvantage.
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Post by blametherogue on Nov 7, 2008 9:27:50 GMT -5
just want to reiterate........i do enjoy rping, questing, exploring, and adventuring, but i also like to hunt, though i always do so IC. i'm just saying that there have been times when i didnt have long to play, and wanted to get together with deathless and rp and adventure and explore and hunt, but by the time i got to him, load screen times and crashes, we didnt have time to do much of any of those things.
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Post by Zealote on Nov 7, 2008 9:45:41 GMT -5
dyndrilliac: I thought about a spell because like Sircaniflex i dont like fast travel. But if a lvl 9 spell was available (yes only to wiz/sorc), would be some sort of fast travel, but only in high lvls. But as a teleportation spell works in PnP, you could take a party with you. I was aiming for something cool, not easy, and almost everyone knows a wiz or sorc right? ;D I was just imagining someone saying: -Stay close to me mates. You might feel a slight discomfort. *Casts teleport* Bam! Wouldnt that be awesome?
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lorgin2003
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Dyn-o-miiiiite!!!
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Post by lorgin2003 on Nov 7, 2008 9:49:49 GMT -5
the easiest way to do it would be to make portals from one city to another. have them cost like 500 gold to go one way. now here's the catch: you have to have traveled to the destination by foot before you can take a portal there. if that can't be scripted, then make destinations only available once you hit a certain level, which is easily done.
i also have to agree that once you get high enough level, running back and forth from BG to beregost to candlekeep becomes quite an annoyance. the monsters along the way are pretty much just speed bumps.
i can honestly say from experience that while fast travel may cut down the number of random chance meetings along the road, it creates many many more meetings within the cities.
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Post by DM Sir Carnifex on Nov 7, 2008 12:45:24 GMT -5
Actually, after reading all these complicated methods of adding new areas, new spells, portals, etc., I've thought of this: Wouldn't it be a much, much easier task for the respawn at the corpse to be fixed than to have the DEVs do all this extra stuff?
And as for the current times when you always respawn in the the Elfsong, if it's a DM event, don't forget that DMs will teleport you back to where you were (this is generally done faster than if you run all the way to Myrkul and select the option). No lost time there.
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