IDEAS FOR RYZOM

That isn't the initial proposition. Yeah, sounds similar, but misses the point.

The point isn't, teleport yes, teleport no, it isn't even about sightseeing, the point is the balancing of the traveling methods, specifically when crossing national borders.(tinkering with the price was just the first thing which came to mind, actually anything goes as long as there are compelling reasons to use both traveling methods to change nation, it goes both ways, contain teleporting on long distances, and reward more dangerous traveling)

At the moment the traveling methods look unbalanced, in the worst way of the two extremes, cause while teleports don't add anything to the game aside personal convenience, so their loss or underuse wouldn't bring much harm, actual traveling is what breaths life in the game world, more than any npc, mechanic, or event, it's the players who make a gaming world alive, the less chances there are to cross roads the more empty the world looks.
Any mmorpg main duty is to facilitate players meeting up.

Was this any other game, or just a virtual chat, players could just meet in cities and during events and be satisfied with that, but in a world of supposedly explorers and adventurers, the shortage of encounters on the road, and the unwillingness to walk, reflects negatively on the quality of said explorers and adventurers, makes this look like a world of sofa rangers.
Just have some self-respect and go out there to flaunt your exploring experience and knowledge of the world.

What good is an explorer who doesn't have tales to tell?



Player run events are still nice, and good to have, but a balanced system is worth 100000 events, when the talk is only about keeping a game alive.
When people meet and come together naturally, without an event pushing them, isn't that so much better?
An event eventually ends, or the people running events tire out, but a functional system works all the time.
Events should be just about having fun, burdening events with more serious stuff, like carrying activity, is regrettable.


One note about game driven entertainment and player driven entertainment:
It's actually really hard for any game to be entertaining for long time, it takes real developing talent and experience to even create something decent, eventually the players stop looking at the scenery and focus instead on the numbers and the backstage, to say, relying on the bare world to carry the entertainment is a common player mistake.
It is a natural outcome for singleplayer games, you finish the game and stop playing, then move on to the next game, but applying the same reasoning to mmorpgs means not being able to differentiate playing with others from playing alone.
People who quit because the game wasn't offering them something, probably should have played a singleplayer game instead.
The lack of community, or it's bad quality, those are proper reasons to leave any mmorpg.

I believe that this is another case of good intentions gone bad. You are correct about it being hard for any game to be entertaining for a long time. That's why I cannot agree with you on some points you bring up. It boils down to the fact that those of us who have been in the endgame for years have found ways to keep it entertaining and you are proposing something that would detract from or eliminate our enjoyment. You can read the details, or skip right to the last paragraph for the TL:DR version.

Some of us like doing things other than walking. I consider not having being able to do anything fun enough to bother logging in to be pretty much the polar opposite of "not much harm". Suppose that I am just logging in and my friends say, "Hey, Jukoo is up!". Would you rather I have fun with my friends and enjoy Ryzom, or apologize for not being able to make the trek before I have to log off and get ready for work the next day? Even cutting a two-hour trek to the other side of the rootball down to 30-45 minutes by allowing me to TP between capitols and only schlep across one region would pretty much put the kibosh on me hanging with my friends. And no, moving closer to them is not really an option as many of us hang in multiple circles; the only way it would be feasible is if every homin on Atys lived in one city.

You also overlook that many of us have tales to tell from places we've been hundreds/thousands of times already. While the word may seem exciting to the newcomers, there will come a point where the entire map is mundanely well-known because we've explored it all repeatedly multiple times again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again and again. Sure, having a Great Kincher come at you may seem real exciting the first few times, but after the 893rd time they are more tedious than entertaining. By about the 5,914th time, it's an outright annoyance, not an adventure. Traveling simply does not breath life into a game world that you already know as well as many of us know it. Those of us who stay here beyond a few months do so for reasons other than travel; we are about destinations. Maybe it's the mats needed for new gear, maybe it's to meet up with their friends, but the real fun does not happen until after the traveling is over.

You're also overlooking the amount of hunting that goes on that would not be feasible (or, for some of us, even possible) without TPs. Given that hunting is one of the few things that keeps end-gamers from quitting the game, do you really want to take that away? Do you really want to make Ryzom like a single-player campaign in which there is nothing to do once you get your first Master?

Simply put, you cannot make a community by smashing people together and saying, "Okay children, make friends!". It really does not work that way. Trying to force the issue only makes it worse. You can get people to quit because it's all walking and swatting pests, but that's not good. You can get people to quit by changing the game they love into something they no longer love, but those changes had better bring in more players than they lose if the game is to survive. You can force people who have a history of animosity to be in the same location until one or the other decides it's just not fun. But that's about it. I applaud your efforts, but fear that the collateral damage is simply not worth risking for the small chance that it may buck tons of historical precedent and actually work out the way you think it will.

One possible compromise would be to have Yubo points finally mean something, and change the unlocking requirements for some TPs from fame/allegiance to achievement-based. That would give incentive for newer folks to go to parts of the map they may not think to go while not being unduly harsh on those who have already been to every single nook and cranny of the rootball at least 47 times.

It's a thought :)

I agree with this. Yes, I am playing an MMO, but that doesn't mean I want to be interacting with everyone all of the time (when it comes to certain parts of the community, never interacting with them again would be too soon). It's not even that I hate treks - I don't. If there's one going on and I'm online, I'm happy to join. I often help my guildmates trek packers to other regions, just for the fun of traveling together. One thing to keep in mind, however, is that turning something people do for fun into something they have to do is a great way to make them resent it.

But sometimes I come home after a rough day and I just want to spend an hour or two digging in peace, without making contact with strangers. I prefer being able to reach out to others on my own terms by participating in events and talking in Universe, rather than being forced into it.

@Luminatrix and @Gidget

in this case a heartily bestowed +1

Just to add to this:

The Karavan first introduced telelportation when they brought technology to Atys. It was gifted to Homins in exchange for them worshipping Jena. It makes perfect sense, you can't have Karavan teleportation without the balancing Kami & Marauder.

So, you can't just decide to make teleportation harder because it suits some players, without re-writing the Lore (at least in part).

The real point here is, with so many players asking for more content, better events, new things to do etc. there's better things for devs to invest time in (that may benefit the larger community) rather than making teleportation harder and breaking the lore.

+1 Bubbason

My experiences with treking (it's probably boring)

(in order)

1: I did a trek ALL BY MYSELF from the desert to the forest, got to "hidden source" tried to leave that monster-inhabited-pi-of-hell and died quickly.... respawned, wash, rinse, repeat. I eventually got through and decided I probably need some help.
I wisely didn't get myself eaten and I got to Yrkanis, got a Kami TP (actually four of them) WINNING.

My DP was HUGE. yes, there is an upper limit, I know... and it was maxxed.

2: Joined a "trekking party" from the desert to Zora. That was easy! Didn't die, got there OK... WINNING

3: This was a trek from Pyr to Fairhaven, it was with CRAP.... can't remember his name (brain damage is a problem) and hi ALT. We TP-ed from Pyr to Yrkanis, tp-ed to Alavae, and walked and ran and got ourselves to yet another horrible place of death, somehow we got to Liberty Lake and from there we got to Fairhaven. it was that person whose name I cannot recall that got me there,

Make no mistake, a trek is a good thing! A trek will make you NOT DEAD. On your own, you are probably dead meat. If you ever have the opportunity, and if you need it, go on a trek. and bow down and worship the person who takes you an a trek..... if he keeps you alive.

((( PS: The name I couldn't remember is Mjollren )))

@Kovabon - I don't think anyone is arguing against that first trek. The difference of opinion is whether such treks should be mandatory every single time you want to get from one place to another. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

Don't get me wrong, I sometimes do treks just for fun. Occasionally I even do one without a lowbie in tow. However, I'm not always up for spending half my night just running simply because a few folks think TP-ing is lazy or that exploring places one has been a thousand times is still as fun as that first trek.

You don't need to re-write the existing Lore when you are not going to change history. Lore is not static and can evolve, High Powers can change their minds.

And players can change their minds as well; they can decide Ryzom is no longer worth paying for, or even playing. Do not assume that those who are grumbling are a captive audience that is incapable of leaving.

What I want to know is who is telling those that do not wish to use teleports that they cannot walk? Who is saying that something that optional is mandatory? This, "I don't want to, so you should not be able to!", stuff is a good way to to start a war. Is that the end result we really want? It's not what I want, that's for sure!

It might not be a big deal if Ryzom were never, ever even once in it's history even implied to be remotely like a sandbox, or didn't have "Freedom: There is nothing more important", on the front page of it's site as a selling point. But the notion that lore must remain static when change would add freedom while it is allowed (and, apparently, encouraged) to change when change would restrict freedom is, quite frankly, offensive.

There are better ways to balance things than punishing others for not sharing your fanaticism or tastes... but that assumes that the actual goal is balance.

It's no great shock that you would disagree Moniq, you seem to feel that making the game harder for everyone is better, because it suits your own style of play.

What amuses me most about this post is this, why would anyone care if someone teleports all over the planet?
Lets take for instance, I log in this morning, and spend 200k porting, how did that harm you? It doesn't is the answer!

So why would anyone support to change a game, to remove something that doesn't affect 'you' either way, but makes it more difficult for others. Some of whom may be lower level players that will prefer to port for the safety?

It just goes to show how fickle the tiny community have become wasting time blabbering about pointless changes in a hope of doing something interesting.

As for the Lore aspect, if you alter the ability to teleport, then you also alter the appeal to follow any particular deity. Lets hope, if this proposal goes anywhere, that an amber cube is created so that Hominkind in the future can re-discover the technology.

The real elephant in the room here though is, would this change be popular? When you listen to the constant grumbles from people about how much swimming is needed to get anywhere in Lakes, I seriously doubt that making everyone run everywhere as well is going to win you any popularity awards :-)

FREEDOM!!

@Bubbason

Maybe you didn't read my reply, I was just saying...


I see nothing about teleports there...

Hi.. almost sprayed my coffee laughing at this in a morning, the "freedom" stuff was just too much lol
Thank you!

You gain 1 point freedom today Bubbason, care Gidget is still in top of the race :D

+1

Keep teleporting as is.