Imagine we had less Portals?

[Apothys]

Is it just me or do we think there are too many portal locations on Arelith?

I mean i get that we need them to get from Arelith to places like the outer planes and other unique places.

But imagine having to actually travel places. No more quick trips to Andunor and then back to Cordor, because you can. Going there would be a bit more epic, actually be an adventure! People may start using the caravans again?

Imagine who you would meet on the road?

Travelling to and from Sencliff would require a Boat or being ferried by captains and smugglars. Imagine that!

Perhaps more powerful portals could be maintained but the majority gone.

No more quick trips. What would you think?

[Nitro]

I think it would be tedious, and I for one would just run from place to place with haste because I don't want to spend 15 minutes of the 2hrs I can get of playtime just walking to get to one place.

[Halibutthead]

i agree that we could do with a fewer portals... the arcane tower, for example is sandwiched by 2 porals, with a third another transition away in bramble woods. then the one on cordor frontier, and bendir uplands, and that's just getting started in that general cluster.

cordor/andunor are probably bad examples since they both probably need portals, but there's no reason why bendir needs 2 portals next to it and another inside the town itself, for example.

still, this has been brought up before. i'm curious as to how the devs feel about it now.

[Archnon]

I think there are a LOT of portals and from an immersion standpoint, it seems like there would need to be a lot of magic going into maintaining them that isn't RPed.

That being said, this is an RP server and if people are using the portals to get into RP situations, then they are well used. Maybe it would be best to restrict them to player hubs to facillitate transportation between towns. Once you do that, it is relatively easy to get to most of the dungeon/combat content on the server.

[malcolm_mountainslayer]

*edit removed outdated information*

Skal is already a pretty portal free place for that kind of fun.

I think the post about redundant portals being removed is valid though as it can just be viewed as clutter.

[JubJub]

There is an area or two with a few too many like the crows nest. You have the two way outside of sib, one on ither side of sib, one outside the half breed camp, one at the docks, one in the half breed camp, and one near the darkheart grove. Also another if you count the one in the desert fort. But for the most areas they seem pretty well spread out. The new one in cordor is a life saver, so thanks for adding that one.

[satan]

I think it would be cool if there was one to each settlement, and that's it.

[Vrass]

Too many portals and not enough people traveling the roads. Should remove most of them or at least make it so you need to use special, (and incredibly expensive) components like with mage 7-9 spells. Maybe make each teleport cost 10 components per use. All it does presently is encourage laziness and everyone being in a hurry... and yes i am guilty of this as well hence why i support such a change. I want more overland travel and with portals limited the temptation for me to just cheat using the portals will go down.

[NauVaseline]

Ugh please no

[xanrael]

I think it would be tedious, and I for one would just run from place to place with haste because I don't want to spend 15 minutes of the 2hrs I can get of playtime just walking to get to one place.

Echoing this statement. I enjoy the travel to a new location once per character then it grows tedious.

Kill writs already give you a chance to encounter people as you travel to dangerous areas and begin RP with them.

I'd rather see them expand the courier writ system so those wanting to travel from A to B without teleporting can be rewarded for it and spawning potential interactions such as bandit RP.

[RedGiant]

But for a few areas that seemingly over-portalled as the server grew, this is generally a terrible idea.

Keep in mind that even many of these close portals, where source and destination were separated, became separated because of player shennanigans.

As before, the overall OP punishes the time-constrained player, encourages things like haste+sanctuary, and directly nerfs highly desirable travel high magic.

Can we maybe slow or....even stop the suggestions for new nerfs or other functionality reductions? Logging into the forums has gotten downright depressing.

I would think there is an entire world of post-hak possibility: new classes, tilesets, features, equipment...

[Vrass]

At the very least it should not be free to use the teleport system, you should have to pay for it. Try using any means of mass transit for free in RL and you will be laughed at and told to get lost. A transit system like the portal network if it existed would be no different. The amount of magic needed to power it, as well as the maintenance to keep it running would require huge amounts of wealth so the money has to come from somewhere. In RL if you want to use mass transit you have to pay for the privilege... it should be the same with the portal network. There is no such thing as a free public service, either pay up or walk.

[LIonGraphiK]

This very topic was raised last year, I think?



I disagree with deleting even one portal. There are a few of us that have barely enough time to do things on this server due to work commitments/timezone complications. If I have an hour to RP and it takes me 15 minutes to get somewhere, then for me that's time wasted and I'm likely going to be travelling through mobs, which for me as a caster, would have to prepare for... By the time I would get to the location I would want to be to meet up with a friend for some RP, I've wasted thirty minutes and likely spent it not enjoying the game.

Spell components for teleportation shouldn't really be a thing as only a verbal component is required.

If people don't want to use the portals, that's for them to decide. I sometimes choose to walk to destinations when the mood strikes me and when I've got oodles of time to do so.


src: https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Teleport

[Irongron]

This is one of these issues that clearly comes down to tastes. I like trudging through a lot of areas, very much, and if it was just me? Yeah, a portal free server sounds great...the problem is it probably would be 'just me' if I did that (and a few others). For a great many people a portal free server would be unplayable.

We can cater to many tastes. There are definitely areas where we have portals too close together, many because of old server transitions, and if someone wants a portal free experience? Well, as someone stated above - we have Skal for that (Or just...don't use them.)

In short? We're not going to change the portals, or start charging for them.

[Halibutthead]

I do find it genuinely sad that the general player response to a suggestion intending to make the world less video-gamey is to say that we will treat it more like a video game
Still, feedback is feedback

[JubJub]

There are times I like walking, simply wandering about exploring and times I am lazy and the thought of walking to bendir makes me cringe. I like the portal system but I do think there a few spots where there might be a bit too many. But the way it is now means you can walk and ignore them or use them. I can understand how some may think it ruins stuff but this is one of those areas where some will always think there too many and some are going to think there's not enough.

[Scylon]

For me, I think the portal lenses are a larger issue.

At lease wit regular portals you have to at least go to the portals and step in it. Portal lenses however let you just poof from any place you like. And they are cheap as well. I have seen them going for as low as 1500. That is nothing. It also makes Mages who took the points for portals feel a bit of a waste. there is nothing special about it.

I'd suggest reworking the lenses to make them not a free teleport for any one to get anywhere from any where, but into a "token" of sorts for the current network. Make them cost a bit more as well from vendors so player made ones are more valuable. Right now I don't bother making them because the materials are worth more then the result.

This would encourage more walking, keep the system in place and make ESF: Transmutation more valuable especially for a group as having a wizard who can teleport or open a portal around will be useful. Also his transmutation buffs are tasty too!

[Vrass]

Im not suggesting portal free though... just with some limitations. One portal for each settlement would still allow people to cover great distances but would be at least a little more realistic then having a portal for every single area as we pretty much do now. There are a lot of portals in places where there is no logical or even practical reason for them to be. A large percentage are in areas nobody visits anyway except maybe once while they are still learning the island's layout. The one deep in the southern jungles is a good example, there is nothing there and nobody ever goes there so why would someone build a portal there?

Making portal lenses ridiculously expensive or as tokens as in the above post would also help.

[xanrael]

The one deep in the southern jungles is a good example, there is nothing there and nobody ever goes there so why would someone build a portal there?

The class most likely to have ESF: Transmutation (and thus capable of creating portals others can use) has a very good reason to go there...

[Aurian]

I don't mind walking as such (it's a great opportunity to rp when with others), but many areas are filled to the brim with aggressive monsters, which means that 'walk' quickly becomes tedious. We already have enough reasons to mass slaughter mobs as is.

Though I'll admit I'm new, it's very possible there are commonly used pathways without aggressive mobs that I'm not aware of.

[Anime Sword Fighter]

I say keep all the portals. (And in places like Skal add a few more exit portals/shortcut transitions like the foubder cave at the end of those long annoying dungeons)

But also add more wilderness instancr transitions in areas with too many portals. There could easily be an extra area on both the north and south sides of the arcane tower, like someone mentioned its being sandwiched between two.

[theCountofMonteCristo]

Could some portals go? Yes. There are a lot of portals that are right next to/near other portals.

But over all? Please no. I don't want to spend my playtime walking to get somewhere instead of RPing at destinations with the people I want to spend my time with. I already wander around the roads to collect resources. There are lots of reasons already to walk from place to place. Please don't force it upon people, especially those with limited playtime.

[Vrass]

Except for a few areas all the mobs that spawn on the roads are no hindrance for max level characters. Up around Minmir that starts to change but even as a mage when i was lv 30 none of those mobs delayed me for more then a few seconds before my summon killed them. I do agree they need to add portals to Skal though, especially one that links it with Arelith. I get its supposed to be super isolated and hard to get to but i mean magic exists and teleportation is easy enough that even a place like Skal should have at least one portal to the mainland if only so they can continue to trade and receive supplies during the winter, or incase of emergencies.

[MissEvelyn]

I'm more concerned about ferry rides being as fast as portals, when it comes to travel times.

[Seven Sons of Sin]

I think there are too many portals, but I actually think the real problem is the balancing of the ferry system/coastal zones with Arelith's "interior."

The expansion of the Trade Route I feel like bogs down the north-south corridor of Cordor-Tower-Bendir.

The expansion of the Skull Crag hills, and Minmir, etc.

A lot of these new "areas" have actually made it take longer to get to Point A to Point B. Which has the adverse affect of people just opting out of overland travel altogether. And honestly has made me on more than one occasion groan with annoyance. I love wandering, but I want to wander from Point A to Point B to Point C. All that's occurred with Arelith's zone expansion is adding "bloat" between A and B.

... not new paths or new roads or new experiences, just a longer walk along the familiar decades old trail.

So, tbh, I think a lot of Arelith's geography needs a really good hard look in the mirror.