Waypoints? Good or Bad?

[Glytch]

I think you are barking up the wrong tree, I've played GW1 since release - YOU are the one suggesting mounts for no real reason.

I can't even think of any flying creatures large enough to be used as mounts in the GW setting at all aside from dragons, and dragons are out of the question.

they dont fly but luxon siege turtles (lol)

[papajohn4]

And some people (just as you) don't like it but I prefer actually playing a game instead of running around for 10 mins to get where I want to go.

just don't get sad if you find an empty world after some months when everyone will get level up..waypoints/teleports save you time but also destroy the virtual world..
as I said in another post, if you try to get a ship in wow nowdays to get to the other side you will be alone..if you tried to do that in vanilla and early tbc you were among a lot of people..you felt the world full of adventurers running next to you, get the same ship as you , e.t.c. you chat with them, you may arrange to do something with them when you arive to the other side, and so on..

some things maybe seem pointless in a first view and that it is there only to waste your time but trust me everything have its reason and thats why it was there in first place when the best MMO's was out. Of course waypoints and teleports doesn't destroy the feel of a virtual world by themselves alone but they add a lot to it..this is my opinion..for me waypoints are wrong but I get used to this a long time now I have no hopes of a huge - virtual world anymore :P things changed and games are more "games" now and less "simulations"..at the past there was a good balance between 'actual game" and "simulation" especially in wow. Everquest were too much "simulation" they really overdid it :P but vanilla wow have kept a great balance between them.

no waypoints, no mounts (especially fly mounts) is my opinion...maybe some scrolls which will temporary increase your run speed by % when out of combat

[personn5]

I think you are barking up the wrong tree, I've played GW1 since release - YOU are the one suggesting mounts for no real reason.

I can't even think of any flying creatures large enough to be used as mounts in the GW setting at all aside from dragons, and dragons are out of the question.

Don't really want mounts either, but if they WERE going to use them, all they have to do is this: *Insert race of previously unheard of giant flying whatevers has moved south/north/etc into Kryta due to the dragons awakening.*. Then BAM, new flying creatures for mounts.

[Eorayn]

Don't really want mounts either, but if they WERE going to use them, all they have to do is this: *Insert race of previously unheard of giant flying whatevers has moved south/north/etc into Kryta due to the dragons awakening.*. Then BAM, new flying creatures for mounts.

Ye, if they want to put mounts into the game, they can just make something up. At any time

[StationaryHawk]

It's just like taking a flight path in WoW and alt-tabbing/going AFK for X number of minutes. The difference is that it's instant, with no alt-tabbing/going AFK for X number of minutes.

And no mounts, please. They're just not necessary. We've already established that we have waypoints for that.

[papajohn4]

A very good article about travelling in games here..its really interesting and maybe will contribute to the discussion here

http://nilsmmoblog.blogspot.com/2011...ng-travel.html

[GrodinLB]

I'm neutral really. I like to have the option of getting places quickly (for large scale events, let's say) but I'll largely spend most of my time in zones exploring the countryside, as dynamic events can pop up just about anywhere.

It's the same thing as flightpoints in WoW, except you aren't wasting silly amounts of time if you want to travel far.

Most of the MMOs out there treat themselves as a time sink. The more time you spend not really doing anything the better because they get their monthly fee regardless of whether you're actually playing or just running around. GW2 has taken the stance that they want people playing and interacting, they're doing their best to take the time sink (grind) out of the game. Travel time is one of the biggest time sinks in games these days, by eliminating that people have more time to have fun.

It's not just a casual friendly system, it's good for everyone. Having designated zones allows for more people to populate an area before it becomes laggy, so while having the world 'broken up' is slightly negative, I think the positives outweigh it.

[Deleted]

just don't get sad if you find an empty world after some months when everyone will get level up..waypoints/teleports save you time but also destroy the virtual world..
as I said in another post, if you try to get a ship in wow nowdays to get to the other side you will be alone..if you tried to do that in vanilla and early tbc you were among a lot of people..you felt the world full of adventurers running next to you, get the same ship as you , e.t.c. you chat with them, you may arrange to do something with them when you arive to the other side, and so on..

WoW world is dead because there is nothing to do in there, not because of portals. There would be lot more alive world in wow if there was dynamic events. I bet in GW2 players will spread more evenly in world because they can go back do lower level dynamic events and get side kicked and experience event as it was meant to and still earn reward (karma) from doing it.

some things maybe seem pointless in a first view and that it is there only to waste your time but trust me everything have its reason and thats why it was there in first place when the best MMO's was out. Of course waypoints and teleports doesn't destroy the feel of a virtual world by themselves alone but they add a lot to it..this is my opinion..for me waypoints are wrong but I get used to this a long time now I have no hopes of a huge - virtual world anymore :P things changed and games are more "games" now and less "simulations"..at the past there was a good balance between 'actual game" and "simulation" especially in wow. Everquest were too much "simulation" they really overdid it :P but vanilla wow have kept a great balance between them.

Not sure what you view as best MMO's, but in my opinion Ultima Online was one of best and even it had instant travel via recall and runes. Pretty much everyone trained magery at least so high that they could use recall scrolls. Having that optional instant travel in world didn't turn it death and actually you could find other players from some pretty remote locations because players spread in world.

[Iselde]

Waypoints are definitely a good thing. As others have mentioned, flight points, boats, and the like are just big wastes of time. I can understand the scenery points; it's nice to be able to leisurely enjoy the game's environments while traveling between zones. However, MMOs consume enough time as is, and if exploring isn't your primary objective, you shouldn't have to waste your time doing so.

In general, waypoints will be a noticeable change for people who don't have all the time in the world to play a MMO; if one doesn't have time constraints for whatever reason, by all means, travel through zones on foot at your own pace. It's good to have options.

[anathama]

Yes, it is fairly obvious that waypoints are great to get around long distance; Also, I'm glad they are adding a bit of incentive for those who opt to not use them. However, what I'm talking about is the strictly short distance travels.

Like I remember in the first Guild Wars, there was this big walled city and no matter how hard I tried, I could not find a way in. I ran in circles to find a door, but found nothing. Then my friend told me "You have to click on the map to get in." It's things like that that worry me.

[MalazanFan]

And no mounts, please. They're just not necessary.

There are a lot of things that aren't necessary in GW2. 400 different dye colors aren't necessary, but ANet took the time to create them to give players more options. Mounts are the same for me. We have two travel options at the moment - you can either use a waypoint for instant travel or you can walk. There isn't any middle ground. I don't think mounts are necessary in GW2, and they're definitely not a deal-breaker for me, but I do like mounts and I would be happy if they added them in the future.

Edit: Just wanted to add that I would not be happy with any kind of flying mounts; only reasonable and well-implemented ground mounts.

[Mothhive]

Like I remember in the first Guild Wars, there was this big walled city and no matter how hard I tried, I could not find a way in. I ran in circles to find a door, but found nothing. Then my friend told me "You have to click on the map to get in." It's things like that that worry me.

While I've only recently started playing Guild Wars (at 55 hours played at the moment), I haven't come across a situation like that and I'm having a hard time believing there's a city where the only way to access it is via map travel. Any GW veterans able to clear that up?

Edit: Thanks Maklor, I type soooo slow!

[Deyadissa]

While I've only recently started playing Guild Wars (at 55 hours played at the moment), I haven't come across a situation like that and I'm having a hard time believing there's a city where the only way to access it is via map travel. Any GW veterans able to clear that up?

Edit: Thanks Maklor, I type soooo slow!

Every city with an exception to the EOTS city can be accessed by walking to the portal.

[Wynnyelle]

I think they're cool. Waiting for a sky taxi to fly you from place to place is time-consuming, and it's only neat the first time you experience it. After that it just becomes something to alt-tab out of, which kind of defeats the purpose of feeling immersed anyway. I like feeling immersed in a game as much as the next person, but I also like convenience. It is a game after all, and they're supposed to be fun.

[Koshun]

I like them. When you're leveling, I can see why it'd bother you to have waypoints. However, when you're max level and you JUST finished the last mission which is the Sun's distance from Earth to the major trading center, I would rather warp there. Sure, running is great for immersion, but in Guild Wars 1 (especially the expansions), there were a lot of quests that went back and forth from the end-game missions to the major trade center. Obviously, if waypoints weren't implemented, then something else would be, but I cannot imagine running through the Undercity from the Jade Sea every time the chief of the Luxons wanted me to deliver a message to the Emperor.

[Blznsmri]

Every city with an exception to the EOTS city can be accessed by walking to the portal.

Wrong. You can't get to the Far Shiverpeaks without going through an asura portal, but you can walk from Boreal Station to The Eye of The North and Sifhalla and everything. Hell, you can walk from Tyria to Elona if you're far enough in both campaigns...

[Arrowstormen]

Is there any information on how GW2 will reward you for exploring?

[Blznsmri]

Is there any information on how GW2 will reward you for exploring?

DE's and I think there are a few traits that you pick up from exploration. I don't remember exactly.

[Merendel]

There are a lot of things that aren't necessary in GW2. 400 different dye colors aren't necessary, but ANet took the time to create them to give players more options. Mounts are the same for me. We have two travel options at the moment - you can either use a waypoint for instant travel or you can walk. There isn't any middle ground. I don't think mounts are necessary in GW2, and they're definitely not a deal-breaker for me, but I do like mounts and I would be happy if they added them in the future.

Edit: Just wanted to add that I would not be happy with any kind of flying mounts; only reasonable and well-implemented ground mounts.

The thing is waypoints are equivalent to flight paths common in other mmo's just with the inherent timesinks removed. You dont have to run to the nearest point first no do you have to spend X minutes waiting to arrive. You can argue instant travle is immersion breaking but how much is your immersion broek when your tabed out bored for 5 minutes while going from point A to B? Either way you still have to manualy discover point A and B yourself before you can teleport.

Timesinks are a product of the P2P market MMO because the more time you spend waiting for timesinks the less time your doing what you want to be doing, consumeing content. The slower you consume content the longer they can keep you paying 15 a month on the same amount of content. IF you wanted to meet up and play with a friend in another zone which would you prefer, A: 20 minutes to run there, B: 10 minutes to ride there, C: 5 minutes to take a flight path there, or D: 2 seconds to open the map and port there? Either way your probably not haveing any fun while waiting to arrive, option A and B you do have the option of stoping for stuff but your probably ignoring everything in your path to get to your friend while option C your just stuck waiting regardless.

Mounts are strictly for geting somewhere faster than you could arrive on foot. IF your just exploring following the DE's there's no point as your either following NPC's or are killing your way through something. If you want to get somewhere specific further away, ignoring all in your path, agian there's no point its just a needless timesink. On its basic level your argument is Walking is too much of a timesink, we need mounts to reduce that timesink, but instant travel is to fast so lets keep that timesink. If your going to keep the travle timesink there's no point in reducing it with a mount and if you want to make things faster, thereby reducing the timesink why not just remove that timesink altogether?

[Fernling306]

Waypoints are bad bad bad.