Map Travel: It's not just for game mechanics any more.

[Sable Phoenix]

Okay, so I'm sure some people noticed the quest given by the little boy outside the Sunspear Hall in the Nightfall preview, where he talks about map travel. By chance does anyone have the text of his dialogue? I didn't think to record it at the time.

What I find interesting is that this quest has now moved map teleportation from the realm of fourth-wall-transcending game mechanics and made it solidly part of the "real world" lore. As such, we must be able to deduce some sort of explanation as to how it works, and why it works the way it does, i.e, not being able to access cities until they are first entered by physical travel, etc.

When I got that quest, it seemed obvious to me that map travel is linked to the portals at the gates of cities (which are now much more visibly obvious in Nightfall as large disks of energy that distort the views behind them like glass, rather than as nacreous swirling blurs).

When I have time to sit and think through the logical ways this would all work and the ramifications of it, I'll post more, but I figured it would be an interesting topic to bring up for discussion.

[Kyrion Hellcat]

The most easy or quick explanation would be that a basic spell of 'recall' is taught to all childs. Everyone knows that spell.... And people doesn't need a skill slot for it because it's like an 'inherent ability' for them.

[bigwig]

lots of tutorial quests break the fourth wall, this one just happens to be a little further along.

[Quintus Antonius]

The concept of map travelling is discussed in the Teleportation Dial thread in the Tyrian Lore Forum.

[Sable Phoenix]

Great. That's totally unhelpful however unless a link is included. I see no threads on teleportation dials.

[Quintus Antonius]

Watch your attitude, I don't appreciate it.

I did a simple forum search for the phrase "Teleporation Dial" and I found the thread in question:
http://forums.gwonline.net/showthread.php?t=386336&highlight=teleportation+dial

[Sable Phoenix]

What attitude? It was a simple observation.

Thanks for the link. My searches didn't find that somehow. It seems, though, that the linked thread is more of a discussion on where these dials came from, who Lord Orran was, and how or why he did what he did, rather than the actual mechanics of how map travel works.

[Gmr Leon]

If I remember correctly the child says you mark towns you know of on your map and then when you wish to go there you focus on it and then you teleport to the place you were focusing on.

[Moklar]

Well it's not that bad really

I mean considering that the NPCs in the first Factions mission tells you how to use your keyboard to target enemies and how to use your mouse to draw on the mini-map, that kinda ruins the fantasy feeling.

[Quintus Antonius]

Unfortunantely, it's necessary to break the fourth wall from time to time simply because it is a game.

[Ranger Nietzsche]

If map travel really worked acording to that quest then why did the Ascalonian Refugees have to wander over the shiverpeaks.

Also, that means as long as you have an accurate map you can travel there, regardless of if said map is yours.

I think this is just a tutorial quest

[Quintus Antonius]

Although, as the linked thread a few posts back shows, there are legitimate means of teleportation or translocation. Map travel probably isn't one.

[djxiii]

If map travel really worked acording to that quest then why did the Ascalonian Refugees have to wander over the shiverpeaks.

Also, that means as long as you have an accurate map you can travel there, regardless of if said map is yours.

I think this is just a tutorial quest

The Refugees walked because they had never been to Kryta before. You can't map travel unless you've been to the destination before. It's not about the map on paper.. it's the map of your experience of having been there.

And does Mehnlo or one of the other Abbey Monks tell you about map travel in a Pre-Searing quest?

[Zaxares]

Magical maps?

Perhaps the maps used by players are enchanted with runes of transportation that are capable of bringing you to any location that you have visited before? Such maps would be keyed to you and you alone, so you couldn't use somebody else's map to travel somewhere that you haven't been to.

[Apu]

From Djxiii
And does Mehnlo or one of the other Abbey Monks tell you about map travel in a Pre-Searing quest?

I do remember someone that teaches you how to map travel in Pre. Im going to roll a new toon and check that out.

Topic
Well, i think that u need to see the place before u can travel back to it, meaning, u mark the place in your map so u know where it is then u look at it a u start to imagine the place till u get there, thats why u need to w8 some seconds to actually get there :P

[windcaller]

The Refugees walked because they had never been to Kryta before. You can't map travel unless you've been to the destination before. It's not about the map on paper.. it's the map of your experience of having been there.

And does Mehnlo or one of the other Abbey Monks tell you about map travel in a Pre-Searing quest?

maybe the monks in pre do not have the knowledge to explain such facts. it's like telepathy: you just do it.

the ones from elona, however, have more knowledge about the magic in the world.

[Ivan Drago]

I think map travel is not part of game lore. One should not try to fit this in.

NPCs talking about this is more part of introducing you to this game concept. One should not make a horrid story of kids teleporting between Kamadan and the Sun Spear Hall whenver they want out of it. It is a game concept for our convenience.

After all, we do not have to drink, eat or sleep either. Jatoro Musagi would not have to give you letters to his mom permanently. The idea of sending you with messages to certain persons in certain towns would become silly when the person in question could simply teleport there. E.g. I cannot imagine that Spearmarshal Kormir could not teleport from Kamadan to the Sunspear Great Hall himself.


If you really want to squeeze this in, then also create a concept of alternate realities with multiple copies of Mhenlo and an instanced universe please.

[Quintus Antonius]

Shhh, don't say such things, Ivan. People have a tendency to do things like that (it's happened at least twice).

[Azrael STX]

I think map travel is not part of game lore. One should not try to fit this in.
Considering one of the Nightfall quests (the one in question) was to go visit the inventor of map travel, it just became part of the lore. It's not the same thing as having a tutorial that says 'Press C to target closest ally' at some point. This was an actual quest with multiple people discussing the real, physical use of 'map travel', as well as its origins.

This was always an 'iffy' subject, borderline lore, but could always be brushed off as a game mechanic by skeptics. It's no longer possible to do that, however, considering the length to which it was developed within Nightfall's storyline.

So yes, for good or bad, it's part of the lore now.

[CougChaos]

I got a laugh out of that quest... it reminded me of the 'I created this first' posts you see on the forums. As far as how it fits in the lore... well it's not like they tell you to read the book of knowledge... so they have to explain it somehow.

The way i see map travel you are not really warping around... you still do the traveling but it turns the trip into a run to the store. You do it so often that you block out the details. You travel normally but you just don't get to see the sites or the potential problems your hero encounters.

[Camaris Spectre]

The Ascalon quest was more along the lines of "quick! These dreams are too urgent to walk to Ascalon City and report them, you've got to use map travel!"

Back in the day, the theory was that there are "portals" in each outpost. Once a person is attuned to one of these portal they may draw themselves to it at any time. The presence of a portal is what makes an outpost and outpost rather than a town in an explorable area.

It would seem that part of the "spell" for using these portals is physically looking at a map and focusing on the desired portal. I doubt that the map is magical in itself; I suspect that it simply a mental aid. In cases of dire need or intimate familiarity pulling out a map is not required (examples: guild hall, the emergency check-box).

[Quintus Antonius]

As a general rule, lore cannot break the fourth wall. So quests and dialouge discussing how to press "C" or "M" or "G" or whatever else (for the sake of the human player) do not count as lore.

[Heelz]

How about lore explaining why you can't map travel to places in another continent without going through the port city by boat? If it's a distance thing, surely you should at least be able travel to Amnoon Oasis, or any other desert outpost, from Elona.

[kamicosmos]

Might be time for another thread, and I bet there already is one, but how about the game mechanics of Resurrection?

I'm specifically thinking of Thunderhead Keep and Vazhune Square mission, where if the King, Togo, or Mehleno die, instant failure. Why? I mean, we have res shrines that are certainly part of the world and game lore, and the various res skills.

So, why can't we simply res the NPC and continue on with the mission, like we do all the time? Really ticks me off in those missions, cause I feel it's a cop out of the devs to say 'Oh, in this mission, we want to 'challenge' you by having you defend something and not let it die, so, we'll just not let you use some of these skills and features you've come to rely on.' :angry: They let Ressurections cross from game mechanics into lore, and it is coming around to haunt us now. Just like map travel could be doing now...

To stay on topic: I like map travel as a pure game mechanic. I thought having it 'in the world' in the NPE was a bit cheesy, so hopefully they work that a bit differently. Cause, yeah....Hero's wouldn't really be needed in a world where anybody could just zip around instantly.

[Ivan Drago]

To stay on topic: I like map travel as a pure game mechanic. I thought having it 'in the world' in the NPE was a bit cheesy, so hopefully they work that a bit differently. Cause, yeah....Hero's wouldn't really be needed in a world where anybody could just zip around instantly.

This addition to game lore, well...

Jeff Grubb and/or his writer team like this kind of humour. A light-hearted approach to introducing new players to game mechanics is for sure not wrong.

I hope - and I am sure - that Grubb & Co will not be stretching this too far. Too many real world references and too much humour become cheesy.

[Ranger Nietzsche]

Might be time for another thread, and I bet there already is one, but how about the game mechanics of Resurrection?

I'm specifically thinking of Thunderhead Keep and Vazhune Square mission, where if the King, Togo, or Mehleno die, instant failure. Why? I mean, we have res shrines that are certainly part of the world and game lore, and the various res skills.

So, why can't we simply res the NPC and continue on with the mission, like we do all the time? Really ticks me off in those missions, cause I feel it's a cop out of the devs to say 'Oh, in this mission, we want to 'challenge' you by having you defend something and not let it die, so, we'll just not let you use some of these skills and features you've come to rely on.' :angry: They let Ressurections cross from game mechanics into lore, and it is coming around to haunt us now. Just like map travel could be doing now...

To stay on topic: I like map travel as a pure game mechanic. I thought having it 'in the world' in the NPE was a bit cheesy, so hopefully they work that a bit differently. Cause, yeah....Hero's wouldn't really be needed in a world where anybody could just zip around instantly.

There is a ressurection thread literally 3-6 threads below this one

[kamicosmos]

There is a ressurection thread literally 3-6 threads below this one

Yeah, i saw that right after I posted. heh. Informative though, glad to know I'm not the only one that thinks the 'forced NPC deaths for the storyline' deal is cheezy.