Compass, whats a compass?

[CloakandDagger22]

Ok, I've noticed something about the world map, I know its a limitation of NWN2 to have minimal areas and what not, but can we atleast turn up the intelligence of the transitions? It bothers me personally when I transition directly to the Trade Tier from the Viridale and for some reason I'm at the gate entrances, why don't I come in at the side door that can be used to leave the area? Its already there, why not use it.

I think if you come from the west, you should enter at a western located transition. Almost all areas have several exits and entrances, if they do, they should be used, and honestly I think that depending on what transition you use, you should have a limited number of areas to go to, so you actually have to go the right direction to get somewhere.

This would not only be more realistic (a major theme in all of my suggestions I like to think), but it would also lead to people being smarter and having someone who knows where their going even more important.

Also, related to Transitions, I had an idea for the Drtuid's Glade, I think there should be a link from the Glade back to the Viridale Forest (not the border), but it requires a small survival check, otherwise you get lost and end up at the border. I think that would be SWEET and give us Rangers and Druids an easy way to get into the woods, i mean what good is being all wilderly if you can't take advantage of it?

[Elusa]

I've always preferred continuous worlds, with actual roads connecting areas rather than just warping from area to area. It makes the world much more immersive when you actually have to take time to travel someplace. The above suggestions are all good, but they all stem from problems with the world map. It's just impossible to cram all those entrances and exits onto one map.

About the Druid's Glade, I think it should be a difficult place to get to. Placing it on the world map is an insult to druids and rangers. My suggestion is take it off the world map, leave the transition from Viridale to the grove, and require a survival skill of at least 4. After all, why should a level 3 wizard with little or no experience in the wild be able to find the Druid's Glade?

[nickbeat]

I used to play on a server called Divided Kingdoms. They had everything connected and you really had to hike everywhere which was very realistic and made it much easier to follow people. As it works now, anyone can hit and run in CvC and you can't really chase after them.

However, they had a stone that could be used to teleport to certain places which was nice. You had to earn the stone though, and could not use it til you were level 5 or so.

[Kangleton]

I love this idea, personally. Not sure how hard it might be to implement though.

[Jaeram]

This could change in the future, remember it's only a beta.

Honestly, so far, the only one I've seen that bothers me at all is the 'can't go from glade to forest' as a druid sometimes it's nice to not have to go through the city for things (or in this case that border) although I don't mind too much. Making it so people couldn't access the grove from the world map might be cool too, because then when Akodo sits at the transition in the Viridale to the grove he could actually see/stop people/tell them to put weapons away (which he seems to do a lot). Like I said before though, not a big deal to me right now, I'm more worried about the big things and I believe they deserve the attention more than this.

Edit: On a note of the teleporting areas and hit and runs. I think this can actually add a realistic value o make up for a short coming of the game its self. Think about it this way, who do you think is going to win a foot race and have an easier time getting away? The rogue/assassin with 24 dex leather armor and a few daggers on his belt who just performed a stab and run, or a knight/priest whatever with 13 dex, clad in full plate with a couple large weapons/ tower shield on his back, and what ever else he has? Obviously if anyone here were to watch someone in full plate try to run, although it was originally made so that it didn't inhibit movement (at least not as much as most people tend to think it did) it still effects running (which is one reason they used horses). The game mechanics though have them running at the same rate unless one of them happens to have monk levels or the running feat (I still don't think that really balances things out until the higher monk levels of like 150% run speed.) This is also not factoring in weather conditions, if it was a hot day I'm willing to bet that that knight has no chance in hell of catching that rogue because he's already going to start to heat up 50 steps out of the gate and the rogue would be booking. Once again, just my two cents, but in some cases, until the DM's feel like adding in a system where dex scores and the armor you wear affect your movement speed, I think that the teleporting transitions help to even the playing field.

Edit: Damn that turned out to be long...

[CloakandDagger22]

The problem is that servers in NWN2 with lots of areas get BIG, FAST, and I'm talking about file size, I mean big areas are good, but they take up lots of memory and lag issues get worse... and well its all downhill from there.

I just think that we should atleast only have certain directions to go from certain areas, so it WOULD be possible to follow people.

I also agree that the Druid's Glade is a little too easy to get to.

[sharringtonm]

1.) We've been looking into Compass directional transitions for a while now.
2.) We've been looking into passage from the grove to the rest of the forest for the people who really know their way around the forest and don't need to follow the beaten path.

[Wedrewolf]

I couldnt agree more..

[KingLeper]

I have to say the one disappointment I have had was the fact that you can just port anywhere. The PW I played on in NWN1, you had to travel and foot it everywhere. There where areas that had ports where you could boat to different areas and there where underground caves that allowed you access to different areas. Is it not possible to have lots of interconnecting maps for travel or is the world map necessary? I mean for a few places sure, but to be able to go from the port in the far south to Mossdale in the far north is a bit disappointing. Just my two cents.

[Kangleton]

Yeah. It makes it harder for certain factions, as well. The fact that there are no areas that are just roads or plain landscapes means that there is no place for Assassins to intercept their targets, since the target goes from destination to destination without any middle ground really existing. It also means that things like road blocks can't really be established, and there is no place for hostile forces to meet other than at their respective bases, which are always filled with NPC's anyways.

I have to say that I am not really fond of the world map, and would much prefer the alternative of having to transition through areas and roads. That isn't a knock on Sundren - it is just my personal, individual preference.

[Saulus]

I can't discuss all the plans in regards to these comments, but rest assured these things have already long been thought out, keeping in mind we are in beta. The forest used to have a transition to the grove only, I wanted to make the Grove a more accessible hotspot for players so they would use it more. So I changed it to what we have now, I have no current motivation to put it back, and Viridale will likely be completely redone before I even worry about something like that.


To answer your question we are waiting until we have enough quests to make areas on the map appear only after you've travelled there. It's not simple though, all this must be tracked and setup so multiple players using it at once can't break it. I could go on for hours about all the possibilities.

[CloakandDagger22]

I could go on for hours about all the possibilities.

And the fact that you can say that and I believe it,m is the reason I'm here.

I am very excited to see what Sundren will be once it moves out of Beta.

[KingLeper]

To answer your question we are waiting until we have enough quests to make areas on the map appear only after you've traveled there.

Now that is a great idea. I know this is beta. I know it will take time, but I think that would be a great idea. Accessible only after making it there. I won't harass you about it. Take your time. Good things come to those who wait. Or so I'm told.

[Gamling]

Didn't they say they couldn't have all those area because of memory issues?