Boating system

[Killizzal]

The boating system is good in my opinion except for one thing. For the sake of RP, i beleive you should be told how long it will take to move from one place to another and you should actually spend time on the boat. Clicking 'i want to go here' and being there is VERY unrealistic. Boating trips should also have encounters. I dont mean everytime but, yes occasionally. Pirates are known to strike every once in a while.  This would rreally help with reighning in new player and non RPers.  New players that get killed goin to another continanent will only now know that they dont need to be goin there; and non RPers will not want to wait for a boat ride. Its boring. theres no fighting. Any RPer, in my case should be willing to admit that this helps the experience and is realistic.

P.S.  Also all you HARDCORE RPers; stop running so much. your PC's are olympic track runners and dont have the stamina of a hummingbird.

Killizzal

[Gulnyr]

Something to keep in mind is not everyone has twelve hours a day to spend online playing.  Down-time on a ship would be very unpleasant to people with limited play time.  I play a lot and I wouldn't like it.  

If the choice is between fun and realism, I'm going to choose fun 99% of the time. I get enough of the boring parts of reality away from the game.

Smaller races run every where as it is instinctual, having to run from everything larger than you that wants to eat you or enslave you. We may need to drink or eat more than the larger races, but that is cause they are slow.

As for the boat system. The seas that surround islands and continents is probably the least explored part of the world of Layonara. Such a thing would increase the value of possessing the CNR of fishing. There are many threads where, certain crafts would require an extensive journey at sea.
Whaling (the fantasy of the unicorn begun when some one returned from a trip at sea, with the horn of a Narwhal)
Net fishing
Perfumery (using whale oil)

Lets not forget the opportunity for new monsters, Krakens and Giant Sea Snakes, and my personal favourites, the Zaratan and Gargantuans.

[Dorganath]

Agreed that boat travel between continents is unrealistic...but then, so is time in Layonara. At some points, we have to make a sacrifice between realism and fun.  Nearly instant travel between continents is one such sacrifice.
  Now, a couple points of my own based on the things you raised:
  Pirate attacks: As a matter of fact, such attacks (and other types of attacks as well) do occur at sea on GM-led quests.  One problem with having random attacks during ship travel is that the way things are working right now, your character would be solo, not in a group. But while we might be able to code a system that would work for groups, there's another important argument against this sort of thing.
  Keeping people land-locked: You mention "reigning in" new players and non-RPers from crossing continents.  This, in fact, is exactly what we do NOT want to do.  We want people to head off to Central and East.   We don't need further encouragement for people to stay on West and further contribute to the lag problems that server already experiences.
  Adventuring on Dregar or Roldem or Xantril is already dangerous enough to discourage the super-new.  Non-RPers will be Non-RPers regardless of the mechanisms put in place to force them into a particular course of action.
  If we want to talk "real" then it's fair to say that boat travel should take weeks to months in-game, depending.  Going from Port Hampshire to Leilon, Fort Velensk or Point harbor should take at least a week if not two; one might as well just not log in for about a RL day when making such trips.  Going from Karthy to Lorindar should take at least a month if not two...might as well not log in for 3 RL days or so.
  And along those lines, being able to travel, even walking, from one end of the continent to the other in a handful of RL minutes (up to several hours in game time) is extremely unrealistic.
  The point is that realism and fun need to be balanced.  As Gulnyr stated, not everyone has hours upon hours to waste going from Point A to Point B.
  The best thing I can suggest is that if you wish to have a long boat ride...if you wish to be attacked by pirates now and then...simply RP it.  What cannot be done with the current game mechanics can generally be RPed.

[Falreign]

Killizzal - 6/25/2005  3:18 PM

P.S.  Also all you HARDCORE RPers; stop running so much. your PC's are olympic track runners and dont have the stamina of a hummingbird.

Killizzal

You know we have all thought about this but then one day I was looking at my map and saw the had sooo much space in between the areas where we transitioned, that area I decide is friendly and has no monsters/danger, therefore I walk through it. In places where possible interest or danger is known I run around. That and the fact that moving slowly without proper cause is painful to watch.

[guru7892]

well, you could say that every time you go on a boat the captain will call you to the deck and report the happenings, and then you'll get like 1-3 minutes(depending on where your going) to fish, or something, yet 10% of the time when you get called and there is a problem like:

1- we are lost in dagerous waters and may be attacked (everyone goes back to the hold areas,ect. and there is a random sea encounter, and people scramble to the deck ect.)
2- something is broke and we need to drop you off at port(you get sent to a 'random port' (other servers?))
3- something is broke and we are stranded for some time (1-3 encounters, while repairing)
4- we ran out of food/water and need to go to an uncharted island to get some.(coding people could get realy creative with this, like natives, and a possible short side-quest...)

note these should not take more than 5 minutes ( with exception to the last which my take 15) because you have to keep in mind that the people have places to go and people to meet.

[miltonyorkcastle]

Coming from some of the old servers I used to play on, I used to think getting anywhere on Layo took forever... then I realized, like Dorgy said, that in terms of in-game time, I was the freakin' Flash, crossing Mistone in less than two hours game-time.  So I RP it taking the number of days to make the journey.
Oh, and I have Cole walk or run depending on how much of a hurry he's in, or how excited he is, just like in RL (RL for me anyway.  I actually do run or at least jog from place to place on a consistent basis when I'm excited about something or just busy).