Hello, I would want to post my idea on the subject.
I think that to keep the first exploration, and the pleasure of dsicovering the game, fast travel should NOT be available from the beginning. Let's discover Skyrim as we did with Morrowind: hide the cities on the map and let us dsicover this world by our own ways (speaking to strangers, looking at indications on the road, etc.).
The when we enter in town, we have the possibility to buy a map that reveals all the region around a town (not all dungeons, etc.) but the map as it look like in Oblivion at start.
ex: If I, after finding Solitude, decide to buy the map,all the Solitude region will be revelaed but not the entire map. And the, the player could fast travel to Solitude from now, and has to discover the other towns.
To make everyone happy, we can also add a compass in thec capital shop !!
But please, make sure that compass is optionnal and that we get enough informations to discover the quests' dungeon (or caverns, villages etc.) with PNJ's informations like: "Go left after the big stown at X meters from the northern gate", etc.
And finally add an option in a new game +, to reveal from the beginning all the regions we've discovered in an other game, if it tires some to again have to discover all the map!
Then the purists, the casuals and Bethesda, pleasing all their fans, will be happy. Their is an immersive way I think to fast travel.
And for those who don' even want to discover the first time, I don't understand why they bought a TES...
Tell me if you agree if my idea, and hope that Bethesda will consider it, if many agree!:)
I think this is a very good idea. I like it a lot. It's very smart to buy a map or a compass. I really really like it! Thanks for sharing it with us!
It's a logical and friendly choice that everyone can make in the game, and not by setting.
I really, too, want to discover Skyrim as I did with Morrowind. It was an awesome feeling to get walk back to town after a long day of exploring.
Edit: Only thing I can think about the idea is that there would have to be some sort of info to the players that if you buy a map or a compass, this would activate a certain feature; like fast travel.
Otherwise I think the casuals would never notice that something exists in the game. Some sort of "immersive" info would be nice. A dialouge with some person in the beginning could solve that. He or she could tell you that if you buy a map or a compass, you can ... navigate and travel faster?