Implementing this kind of map discourages exploration from the get go. And if developers are to assume that the majority of people are playing the game using this map to fast travel, they have less motivation to create the nuances in nature that make making the trip twice worth while.

I like the idea of this map however, but I would like it better if it had constraints:

- Only some portals are open at any one point (regardless if you've been there).
- There are mysterious ailments that afflict upon the player when using the map.
- The map grows lighter the more of the real game map you reveal and explore (this promotes adventure)

these are just ideas off the top of my head, and theyre free bethesda!

I would enjoy a more Morrowind-like version of fast travel. In Oblivion it was just too convenient.

I'd say that, if skyrim is as full as morrowind, fast travel could be abused to avoid perilous situations and bandit spawn points if you know they are there
In oblivion there wasn't very much in between ruins and towns, so the fast travel was useful in avoiding an uneventful walk back
So if we don't know which one the game will lean to, I'd be tentative to give a definite answer

How would it limit is to if most places had to be walked to and discovered prior to it being available? In Oblivion I never used the map until I had discovered most places thus doing extensive exploration. Then I could use it when I did not have the time or inclination to travel the same road 3 dozen times to complete a quest.

As I said, I would want only a few (very few) places to already exist on the map. My problem with the fast travel map was that it had no explanation of existence. This would take care of that.

Let's say there are two paths that will get you from city A to city B.

You've traveled the shorter path to city B and have discovered it as a fast travel locale. Will you ever go back and explore route A? Maybe, maybe not. I want a fast travel system that rewards exploring the map, not just discovering landmarks.

you left out the option to vote for the transportation system of Morrowind, or the fast travel system of Fallout 3 and New Vegas. I don't want to have the towns already discovered, but I don't want to have to walk to the same places over and over.

In Morrowind's system though you could fast travel to all the cities without discovering them.

Yes, but you could not travel to all landmarks the same way you could with Oblivion.

Ya but whats wrong with that? Your paying them to take you there, you shouldn't have to tell them how to get there.

For the love of all that is holy keep fast travel in the game. Seriously, the game is big enough that I can fast travel and it still has a huge lasting appeal. I don't have enough time on my hands to play the game that way. If some of you don't want to fast travel, it's not like you have to or anything, but some of us want the option.

If you didn't travel that road how would you discover if anything was there? I can't imagine leaving a road untraveled in my games or my life. I must travel them all once or twice and if I enjoy the walk I will travel them again. There could be some witch frozen in the middle of the road that needs my help. I can't go find out if it's not on my map yet.

And if I didn't like fast travel, like I said, I would just not bother to pick that map up or I'd sell it to get rich quick at the start of the game. Discovery can't happen if you don't walk the road unless you are in spoilers or on the wiki looking it up anyway.

Seems it would bring some believability to the map, leave it where you don't have to use it, and encourage the player to explore all areas of the map. I won't walk by a house or cave or dungeon in game without going inside and seeing what is there and I can't find them all unless I walk every roadway.

You could only do that in Oblivion after you'd discovered them., and since the teleport spells allowed you to fast travel away from anywhere in Morrowind, all Oblivion's system saves you is a second walk to one place. You mentioned earlier that you wanted a system that rewards exploring the map and not just finding things (not that that makes a lot of sense ), but how would Morrowind's be different from Oblivion's in that case? We still fast traveled between cities to get as close as we could to the location, so you're really complaining that they aren't forcing everyone to walk the same way to a location?

A well made transport infrastructure, made up of striders, boats and signs is sufficient! It only breaks immersion to enable fast travel from any given point. Striders for example is fast travel, why not make more striderpoints or something.
Anything but an automatic instant travel system, it's just for lazy "I want it now" people, IMO. I hope Beth is decent enough to make a well crafted world without unnecessary large distances.

I had a suggestion on the last page that the map system could be more interactive concerning that fast travel. If you like exploring, you can find and mark the locations on your map at your own pace, and get paid for finding them by selling the locations to interested buyers. If you didn't want to explore as much, you could pay the cartographer to draw you a more detailed map so you could find your way to the locations easier.

That system would encourage exploration, as players would likely want to get paid to explore more than they would like to pay to have the game explore for them.

Not necessarily. Just because a game has fast travel doesn't mean that it has to have boring landscape. I agree that fast travel wasn't the best in Oblivion, but they could tweak the system so it works. And how is "no one is forcing you to use it" a horrible argument? It is the truth, you don't have to use it if you think it ruins the game.

Edit: oh, and thank you for answering my question.

Yes, fast travel.

I didn't use it that much in Oblivion, but I like the option.

Morrowind style fast travel would be a decent compromise. You can basically travel between hubs of civilization by boat or carriage through paying coin. However, only through exploring can you truly reach the untamed areas of the land. I like this because it makes building good roads a nice feature of the game. It also adds some usefulness to horses. Is anyone else looking forward to some pack animal vendors like in morrowind? Would be pretty sweet.

Perhaps you glazed over my qualifiers. "Maybe, maybe not." You may feel the need to partake in a perfectionism to explore everything, but with games now being around 10 hours long, does Bethesda expect everyone to hold your same span of attention? Maybe, maybe not.

If Bethesda has to make a decision about fast travel, and I suspect this decision has been long made already, they effectively have to pander to one side (for there are two sides, if those poll is at all any indication). It sounds like you, personally, would love it if Bethesda personally put a little into every piece of landscape, but does their fanbase allow them such luxurious real estate? If only 10% of people are willing to explore the map down to the nuances, then spending the man power just to build something does not make sense. If 40% of the fanbase would rather fast travel, there's going to be 40% less content in the wilderness between cities. That's more than just a conjectured amount.

I am part of the dying breed, just like you. I revel in the ability to surprise myself with the little things. "It's the journey, not the destination."

The problem with your statement: "Use it if you want to." is too bifurcating. A game with the map and a game without it are two differently balanced games. To expect both options to be equally acceptable amongst the community is a folly on anyone who believes that can happen. Let's be pragmatic.

If they didn't include another option then its either "my way or the highway." You ARE being forced to use it due to the mechanics and design of the game.

For instance: Most of the quests in Oblivion would have you go halfway across the map MULTIPLE TIMES in quick succession. Walking that would be grueling. "But no one is forcing you to use it!" But wait, where are my teleportation spells? My mark and recall? Why does my horse run slower than me when I have high athletics?

If the game mechanics are so skewed towards fast travel, I am essentially being forced to use it, or suffer a severe disadvantage.

"No one is forcing you to eat my mother-in-law's disgusting pea and chicken casserole, but if you don't you wont be able to eat anything else for the rest of the day."

I voted yes even tho I kind of hate fast travel. It took me three characters to hit the perfect stride in the way I played Oblivion, and virtually eliminating fast travel was an important part of that.

BUT! Running for 30 minutes, getting in fights, raiding camps, not saving, and having the game freeze svcks if you're not able to make up for that lost time by jumping right back to where you were. It is an easily abusable system, and can really destroy the magic of an Elder Scrolls game by making it a totally linear experience, but it has its place.

Now my dream would be more organic forms of transportation like Silt Striders or boats, with these having the option of being viewable (i.e. let me just stand on the boat, if I want). Were there mods that accommodated this sort of thing in Oblivion? I played it on 360 (and loved it), but I'm seriously considering building a gaming rig for Skrim after seeing some impressive videos of modded Oblivion.

If the fast travel is like it was in Morrowind I am all for it. If it is like how it was in Oblivion I am against it.

I'm for Daggerfall's version of travel, or Morrowinds. I'd be fine with Oblivion's fast travel if it wasn't for the fact that you were expected to use it for your missions. In one quest, you might be bouncing from Bruma to Leyawiin to Bravil to Leyawiin and then back to Bruma. No person walking could do that without being driven completely insane. I think a good compromise would just be that you could travel to cities and towns or even inns, but you would have to go there on foot first. I hate being able to visit every single major city in Cyrodiil without walking there first. It ruins that awesome feeling of when you cross a hill and see a castle looming above you, and entering for the first time. And this might be too much to ask for, but perhaps a completely blank outline of a map that you would have to fill in by going to the different areas.

Fast travel is fine, I think the Compass markers need to be toned down.

Um, I don't see why if it was an item you could sell or never pick up. Seems then it would just be non-existent for some and there for those that prefer it. :shrug:

My big concern I guess is that if it does exist I want it to have explanation. And btw, I am a selfish sort and want what I want in games. I think most of us are that way. And I want a fast travel map with a reason to exist. And I don't care if some folks miss half the game because they had no desire to travel down that road I did. The folks who won't explore will just find out where things are on the forums or wiki or walkthroughs anyway and none of them are complete in games like this.

The posts above explain it better than I can.



Fast Travel is inevitably lead to quests that have you running literally across the map a few times only because now the developers expect you to use it. These quests can be written just as fruitfully and rewarding if confined to a small space, making the gameworld seem bigger it would be with fast travel.