I do miss Morrowind's immersion a lot. The fact that you had to not only discover the existence of a location, let alone travel there, really added to the depth of the game. Not to mention the various in-game fast travel forms (silt striders, boats, Mage's guild transporation, divine intervention spells, etc.) really added to my appreciation of the game's resources. So if similar avenues could be included alongside walking and horseback riding would really make me happy.

Actually you could travel to more cities and towns with the travel system in Morrowind than you could in Oblivion from the git-go, meaning you didn't have to walk to or discover any of those. Divine intervention meant that you only had to walk halfway toward a place with a chapel or temple, and you could teleport in. Your added depth from that angle is phony.

Since I wish for a much larger map (at least 25x25 km, which would be equal to 625 km2), fast travel Daggerfall style would be necessary.

Assuming, of course, you could afford it or had the requisite skills to cast.

Hiring as a caravan guard for example. Not very fast, free meals, extra money, somewhat inconvenient because there's a chance about 40 bandits and their boss will show up to beat the crap out of you.



No, I'd imagine it would be basically dependant on the character's skill. Have a high Herbalistics or whatever skill, you'll pick up some plants on the way. Or decide to spend some time picking them up every evening for a longer travel and a chance for a wilderness encounter to gain more.

Personally I found both Morrowind and Oblivion's fast travel systems to be sloppy, but if I had to choose between them or use both at the same time, I'd go for both. I don't have a problem with "don't like it, don't use it."

I would try to eliminate loading screens as much as possible because I think that is the big immersion killer. I'd prefer a "fast-forward" sort of travel system when I'm not doing any form of lore-friendly instantaneous teleportation. Example: take a boat and ride on that boat, though I can fast forward time if I want to, especially if there is no chance that I'll encounter anything that requires me to do anything. Example 2: ride a horse, choose a destination, and you can fastforward if your character has an appropriate map or knowledge of the area. I guess encountering hostiles or friendlies could stop your fastforward, though obviously by fastforwarding, you are assumed to be waiving your option of moving covertly and you're assumed to be using appropriate items like money, food, etc.

I think a RDR fast travel system could work. You know the Carriage one. So you could choose to travel between towns, or your placed marker. Not directly to, but the closest it can get you.
Maybe not carriages but you know what Im getting at.

I still don't see why multiple options would have to be exclusionary. Or why Oblivion-style fast travel couldn't be (improved to some degree) and made to work alongside more traditional methods.

I guess what I'd like to see is a game structure that allows enough detail and forethought to allow a character to rely on following landmarks, directions, etc. Where a fast-travel design wouldn't preclude the use of other means, or negate their use. (Should certainly be possible by now.)

I'd also like to see "immersive" types of travel between landmarks, which are integrated into the lore. Something I always liked about GTA or RDR was that if you took a taxi or a train or whatever you could just go along for the ride and enjoy the sights, or opt to just skip right to your destination.

I don't think any of those options, however, need preclude a Oblivion style fast travel. They could easily complement each other, without a need to focus on penalizing the player for using it. (As I feel a common flaw with that concept is the idea that opting for that method need be an intrinsically "cheaper" or "lesser" or "easier" means of getting around.)

"Fast forwarding" to the more interesting part of a journey is an age-old roleplaying trope, one we used regularly in my tabletop days. If I can reach a place on foot, I actually find the concept that I be arbitrarily barred from just skipping to my destination (within reason) breaks my own sense of immersion. (This was a problem I used to have with Morrowind, actually.)

I think Oblivion Travel could be improved, or better integrated, but I see no reason to remove it entirely, or necessarily limit it, either.

I guess the difference there is whether travel is supposed to be quest or world centric.
Not implying that they are entirely exclusive.

fully agree with the rest

Yes give them fast travel and an option to not fast travel. However even after that people will still more or less fast travel

Well I voted Daggerfall style.


Of course it really depends on the map size.

I picked yes, but it should be to where if you fast travel, the fast travel will stop part way through and inform you that you are being attacked or something. And some forms of fast travel, like by ship, should be where you are actually on the ship as it sails, giving you an eye candy tour as you sail along the coast or wherever. It should be creative is all I'm saying.

anything but the "teleporting" we saw in oblivion and fallout 3

I like a Morrowind style.

I chose Morrowind style...has been the best so far IMO. Also, I think they should bring back the mark/recal spells/scrolls...but perhaps have it so that, as you get more skilled, you can have more places marked, then choose where to recall...kinda like building your own fast travel I guess, except it'd be limited to a maximum of 5, and there would be a magicka cost aswell...

Exactly. Daggerfall's system only worked due to the sheer scale of the game. There was plenty of exploration, because there was thousands of explorable ruins/caves/whatever.

If we have a daggerfall scale game, which I HIGHLY doubt, I don't want to see a fast travel system like this.

I think we should have both. Fast travel from anywhere to locations we already know, Fast travel to certain places via carriages, (which should also be drivable yourself) something stilt strider-esque, Mages guild. Then spells for teleportation such as mark & recall.

That way everyone is happy. Average gamers can use the first option and role players can have their options.

I voted for morrowind style.
But it would be good a system where you can fast travel like oblivion but only from along and to roads, with the red line displaying the travel as in dragon age plus random encounter

How about it being dependent on difficulty?

Here's to hoping that Skyrim uses a system that makes sense within the context of it's world. Perhaps some kind of woolly pack animal service, perhaps giant eagles or griffins, perhaps a series of underground mining tunnels with coal-cars (hey I'm just saying). Whatever it is, it should be intrinsic to Skyrim and not a be a "meta" travel option.

Now let's say you have both options in the game; insta meta-travel, and intrinsic means of travel. I'm cool with that if you can disable the insta-travel in the menu completely.

I don't mind "limited" FT, such as along major roads, or between towns and cities. I could be happy with DF's approach, or MW's, or some hybrid between MW and OB, but not OB's system as it was. Being able to just click anywhere on the map from anywhere else, and suddenly appear there, was just "cheezy". Not having any other way of getting there other than FT or hoofing it was immersion-breaking, and the fact that "normal" travel services didn't even exist in OB seemed totally ridiculous.

You can't "just not use it" when the entire game is designed around it.

Now why didn't I think of this earlier have Skyrim just use a system of Warp points. Heres how it would work, different places in the area of Skyrim would have warp points installed by random mages blah blah blah, etc. Basically what you do is 1st before you can even use a Warp Point you need to discover it out in the wild. Once you discovered it you can fast travel to it at any time however there aren't a million warp points. There is only a select amount, usually every city will have one and some predominent places out in the wild may have it but not like the amount of locations in Oblivion. You might have 20 warp points max depending on the size of the map.

I seriously think that system could work great in Skyrim and it would appease the Morrowind part of the fan base that wants a fast travel system like in Morrowind but it would also appease the Oblivion fan base because it doesn't completely abandon fast travel.

Here is how it should work for optimum convenience to immersion balance:

1. Quests should be time limited in order to make time a factor in travel. Failing a quest for time reasons means you have to wait a period of time (random between 1 and 20 days) before that quest is available again. Most quests will take place nearby the quest giver so that the time restraint is not too restrictive.

2. Mark/Recall should return as a form of instant FT; you should be able to plant 5 marks from the beginning (with the number increasing as your skill in the requisite magic school).

3. Mages Guild should offer instant FT for medium-high ranked members. Cost would be medium for travel to other cities and high for any known location outside of a city.

4. A horse can be purchased (and summoned via a "whistle") that allows for Oblivion style FT with a chance for being interrupted. Arrival at a non-town destination could leave you with no fatigue. Daggerfall choices can also required (i.e. speed of travel, length of stays at inns, along with associated costs).

5. You can pay a carriage/boat to take you to any known location from a large town. Carriages/boats in small towns can only take you to large towns.

This is the system used in Two Worlds and it actually works fine. At the beginning of the game you need to get this artifact from a mage to activate each portal as you find them. They belonged to an ancient race that once ruled the world and so it makes sense why they're there. You have to find each one to travel to it, and there are enough of them that they're a pretty useful means of transport. Some of them have been incorporated in cities that have sprung up around them so sometimes you can transport right into the hub of a major capital. Other times you can travel to remote areas that once were part of this civilization. Two World's had a lot of problems but their means of fast-travel was a strength.

I just don't see why they would want to use an immersion breaking fast-travel map, when they could have the player actually use an in-game means of travel that keeps your attention on objects, buildings, and scenery right in the world.

I like the idea of an artifact although I don't what Bethesda accused of Copying someone else's game. What I would do is you can touch the warp point out in the wild you can use it or have the warp points be involved in a quest and once you complete the quest the person that you got the quest from will give you either a quest item that allows you to use the warp points or you get a title that allows you to use the Warp Points.