I think there should be and I've yet to play an elder scrolls game with fast travel.

I can't vote because the OP doesn't clearly define Fast Travel. I would like a fast travel system, but not as it was implemented in Oblivion. I would suggest editing the poll to include:

Daggerfall Fast Travel
Morrowind Fast Travel
Oblivion Fast Travel
Other (please explain)

Or, something to that effect. You would probably get a better idea of what the majority prefer if the poll were reworded this way.

As a hardcoe RP freak who plays Oblivion without using fast travel, I voted yes. It would be a huge turnoff to new fans to spend two hours trying to get to the next city only to die stupidly. I hate to sound rude, but no one's forcing anyone to use it. Of course, I'd prefer a more immersive Morrowind style system, but Oblivion style's better than nothing.

What I'm thinking (read: hoping) is that now that TES has gone from a cult classic (MW) status to a triple-A title across all major platforms (OB) that the accessibility injected into TES4 that many complained about as 'dumbing down' the series can now be retracted, if only a slightly, because the series has hit that critical mass of appealing to as many as possible, drawing them in and getting them hooked so that, hypothetically, it could revert to DF mechanics and all those people would still buy it.

What this means to me is that our preferences kinda go out the window, because Beth can focus not on streamlining and creating a whole new system, but actually enhancing and adding to what we already have, therefore we hopefully will all be made happy no matter what side of what fence we end up on, especially in terms of this issue. More options and optimization would suit all of us just fine.

That said, HyperC3 you've got the right idea in my book...

Yes But it should be like the fast travel in f03

I voted for FT, because traveling like WoW's transport system became very boring, especially on long distance flights, and that I do not want to happen to TES. However, I want limited FT. No going everywhere just because you visited it once. Time to get your boots dirty with mud!

I have added a few words to the formulation of hte question. I admit it wasn't as specific as i intended it to be. I would like to see only simple answers like yes or no. Based on the results after a few days (or after topic-lock) we could see whether or not the -majority- wants a fast-travel option present in the new TES V. At the moment the score leans towards the presence of a fast-travelsystem.

That's how it worked in Oblivion, except you probebly had already travelled to a cave no more then 50 feet away from it. With the quests being spread out over the whole of Cyrodiil, it takes maybe 4 quests before you can practically warp anywhere.

Personally I prefer fast travel integrated in the world. It's a bit more work having to walk from one NPC to another if you want to do a trip with multiple hops, but it makes sense in the world. Pulling up a menu and selecting a location takes me too much out of the world.

Too bad the series went from pure PnP dungeon crawler (Arena/Daggerfall) to adventure RPG (Morrowind) to action RPG (Oblivion), and now you have people from of these denominations and some in between arguing about what the definitive Elder Scrolls game would be. Of course, Daggerfall was a step up from Arena and people still bought it. Morrowind was a step up from Daggerfall (at least in attention to detail and faction/NPC relations, ruthless dungeons and diseases not so much) and people still bought it. Oblivion had some pretty amusing AI and the skill system we've come to know and love, but beneath its surface I felt like I was playing Arena again, without being able to play the "it's from 1994 so all its shortcomings are novelty" card. As a game on its own, it's fine, as a successor to Daggerfall/Morrowind, people loathe it.

Still, I'm going to agree Capital88 and hope that since Oblivion/FO3 multiplied Bethesda's fanbase they'll now be able to return some substance and still sell plenty of copies. I mean, I believe Morrowind has sold just as many copies as Oblivion (even if it has been on the market longer) and I still seem to find new copies on retail store shelves from time to time. We can't assume Oblivion players detest earlier mechanics in any way, if anything, we should assume that many of them would enjoy the recycled features. Especially since shiny "new" features is what appears to make or break a sequel in this market nowadays.

FT in general is a "good" thing, IF implemented properly. The trick to making it "usable" by everyone, even if it's NOT perfect for either, is to hide the blatant teleportation act of FT behind a bit of RP-friendly facade like a caravan owner, a boat's captain, or a Mages Guild member, any of whom offer the service for a fee or because of your particular status or affiliation, or you could even make use of a gigantic nearly-forgotten teleportation system which requires an "index" to operate, or a set of spells and potions which can be used anywhere and at any time, but only to specific points. (All of those options were used in MW, which allowed you to get pretty close to just about anywhere in the game, after you learned the "tricks".) The RP-ers will then use the system because it "fits" into the game world properly, even if some of it's a bit "cheezy", and the "action" players can still use it to get within a couple minutes of where they want to be, even if it's not EXACTLY where they want to be (again, usable IF it's implemented well; MW was only so-so in that respect). Blatant FT could even be there, as long as the ALTERNATIVES to it are available as well.

Apparently, a few people like Sorensen aren't content with that. OK, there are going to be dissenters to anything, and I can at least respect different opinions. Then he says that he can't understand how we can be so anol and stupid about it, and that's well outside the bounds of "differing opinions". I'm out of this conversation, and will not be checking the reply, because it's no longer "friendly" in here. Have a nice rant.

As I've said in past FT topics, the best solution is to have a manual fast travel network (MFT, as in MW) as well as an automated fast travel feature (AFT) which has an associated cost (like OB), and instead of simply "waking up" at your destination, your money is deducted to cover inns, food, and bribes. Running out of money means you drop out of the AFT and have to hoof it the rest of the trip.

This method gives the RP people the option to choose, the twitchers the option to skip, and everyone the option to sample.

Bah, your just splitting hares now. And yes, I mean the animals

If this poll is going to be representative for all the members here, i can't have it torn down within days. So let's keep it simple and stick to arguments only. Opinions are fine, but you would have them backed up by arguments. Otherwise this could end ugly and the outcome will be like all other threads about FT in the past.

IMO a FT should be available. This has to do with the limited time many have to play games. Morrowind's FT was hard to learn, it was like a bus-schedule. There's nothing wrong with that, but when you have 4 or 5 different ways to FT it gets kind of confusing, it's like planning a trip to Japan, without using a plane. Oblivion's FT was imo good but indeed immersion breaking. If i had time on my hands i would just walk from Chorrol to Kvatch and pillage all the caves and hideouts on my way maybe even find a bottle of Nightvanish wine. It's a great way of making money and it's fun to do. It could be ignored whenever you wanted to. Daggerfall was too big not to have a FT. The biggest DF-FT advantage, immersion wise, was the possibility to get robbed on your way, which seems logical. Especially if you're travelling for multiple days over land. I've never played Arena so i can't tell anything about that.

My only argument here is thus -time-. I like to play rpg's and would love to keep doing that, but when you have little time even a side-quest could become divided into several days of gameplay. Which would ruin the experience.

As to what system would be implemented in the new TES i would first say, import mark and recall again. Then it should be possible to go where ever i want to go in an instant. However, the greater the distance i have to travel would also increase the possibility to run into an encounter. In Oblivion the roads were fairly save to travel. So travel between cities should have no encounters. But when travelling into the wild the odds would increase. Maybe even no FT behind a certain point due to forest density or goblins in a war or an Oblivion gate nearby. Maybe tie a little quest to it to solve the war or close the gate and thus making FT possible again. This seems realistic to me without spending too much time on foot.

I'd like it similar to Morrowind, but with StoneFrog's suggested additions on page 1.

Perhaps you could also pay more money for private carriages or boats to take you to more isolated locations you've already been to as well, though I'm not sure how troublesome that'd be to implement.
For travelling back to towns and locations, mark, recall and intervention spells, combined with the travel systems has always been good enough for me.

I understand a desire to return to Morrowind's system, but that only worked as well as it did because there were no horses that you could accidentally leave behind in Morrowind.

In Daggerfall, when you weren't riding on horseback, the horse was riding on your back! That is to say, it was an inventory item and could be pulled out whenever you wanted to, even after scaling a 30 foot wall or swimming through an underwater tunnel.

I don't know why, but for some reason when I picture Skyrim, I don't really see horses..

@Crimson Paladin:You could just leave the horse somewhere where you can find it later, like a stable, use a cheap horse then ditch it, or decide to use your horse only instead.
They could even be included in some transportation methods. It's no unsurpassable reason to disclude fast travel in the Morrowind style. :shrug:

Perhaps, but it also should stand to reason that with Oblivion-style fast travel would make equal sense if it requires you to be mounted on your horse. Not unlike riding the Silt Strider.

Heck no! The majority either want a TES4 style fast travel, a TES3 style fast travel, a TES2 fast travel, or a TES1 fast travel. That's one of the least specific polls ever. I'ma delete my vote since "Fast Travel" suddenly means "Instant Poofing"...

I don't think that the issue is fast travel itself, but rather the complete lack of any alternative method besides walking or riding a really slow horse (beth could have at least made them faster than any player could possibly get). Fast travel can be put into the next game if there is an efficient alternative method which is not immersion breaking. You would think that, being cities that are within the same province, there would be some sort of quick, popularized travel to get from place to place. In MW, it was the boats and silt striders, and it did work very well. Just make major cities into hubs for travel (on boats, since Nords are sailors, and maybe some sort of creature indigenous to the area that has been domesticated), and then maybe some minor travel systems for a few select outposts. It doesn't make much sense that no one wants to go anywhere, and so travel systems are irrelevant. I also posted this once before, but the people on the ships and guiding the animal transports could have valuable information on the whereabouts of artifacts (or at least know a good place to start searching for clues). It's not immersion breaking, as sailors and frequent travelers hear rumors and tales everywhere they go, so the knowledge of the items would make sense. With an efficient travel option (that also rewards the player for choosing the in-game travel option), the full immersion fans can have exactly what they want without the painful travel times of walking absolutely everywhere, and fast travel people can still teleport to where they want to be (granted you actually travelled there yourself first, otherwise you end up with the same issue as OB, with the province feeling REALLY small).

An interesting way to use the travelling rumors idea is to have them give you different rumors at different levels and for different classes, giving you information on what the best loot is for your level and class in the game. This is assuming, of course, that they stop with the level scaling and let the players level and skills determine if the player has what it takes to explore new areas. (I know I hate on it a lot, but I really just despise the fact that enemies level with you)

@Crimson Paladin: The only problem I really have with that, is that you actually have to put work into it and do something when you ride a horse yourself. And it invalidates other methods of transport.

It's like using a taxi or driving the car yourself in GTA.
When someone else is transporting you to a location, it makes sense to skip the travel, you could just be sleeping while travelling, or occupying yourself in some other way.
The taxi is the lazier method, but driving yourself is cheaper and usually more fun.

I'd rather they make riding a horse more enjoyable and worthwhile, and useful in other ways, so you'll actually want to ride them because it's fun, than making it a free, easy method of getting anywhere instantly.

It doesn't invalidate other methods, not if you're going by ship across water or teleporting in order to save in-game time. As for being player-induced, I think horseback fast travel would work well as long as the player is restricted to using paths and roads that they're already familiar with and have scouted out, which would determine how long it would take as well. Or if they're guided there by someone who knows the way (like Jauffre when he, the player, and Martin rode to Cloud Ruler Temple). Kind of like how it's easier and takes much less mental effort to drive familiar routes than to drive unfamiliar routes given by a map.

The question states if there should be -some sort of- fast travel, which means -how- is open to debate.

As what many others said, Morrowind style.
Oblivion made it way too easy, but the mark and recall spells and those intervention ones were good.

Keep these in TES V, along with the silt striders and boats and I will not complain.