[SUGGESTION] Travel improvements/accessibility (outside of fast travel or teleport mechanics)

[Edit: Original post condensed for relevancy and readability, based on discussion and feedback]

I know that fast travel and teleportation are hot topics for Ashes of Creation, but this suggestion is outside of those systems and could be implemented alongside them, intended for smaller-scale travel within a node, from quest/farm locations to another.

What I propose is some type of auto-pathing system that keeps the intended game design intact, while granting some significant accessibility and ease of burden for players with painful conditions (Carpal Tunnel, etc) that make it unsustainable to play the game long-term.

1) Toggle auto-run while mounted on a path, and your mount will automatically follow that path, until you manually deviate from it, or get hit by an enemy or player. No headings or waypoints. If the path forks, your mount chooses at random. (Better pay attention!)
a.) Ground Mounts only. Does NOT include Caravans.
b.) Your speed would be based on the mount you’re using (and potentially the road: X% speed boost like
caravans get while on upgraded roads via the node upgrade systems)
c.) You would have to be mounted and on a road/path already to toggle pathing. No pathing from forests.
d.) You can stop at any time by toggling auto-run off, manually taking control of your mount, and/or dismounting.
e.) No special paths to be added for this system. Pathing is only toggleable on roads/paths that are directly
affected by the node upgrade system. This further encourages node development and cohesion with the
upgraded roads.

Thanks for reading!

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Azherae

And for context, I'll add:

https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Player_movement#Public_transportation

(This is not a negation of the OP, just a link so unfamiliar readers can compare what is already 'planned' to what is suggested above).

bloodprophet

Numlock is auto run.
You still need to steer.

Twigglefritz

Azherae wrote: »

And for context, I'll add:

https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Player_movement#Public_transportation

(This is not a negation of the OP, just a link so unfamiliar readers can compare what is already 'planned' to what is suggested above).

Thanks for the context! What is planned sounds great. However, I will note again that my suggestion is intended to coincide with planned systems, not replace them. I don't think anyone reading should compare between what is planned and my suggestion above, as it would not be mutually exclusive. It's a quality of life and accessibility idea that affects small-scale travel within the same node (this is the important part) in addition to potentially affecting larger-scale travel should that be the player's choice.

Azherae

twigglefritz wrote: »

Azherae wrote: »

And for context, I'll add:

https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Player_movement#Public_transportation

(This is not a negation of the OP, just a link so unfamiliar readers can compare what is already 'planned' to what is suggested above).

Thanks for the context! What is planned sounds great. However, I will note again that my suggestion is intended to coincide with planned systems, not replace them. I don't think anyone reading should compare between what is planned and my suggestion above, as it would not be mutually exclusive. It's a quality of life and accessibility idea that affects small-scale travel within the same node (this is the important part) in addition to potentially affecting larger-scale travel should that be the player's choice.

Understood, but on the same page (but not in the same section) there is a related quote:

There is not going to be any "go to waypoint" (auto-pathing) mechanics (outside of these mechanics).[10]

So people should probably be aware that at least as of six years ago, which is possibly the last time this has been directly addressed, Steven is explicitly against most aspects of your suggestion.

As for my own opinion, since I view most things through Econ lens if the game is supposed to have 'real' Econ to think about, I still don't have a strong opinion as yet. When the game advances a bit I'd probably have one, but I definitely don't want it added 'now' as a concept of 'improvement' because I don't see how it is one.

Twigglefritz

Azherae wrote: »

twigglefritz wrote: »

Azherae wrote: »

And for context, I'll add:

https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Player_movement#Public_transportation

(This is not a negation of the OP, just a link so unfamiliar readers can compare what is already 'planned' to what is suggested above).

Thanks for the context! What is planned sounds great. However, I will note again that my suggestion is intended to coincide with planned systems, not replace them. I don't think anyone reading should compare between what is planned and my suggestion above, as it would not be mutually exclusive. It's a quality of life and accessibility idea that affects small-scale travel within the same node (this is the important part) in addition to potentially affecting larger-scale travel should that be the player's choice.

Understood, but on the same page (but not in the same section) there is a related quote:

There is not going to be any "go to waypoint" (auto-pathing) mechanics (outside of these mechanics).[10]

So people should probably be aware that at least as of six years ago, which is possibly the last time this has been directly addressed, Steven is explicitly against most aspects of your suggestion.

As for my own opinion, since I view most things through Econ lens if the game is supposed to have 'real' Econ to think about, I still don't have a strong opinion as yet. When the game advances a bit I'd probably have one, but I definitely don't want it added 'now' as a concept of 'improvement' because I don't see how it is one.

6 years is a loooong time as far as development goes. And flight paths, taxis, airships, and trains are all still forms of auto-pathing/go-to-waypoint, so I feel like there is direct contradiction to what has been said in the past...

You may not see my suggestion as an improvement because you may not have a painful disorder that makes playing these games difficult for longer than an hour (I do). And that's fair enough! But I feel that while your opinion is valid, implementing this kind of feature would not be detrimental to the game either, if implemented properly from an accessibility standpoint. We are still way too early in development to say whether or not it's a good or bad idea. There are so many other factors at play that are not currrently in the game that may change how I feel about it myself in the future. It's just an idea for a possible solution to the issues that I, and I am sure many others, experience playing WASD games, based on what little concrete information we have thus far.

Azherae

Twigglefritz wrote: »

Azherae wrote: »

twigglefritz wrote: »

Azherae wrote: »

And for context, I'll add:

https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Player_movement#Public_transportation

(This is not a negation of the OP, just a link so unfamiliar readers can compare what is already 'planned' to what is suggested above).

Thanks for the context! What is planned sounds great. However, I will note again that my suggestion is intended to coincide with planned systems, not replace them. I don't think anyone reading should compare between what is planned and my suggestion above, as it would not be mutually exclusive. It's a quality of life and accessibility idea that affects small-scale travel within the same node (this is the important part) in addition to potentially affecting larger-scale travel should that be the player's choice.

Understood, but on the same page (but not in the same section) there is a related quote:

There is not going to be any "go to waypoint" (auto-pathing) mechanics (outside of these mechanics).[10]

So people should probably be aware that at least as of six years ago, which is possibly the last time this has been directly addressed, Steven is explicitly against most aspects of your suggestion.

As for my own opinion, since I view most things through Econ lens if the game is supposed to have 'real' Econ to think about, I still don't have a strong opinion as yet. When the game advances a bit I'd probably have one, but I definitely don't want it added 'now' as a concept of 'improvement' because I don't see how it is one.

6 years is a loooong time as far as development goes. And flight paths, taxis, airships, and trains are all still forms of auto-pathing/go-to-waypoint, so I feel like there is direct contradiction to what has been said in the past...

You may not see my suggestion as an improvement because you may not have a painful disorder that makes playing these games difficult for longer than an hour (I do). And that's fair enough! But I feel that while your opinion is valid, implementing this kind of feature would not be detrimental to the game either, if implemented properly from an accessibility standpoint. We are still way too early in development to say whether or not it's a good or bad idea. There are so many other factors at play that are not currrently in the game that may change how I feel about it myself in the future. It's just an idea for a possible solution to the issues that I, and I am sure many others, experience playing WASD games, based on what little concrete information we have thus far.

That's true, I have never much played these games on Keyboard and Mouse, and I don't like WASD movement (I have basically used controller or click-to-move for MMOs since 2002-ish).

I agree that for most things, being able to autopath to specific targeted locations in game would not be a meaningful detriment, but I've also spent a lot of time looking at how exactly this functionality affects BDO. And I mean very specifically the ability to start a waypoint-based auto-travel route from 'any' location.

If it wasn't clear, that was the part I was addressing, also. Only the part where you can be in the middle of a forest and tell it 'autopath me from here to the nearest road and then to my destination along that road'.

As for the secondary part, I agree, I fell into my own bias since for me, it feels like Ashes has already been in development for a long time (speaking fairly, it has not, insufficient devs available in the early phases). If Steven changes his mind about that aspect of it and that makes it easier for you and players like you, I'm all for it, and whatever 'fuss' I make will be, as usual, about whatever potential bad economic impact it ends up having.

I've had too many years of autorun and autofollow as the primary solutions to the issue, I think.

Twigglefritz

Azherae wrote: »

Twigglefritz wrote: »

Azherae wrote: »

twigglefritz wrote: »

Azherae wrote: »

And for context, I'll add:

https://ashesofcreation.wiki/Player_movement#Public_transportation

(This is not a negation of the OP, just a link so unfamiliar readers can compare what is already 'planned' to what is suggested above).

Thanks for the context! What is planned sounds great. However, I will note again that my suggestion is intended to coincide with planned systems, not replace them. I don't think anyone reading should compare between what is planned and my suggestion above, as it would not be mutually exclusive. It's a quality of life and accessibility idea that affects small-scale travel within the same node (this is the important part) in addition to potentially affecting larger-scale travel should that be the player's choice.

Understood, but on the same page (but not in the same section) there is a related quote:

There is not going to be any "go to waypoint" (auto-pathing) mechanics (outside of these mechanics).[10]

So people should probably be aware that at least as of six years ago, which is possibly the last time this has been directly addressed, Steven is explicitly against most aspects of your suggestion.

As for my own opinion, since I view most things through Econ lens if the game is supposed to have 'real' Econ to think about, I still don't have a strong opinion as yet. When the game advances a bit I'd probably have one, but I definitely don't want it added 'now' as a concept of 'improvement' because I don't see how it is one.

6 years is a loooong time as far as development goes. And flight paths, taxis, airships, and trains are all still forms of auto-pathing/go-to-waypoint, so I feel like there is direct contradiction to what has been said in the past...

You may not see my suggestion as an improvement because you may not have a painful disorder that makes playing these games difficult for longer than an hour (I do). And that's fair enough! But I feel that while your opinion is valid, implementing this kind of feature would not be detrimental to the game either, if implemented properly from an accessibility standpoint. We are still way too early in development to say whether or not it's a good or bad idea. There are so many other factors at play that are not currrently in the game that may change how I feel about it myself in the future. It's just an idea for a possible solution to the issues that I, and I am sure many others, experience playing WASD games, based on what little concrete information we have thus far.

That's true, I have never much played these games on Keyboard and Mouse, and I don't like WASD movement (I have basically used controller or click-to-move for MMOs since 2002-ish).

I agree that for most things, being able to autopath to specific targeted locations in game would not be a meaningful detriment, but I've also spent a lot of time looking at how exactly this functionality affects BDO. And I mean very specifically the ability to start a waypoint-based auto-travel route from 'any' location.

If it wasn't clear, that was the part I was addressing, also. Only the part where you can be in the middle of a forest and tell it 'autopath me from here to the nearest road and then to my destination along that road'.

As for the secondary part, I agree, I fell into my own bias since for me, it feels like Ashes has already been in development for a long time (speaking fairly, it has not, insufficient devs available in the early phases). If Steven changes his mind about that aspect of it and that makes it easier for you and players like you, I'm all for it, and whatever 'fuss' I make will be, as usual, about whatever potential bad economic impact it ends up having.

I've had too many years of autorun and autofollow as the primary solutions to the issue, I think.

First, thank you for the feedback and engaging in a discussion, I appreciate that it isn't just "This is dumb, use autorun".
Second, the autopathing from a forest is a valid concern that I 100% agree with. I did indirectly address this in my caveats: "c) You would have to be mounted and on a path already to select any heading."

I know I put a LOT of info in my post, but I don't think every piece needs to be part of this hypothetical system. I was just putting my whole thought process into words so that if anyone sees the potential, devs included, maybe just one, or all, of those ideas could trigger an internal conversation about it, and help shape how the game and its accessibility further develops.

If you'll bear with me, if I were to refine this down to what I would personally be thrilled with, in conjunction with any planned systems, it would be:

1) Toggle auto-run while on a path, and your mount will automatically follow that path, until you manually deviate from it, or get hit by an enemy or player. No headings or waypoints. If the path forks, your mount chooses at random. (Better pay attention!)
a.) Ground Mounts only. Does NOT include Caravans.
b.) Your speed would be based on the mount you’re using (and potentially the road: X% speed boost like
caravans get while on upgraded roads via the node upgrade systems)
c.) You would have to be mounted and on a road/path already to toggle pathing.
d.) You can stop and deviate from this path at any time by toggling auto-run off, manually taking control of
your mount, and/or dismounting.
e.) No special paths to be added for this system. Pathing is only toggleable on roads/paths that are directly
affected by the node upgrade system. This further encourages node development and cohesion with the
upgraded roads.

And, of course, the potential issues with collision would still exist. But if Taxis are something they're thinking of, perhaps they have this solved already.

Even just this portion alone would be huge for me, and it keeps game design intact.

Andi

Why not horse carriages between towns? Could be slower than usual mount speed and attackable.

Twigglefritz

Andi wrote: »

Why not horse carriages between towns? Could be slower than usual mount speed and attackable.

This is fantastic for town-to-town travel, however, this isn't quite the purpose of this post. It's about travel within nodes as well, for folks that need a little bit more accessibility due to things like Carpel Tunnel (imagine clicking your mouse or typing hurts all the way up your arm and into your shoulder) while simply going from quest area to quest area within the same node. Of course everyone could use it, but the idea stems from accessibility needs.

senyaak

Twigglefritz wrote: »

[EDIT] TL:DR version:

tldr....

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