Apples and Oranges, Vol. 1
The beginning of a new game is always exciting. What will I find, where can I go, what powers will I discover? All these questions and more ring in the minds of those who await the world of Telon to come to life. Before we discuss Telon and Vanguard however, it would behoove us to define the generations as recognized by Sigil since the structure of this document is generally sequential in nature. For example, first we’ll take a look at the first generation games solutions to problems, then the second generation and so on and so forth. The first generation games stretch back to the very first three dimensional graphic MMORPGs. While MUDs certainly came before this generation of games and were massive in terms of how many people played them, they rarely had any kind of graphical interface. For that reason they generally are considered a prequel instead of a generation all their own.
The first generation games of note then are Meridian 59, Ultima Online and Everquest. These games really had no other games to compare themselves against and learn from as they were in development during generally the same time frame. The second generation games had the benefit of learning from the mistakes and experiences of the first gen games and generally were much more advanced both graphically and mechanically. The most significant of these second gen games are City of Heros, Dark Age of Camelot, Shadowbane, Everquest II, World of Warcraft and Guildwars.
Vanguard will set a precedent as the first 3rd generation MMORPG, but what does that really mean and will its developers truly learn from the games of generations past? Let us not get so caught up in where we are going though that we forget where we came from. History reminds us of past errors and helps us learn from the success and mistakes of others. The purpose of Apples and Oranges is to delve into that past and see what Sigil's response is to some of these problems that invariably will affect Vanguard. Please note that the information used is the most exact and accurate to date, but that does not mean Sigil wont change or add things in the future; as the game is still in the earliest stages of beta testing.
Travel
In an MMO the things you can do are truly limited by two things, the amount of content and the ability to get to said content. Sigil has already made a mantra of the statement "Content is king", so it seems we'll have no lack of that...but how can we get there? Travel has been an often debated system in every game, each design varying from the rest and each presenting its own ups and downs.
Looking back to first generation games we can see a variety of solutions to the travel question, and a variety of problems that spring from each solution. Ultima Online took travel by the throat and strangled it with multiple systems of teleportation and binding. A person only need carry a rune tied to his bank, where he there stored runes tied to anyplace else in the world he would want to go. This system was also very buggy, and could be exploited easily. Players would often use these runes to glitch themselves into locked buildings and player owned housing, among other unsavory tactics.
Everquest took travel to a whole new level by providing multiple means of getting from place to place. At lower levels traveling long distances was accomplished by riding a boat from one continent to the next. These trips were slow and frought with boredom, but were safe providing you made the boat. The agonizing cries of those who missed the boat by mere moments and were forced to watch the waves crash as the ships ran their course were frequent. Woe to the traveler who fell into the sea or crashed to desktop during their voyage, for they were sentenced to a fate worse than death as they bobbed helplessly in the depths of Norrath. Unable to find their corpse and gear which could be anywhere in the sea, many frustrated players quit the game for days or even permanently.
Higher level players could hitch a ride on a Druid or Wizard portal service. Many of these existence altering casters made a handy profit playing taxi driver for players around the globe. They also enjoyed the benefits of personal gates and the universal boon of casters to bind wherever they pleased so they could later return when it was time to leave the world of Norrath. Wizards were granted the ability to send players to a target destination without having to go themselves, and were eventually granted the ability to send an entire raid to their bind point.
Mounts were introduced later in the game, and provided a myriad of other benefits unrelated to travel. The mounts that could be truly used to speed up travel were of great expense and questionable worth. They became more of a status symbol in the societies living on Norrath than a means to travel from point A to B. The expansion, Planes of Power, presented travel with another way to keep the growing world of Everquest accessible to all, the Plane of Knowledge. This plane contained books that acted as portals to many places in the world, and worked both ways to offer quicker travel in an expanding series.
By and large, however, no matter how a player got started on his journey, he usually arrived by the grace of his own two legs. Buffs, songs, potions, items all served to help speed up this process. In most cases a player could dodge any mobs that he didn't want to get involved with, and zone away from those he did. The biggest downside to this mode of transportation was that it was time consuming and uneventful (and usually fatal if anything else).
Dark Age of Camelot featured a horse travel system that operated much like boats in Everquest. Players went to a stable master and purchased a ticket, off they went speeding along computer driven routes to their destination. Players had the ability to hop off the mount at any point during the trip, should they only need to travel in between points but other than that they had no control over the mount. Once they were off the horse, it was back to boots and manpower to get where you needed.
Shadowbane's travel system was limited by the PvP nature of the game. It simply wouldn't do for a large army to be able to suddenly appear from nowhere. Players could jump between main cities or be summoned in a moderately time consuming process by certain classes. Again, running was the main form of travel and it could be quite dangerous to run alone through territory not secured by your faction. Flight was also an ability of a few classes and one race, although it presented little advantage in travel other than relative safety.
Games that came out later tried to address some of the pitfalls of travel in first generation MMO games. Everquest 2 presented a portal system and flight routes which was a kind of hybrid approach between DAoC and Everquest, while City of Heroes gave players the ability to fly and to Super-Jump (which is by far the coolest visual transportation around). Guildwars, in an attempt to crush the traditional MMO time-sink entirely, allows players to instantly portal to places they have been to in the past thereby removing the travel mechanic altogether.
World of Warcraft gives players the ability to purchase mounts to speed up manual travel, a great boon because most travel is once again laid upon the feet of the player to complete. Flight paths, trams, boats and zeplins all provide players with the ability to bypass longer travel times, but not without significant time invested. Mages are able to portal themselves and others to key cities, but the mechanic is far more limited than the powerhouse ability it was in Everquest.
So, with these and many other sources to build upon, exactly what has Sigil learned about traveling, and how can we expect to get around Telon? The world is expected to be quite large, separated by bodies of water which means we must either become amazing swimmers or get on a boat. Boats will be available in NPC driven and player owned and operated forms. Player owned boats will also function as a place of storage. The type of boats available to players will be numerous, including coast huggers, ocean going vessels, warships and freight carriers. Ship travel has also been described as being more reliable, and less subject to the bugs and glitches of games in the past. Since Vanguard was designed with boats being an integral key to traveling from the very beginning, and has at its disposal improved technology, boats should take the travel mechanic to a whole new level.
All of that is well and good, but so far doesn't address the number one complaint about vessel transportation in the past...boredom. The key point of improvement is that Sigil intends to make getting to your location an adventure in and of itself. That means creatures attacking your ship, pirate vessels marauding the waters, and lots of hidden coves and rivers to explore along the way. Say goodbye to your /afk boat rides if you expect to make it to your destination in one piece.
The boat system definitely turns up the dial on long range travel in an MMO, but boats are not known for the ability to transverse solid landmasses very well. Sigil states that horses will be a vital piece of land based travel, and that players will be able to get one fairly early on in life. Aside from being your own personal vehicle, mounts will also be a companion with the ability to be named and carry your supplies. It has also been said that combat will also be possible while on horseback which makes for a number of exciting possibilities.
Both boats and horses also have a new feature to take into account, the ability to be damaged. Your horse may be slain or your ship disabled should a combat encounter go afoul, ensuring that there is always a hint of danger as you move about Telon. Horses may be revived by a healer, while boats will need to be repaired by a crafter or team of crafters depending on how severe the damage is.
Teleportation will still be around, but expect it to play more of a secondary role. If you think back to Everquest and remember the dungeon usable evacuation spells, or the plane shifting incantations that led to Fear and Hate, then you are probably on the right track. It may also be used as a tool to keep groups together after a wipeout or when a group member needs to be replaced while deep within a dungeon.
This statement by Sigil sums up Vanguard’s take on travel:
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The journey should be fun, not just arriving at the destination. There should be content along the way as well as horses and other means of faster transportation as a character becomes higher level and needs to travel farther distances.
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Looking back on the history of MMO's it seems that Vanguard has taken what it feels to be the strongest elements of travel and buffered them with the addition of more interactive content to keep it from feeling monotonous. Telon will be a huge world, and you won't be able to go from point A to point B without interacting with it. In terms of content and focus, traveling in Vanguard is clearly a step ahead.
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