bɪvrɒst, my solution for "Fast-er travel"

[Sephiron]

As you all know, Haven and Hearth used to have multiple methods of fast travel across the world. This was in the form of charter stones, and much later, sublime porticoes. Understandably, these were removed from the game in order to prevent players from jumping from one fortified base to another, making it easier to transport high quality goods with little to no risk of loss. In its place we have a new solution for fast travel that I consider lackluster, the thingwall (Milestones too, I guess? Do people use these?), which is only great for covering larger distances you have already travelled before, as to travel from one area to another you will still need to discover all the thingwalls between your current location and the final destination. I understand that this encourages overworld travel and exploration; but without knowledge of third party maps, access to a large sea-faring ship/expensive ass dock, and literally hours of clicking through endless blank expanses of water, they're effectively sub-par for actual long distance travel to villages for trade. Although unaware of the complexities of implementing my proposed solution, I would still like to ask for opinions on the idea and how it could affect the game positively or negatively.

My proposed solution: bɪvrɒst (bifrost), or some other form of bridge dimension.
Okay, I know it sounds ridiculous, but please bear through my explanation; You can read through the wikipedia page for bifrost here to help understand what I'm thinking: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bifr%C3%B6st

Now, I am no stranger to full loot PVP style MMOs. Another game that I frequent, Albion online, seems to have struggled with some of the same problems that Haven and Hearth has. The major issue that I'm mostly referring to is, "how do you encourage actual player-player trade in a massive player based economy, without diminishing PVP?". Every item in the game is crafted by players, much like in Haven and Hearth, and needs to find its way into the public market somehow. The best method for this is to introduce easier ways to travel from point A to point B, without allowing players to abuse the system and also make it less boring. How did they solve this? They created a sort of interdimensional highway, called avalon roads, which connected all cities together in an easily traversable fashion. How is that less boring than travelling the overworld normally? Bandits. Essentially, giving players a main artery to get from point A to point B created a lot of interesting scenarios where players must decide whether the convenience is worth the risk, which it usually was. I think adding something similar to this would enrich the Haven and Hearth economy, making it easier for players to travel between cities but also give raiders and bandits an easier way to find players to rob. It encourages a high-risk, high-reward playstyle, but also isn't necessary to use for players who would rather take it easy and use sea routes.

How would it work?
The bifrost would be a seperate "map", much like cave systems, which would consist of long stretches of interconnected roads with inactive portals on both sides. There would be no forageables, and construction would be forbidden inside this realm. Occasionally, there could even be unique dungeons scattered around the roadside which could give a little bit more end-game challenge for those with nothing to do. In the dead center of it all would be a portal to the already existing Valhalla; Maybe for visitors to see the dead, or better yet, to retire your character early without remorse.

I think, personally, sublime porticoes could be re-implemented into the game with a different function. They're really fucking cool. Upon building a sublime portico, a player would be able to access these bifrost roads, but with no method to return back. In order to get back home, one must attune a portico (more on that in a second), teleport to their hearthfire, or enter a different portico than the one they came through. If a player collects 10 beautiful dreams, they would be able to craft a "fleeting moment", or some other esoteric thing. Fleeting moments will only last for, well, a fleeting moment, and cannot be stored for long periods of time in order to prevent abuse. If the portico is right-clicked with a fleeting moment, the fleeting moment will remember that portico, and is thusly "attuned". After entering into bifrost, using the attuned fleeting moment on a portal will make it active for 8 hours, or maybe longer or shorter depending on balance, for use by any and all players who wish to do so. Entering the portal will teleport the player to the portico from which it is attuned. A portal that is red means that the portico which it is attuned to is on an inaccessible claim, and travelling to it will require the use of criminal acts. A blue portal would lead to a portico on a claim which the player has permissions, or an unclaimed area, and a green portal would lead to a village claim which strangers are allowed to visit. I guess if it is a village portal, it could also display the name of the village above it.

I think this method of travel would be a great addition, not only for ease of communication, travel, and trade, but also to separate the sort of nonsensical blend of realm politics from fast travel. I'm not exactly calling for the removal of thingwalls for fast travel, but just a different method of fast-er travel that fits the theme nicely and doesn't leave much room for abuse. Also not dead set on suggesting just a long stretch of rainbow road, but rather multiple roads that branch off of each other in a labyrinthian fashion. Players should be able to find each other pretty easily. They don't even have to be rainbow.

Thanks for reading this far. here, have a picture:

[DDDsDD999]

tl;dr nether from minecraft, avalon from albion, never played eve but I think it has something like it.

[Sephiron]

tl;dr nether from minecraft, avalon from albion, never played eve but I think it has something like it.

Yeah pretty much lol, thanks for summarizing it for me. You think it could work? Or is it too "extra"?

[Fierce_Deity]

I don't dislike the idea, it works well enough in other games after all. It provides a method to traverse the world in less time, while still requiring some actual travel instead of just wooshing across the universe in the span of an hour glass. The bɪvrɒst also provides a sort of lore reason for thingwall teleports to function as they do as 'doorways' straight through the bɪvrɒst.
I sort of like the thought of it being used by 'bandits' to catch those on their way for trades, but that'll probably result in just alts & groups using it if it proves too dangerous. Some other mechanics may need to be put in place to make it more interesting & optional to mains. Could be neat if you stepped off the 'path' and were just dumped into the overworld somewhere corresponding to that location in the bɪvrɒst.
Another option is that getting wounds or Ko'ed here gives you a special wound, but regular wounds don't stay after leaving the bɪvrɒst. More of a spiritual wound.

Lots of different possible implementations and tweaks, but really the core of the idea is solid enough

[Sephiron]

I don't dislike the idea, it works well enough in other games after all. It provides a method to traverse the world in less time, while still requiring some actual travel instead of just wooshing across the universe in the span of an hour glass. The bɪvrɒst also provides a sort of lore reason for thingwall teleports to function as they do as 'doorways' straight through the bɪvrɒst.
I sort of like the thought of it being used by 'bandits' to catch those on their way for trades, but that'll probably result in just alts & groups using it if it proves too dangerous. Some other mechanics may need to be put in place to make it more interesting & optional to mains. Could be neat if you stepped off the 'path' and were just dumped into the overworld somewhere corresponding to that location in the bɪvrɒst.
Another option is that getting wounds or Ko'ed here gives you a special wound, but regular wounds don't stay after leaving the bɪvrɒst. More of a spiritual wound.

Lots of different possible implementations and tweaks, but really the core of the idea is solid enough

Hey, thanks for the feedback! I figured if the roads are being used for trade, even with alts they should have nice juicy loot which would be the main draw for bandits afaik. I think stepping off to spawn somewhere in the overworld is a cool idea, except it would be abused alot by people trying to run from bandits. And spiritual wounds? Hell yeah. Let me smoke sage to ward off curses. Give ancestral shrines a more practical purpose, maybe they would be necesarry to heal wounds from the bifrost