Make travel easier for new players

[MightyAgrippa]

Since wilderness spawns were added a lot of new players have started in the outer ring, cut off from the Ring of Brodgar and the economy unless they're lucky enough to have friendly neighbors or patient enough to eat hundreds of brodgar donuts. Here are some ideas on how to address that in the current system:

-Traveler's equipment that provides a significant boost to agility, maybe at the expense of some other stats or skills.

-A foraged herb that gives a buff which either increases agility or allows one free trip (I saw that Loftar mentioned a similar buff for fresh characters a few months ago). Consuming the free trip buff could give another buff that prevents using the herb for a period of time. This herb should probably be rarer than cavebulbs to keep alcohol useful, but easier to find, maybe on the level of rustroot. If a player is ready to begin industrializing that player is probably ready to trade.

-More landmarks like the Ring of Brodgar. If there were more natural locations that allowed travel without crossroads, the agility barrier to entry would be lower. This would also encourage regional economies and lessen the impact of banditry without eliminating it.

In general, I think that long distance travel is currently harder than it should be for new players and easier/cheaper than it should be for established ones. I don't know where you guys are going with travel systems but I hope you keep the newbies in mind with whatever you end up trying.

[Flocke]

Since wilderness spawns were added a lot of new players have started in the outer ring, cut off from the Ring of Brodgar and the economy unless they're lucky enough to have friendly neighbors or patient enough to eat hundreds of brodgar donuts. Here are some ideas on how to address that in the current system:

-Traveler's equipment that provides a significant boost to agility.

maybe something like a "Rich Merchant's Belt" made out of leather and one nugget or bones (for hooks), increase AGI - Base 10 or 20?
and it gives you extra inventory space so you can add a purse, waterflask, skinning/butcher knife, key ring, flour sack, snuff box, hip quiver?

http://www.havenandhearth.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4915

[Winterbrass]

maybe something like a "Rich Merchant's Belt" made out of leather and one nugget or bones (for hooks), increase AGI - Base 10 or 20?
and it gives you extra inventory space so you can add a purse, waterflask, skinning/butcher knife, key ring, flour sack, snuff box, hip quiver?

http://www.havenandhearth.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4915

OP is arguing for things to become simpler for newbies, not people who have access to nuggets. This is definitely not on-topic.

The buff to which you refer, Agrippa, is 'Baby Blue-Eyes' or somesuch. One free teleport. I very much agree with your post, in that I think that some things need to be made simpler for newbies re: travel (as at a month and a half, I'm essentially a newbie, myself).

I think, however, that reworking utterly the taming system (for example, needing to be in combat - initiating hostility towards an animal is 100% counterintuitive with regards to domesticating it), implementing horses, and passive claim defence (locks, bear traps, trapped chests) would go a long way towards developing local/regional economies - far more than simply raising a player's effective AGI or lowering the barrier to fast travel.

As for the necessity of fast travel - with the current system, you only need to go as far as a resource that you don't currently have. Past that, there's only three types of people travelling: explorers, merchants, and criminals. None of those three paths should be taken up by a newbie. In my noobish opinion, they should be considered a reward for sufficient advancement.

TL;DR: Traveller's Gear and moar landmarks, while nice, don't actually fix the problem of needing to travel or help establish local/regional economies, and long-distance travel isn't something for newbies with freshly-made accounts.

[Flocke]

"Poor Merchant's Belt" made out of leather and bones (for hooks)...

[Potjeh]

Or you could just start at one of the charter stones. Wilderness spawn isn't much of a wilderness if you can just hop over to civilization for a cup of tea whenever you feel like it.

[Jackard]

-More landmarks like the Ring of Brodgar. If there were more natural locations that allowed travel without crossroads, the agility barrier to entry would be lower. This would also encourage regional economies and lessen the impact of banditry without eliminating it.

Travel option for charterstones.

[VowOfSilence]

Or you could just start at one of the charter stones. Wilderness spawn isn't much of a wilderness if you can just hop over to civilization for a cup of tea whenever you feel like it.

Exactly. Being a newbie myself, I couldn't disagree more with OP.

In fact, i think traveling should be HARDER. Right now, there is no strategy or planning involved. There's no real sense of progression either. No matter where you go, getting from A to B is only a matter of time. This is one of the reasons why i suggested weather conditions and requiring water.

What wilderness progression should imo look like:
Early game: Just survive until you find a good place to settle.
Mid-game: Figure out safe travel routes, explore, establish outposts and trade.
Late game: Fast travel options, explore distant high-lvl locations to find rare resources.

Of course, there's always the alternative to start at a charter stone (or maybe near it - starting in the middle of brodgar was pretty confusing for me).

[minck1]

A warning on the ladder saying that you're being placed in the middle of nowhere with few if anyone nearby would be good. Also, telling you that the stairs down and trap door are other ways to start the game. More information would make less lost newbies.

[Jfloyd]

A warning on the ladder saying that you're being placed in the middle of nowhere with few if anyone nearby would be good. Also, telling you that the stairs down and trap door are other ways to start the game. More information would make less lost newbies.

This.
I never understood why the devs don't put more use into displaying system messages to single characters....

[Chakravanti]

In general, I think that long distance travel is currently harder than it should be for new players and easier/cheaper than it should be for established ones. I don't know where you guys are going with travel systems but I hope you keep the newbies in mind with whatever you end up trying.

this.