Bring back Coast South of Candlekeep!

[Valefort]

are you seriously going to advocate players who play at higher population times should for go the xp of a quest because we dont want to put a caravan system in?

this isnt simple its insulting.

I completely fail to see how it is insulting I'm telling you to not do the quest, especially since you think they are boring.

Where is the difficulty in traveling from BG to Nashkel for a group to face the frost giants? None is right, its boring it takes time, 20 minutes later to get there for no challenge along the way is dull, why punish people who want to skip the tedious long load times? what are you gaining from this? what is the server gaining? By your words you admit, there is no challenge getting to Nashkel so why waste player time?

Buuuuut you can talk and RP ? ANd get to know those potentially new characters and talk about what you'll be doing once you're there ... ? Then some people along the way will ask you where you're going and some will jump on the bandwagon. It's anything but dull and the caravan suggestion would completely destroy this.

If you think Caravans aree terrible then get rid of teleportation to. What is good for one is good for both. The reason to get rid of teleportation is all the reasons why you stated above if they are true.

I'm ticking that box on the spot

Its killing rp? no it wont, in fact my suggestion increases rp, increases group play and improves the nonsense people have to put up to run a quest for their xp. even if you where right, and someone is shooting themselves in the foot, it is their choice to make not yours or mine to make for them, they are the player.

Seriously why not try it? if I am wrong and I wont be, can pull it after a month or two.

How will it improve RP in any way ? I still fail to see it, I can understand less loading times but the rest is just plain false, especially group play. Nonsense and quests are another matter and your solution would just make them more absurd, if shorter.

As for trying it how would you even evaluate the results ? This idea is like the 100% RCR bot, an awful idea that is very convenient in some ways. What is good and convenient for an individual player, like this caravan system would be, is not necessarily good for the server as a whole.

There's not even a need to try it as we already have/had one. Look at the boat system, it is exactly the same instant transportation idea. Are there people at the docks in BG gathering for an adventure ? No ! On the contrary it's used as a quick way to travel and people run through the docks or ran through that beach south of Candlekeep.

Giving more control to players over what will happen by skipping travel times does hinder impromptu RP ... when will you meet that low level PC if there is a caravan system and you never walk through those areas infested by goblins or by orcs ? In town at the tavern ? Not a chance it already rarely happens.

[Stonebar]

I am for increasing role play and your example is a fair one but it doesnt speak to the real problem which I feel is to many civilized area's which is diluting the places to have random rp. if we shrink this pool we will increase random role play. I am for centralizing locations to achieve this as well and that is why I support and encourage a Caravan hub.

I've all ways felt the same, we have to many RP/civilized areas. It feels like a good idea, but only divides the player base. Hubs are ideal for bring in new RPers, new players see the server is populated (as it's not the number shown, it's the number seen, by a player in game.) That said, I do not believe a caravan hub would do that, as much as I'd like to. As people would just hop from one caravan to the other as soon as they got there, going to destination X quickly. Leaving the hub less active then would be liked. I'm not anti caravan, or boat, just not for a large change to how we see and experience the environment. Perhaps like teleport, there is a "wait time" between being about to take a caravan

My primary goal is to increase role play.

That's 100% my goal as well. I think we have the same aim, and likely much of the same views on how. exception being adding more caravans of course . More cow bell, well yes please!

[SBlack]

If you think that making people run from place to place is going to increase RP you are mistaken. Players are going to do what they want to at the time they just will have to spend more time doing whatever it is they want to do that is not RPing. If you want people to RP more then you have to make that more attractive and hook them into whatever type of RP you want to do and most of the time that takes time effort and individual sacrifice.

People want to get to a place to level up, quest, or whatever. It takes either less then a minute or 10 minutes or more. This logically results in less time for a player to indulge in RP sessions when they are motivated, not increase it.

[Akroma666]

A carivan exploited for quickly doing quests.. really.. you can do that now with a server reset, it's not that big of a deal.

I am all for a carivan system, original bg had it, we should have it. If at all possible, add a random waylaid by enemies map to up the danger factor going alone or outside a group.

Support this idea 10000%. I'm tired of running through dead zones just to get across the world to find people, adventure rp, or level.

[K'yon Oblodra]

A carivan exploited for quickly doing quests.. really.. you can do that now with a server reset, it's not that big of a deal.

I am all for a carivan system, original bg had it, we should have it. If at all possible, add a random waylaid by enemies map to up the danger factor going alone or outside a group.

Support this idea 10000%. I'm tired of running through dead zones just to get across the world to find people, adventure rp, or level.

I thought about having group travel in caravans, then you could even have these encounters you mention and possibly add some minor quests to it like having to fix a wagon or rescuing caravan members (npcs).

Opponents CR could be adjusted to group size and level.

Voila even more RP...

[V'rass]

With the area removed its going to take me longer to do quests. Fortunately by excluding rp or any other activities until quest time is over i can mitigate the longer travel times. Considering i do not interact with anyone until the quests i am doing are done anyway its not that big of a change for me thankfully.

[7threalm]

my secret hide out cave, caravans should just go to civilized areas, town city settlements and leave it at that.

The Gate should be the hub, but server lore kinda of hurts it, no masks, no shady areas, Iron hand enforcement, these are all player based pushes, a city should have a bad element to it, slums, less patrols, etc.

Right now Baldurs Gate is like a Holy led outfit, where the holy of holy rule, which is far to contrast to actual lore,

Look at the fai, it followed the same pattern, Good for the most part no masks, no "evilness" in the open, lots of "paladin type guards" etc

I could see the holyness in the Palace District, but the other districts would have guards who care less, get paid less, can be bribed. etc etc

The gate is ruled by Mercanarys not Paladins, but server lore is that of paladins "unless a dm takes control of the guards"

even slums area in the gate would make it so much better

[dedude]

I will start by saying that I understand where the caravan suggestion is comming from, but...

The boring quest running is a poor reason to implement a caravan system. If something is wrong with the quest system, fix it, don't implement a new system to cover up the symptoms of a bad one.

Caravan (or boat) travel used right can make the server feel larger by giving a sense of great distance. This is done by connecting remote area clusters together, like for example a BG cluster with a Luskan cluster. This also lends itself perfectly if you wish to split the server over multiple instances.

Caravan travel done wrong is like it was suggested in this thread. By connecting areas in the same cluster in what is effectively a cobweb of transitions. This makes the server feel smaller, and will quickly lead to unused areas, and invalidates current travel routes.

And with regards to teleport. It might be true that the lvl 30s with 5+ years in the book have enough gold that they can teleport everywhere, but for us mere mortals the current price is enough that it's only used on special occasions. Maybe it's just me that is too cheap though

If it's a jealousy thing, maybe we should think about adding teleportation wands/rods. Those are definitely supported by lore.

[Rhifox]

And with regards to teleport. It might be true that the lvl 30s with 5+ years in the book have enough gold that they can teleport everywhere, but for us mere mortals the current price is enough that it's only used on special occasions. Maybe it's just me that is too cheap though

Not just you. I don't even bother taking teleport spells on my SS because the price is high enough and running/boating easy enough that I don't find it worth the slot. Not going to spend that much gold just to shave 10-20 minutes off my trip.

[mrm3ntalist]

No to caravans. More encounters can happen if players walk around the map. And bring back the teleport cooldown timers. Increase their duration as well.

[Akroma666]

No to caravans. More encounters can happen if players walk around the map. And bring back the teleport cooldown timers. Increase their duration as well.

Is this the official staff perspective or yourown?

Going to move this before we get too far off topic, caravan idea
viewtopic.php?f=443&t=58122

[mrm3ntalist]

No to caravans. More encounters can happen if players walk around the map. And bring back the teleport cooldown timers. Increase their duration as well.

Is this the official staff perspective or yourown?

A scripter, an area designer, another scripter, a DM, a forum moderator. All those have posted before me. Why of all those, you ask me if what i say is the official staff perspective or my own?

In anycase, to be clear, my personal opinion is that caravans should not be implemented and those that exist should be removed. It is too late to remove teleport, so bringing back an increased cooldown timer will help.

[Randall]

So sad this place isn't there anymore... spent so much good time there.

The beast lair

[DreWalker]

Hey! I used to hide in that cave!

[V'rass]

Forcing everyone to walk because rp seems a bit... tyrannical to me. And even if more encounters happen does not mean i will stop to do anything with them. When doing quests or major plots i avoid/ignore interaction by default... i dont have time to be stopping and doing more then saying hi when i have important work to get done. Im sure many others do as well.