Add new comment

Wait, I thought you said you were going to post some boob screenshots?

On Roads: I like the idea that roads give something other then a texture in a field. As you mentioned this worked pretty well in WoW with patrols and the lack of nearby mobs. Problem with this in WoW was that the roads were only really important when you were in the level range of the zone. Why take the road to Darkshire when you can cut through the forest without even aggroing. This isn't too noticable as the roads tend to be either directly through the zone leading to borders or nonexistent.

One thing I noticed since I've been playing is that certain player favoured shortcuts have become more defined as the game has progressed. Two examples I can think of directly are the jumping entrance to BWL/UBRS and the route from Hammerfall to Menethil over a fallen tree. Roads are not in the game because travel might happen, they are there because travel already has or is happening. That's why I think that for a MMO with an aspect of trade or travel there should be some kind of system in place to monitor most frequently used travel routes so that the road system reflects travel rather then defines it. If 200 players a day take the same approximate path ( like the Searing Gorge shorcut ) then eventually that path should have no more grass, and slowly get wider. Once this path recieves enough travel an option to add stone could be pruchased from the nearest city or kingdom to upgrade the route for trade purposes. In the same vein, default roads could fall into desrepair and eventually become overgrown if people just stop using them. This would be interesting when applied to "sharded" servers to see which routes are more popular.

On Trade as a profession: Have you looked at Silk Road? The game is very focused on trade from what I gathered with the jobs being merchant, hunter and thief. Merchants try to move mass amounts of goods through the dangerous regions while thiefs prey on them. Its the hunters job to both remove mobs in the way but also to defeat would be thiefs. I think this system is the bare minimum of what should be possible in a natural trading game. You should be able to create your own caravans, prey upon the trade of others and then exact swift revenge on the highwaymen responsible.

I like the possibilities that an enhanced travel system brings with it. From blockades to shortcuts it's painfully obvious that there a lot of cool things that can be done if your game considers travel to be part of the gameplay rather then as a hassle that should be lessened as much as possible.