I can't take the pointless travelling between planets...

[Vecke]

 

Besides being a part of the immersion of being in a large universe, traveling to places provides players a chance to actually run into other players and gee.. maybe interact with them and help them out.It helps form friendships and guilds and maybe a positive social enviroment.

 

.

 

I think you may have misunderstood most of the complaints here, because they actually want the same thing you want in that paragraph.

 

The steps they want removed are unnecessary steps that force them through areas where there are no other people. They want to get past the part where they load into an empty space, walk a bit, load into another empty space, click a map, load into another empty space, click a door, then load back into the part of the game where other people are playing.

 

And none of the posts here... not one... has asked that these options get removed for you. They want you to have these spaces if you want them. They just want to streamline the process a bit.

 

I respectfully think you're mistaken on the people that want this streamlined and why they want it streamlined.

 

Immersion is a very subjective word. What creates immersion for one person destroys it for another.

 

All most people are asking for is a few very small tweaks that would dramatically improve their immersion in the game-world without impacting your immersion at all.

 

I don't see why that's such a bad thing.

 

They're not asking for instant travel, anywhere, any time. They're perfectly fine with the travel on the planets.

 

They are just asking for a few very small, optional (meaning you can still go the way you want to go) streamlining of the spaceports, specifically in the areas where there are no other players. It prevents them from interacting with other players; it certainly doesn't promote it.

 

Why is that such a horrible suggestion? Why are you so against a few simple tweaks that allows everyone to have exactly the option they want, yourself included?

[Goreson]

So... running a few minutes to the nearest taxi location, driving the speeder to a place somewhere outside the actual spaceport, running a few more minutes to the spaceport, moving through it, entering your class hanger, run to the ship, enter the ship, run up to the galaxy map, travel to new planet, and then reverse all these steps... is something that helps form friendships?

 

Really?

 

I am in not one of the "End Game, powerleveing Zerg crowd" you apparently hate, but i'm also not someone who just logs on to sit in the local cantina staring at the Twi'lek dancers while sharing stories with other RPers all day long.

 

I actually like to "play" a game. And wasting so much time EVERY time i want to get to a new location just gets very very VERY tedious.

 

Does it help form friendship?

 

As hard as this will be for you to understand the answer is yes.

 

Why do you leave a planet? Because you are done there or you are called somewhere else.

 

Now what if I tell you that that fab buddy of yours who usually calls you has found another BFF who actually happens to be close by when he needs some help?

 

Wouldn't that leave you a bit high and dry with the need to find somebody else to team up with?

 

Maybe even somebody on the same planet?

 

The travel system doesn't promote having your friends being on the other side of the galaxy and you feeling the need to rush off straightaway to be with them, cuddle up and stare down that bad Teddy Bear of Dooooooooom!

 

But if that were to happen, well, it was your combined choice to be that far apart, wasn't it?

 

I think you may have misunderstood most of the complaints here, because they actually want the same thing you want in that paragraph.

 

The steps they want removed are unnecessary steps that force them through areas where there are no other people. They want to get past the part where they load into an empty space, walk a bit, load into another empty space, click a map, load into another empty space, click a door, then load back into the part of the game where other people are playing.

 

And none of the posts here... not one... has asked that these options get removed for you. They want you to have these spaces if you want them. They just want to streamline the process a bit.

 

I respectfully think you're mistaken on the people that want this streamlined and why they want it streamlined.

 

Immersion is a very subjective word. What creates immersion for one person destroys it for another.

 

All most people are asking for is a few very small tweaks that would dramatically improve their immersion in the game-world without impacting your immersion at all.

 

I don't see why that's such a bad thing.

 

They're not asking for instant travel, anywhere, any time. They're perfectly fine with the travel on the planets.

 

They are just asking for a few very small, optional (meaning you can still go the way you want to go) streamlining of the spaceports, specifically in the areas where there are no other players. It prevents them from interacting with other players; it certainly doesn't promote it.

 

Why is that such a horrible suggestion? Why are you so against a few simple tweaks that allows everyone to have exactly the option they want, yourself included?

 

Yes, 'immersion' is a big word... and I'm sorry but cutting out parts that are (as per BW's design) part of the immersion can also be called 'being lazy'.

 

I mean what is it that you want to cut? (I know people here keep saying 'things' again and again but for the sake of it let's really go step by step:

 

 

[Feel free to post]

[Garton]

I have to say i did not read all the 51 pages because although i tend to read alot thats pushing it.

 

So yeah now that my main is 50 and geared for pvp i decided.. meh lets make a alt, now the first time around you pretty much takes things as go but even then i already found some ways of progressing thru the game ridiculous..

 

However now that i am playing another class the things that really ticks me off is the following....

 

Ok so we are done on planet X need to travel all the way back to my ship.. oke no problem but like the op said its wasted space these ports are huge cant use my speeder which makes it even go slower and if your lucky that your on a planet with a station where you need to go to first.... DAMN.. but anyway finally at your ship some 30 minutes later you use your holoterminal and get told to come back to dromund kaas (empire side anyway).

 

Oke i already hate the place for not have the speeder travel connect but sure... So we do all the things required to get to class quest npc which seems like a eternity. Who then tells you something which takes about a minute and then tells you to **** off to the next planet... Wait you just asked me to come to this place just to say what you just said... COULD YOU NOT HAVE TOLD ME THAT ON THE DAMN HOLOTERMINAL YOU SON OF A *****.

 

Its unnecessary and this does not happen once but it happens on several occasions, letting you backtrack huge amounts for only something really small and then send you on your way again..... goddammit why is that these kind of things always come back in every mmo. I dont mind traveling but serious letting me travel for 30 min just to be told to go the other way is stupid.

 

O and someone said something about timesink.... This aint a korean mmo where we pay by the hour. I can understand that maybe the RP players would like to keep it but dont we have RP servers for that. Now even if bioware would change it, it would take quite a overall so i dont see it happening but atleast give me the ability to use my damn speeder in the space docks.

[DarthSublimitas]

I agree with the OP 110%. This game was "SUPPOSED" to have been modeled off of the KOTOR series. There, there was fast travel either back to your ship, or on planet inbetween the bind points. How they have it set up here is just plain retarded.

 

Getting from planet to planet in KOTOR was so much easier as well - get on your ship and click the map and bamm you're there. Not like here where it's a bloody annoying loading screen every 2 sec. But we have the Hero Engine to blame for this as a loading screen is indicative of entering/exiting an instanced/shard area. Remember folks, BW went down the "cut all the corners we can" super cheap route and used a gaming engine SPECIFICLLY designed for created instanced games.

 

Basically, we're stuck with this hot mess of an excuse for traveling. No way to get around it. Just have to realize that most of our money for the sub is being spent traveling from zone to zone...

Edited January 30, 2012 by DarthSublimitas

[Vecke]

Does it help form friendship?

 

 

Yes, 'immersion' is a big word... and I'm sorry but cutting out parts that are (as per BW's design) part of the immersion can also be called 'being lazy'.

 

I mean what is it that you want to cut? (I know people here keep saying 'things' again and again but for the sake of it let's really go step by step:

 

 

[Feel free to post]

 

The first time you go anywhere, let it be as it is. That's fine. It's fun to see it. But by the time you're on your 4th or 5th alt, it's not about being lazy, and to be honest, I think it's very unfair for you to say that. Nobody is asking you to change anything about how you play the game.

 

Specifics? Okay.

 

Some people do not find it immersive to take an elevator to an empty hangar, then load into their empty ship, then click on the map and load to the new planet, then click their ship door to load back to the hangar, then click the elevator to load out of the hangar.

 

All of this is done just to go see another planet, and during all of it, no other players are anywhere. You're completely alone, essentially playing a single player game. It's physically impossible to see any other players during this time.

 

So some have suggested that after you do this the first time, when you click on your hangar door, it loads you directly to your ship. Or perhaps even have a starport to starport transition that takes you from the action to the action.

 

Are you saying that these people don't have the right to suggest improvements to the immersion Bioware created? Are you suggesting the game needs to be exactly as it is - right now - forever?

 

This isn't a game-breaking issue. It's not even a big issue (IMO). It's simply a suggestion to allow people to actually stay in areas where other players are and to actually stay in areas where things are happening.

 

AND all of these small tweaks have specifically stated that your game should not change at all. If you want the extra two loading screens and the walk to your ship, you should have it. They want you to have it, because it makes your game better.

 

What they are asking for is a very simple, small tweak that improves THEIR experience and adds immersion for them by giving the game more activity and more time with other players.

 

They want your game to stay exactly the same. They want their game to be tweaked so they actually spend less time alone and more time interacting with other players.

 

Why do you find it necessary to call them lazy for that, when they specifically state they want you to have the option to play how you want? Why is this so unreasonable to you?

 

It's a very small tweak that would keep them interacting with other players more and increase their enjoyment of the game without impacting your enjoyment in any way, shape, or form.

 

Why do you react to that suggestion by telling them to leave the game and calling them lazy?

[Goreson]

Ok so we are done on planet X need to travel all the way back to my ship.. oke no problem but like the op said its wasted space these ports are huge cant use my speeder which makes it even go slower and if your lucky that your on a planet with a station where you need to go to first.... DAMN.. but anyway finally at your ship some 30 minutes later you use your holoterminal and get told to come back to dromund kaas (empire side anyway).

 

Oke i already hate the place for not have the speeder travel connect but sure... So we do all the things required to get to class quest npc which seems like a eternity. Who then tells you something which takes about a minute and then tells you to **** off to the next planet... Wait you just asked me to come to this place just to say what you just said... COULD YOU NOT HAVE TOLD ME THAT ON THE DAMN HOLOTERMINAL YOU SON OF A *****.

 

Its unnecessary and this does not happen once but it happens on several occasions, letting you backtrack huge amounts for only something really small and then send you on your way again..... goddammit why is that these kind of things always come back in every mmo. I dont mind traveling but serious letting me travel for 30 min just to be told to go the other way is stupid.

 

30 minutes? Seriously?

 

Man, I'd love to say that you just made my day, but sadly it wasn't the top dog (more like #21 I think)

 

Frankly, no(!) travel Spaceport entrance to ship (interior) takes (for me) more than 2.5 min max including zoning screens.

 

So, I guess if you want quicker travel, come on over to the Rep side of life

 

Anyways, in regards to actually wanting to see you and not just blab over the holo: Did you ever have a superior in RL? They tend to do stuff like that: 'Mr X, can you please come into my office?' waddle waddle waddle 'Boss, you wanted to see me?' 'Yeah, good job there and there. Just wanted to say that. Now go back to work.' 'Thanks... I guess' waddle waddle waddle

 

Obviously, officially it would have been classed as this communication having to have happened in private. Which may still be the case for that quest: 'pst, confidential, do not broadcast over holo, enemy might be listening...'

Edited January 30, 2012 by Goreson

[Aryzyra]

It breaks my immersion to walk through empty zones while not advancing a story line. The few times something actually happens in spaceports/orbital stations, they're perfectly fine. The rest of the time, they're scenes that should be edited out of the movie.

[HedhuntaDDZ]

While it would be nice if there were less "steps" in between.. or they were automated, it would be kind of nice if I was at least allowed to use my speeder that the entire building was built large enough for.

 

Love reading all the idiots that call a time sink "immersion" though... you are the kind of people that just like to ruin someone else's day because it gives you pleasure to think you have more patience then them.

[Aerevan]

It's badly designed but I can get over it. What I can't get over with is that BioWare let's you run through this annoying hoops like 5 times in a row - for example when Act 1 ends. It's annoying. Let me take the IA end of Act 1 and the beginning of Act 2 as an example:

 

From Alderaan to Dromund Kaas (which is annoying, since you have to demount and mount at Kaas City)

From Dromund Kaas to Space Location (this is forgiveable, major quest area here)

From Space Location to Dromund Kaas (for a very short story conversation with some implications, alas, but so be it)

From Dromund Kaas to Imperial Fleet (for clicking an NPC and getting 800xp)

From Imperial Fleet to Dromund Kaas (Start New Act)

From Dromund Kaas to Nar Shadaa (ok, mission pick up - but a short one)

From Nar Shadaa to Taris (Fine)

 

What I want to say is - this traveling is not only completely pointless for half of it, it's also unnescarily laborous and time consuming; especially traveling to the fleet - which takes you 20 minutes back and forth for 800xp

- when you have a cantina at Dromund Kaas to rest at. Just stupid and annoying in my opinion.

[Plaite]

Time Sink,

I get for free,

everyday stuck in traffic,

going to and from work.

 

Yes but you don't pay for it.

 

See how MMOs work?

[Norumaniac]

 

some people do not find it immersive to take an elevator to an empty hangar, then load into their empty ship, then click on the map and load to the new planet, then click their ship door to load back to the hangar, then click the elevator to load out of the hangar.

 

All of this is done just to go see another planet, and during all of it, no other players are anywhere. you're completely alone, essentially playing a single player game. It's physically impossible to see any other players during this time.

 

 

 

This.

[AHierophant]

It's badly designed but I can get over it. What I can't get over with is that BioWare let's you run through this annoying hoops like 5 times in a row - for example when Act 1 ends. It's annoying. Let me take the IA end of Act 1 and the beginning of Act 2 as an example:

 

From Alderaan to Dromund Kaas (which is annoying, since you have to demount and mount at Kaas City)

From Dromund Kaas to Space Location (this is forgiveable, major quest area here)

From Space Location to Dromund Kaas (for a very short story conversation with some implications, alas, but so be it)

From Dromund Kaas to Imperial Fleet (for clicking an NPC and getting 800xp)

From Imperial Fleet to Dromund Kaas (Start New Act)

From Dromund Kaas to Nar Shadaa (ok, mission pick up - but a short one)

From Nar Shadaa to Taris (Fine)

 

What I want to say is - this traveling is not only completely pointless for half of it, it's also unnescarily laborous and time consuming; especially traveling to the fleet - which takes you 20 minutes back and forth for 800xp

- when you have a cantina at Dromund Kaas to rest at. Just stupid and annoying in my opinion.

 

The only major issue here is the non-linked speeders in Kaas City, which should be part of the complete network. The speeders that split between the Mandalorian Enclave, the Sith area, and Imperial Intelligence should just dock in front of the Sith area and you can take a 30 second mount ride to either side. Fair enough.

 

Otherwise, traveling isn't bad. You took a special situation (end of a Chapter) as representative of all traveling. It isn't. Most of the time it's one planet to another. For example, I am a main Republic:

 

Ord Mantell - Coruscant - Taris - Nar Shadaa - Tatooine - Alderaan. Only TWICE that entire chain was I asked to go back to an earlier planet. Once was the class quest on Nar Shadaa (that wasn't required to advance the story, so I could wait until I went back next to Coruscant) and the quick shot back to Tatooine from Alderaan after it was completed. I fully expected to be running around a lot at the end of chapter.

 

Some orbital stations are redundant. I can't understand how the Republic has a major space station orbiting Balmorra when the story arc involves it being completely Imperial with a small resistance.

 

This game to compared to say, Aion? Or early WoW? No contest. Anyone who played classic WoW remembers the night elf quest to RUN as a low level through higher-level (PvP, too) to get to Ironforge. Very, very little of it.

[Goreson]

The first time you go anywhere, let it be as it is. That's fine. It's fun to see it. But by the time you're on your 4th or 5th alt, it's not about being lazy, and to be honest, I think it's very unfair for you to say that. Nobody is asking you to change anything about how you play the game.

 

Specifics? Okay.

 

Some people do not find it immersive to take an elevator to an empty hangar, then load into their empty ship, then click on the map and load to the new planet, then click their ship door to load back to the hangar, then click the elevator to load out of the hangar.

 

All of this is done just to go see another planet, and during all of it, no other players are anywhere. You're completely alone, essentially playing a single player game. It's physically impossible to see any other players during this time.

 

So some have suggested that after you do this the first time, when you click on your hangar door, it loads you directly to your ship. Or perhaps even have a starport to starport transition that takes you from the action to the action.

 

Are you saying that these people don't have the right to suggest improvements to the immersion Bioware created? Are you suggesting the game needs to be exactly as it is - right now - forever?

 

This isn't a game-breaking issue. It's not even a big issue (IMO). It's simply a suggestion to allow people to actually stay in areas where other players are and to actually stay in areas where things are happening.

 

AND all of these small tweaks have specifically stated that your game should not change at all. If you want the extra two loading screens and the walk to your ship, you should have it. They want you to have it, because it makes your game better.

 

What they are asking for is a very simple, small tweak that improves THEIR experience and adds immersion for them by giving the game more activity and more time with other players.

 

They want your game to stay exactly the same. They want their game to be tweaked so they actually spend less time alone and more time interacting with other players.

 

Why do you find it necessary to call them lazy for that, when they specifically state they want you to have the option to play how you want? Why is this so unreasonable to you?

 

It's a very small tweak that would keep them interacting with other players more and increase their enjoyment of the game without impacting your enjoyment in any way, shape, or form.

 

Why do you react to that suggestion by telling them to leave the game and calling them lazy?

 

Woah there horse!

 

Okay, let me be basic:

 

You have done the whole routine once (into airlock/elevator, exit to hangar, access spaceship) and then on the next run you should have then either have a menu/question pop up whether you want to just skip into your ship? Or have it as a setting in your preferences: 'Skip to ship'?

 

The first option is what I'd call an immersion breaker.

 

The second... wow... how long does it actually take you to do that 'trip'?

 

I mean sorry but I just tested it on Alderaan (into elevator/lock, zoning, run over to ship, up ramp, loading screen, in ship and the the whole thing back):

 

into ship it was 60 seconds on the dot from first step into lock to first step in ship, with the cut sequences spacebar'd. The actual time for the ship's loading screen was 28 seconds.

 

back out from the ship it was 139 seconds with 110 seconds of loading screen for Alderaan. (Again: cutscenes spacebar'd)

 

So, you are looking at around 30 seconds for ramp, thru hangar, lock, press button, phasing.

 

And that's on a laptop that is far from being a gaming laptop and done in windowed mode with other **** running.

 

So you can't invest those 30 seconds?

 

Yes, I would call that lazy!

 

And yes, Alderaan is one of the spaceport where the way thru the hangar is a bit further... I'm pretty sure that on other planets I can keep the run to under 25 secs.

 

And those 25 - 30 secs are enough for you to ask for an option to be included that will stop that?

 

Jeez...

 

 

Anyhow, what would remain, no matter what, would be the loading of the next location (ship, planet, station).

 

Even if you were to 'teleport' directly from outside the 'elevator' into the ship or even to another planet (well, in this case back to Alderaan) you'd look at around 0.5 - 2 min for that transition.

 

So, unless you try to suggest that you are travelling that often that those 30 secs of running add up to something huge (in which case I'd say your planning is needs 'sorting/fixing') you best option to improve the experience on that end would be to ask BW to try to cut down on the loading times... which are actually depending on your hardware.

 

And all the other bits (running around until you are in the cockpit and click on the map, running from the 'elevator' to the entrance/exit of the spaceport), aside from taking very little time (no, I'm not going to do that for you, do it yourself! I'm too lazy for that! ), are actually part of the 'immersion'.

 

Which (I'm sort of sorry to say) means repeating locations, NPCs... not everything is always brand new...

[Goreson]

It breaks my immersion to walk through empty zones while not advancing a story line. The few times something actually happens in spaceports/orbital stations, they're perfectly fine. The rest of the time, they're scenes that should be edited out of the movie.

 

Right... you are watching the wrong movies my dear! Even (most) action movies have quiet moments that do not progress the story!

[siegedeluxe]

Really? You think the travel between planets is fun? Or even remotely engaging? Or does it make you want to stab yourself in the head with a fork?

This is supposed to be a fun game... not a drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

 

+1

 

Feels like being stuck in traffic on a 100 miles driveway.

[Logiick]

+1. You should be able to hearth to another planet, pure and simple.

 

This.

People who say that it's not a big deal are people who can't accept that every other MMO has a better travel system.

 

If anything we should be able to port right to our ship.

Edited January 30, 2012 by Logiick

[eldisper]

double post Edited January 30, 2012 by eldisper

[MetalT]

Here is what I think they should do:

 

Quick Travel to Ship

-Don't know why this was not in at launch.

 

Add a preference to have the spaceport elevator take you directly to your ship unless there is an active quest or an available quest in the space port. To prevent annoyances of this feature they can move all the flashpoint couriers down on to the planet where they belong.

-Seriously unless there is a quest that I need to pick up or turn in inside the space port it should be skippable. It was cool the first time but after the 100th time traveling between ilum and the fleet it gets really old.

 

Edit: also to the people that claim this is a time sink. You are wrong. This is an annoyance. A time sink is something like grinding daily quests for rakata earpieces and implants, or grinding social rank to get the speeder, or grinding space missions to get the pilot outfit. The whole point of a timesink is to pace people who are working towards some goal, be it loot or a title. An inconvenience is something that serves no purpose other than annoying many players and unjustifiably prolonging an activity.

 

Time sinks =/= inconveniences.

Edited January 30, 2012 by MetalT

[sciiwalker]

They are not going to change this as it is core mechanics for this game.

 

Working as intended, move along!

[eldisper]

Yes but you don't pay for it.

 

See how MMOs work?

 

lol this is funny, dont forget gas money,power, polution, insurance,etc and a heck of a lot more then 15.00 dollars a month

Edited January 30, 2012 by eldisper

[--Grim--]

I can't wait for LOAD SCREEN WARS II... the ubah travel time sequel.

 

MORE LOAD SCREENS!.... MORE ENDLESS CORRIDORS that ALL LOOK THE SAME!

 

I want that game! I'll preorder now!

[Drallbait]

I advocate for the Quick Travel to my ship option.

[sciiwalker]

I advocate for the Quick Travel to my ship option.

 

There is no option for that.

 

The system IS NOT going to change, there is nothing wrong with it.

Edited January 30, 2012 by sciiwalker

[eldisper]

I can't wait for LOAD SCREEN WARS II... the ubah travel time sequel.

 

MORE LOAD SCREENS!.... MORE ENDLESS CORRIDORS that ALL LOOK THE SAME!

 

I want that game! I'll preorder now!

 

I love the sarcasm woot sign me up.

[RobHouse]

quick travel to the ship would be fine, but i seriously don't see why so many forum goers think the travel system is so long, lets say ur on tat heading to Balmor:

 

 

quick travel to the spaceport (cant remember if theres a loading screen when u do this)

walk about 10 meters inside and use ur elevator (fade to black, no loading screen)

walk another 10 meters to your ship and get on (loading screen)

use ur ships galaxy map and select balmor (no loading screen)

get off your ship (loading screen)

 

doesnt seem so bad to me, not to mention the loading screens for your ship are much faster than the ones for planets, so the only REAL screen ur wating at is the screen to get into the new planet, which isnt so bad is it?