secondchildren said:
In one interview, they said fast travel will be similar to Skyrim.
There was a game in the TES series that did fast travel right - Morrowind. You couldn't just click on the map and go there. There were two networks of teleports (one required finding keys to activate them, the other was with the mages guild), boats that could take the player from port to port (plus gondolas in the biggest city) and stilt striders - giant bugs used for transporting goods and passengers on land. It was a perfect idea. The player could move from town to town fast enough and it felt natural to go and find means of transport and to remember ho the networks looked like.
A similar idea could easily be implemented into Witcher 3. Carraiges, caravans and even military transports (there could be a conversation option to persuade/bribe the person in charge before you could use it) on land. Possible random or preset encounters in unsafe areas (kill a wyvern that's blocking the road you need to use). Boats, rafts and such for water transport. Teleports that could be granted if you helped mages powerful enough to do it. Ancient ruins with teleports, both working and not (slay a specific monster to get ingredients that can make it functional again). Now THAT is what i call fast travel. Doesn't take you everywhere, but provides a network convenient enough, to reach any major point on the map. It does more.
Just like Tuco Benedicto said, this can affect quests and in a major way. I'll refer to Morrowind again, a game that had no quest markers/compass/big shining arrow stuff but it relied on the NPC giving specific instructions on how to get to a place and the player listening carefully or at least checking the journal for details ("The cave is southeast of town, facing north on the mountain X. If you exit using the south gate just follow the ravine until it branches, then turn east and look for two stones resembling giant pillars. The cave should be nearby."). This made players pay more attention to the conversations, it made the quests feel more realistic. Of course there were situations, where the information was inaccurate or misinterpreted, but it only added to the charm. I remember spending hours trying to find a cave called Milk for a quest and failing to do so because I always ended up at the wrong crossroads for some reason. But the satisfaction when I finally found it was worth it. With almost unlimited fast travel you can just go to a place a few steps away from this giant shining X on the map and loose all that joy of exploring.
That being said, fast travel helps those who have less time to play so… Why not just make the whole thing OPTIONAL at the beginning of the game (or at least turn it on/off ingame). A default version with omnipotent fast travel, markers, compass, quest tracking and all you could ever imagine and a more immersive one with only set travel networks, map/minimap and the journal (with detailed information) for reference. Sounds reasonable as far as I’m concerned.
/> to me. If this is needed it means, that there aren't enough interesting things along the way and that means, they could have kept the smaller areas and chapter design, which I preferred anyway than stupid open world, which is so hyped at the moment. Let's just hope, it doesn't devolve into another sandbox. Why do the games and genres that I like always have to devolve or be broadend, so that I enjoy them less?
