So I’m playing my favorite MMORPG, really getting into the game, the characters, the magic spells – it’s SO much fun! I’m just finishing up the introductory areas, where I’ve gained a few levels, learned some skills, and figured out how to play. My character has a great hat – I do enjoy nice hats. I probably should have upgraded my sword first, sure, but this hat looks so good – you should see it!
So I finish my final quest in the introductory zone and I’m given my first ‘real’ quest – go find Eric Questgiverson in the town of Toofarfromhere and give him this letter, post haste! It is of the utmost importance, lives may depend on it! So I lace up my shiny new level five quest reward boots and I head out the West gate into the virtual sunset, a spring in my step and quest in hand!
And I walk. And I walk. And I walk. and I walk some more.
‘Your level five quest reward boots have worn through and need repair.’
I check my game map. If I’m the little green arrow, and that’s the starting point, and that little dot is the town of Toofarfromhere, that means….
MMO game worlds are REALLY big!
It’s true – the makers of most MMO games pride themselves on the size of their land mass, from Eriador to Telara to all of the planets of the Galactic Empire, MMO developers like their space, even using it as part of their marketing materials. Of course, when you have so much land, and you’re trying to keep things ‘realistic’ as many games do, you’re left with huge [singlepic id=3451 w=320 h=240 float=right]virtual distances between areas of interest, quest hubs, trainers, or whatever else you might be trying to get to in a quick lunchtime play session. Of course game developers (Well, MOST game developers) work hard to make sure that even in a ‘realistic’ world, there are a few ways around long travel times; travel routes, for example.
As I continue walking to my quest goal, the quaint little seaside town of Toofarfromhere, I see a stable on the side of the roadway. Since my boots have now disintegrated on my feet from all the walking, I head over to the stable master and ask if he can spare a… lizard, yes, let’s say he has a stable full of ride-able lizards. It’s my game, and I like lizards.
The stable master has a lizard to rent, but it only goes to the town of Notquitethereyet, about half way to my goal. At least it’s closer, and I’m tired of walking, so I hand him some copper and off I go, the bright green lizard chugging along, making great time. I even have time to eat a sandwich, which I share with the lizard. Before I know it, I pull into the stables at Notquitethereyet and talk to the stable master there. No, he doesn’t have anything that goes directly to Toofarfromhere, but he can get me to Justaroundthecorner, and they can get me to Thetownoverthere, and THEY can get me…
You see the problem with this method of rapid travel – no game can get you everywhere from anywhere with just pre-defined travel routes. They can get you quickly to the major game areas and hubs, but if you’re questing in out of the way areas, like wilderness areas or deep in space, you’re still going to have a lot of walking to do and, if you’re anything like me, a lot of fighting to do as well. I don’t know what it is – orange and furry must mean I look extra tasty to the wandering beasites I pass by in my travels. Especially snakes.
In some games they give the player the ability to teleport from point A to Point B instantly, via whatever magic or technology your character has at their disposal. I do NOT recommend this! Teleportation can be unpredictable at the best of times – ask me about the time a friend teleported me to what should have been their backyard barbecue! where did I end up? You don’t want to know, but there were spiders involved. I still don’t like to talk about it.
Finally arriving at Toofarfromhere, I wearily hand the letter to Eric Questgiverson, who thanks me warmly, reads the letter, scribbles a quick reply, and asks me if it wouldn’t be too much trouble taking his answer back to the town where I started off – and they need the answer right away, of course.
‘You cannot attack that target with rusty sword.’
I begrudgingly take the letter, mumbling something about ‘email’ under my breath, and head back to the stable to start the long trek back to my quest goal. Before I can ask the stable master to rent another lizard, however, a trustworty looking fellow in a long black cloak that keeps his face in deep shadow whispers to me and asks if I’d like to buy a lizard of my very own, for a deep discount because it was last year’s model or something.
I hand him all of my money, plus a shield, my belt buckle, a piece of hard candy and a few subway tokens, and I’m off and riding my very own lizard! Of course instead of the brilliant emerald green of the normal travel lizards mine is more of a mauve, and it’s not quite as fast, but it’s all mine and it will, at last, get me exactly where I need to be, and do it in style… Well, maybe not so much on the ‘style’ part.
In large games, mounts can be both a convenience and a status symbol, but I’ve never seen one as a requirement, though it’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility. Mounts, in this monster’s gameplay experience, can be one of the most beneficial convenience items available, simply due to the amount of time you spend travelling from different points in the game world – especially if the game has a lot of ‘delivery’ style quests. Mounts can increase travel speed and lower travel times significantly, which is the most practical way to think about them, but many games also have prestige type mounts available via conquering specific and highly challenging content, doing many tasks for a specific game faction and earning reputation, or simply purchasing the mounts via micro-transactions.
Of course for the amount of long-term value players get in a mount, they usually aren’t easy to get, or they’re expensive, either in game currency or real dollar value; I’ve seen mounts that cost as much as $25 in real world cash, and mounts that cost more than a personal house in game currency.
Is the expense or difficulty in getting a mount worth it? That depends on who you are, how you play, what game it is, sure, but in my experience as a furry orange monster, I would say yes overall it’s worth it. Not an ‘instant win’ button by any means, but it helps speed up what is usually the tedious part of many large MMOs – travel – while still allowing a good amount of exploration and appreciation of the wide open world. It’s up to you!
Am I the only person who wishes Dittos’ game was real? These are hilarious articles Ditto, so funny!