We should change planets via the warp gates and not terminals.

[EVILoHOMER]

It's just more intuitive to fly to the warp gate and get a pop up saying would we like to change Island like in Planetside and be able to keep your vehicle with squad mates in it. Right now every new player I come across just struggles to work out how and having loads of people crowd round those terminals is stupid anyways.

If we're at the Warp Gate it'll be much better just to have something clear on the UP saying Change Island or whatever and clicking on it and getting the world map.

[Lonehunter]

In one of Higby's recent videos he specifically said the terminals aren't the final method of changing continents, we are in beta after all.

[Canaris]

should have put the terminal at the warpgate at least

[Traak]

No. Terminals are much better where they are, but they should be one of at least two options:
A) terminal
B) Fly on in and select as in PS1.

I like the warp terms. Great for us low-XP low=Blarnwhootium (or wahtever you need to equip stuff like an AMSundy) people who are slogging on foot.

[Dagron]

I'd rather they added a jump pad to each different continent instead... WAAAGH!!!

[sylphaen]

it's only more intuitive because you played at PS1 and that was how it worked in PS1. A HART system would also be intuitive for a PS1 player.

For new players, what's intuitive is what they already know or what is documented. Whatever system they choose in the end, a tutorial, a manual or a help system would be welcome.

[Hamma]

Yes this won't be the final state of warping to another continent so don't get to upset

[RodenyC]

I'm glad this isn't the final way of warping.When Esmair first came out I stood in the middle of the wargate like a idiot.

[Figment]

Originally Posted by sylphaen

it's only more intuitive because you played at PS1 and that was how it worked in PS1. A HART system would also be intuitive for a PS1 player.

For new players, what's intuitive is what they already know or what is documented. Whatever system they choose in the end, a tutorial, a manual or a help system would be welcome.

"Warp Terminals" aren't intuitive however.

Warping or teleportation is a very trans-physical procedure where your entire character changes to another location. Connecting the visual use cue of a portal of sorts, especially a disintegrating light portal, is logical, intuitive, requires little explanation and is expected when one moves between areas. Something that suggests a road, path, shipping, flying, anything BUT a terminal really. To a player a terminal is akin to a bank-o-mat, at most a check-in or ticket purchasing booth, like when you buy a train ticket at a station. It is however not perceived as the rails nor the train.

On top of that, a terminal isn't spacious and therefore not very capable of servicing a large group of people at once.

A terminal therefore is a very, very lousy way of transfering.



So basically, what you want is portals of sorts. Whether it's a door, a shuttle craft on rails, or a deconstructing beam of light (Star Trek), something that suggests and connects with transportation and teleportation in particular.

If I were to advice how to do it in PlanetSide, I'd say go for mass group transportion. Which means the main warpgate for vehicles at least and perhaps smaller warpgates for infantry.

However, the most immersive is driving all the way up to the big warpgate, because this is an actual travel event for players where they experience the sense and excitement of traveling: they get in the mood of "I'm going to another continent! Another place!", because they'll be thinking about that all the time they're making their way towards that warpgate. You don't really want this sort of thing to be reduced to "click, done", even if this is a few seconds faster. The process gives it additional meaning.

If you look at DCUO, the portals there are beams of light with large enough circles to encompass 5-8 people at once. They have door icons over them and a name that says where the portal leads. It has been the case that for single player Hero missions, you would travel from The Watchtower to either Gotham or Metropolis, through one of the ground based links in the local police stations. From there, you travel through the actual town to the district this mission is in, the district for example could be a town, a poor, rich or factory area, Chinatown, a dam, etc., the context matching the mission. It gets you more into this roleplay mood where you are part of the world. Then when you complete the mission, you were outside of that building and moved on from there.

They recently changed it so that you can just press Y wherever you are and instantly warp to the inside of that mission. If you finish it, you're back wherever you pressed Y. The whole travel and emersion thing is gone. In fact, you can't even access several of these missions in the game world anymore outside of the menu window. That's a major loss to the game, IMO, despite it being time consuming. If they really wanted to do something about wasting time, they could have made a proper Looking For Group raid system...


IMO, the same can be said for PlanetSide 1 when the warpgates were turned into Broadcast Warpgates. Before that, we literally traveled the globe to get to the next fight: we literally drove from warpgate to warpgate, continent to continent, planning the entire route and we'd have a huge empire sized armoured collumn to travel along with. This made you feel part of something bigger for more than those few seconds of invasion time that an empire raid remained an armoured group after BWGs. Yes, it was time consuming, yes it made me load more continents (and probably make the white texture bug strike sooner), but damn, I loved being part of huge multi-outfit tank groups...

So yes, it's convenient, but it loses a lot of atmosphere if you don't have to travel, perception and meaning to focus completely on convenience.

[Gonefshn]

I'm looking forward to those terminals being gone it's just going to make everything so crowded lol.

[EVILoHOMER]

I don't mean flying into the middle, I mean sitting in the warp gate in general, as soon as you get in there it should big an icon pop up clearly on the UI.

The name Warp Gate is intuitive on its own.

[sylphaen]

Originally Posted by Figment

"Warp Terminals" aren't intuitive however.

Warping or teleportation is a very trans-physical procedure where your entire character changes to another location. [...] you don't have to travel, perception and meaning to focus completely on convenience.

Personally, I also prefer warpgates: those huge structures with beams of light that inspire power, awe, respect... and for some of us, questions about a greater being ! Is it science ? Could it be Vanu ? Can anything while out there nowhere between here and there ? Existentiality at its best.

In any case, top points for immersion, awesomeness and slowly building up tension as your Galaxy inexorably moves closer to WAR.


But for my defense, in PS2, we use terminals for everything and anything so why not warping ? It's as good of a placeholder as anything else.

[Tooterfish]

Originally Posted by RodenyC

I'm glad this isn't the final way of warping.When Esmair first came out I stood in the middle of the wargate like a idiot.

lol me too

[Figment]

Originally Posted by sylphaen

But for my defense, in PS2, we use terminals for everything and anything so why not warping ? It's as good of a placeholder as anything else.

Well, not sure why the proximity activation coding has to be different for a terminal and another random object in game, such as the warpgate... :P

Don't really see the need for a placeholder.

[Raka Maru]

Haha, I went straight to the middle of the warpgate when Esamir was up.

Terminals, tho a temporary solution for warping, actually need to be fixed in general. Someone standing slightly in front of you can block even using them. Now I know why someone occasionally lobs a grenade at that cluster.