Fast Travel Poll (Thrustpad Poll v.2.0)

[Immigrant]

Hi guys I've been following the Trustpad Poll thread for awhile and I see results are pretty close - 60:40 in favor of TPs. But I feel that the question posed is too unclear since it involves multiple elements, and two most important are concept of fast travel around base itself and mechanism (execution) of fast travel, what is reflected in the comments. By separating the two I believe we could get a clearer and more unanimous verdict by the community.

My personal opinion is that FT will be necessary due to vast size of the bases in PS2 however I dislike the execution itself. I feel that TPs are too arcadish (like being fired from a giant slingshot). It might be fun for some for awhile however I think that effect will wear off pretty soon and all we will have out of it is nuisance of having to worry no to miss the tower and slam into the wall or aircraft flying over the base while trying to assault or defend the base. I think that there are plenty of more appropriate alternative for fast travel most conventional being bidirectional Teleporter Pads/Gates that connect distant indoor locations within a base or maybe underground FT tubes etc.

Also there are two further aspect of FT which are important imo. First one is the tactical ability (option) to prevent FT by destroying the adjacent power generator (I hope this is the case already however it wasn't clearly confirmed in Night Ops video). Second one is the ability of FT to transport you to parts of the base held by the enemy (TPs clearly can do that from what we've seen). Since base designs are very open and enemy could come from any side I really feel that enemy being flung at you from air (or even transported to you by any other method of fast travel) will make battles too hectic and holding the lines for infantry completely impossible. There are infiltrator and LA classes who'll have abilities to travel unnoticed/fast and over the various obstacle. Beside that other troops could be dropped behind enemy lines by Galaxies and other transport vehicles and that's why I think that FT method should be open only between parts of the base held by friendly troops (your Empire).

p.s. Poll will allow multiple answers for convenience but 3 main questions are 1. Do you want FT and what kind? 2. Should FT be disabled by destroying adjacent generator? 3. Should FT be available between enemy-held points of the base? Please vote and comment your choices if you wish.

Edit: Since I've noticed that almost 20% of people who voted didn't actually do it properly I'm posting a graphic helper that will help you vote on this poll:



If you by any chance you find two of the first 3 poll options (points 1a and 1b) equally valid check them both and proceed as shown on diagram above.

[Stardouser]

No fast travel at all outside of warpgates.

After seeing jump pads now I'm afraid they will have acceleration pads on the ground on roads/travel lanes out in the field between bases...let's hope not!

[Ohaunlaim]

Moving sidewalks on the walls between towers, where FT may occur in the midst of a battle instead of over it, would be my suggestion. Closer to a zipline than thrust pads.

[Pyreal]

Using a thrustpad to enter an area of the base held be the enemy should not be allowed. There should be a receiving pad that is shut down when the enemy captures it.

Also, did the designer play Portal 2 before s/he put this thought forward? There have been player throwing gizmos long ago (Donkey Kong Country had barrels that shot you across the map), but I can't help thinking of Aerial Faith Plates from P2.

[KrackerJacked]

No FT! It takes a whole element out of the game.....ambushes. How can you ambush reinforcements if the enemy are FT to the fights. And how can you have a game that represents a huge war without the ability to ambush. sounds dumb and arcadish. If I wanted a game like that I'd be playing Tribes.

[Immigrant]

The results so far confirm my suspicions. People have actually been supporting FT around base and less the actual TP execution.

Originally Posted by Stardouser

No fast travel at all outside of warpgates.

After seeing jump pads now I'm afraid they will have acceleration pads on the ground on roads/travel lanes out in the field between bases...let's hope not!

Ok, I personally would also find no FT acceptable. However I think that some of you hardliners would consider the idea of FT acceptable if wasn't unrestricted and if it could be tactically disabled what would actually add some positive new elements to the game imo (imagine the increased value effect of INFs getting in before attack to blow up gens and disrupt FT lines for defenders).

I doubt that SOE would ever consider the second part acceleration pad idea. I really hope they will know better than to do that.

Originally Posted by KrackerJacked

No FT! It takes a whole element out of the game.....ambushes. How can you ambush reinforcements if the enemy are FT to the fights.

Another one fails to read, we're discussing FT around the bases not FT between bases or across the map. Ambushing the reinforcements would still be possible even with FT around bases.

[Mechzz]

Originally Posted by Stardouser

After seeing jump pads now I'm afraid they will have acceleration pads on the ground on roads/travel lanes out in the field between bases...let's hope not!

That would be quite a sight to see! Hundreds of heavily armed soldiers taking part in the world's biggest game of Sonic the Hedgehog meets Mario Kart. They'd need to leave booster mushrooms lying around for full effect.

Seriously though, with all the vehicles in the game this will not happen.

Personally, if there were one or two bases on a continent with teleporters or jump pads it wouldn't be the end of my gaming world. I don't want all bases to have it though, I prefer traditional walls and shielded gateways. And I would take teleports over jump pads, I've finally decided.

[AgtPanda]

Here's my take on the situation!

Yes, I think fast travel should be implemented. Especially the positions seen in TB's video (along the very outermost walls). If you notice, there are no fast travel points actually inside the base, and that's a good thing. Since the fast travel is only needed on the outer defenses, then that does almost nothing for the offending side. While it may seem that it gives them a mobility advantage, it only lets them jump around on the outskirts of the base, where all the capture points are a little further inside the base. If anything, the only advantage to be seen from invaders using jump pads is to decide where to enter the fight.

Hopefully, I'm right in assuming that jump pads are only on the outer walls. I believe that would be balanced, and I definitely agree that if the generator is destroyed then that mobility advantage should be lost. Also, I don't like the idea of the jumps pads as they are. There's too much of a risk of accidentally hitting an aircraft, stray projectile, teammate, or enemy in mid air, making you fall to your death (whether from fall damage or from enemy fire). My solution is to make it so that pads launch you in a straight line, similar to the wind dash shout in Skyrim, but before the launch the player gets turned into (mollecules/a holographic image thing that can phase through anything/a ghost) so that they avoid the risk of hitting anything in flight.

This may be completely unbalanced, it may work, it may be the stupidest idea ever. I'll have to wait until the beta, if I get in of course, to see the jump pads for myself and see if the system they have in place now actually works. But for now my stance is Yes to differently implemented FT, Yes to generator status affecting FT pads, and NO to FT restricted between friendly points (since they are not near a capturable point, how will you tell which ones get shut down?).

From the viewpoint of a new PS player (less that 1 week total on PS1).

[Stardouser]

Originally Posted by Mechzz

That would be quite a sight to see! Hundreds of heavily armed soldiers taking part in the world's biggest game of Sonic the Hedgehog meets Mario Kart. They'd need to leave booster mushrooms lying around for full effect.

Seriously though, with all the vehicles in the game this will not happen.

Personally, if there were one or two bases on a continent with teleporters or jump pads it wouldn't be the end of my gaming world. I don't want all bases to have it though, I prefer traditional walls and shielded gateways. And I would take teleports over jump pads, I've finally decided.

That's what I consider wargates, actually, is the teleporters you mention.

I would not be opposed to having a teleporter other than warpgate that goes from say, one end of a continent to another. Personally I think that kind of fast travel is more needed than jump pads, I mean, think about it, really, how far is a jump pad taking you? 50 meters?

[Bravix]

Originally Posted by Immigrant

Another one fails to read, we're discussing FT around the bases not FT between bases or across the map. Ambushing the reinforcements would still be possible even with FT around bases.

His comment is still valid. If your team is attacking a base, trying to take a tower, it's going to be rather hard when I can constantly send a stream of reinforcements to the top of the tower by catapulting them there. You'd have no chance of stopping my reinforcements unless you camp the tower they're coming from as well.

[Vancha]

Originally Posted by Bravix

His comment is still valid. If your team is attacking a base, trying to take a tower, it's going to be rather hard when I can constantly send a stream of reinforcements to the top of the tower by catapulting them there. You'd have no chance of stopping my reinforcements unless you camp the tower they're coming from as well.

Even though the jump pad only works once every 10 seconds?

[Stardouser]

Originally Posted by Vancha

Even though the jump pad only works once every 10 seconds?

I know we were suggesting it, but are you saying it does work that way?

[Mechzz]

Originally Posted by Stardouser

That's what I consider wargates, actually, is the teleporters you mention.

I would not be opposed to having a teleporter other than warpgate that goes from say, one end of a continent to another. Personally I think that kind of fast travel is more needed than jump pads, I mean, think about it, really, how far is a jump pad taking you? 50 meters?

ok, it's more terminology then. Remember that to PS1 players
"warpgate" refers exclusively to the big shiny purple dome TB showed us at the end of his vid. They are used exclusively for travelling from one continent to another in PS2.

"Teleporter" would be more of a "router" in PS1 terms, a short-range local teleport mechanism with a transmission pad and a receiving pad.

Why would you want teleported from one side of a continent to another - that's what Sunderers and Galaxies are for.

[Stardouser]

Originally Posted by Mechzz

ok, it's more terminology then. Remember that to PS1 players
"warpgate" refers exclusively to the big shiny purple dome TB showed us at the end of his vid. They are used exclusively for travelling from one continent to another in PS2.

"Teleporter" would be more of a "router" in PS1 terms, a short-range local teleport mechanism with a transmission pad and a receiving pad.

Why would you want teleported from one side of a continent to another - that's what Sunderers and Galaxies are for.

Technically, that's my opinion as well. But why would you want to be teleported or flung across the base? That's what sprinting is for, and light assault jet packs. I just think that long range fast travel(one side of a continent to another) will hurt the game much less than short range fast travel. I mean, at this point I'm basically having to just tell my "it's only for bases, it's only for bases".

[Immigrant]

Originally Posted by Bravix

His comment is still valid. If your team is attacking a base, trying to take a tower, it's going to be rather hard when I can constantly send a stream of reinforcements to the top of the tower by catapulting them there. You'd have no chance of stopping my reinforcements unless you camp the tower they're coming from as well.

And unfortunately I must repeat myself:

Originally Posted by Immigrant

Another one fails to read.

For exactly that point I support ideas of FT lines not working between points controlled by opposite factions and being able to disrupt them even between friendly points by blowing up generators at one of the points in question. FT per se does not cause issues like that rather the way it is implemented.

So to keep a steady stream of reinforcements from one part of the base to another attackers and defenders would have to keep both points under control and generators in both areas operational. I personally think that the side that manages to meet these conditions should be rewarded by being able to FT from these points back and forth.

Defenders would start with having all FT lines functional and would have to fight to keep them that way while attackers would have to capture at least 2 points with gens intact to be able to take over single FT line. I find that reasonable. Anyway I don't advocate too many of these lines 4 to max 8 around the perimeter of the base would be more than enough imo.