Ask Someone In Game: An automated guidance system

What if we created mobs programmed to walk to destinations that characters could hire?

In the tavern in each town we could place an experienced guide. If a character says "guide" in front of the mob, the mob replies "Guide you to where?"

This would be a useful tool for new players, or returning players, who struggle to find certain areas.

I would limit the guides to general locations, leading you to the edge of the area before vanishing to return home.

say 'guide'

The traveling tourist of Gal Ranidan says "Where would you like to go?"

say 'Desolation'

The traveling tourist of Gal Ranidan says "Right you are, to your doom I will lead you."

The traveling tourist of Gal Ranidan buffs his fingers and waits for you to follow.

fol Traveler

You now follow the traveling tourist.

And away we go.

I will look into adding this to my projects. That said, I will probably limit it to cities and non-endgame or maze-blocked zones. If you ask to be guided to one of those, the guide may just give you a rough idea of where to look. 

We still want to encourage exploration, while at the same time be more newbie friendly. I feel that is a good balance.

I think just getting the world map up to speed would serve the same intended purpose with quite a bit less work.

The major problem with guides outside of the most newbie-ish of areas is that navigating is a prime skill for playing this game. You simply can, and should, not advance very far without learning some of the basic paths.

In the case of a newbie, they shouldn't really have access to higher ranked areas easily, as it will just get them into trouble. For experienced players, a map shows that hey, this new area is linked to this old area, which is all they really need to know. They don't exactly need a guide mob to physically walk them to the entrance of the area.

One good use for a guide (or a simple portal) would be to link all the hometowns to Maelbrim.

World map is also on my list, but is subject to wait until some big projects are completed.

Well, I just felt we needed to do something. We hear it all the time "Ask someone in game."

I could go grab quotes from other threads, but the fact is for some players there is NO ONE to ask.

A fact it is so easy for us to forget, since we learned when many people were on at any given time.

Thank you for considering the Idea.

Even if we just made bartenders talk regularly and say things like;

"Heard Ol' Thulgan finally fell south O' Miruvhor near the Mansion of the Manevolant".

"Careful If your headed west from Val Miran traveler, I hear the tombs out there are haunted."

Vague but accurate random "rumors" that could help teach new players willing to listen.

"Ho there traveler, stay thy course and share the wisdom of an old man, the desert is dangerous by day and deadly by night but many secrets are buried in the sand."

Which then falls under the gossip suggestion made earlier.

As for locations of areas, simply send them this way for now: http://theforsakenlands.com/wiki/main/wiki.pl?World_Map

Adding flavor to speech for mobs is on my docket already. This will include rumors, discussion about different areas, and small quick hints for new players.

I agree that something needs to be done. However, I am in the planning stages of a major cosmetic overhaul for LOTS of areas, which would render any immediate implementations rather useless, and just amount to largely wasted time and effort. 

Be patient, friends. I got you covered.