devtrackers.gg
As has been said, flying animals large/strong enough to ferry humanoids are extremely rare in Verra. Obtaining a flying mount will be reserved almost entirely for guild and other community leaders. I have my own opinions about this (not entirely supportive ones) but with that in mind, I was curious about air travel again after some of the lore text posted with the new cosmetic pack today:
"Now fully re-established on Verra, the [Greyshore Transporters]'s extraordinary expertise with planning, conveyance, and logistics, and its unparalleled familiarity with ground, sea, and air transportation methodologies have made it one of the most successful businesses transplanted from Sanctus."
I see on the wiki that airships have been brought up before, as recently as last fall by Steven himself (a bit funny since he's more recently stated that he's very much not into steampunk aesthetics) so I guess I just wanted to run it by everyone and see what other ideas people have thought of for air travel besides solo flying mounts.
If airships already exist on Verra, what's keeping people from making them smaller? Perhaps not solo-sized, since you'd need enough mass to resist air currents (or maybe you can make small ones but they're a PITA to fly and can't carry anything) but perhaps mid-sized airships could be an endgame goal, enough for a full party of eight to climb aboard. Maybe they could be piloted similarly to sea-vessels, where you need multiple players to fully operate the control mechanisms. They could be slower or more difficult to navigate if you only have one person captaining in order to keep everyone from grabbing their own and using it for all their transportation needs. I think this could be good content for a future expansion, especially if they ever did any content with floating landmasses.
As for air-taxis (flight points), considering how rare flying beasts of burden are supposed it be, and considering royal mounts hatched from eggs will have a lifespan of roughly 2-4 weeks, should nodes be required to obtain a flying mount at that level of frequency in order to open and maintain their own flight point? We don't know yet whether Intrepid plans on allowing tier 5 nodes to get in on the flight point action, or if only metropolises will be allowed to have flight points. If only tier 6 nodes are allowed flight points, and we know only five metropolises can exist on a server at a time, then I think making those node mayors/citizens fight to earn royal mount eggs in order to power their flight points makes sense. But if they're available to tier five nodes as well, and there are maybe 15-20 (I don't know the exact number, but likely 15+) tier 5 and 6 nodes altogether on a server at a time, then that might become a bit more difficult. Especially if the group who wins the royal mount egg has to consciously make the decision to donate the hatched mount to the city's infrastructure. If the majority of players decide not to, then royal mounts are suddenly half as rare as Steven originally intended. But if they don't make you source an actual beast to power your flight point, and it's just there for you to use 24/7 for as long as you pay the associated fees, then that seems a little immersion breaking when player-owned flying mounts are incredibly rare and only live less than a month.
Any other ideas or thoughts about air transport? Automated or otherwise?
"Now fully re-established on Verra, the [Greyshore Transporters]'s extraordinary expertise with planning, conveyance, and logistics, and its unparalleled familiarity with ground, sea, and air transportation methodologies have made it one of the most successful businesses transplanted from Sanctus."
I see on the wiki that airships have been brought up before, as recently as last fall by Steven himself (a bit funny since he's more recently stated that he's very much not into steampunk aesthetics) so I guess I just wanted to run it by everyone and see what other ideas people have thought of for air travel besides solo flying mounts.
If airships already exist on Verra, what's keeping people from making them smaller? Perhaps not solo-sized, since you'd need enough mass to resist air currents (or maybe you can make small ones but they're a PITA to fly and can't carry anything) but perhaps mid-sized airships could be an endgame goal, enough for a full party of eight to climb aboard. Maybe they could be piloted similarly to sea-vessels, where you need multiple players to fully operate the control mechanisms. They could be slower or more difficult to navigate if you only have one person captaining in order to keep everyone from grabbing their own and using it for all their transportation needs. I think this could be good content for a future expansion, especially if they ever did any content with floating landmasses.
As for air-taxis (flight points), considering how rare flying beasts of burden are supposed it be, and considering royal mounts hatched from eggs will have a lifespan of roughly 2-4 weeks, should nodes be required to obtain a flying mount at that level of frequency in order to open and maintain their own flight point? We don't know yet whether Intrepid plans on allowing tier 5 nodes to get in on the flight point action, or if only metropolises will be allowed to have flight points. If only tier 6 nodes are allowed flight points, and we know only five metropolises can exist on a server at a time, then I think making those node mayors/citizens fight to earn royal mount eggs in order to power their flight points makes sense. But if they're available to tier five nodes as well, and there are maybe 15-20 (I don't know the exact number, but likely 15+) tier 5 and 6 nodes altogether on a server at a time, then that might become a bit more difficult. Especially if the group who wins the royal mount egg has to consciously make the decision to donate the hatched mount to the city's infrastructure. If the majority of players decide not to, then royal mounts are suddenly half as rare as Steven originally intended. But if they don't make you source an actual beast to power your flight point, and it's just there for you to use 24/7 for as long as you pay the associated fees, then that seems a little immersion breaking when player-owned flying mounts are incredibly rare and only live less than a month.
Any other ideas or thoughts about air transport? Automated or otherwise?