Travel Times - NEED FOUNDER INPUT

[Dusk]

One of the most common questions I've come across from old and new players alike has been "How long does it take to get from X to Y?" Now, I know that we have a Distance Chart in the Wiki, but the chart is a bit complicated to use as a basis because both the mileage from one city to another as well as the "distance covered" per 12-hour day (50 miles by foot, 80 miles by land) are hard to gauge since the Distance Chart is based on straight-lines and has no consideration for terrain.

So. I did some math. I made some adjustments. I looked at the terrain maps. I inserted formulas into spreadsheets. And I have come up with... some Travel Times. Of course, these are to be treated as rough averages, but it's a bit better than having each person individually guessing on how long things take.

I have a chart for Foot Travel, as well as one for Horseback (which is 60% of the Foot Travel time). I've also made one for Sailing since that's come up a few times. Please note that it takes longer to go through the Suvan Sea than it does on the open ocean because in the open ocean you can just go, you don't have to worry about steering and shoals and running aground and navigating the channels and such.

So... lemme know what you think. I figured having something people could actually look at would be helpful.

((DELETED to keep people from being confused by the wrongness))

[Jilitse]

Aren't all these numbers (on foot, on horseback)a bit too time-consuming? Because I thought it roughly takes 15 days from Zeltiva to Syliras. Many RPers travel a lot. For those who do, some do not really have anything in between (I mean it's rare for anything to happen between walking from point A to point B, at least that's the characteristics of most of the threads I've read.) I usually spot just a small paragraph of the recollection of the journey posted in the docks, or ports, or a short description of "it-was-hardoreasy-getting-here" in city gates.

And that would kinda turn off characters who jump from one place to another. I surely wouldn't want to travel from point A to point B and waste 1/3 of the season doing "nothing".

Can the travel times please be reduced more?

[Dusk]

Founders? Your input? This is all based on the miles you used in the Distance Chart so making it lower would be totally in your realm. I just crunched the numbers I was given.

[Nel Sayo]

I agree that shorter travel times would be nice, BUT...

I love the tables. They make life so much easier. Thank you, Dusk!

Especially for the sailing one. <3

[Dhanya]

I like your tables, that makes things so much easier!

Even if some of the travel times are long, I think that encourages people to stop along the way at different regions, which can be lots of fun

[Liminal]

I can tell you that the sailing times are wayyyyy too short. The best ship in the entire game world, a Zeltivan three-mast caravel, isn't going any faster than 90 miles a day, so the trip from Zeltiva to Abura would be 25 days at minimum, and probably closer to 30 -- assuming you were riding the fastest possible craft, and that you had favorable winds.

The others look pretty good to me And yes, they're all long -- part of the world concept for Mizahar is that it's a vast continent that, because of the Valterrian, is very thinly populated. It does take a long time to get from place to place; people going from one spot to another would have to be highly motivated to do so.

[Dusk]

Thanks Sam - I calculated the sailing based on going 20 mph for 24 hours. 90 per day seems really low to me... that means it's only going 3 mph. People walk faster than that. At that rate, it would barely be any quicker to sail from Riverfall to Syliras than it would be to walk it.

How fast do the ships go on average then, not just the fastest one? Not pushing back, I just need to know how the math works so I can recalculate

[Gossamer]

I have to agree with Liminal. I love the charts, but 26 days sailing from Zeltiva to Syliras? I would assume its more than three times that long. Is there some inland passage a Mizaharian Columbus discovered we don't know about? You'd have to drop way down, pass around the lowest point in the continent, then sail upwards through the neck of the Suvan Sea. I understand the travel times are PERFECT weather and conditions, but there should be a note to this extent. Why? Because at certain times when sailing, there is no open water to actually sail through - especially northern cities. Avanthal is missing from this chart... so too is Novallas, Karjin, Denval, Claridon etc. They are all on the coast and should be included because they will eventually be open as cities. If you take the time to do the chart, you should make it as complete as possible!

[Dusk]

Jen,

I only included cities that were on the coast per the City Map - if those cities are on the coast, it doesn't look like it on the maps. I can adjust it but you should redo the City Map in that case because those cities don't look like they're on the coasts AT ALL, especially Denval. It wasn't any lack of trying to be complete on my part - which should be obvious from all the work these tables represent even in this condition. I was working with what I had available in the Wiki. I also wasn't including any cities that don't have boards on the forums because, well, I didn't see the point in doing all that extra work for things that can't come up in game because they can't be played, but I can easily add them.

Also, as above, if the sailing times are too long I need to know what math to use to figure them out. There's nothing I can find anywhere in the Wiki that indicates how long it would take or how fast the ships can go - if there's something, please direct me. As I said, I can only work with what I'm given.

[Gossamer]

Reworking the map of the cities has been on the agenda for a long time. But granted, its been pretty far down on the list. We also want to add watchtowers and a lot of other things into the map itself as well... rivers, etc. I'll work on that project once I get my current in progress writeups up. It's not a project I want to pass off to anyone else because there's a lot of stuff in my mind that needs to be put into the regions.