With bridges released can we get a Stagecoach for people transport

[ClericGunem 275]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagecoach

 

With the advent of bridges there is now a possible market for relative safe people transport, but large carts are entirely too slow and of course wagons only hold one.  I was thinking of a four-in-hand that holds 4-6 passengers with a hold limited to say the small cart volume, with one driver and maybe one shotgun/lookout.  It would be considerably lighter and less sturdy than a wagon and thus horses would be optimal and perhaps have a bonus.  With say 5-speed horses it should be a boost in speed that should match say a fast, normal ship with a min speed of say 17 kmh.  It should be fast enough, that given paved roads and bridges, a Stagecoach could deliver players to next closest starter town in, for example, a reasonable, but not instant period of time, that is competitive or perhaps as fast as a ship, or maybe to balance the safety of a Stagecoach (no drowning) perhaps slower than a ship given equal distances.

 

As a cool bonus if there were a flat top barge with no hold players could actually setup ferry landings and charge to ferry Stagecoaches across areas where bridges were undesirable or not feasible, no open seas of course.

 

The idea dawned on me (and probably suggested before, but would rather play game than search or bump necrothreads) because still not able to get a PoK or PoL tile next to my lake; basically when time comes i have to load my alts into cart and take them to their respective tiles.  This idea would be too much for taking alts to meditate, as a Stagecoach would certainly be high-level FC and as much for people transport as wagons are for goods transport.

 

Anyway, would be cool...

 

Fixed some spelling & grammar 

Edited May 16, 2015 by ClericGunem

[loenabelle 31]

I really like this idea. Many times I have been stuck in places (or lost) and people came to help me out but i could not sit on the wagons/carts or horses in general or we would get attacked by something while riding in the cart.

 

I would love to see such a thing ingame

[Klaa 4,872]

Chariots

[ClericGunem 275]

I think with Stagecoaches the driver would be vulnerable and probably unable to do much of anything as they would be situated too high.  Maybe the *shotgun* could use a bow.  The passengers in such as case should be protected as long as the Stagecoach is above a certain ql, except from huge/special mobs, e.g. uniques, avatars, ...

 

I have fought from cart before, not easy...  Klaa's chariots is a cool idea.  I have not figured out how to do charge yet from horseback (if possible), but you would need to be able to do such a timed slash/stab charge attack to make it viable.  The turning speed of a Chariot is not much better than a cart at sharp angles so would need a lot of room so as to make a wide loop, probably be pretty cool to fight another chariot, but PvE-wise maybe trolls, or just cool to ride around in.

 

I wish we had saddle bags, which came to mind thinking of the tiny hold a chariot would have.   

[ClericGunem 275]

Nearly everyday I see a good use of a stagecoach.  It would also bring communities closer, more highways with more small towns.  The coasts are absolutely full to the point of being crowded with settlements because of ships and because of access to the sea (though mostly dead, trip Lormere to Glasshollow on weekend, ~40 areas looked like settlements, saw 8 people, only 3 said hello in response), but there is no reason to pass close to land other than for landmarks.  Stagecoaches would make it viable for a group to actually move across land and connect communities.

 

And here is a good example where it would be useful.  There are people who will need transportation to the Impalong, i and a few other will offer rides to people at least on the way to the Impalong, but by ship, i.e. they have to make it to the coast before I pass.  No one is taking a cart from Lormere to Mistydragon, a wagon would be viable assuming there is/were enough connecting roads, but it is only one person.  If a person had a stagecoach and was going he could pick up some of the people in mid-Xanadu that otherwise would have no chance of making it alive, it would still take hours.  

 

I doubt there would be stagecoaches everywhere as i describe as the purpose would be primarily people transport (though thinking a little more cargo space maybe half a large cart and only small crates).

 

And with winds, land travel would be much faster in many cases, which is progression as demonstrated in RL history.  And i seriously doubt and hope there are never trains, which would make ship still the only way for heavy transport.  Stagecoach could be the Caravel of Fine Carpentry, a wagon is still a pain at 50+ FC, i soon will be at 70 and will build another just to see if still painful.

[Outlaw 697]

Chariots

 

Hell horse chariots of FIRE!

[Proximo 402]

I'm a firm believer that MMO's live and die by new content.  Especially that which helps gameplay.  I can't see how this would cause any issues, although some PVP players might think of something.  But then again, don't they always?

 

+1

 

You put a lot of thought into this.  I like the idea of a faster wagon variant for hauling people around.

[ntstlkr 22]

I'd like to see a mass transport for players on land. current mass trans is just knarr (11 ppl?) on water, with cart being max 4 on land.

[ClericGunem 275]

Once again I was thinking about thisthis time from a almost tourist point of view.  I have an alt to pilot my ships so my main can constant do something else beside stare at the water and wonder why only 1-2 of the 4 people on any given Xanadu coast ever say hello.  If there were a proper stagecoach then people could catch a ride somewhere and actually do other things, such as imp some arrows or leather or cloth or whatever.  Now, unlike a ship it would be very difficult to drive a stagecoach and imp something at same time (safely), so again provides for transport service, but i digress.

 

My point was more in the touring side.  I see all the deeds on the coast but there are vast areas inland and really nice villages and structures created by people.  Someone, with a stage coach could actually take people to see them or maybe safari (i am sure they would probably use for dragon slayings too, but not like people do not already show up for them with ton of alts) such as taking a group to good hunting spot (north Xan).

 

Another one would be for people who provide services or entertainment, or group events.  Having a land-based people transport that is faster than a sick horse (large cart) really seems to have a lot of potential.

Edited September 9, 2015 by ClericGunem

[Cornchips 3,037]

"I haven't figured out how to charge from horseback"

did you just make that up or what

[Anki 4]

This would make draging more alts to a unique slaying much easier... Otherwise decent idea.

[ClericGunem 275]

"I haven't figured out how to charge from horseback"

did you just make that up or what

 

? not sure what you mean

[Clatius 455]

-1 Ah nope. More important things are needed like rivers and lakes. Maybe after that. Hmm...what happened to that other post about high speed rail? *looks around on floor for post*

Edited September 10, 2015 by Clatius

[ClericGunem 275]

high speed rail?  funny, rather hope they stick to the more rustic level, no steampunk.  As far as rivers, that would be another server i would think and would only make some sort of land based people transport more important.  

 

Really a Stagecoach is essentially a wagon model with large cart +3 with small cart of storage.  And all they have to do is add more parts same as how the make ships "harder"

 

Stagecoach would have say 4 saddles and 4 bridles and say 16 cordage rope for spirit of the four in hand (drop yokes, thats just silly for anything pulled by horses above a fast walk), same base wood as wagon, but maybe 16 springs and dozen thick ropes and leathers for braking and traction, add maybe 30-50 planks, 20 shafts, 20 large nails, 20 small nails for body, few leathers, sheets, and furs for seats, couple beams for support, tar for roof, square pieces of cloth for shades, make it a min 65 FC.

 

I know the art department is over taxed already, based on lack of model for temple after apparently 3+ years, and this would be a little more work model wise that a Temple, but it should not be too difficult to patch together a Frankenstein model from others they have.

[tamat 265]

Or just let people embark in when the boat/ship are in a transport

[Clatius 455]

As far as rivers, that would be another server i would think and would only make some sort of land based people transport more important.  

 

 

 

Sorry, rivers already been mentioned by staff. http://forum.wurmonline.com/index.php?/topic/124481-news-update-work-and-progress-week-22/

 

Not totally against coaches but it would be very limited so something for everyone would be a better project. Small servers are too small for public transport cept maybe Indy. Xan is WAY too big for something like coaches to be practical. Just faster large carts would be easier to implement. BTW, high speed rail was a joke.   ...or was it.

[Jarosz 189]

it could be the Uber of wurm

[JakeRivers 2,921]

Stagecoach as appealing as it may sound, just seems like a ways and means for one person to get 6-12 alts out to the next dragon slaying.

[Theshrike 48]

A cart already holds 4 so it seems pretty pointless to make it 4-6. 10 or more, sure.

[Jarosz 189]

Stagecoach as appealing as it may sound, just seems like a ways and means for one person to get 6-12 alts out to the next dragon slaying.

 

Sounds like a great strategy... Lets limit the possibilities of adding depth to the game and player usability... because dragons.

[Clatius 455]

IMO the real question is, who would bother taking a stagecoach? When you got to your destination you wouldn't have any transportation. You would have limited cargo. You would be stuck leaving and arriving when the stagecoach did. The vast majority of people would just take their own transport. Maybe a noob might ride but that would be few and far between. Really, where is the depth? It's just another gadget that sounds like it would be cool and takes up development and art time for minimal benefit. People will make them sure, but the end result would be a bunch of lawn ornaments. 

[topkos 492]

+1 for any new way of transport. Love the idea. But yeah limit it to 4-6 passengers to avoid alts abuse.

[Jarosz 189]

IMO the real question is, who would bother taking a stagecoach? When you got to your destination you wouldn't have any transportation. You would have limited cargo. You would be stuck leaving and arriving when the stagecoach did. The vast majority of people would just take their own transport. Maybe a noob might ride but that would be few and far between. Really, where is the depth? It's just another gadget that sounds like it would be cool and takes up development and art time for minimal benefit. People will make them sure, but the end result would be a bunch of lawn ornaments. 

 

I can see it used heavily in PVP to amass people and move them as a single unit to a staging ground... seeing as how that can take hours on certain servers.  You could even add a "Sleep" function to the stage coach so you can load in a few players and have them log out.  While you might not wake up where you intended... a player could earn a pretty penny by staging people in land locked locations that might take hours to arrive.

 

Where there is a will (and a game mechanic) there is a way.

[ClericGunem 275]

I was thinking a lot more about higher speed travel and being able to have more than one person and not be at mercy of wind.   A wagon is currently faster than anything else travel-wise especially on pavement.  A team of hell horses with right equipment are just fast.  And I personally have become attached to traveling with an alt for a variety of reasons, preferably my Fo priest, such as holding pelts or leading animals, or if the worse should happen i already have a priest at hand and could probably recover my stuff sooner.  I am not looking for massive storage and having huge storage and passenger capacity should remain in realm of ships, and the vehicle that sort of fits that description as a logical step is a stagecoach.

 

So me personally, if I had a stagecoach, which would be a good reason for people to take interest in making good and extensive highways, would be traveling to different markets, exploring and hunting in new areas.  The limited storage and high speed makes it for travel, light hunting, and not looting.  I had to roll an alt to sit in for example Glasshollow or suicide to other markets or places and mail stuff back.  It would be a viable way for people to make a trip from Lormere to say Glasshollow, maybe make Hollow Springs a decent market, since the location makes it a pain to get to or out of, which precisely why i will never return to it.  As far as it being used for alts and dragon hunting, the main thing is portability, i would suggest making too large to load into any ship, which would eliminate someone making port and off loading an army of alts, or perhaps only loadable in a caravel and can only be unloaded on to pavement.   Make it too heavy to carry an in complete one in inventory. Give it a massive speed penalty for off road too.  

 

 

As far who would use it for travel, i would for one.  If one of my friends was making trip to say Glasshollow in stagecoach as i described I may want to hitch a ride with my main, comain, or maybe my trader alt.  I would hope, like ships, i could log off and stay in the stagecoach, then when i log in i would be there or close..  I would then have some piece of mind, i do not see a new plaer hitching a ride in a stagecoach unless they need to get somewhere and it would probably cost them something.  If on other hand a friend said "hey going to Hollow Springs" (half as far as Glasshollow) in a large cart, my response would "best of luck, take a tent, cotton, extra food, and nothing valuable" and i would hope they had woa saddles and shoes on 5-speeds pulling that cart.

[Tipper 260]

IMO the real question is, who would bother taking a stagecoach? When you got to your destination you wouldn't have any transportation. You would have limited cargo. You would be stuck leaving and arriving when the stagecoach did. The vast majority of people would just take their own transport. Maybe a noob might ride but that would be few and far between. Really, where is the depth? It's just another gadget that sounds like it would be cool and takes up development and art time for minimal benefit. People will make them sure, but the end result would be a bunch of lawn ornaments. 

 

I like the idea but Clatius might be right. Maybe just allow people to ride as passengers in wagons? Did I miss where someone suggested that?