by Dalmarus on Jan 17, 2008
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by
Dalmarus
January 17th, 2008
Dalmarus: Back in
early October of this year, Michail sat down to interview Andrew
"Avarem" Krausnick about the upcoming Ancient Port Warehouse. In it,
Avarem said there would be certain locations that have portals that
players could attune themselves to for fast travel. The system he
described sounds like a raid-oriented Riftway System. Has a set number
of these portals been decided yet and can you tell us a bit more about
their layout within the level design?
Thom:
The portals have
been decided upon. They’re placed in locations that are
designed as either ‘break points’ or
‘back doors’ for the raid. These are locations
that, once attuned to, will allow raids to more easily access points of
interest throughout this expansive dungeon.
Dalmarus:
When word that the healer's Hero's Call spells would be enabled at
these portals, there were worries mentioned on the official forums that
this would allow groups or guilds to call players to the final boss
battles without the other players having had to go through any of the
other raid content. Is there anything in place designed to prevent this
system from being exploited?
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Thom:
These portals are
placed in locations that take such exploits in to consideration. Only
one portal is directly next to a boss, and this portal actually
deactivates when the boss is engaged. In addition, it is impossible to
Hero’s Call while a raid is engaged in any encounter within
the dungeon.
Dalmarus:
Will the portal system within the Ancient Port Warehouse be contained
within its own network, or will it be tied into at least one of the
three overland Riftway networks? If not, will there be any overland
portal for the Warehouse, or will all players need to at least get into
the Warehouse itself before being able to use any of the portals they
have previously attuned?
style="font-weight: bold;">Thom:
style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">The portals are APW
specific and will only allow transport within APW.
Dalmarus:
For those long play sessions and battles within the Ancient Port
Warehouse, will any of the portals allow the players a one-way trip to
an overland location, such as Khal, or if players need to get back to
the surface will they be expected to use their recall ability?
style="font-weight: bold;">Thom:
style="color: rgb(51, 102, 102);">Players will be expected
to use their individual or group recall abilities. However, given two
recall spells (house and self) as well as the group versions, this
isn’t really a concern.