Should Wayshrine Costs Be Removed?

Turelus

Simple poll inspired by a Twitter conversation.

Should Wayshrine costs be removed?

The current system mechanics.

• Players can travel from shrine to shrine for free by interacting with them.
• Players can pay a small free to move to a shrine without interacting with one.
• The fee increases after the first use and slowly counts down to normal again.
• Many players bypass the system by using "travel to player" to not pay costs (via large guilds or friends lists).

FloppyTouch

Yes, remove the costs.

There are plenty of gold sinks in the game already this small one does not seem to be needed anymore plus it’s annoying.

Turelus

Yes, remove the costs.

I voted yes for the following reasons.

I rarely ever run to a shrine in order to travel for free, always using my guilds to bypass the system.
It's frustrating leaving houses located in isolated areas (without using the travel to player work around).
The gold sink isn't required due to new bigger sinks (guild traders, luxury items vendor).
It's a nice QoL change which saves time without destroying or unbalancing the game.
I don't enjoy the zone nor find things on my exploration when going to a shrine.

Runs

Yes, remove the costs.

As stated above there are ways to bypass paying. The reason for my yes vote is because there are already ways to make it free, but those ways increase the amount of loadscreens. Wouldn't it be less strain on the servers if a player only needed the to go to the one place they wanted to instead of the multiple places they go to avoid the fee?

Loc2262

Yes, remove the costs.

I vote "yes" for the same reasons as Turelus and Runs.

I'm using an addon named "Easy Travel". That lets me right-click on a zone name, it looks up a player from my friends and guilds lists that is in that zone, and automatically travels to them. I've been using that mode of switching zones for many months now.

I fail to see why I should pay gold each time I travel, considering the huge amount of traveling that's involved in the numerous (daily and questing) activity.

Thus the method I'm using has but one nuisance, which is having two loading screens most of the time to get to where I need to be. And considering how unnecessarily long loading screens can be in this game, it'd be much appreciated if ZOS alleviated that pain by removing the wayshrine fee.

Slick_007

No, they should have costs.

what, you cant afford the measly fee?

pod88kk

Other, my thoughts are...

It should be be a set fee not the system that's in place now

RupzSkooma

Yes, remove the costs.

Simply , yes.

Shardan4968

Other, my thoughts are...

Well, price shouldn't increase after first use, that's for sure.

WildWilbur

Yes, remove the costs.

Let's introduce a quest to obtain a 'portal crystal', ZOS!

Turelus

Yes, remove the costs.

Slick_007 wrote: »

what, you cant afford the measly fee?

I can afford it, but why pay when there is a system that mean I don't have to? As Tesco would say, every little helps!

Rex-Umbra

No, they should have costs.

Wayshrines should be removed entirely.

Turelus

Yes, remove the costs.

Would be interested in more of the views on why people don't think it should be removed. Obviously my view on the matter is one sided so if people have thoughts I might not have considered.

lardvader

Other, my thoughts are...

I only have issues with cost when traveling from my house. Not worried about 146 gold but if it's aprox. 800 I sometimes have to travel to another house closer to a shrine to skip the cost.

A wayshrine in the house would be most welcome.

laksikus

No, they should have costs.

Gold has to go somewhere with guild trader ckst and repair thats one of the few gold sinks in thr game

Turelus

Yes, remove the costs.

laksikus wrote: »

Gold has to go somewhere with guild trader ckst and repair thats one of the few gold sinks in thr game

I agree the game needs sinks, but this isn't one wiser players pay due the work around.

ZOS has added much better sinks in the last year via the furniture and luxury furniture sales, this is also a gold sink which makes players use a longer clunky work around to bypass.

I would be interested to know the gold which this actually removes from the game but only ZOS know that one.

Tandor

No, they should have costs.

Turelus wrote: »

Would be interested in more of the views on why people don't think it should be removed. Obviously my view on the matter is one sided so if people have thoughts I might not have considered.

I simply don't have a problem with the present system. I'm not in any guilds and don't travel to anyone, and only very rarely need to pay a nominal cost to travel to a wayshrine. For example, if I've completed a delve and want to exit it quickly without catching all the respawns on the way out then I just travel to one of my houses, which are mostly chosen for convenience of location as well as the attraction of the houses themselves. Besides, time is never an issue for me, I don't hop up and down demanding QoL changes if something takes me an extra moment or two (or costs a few pieces of gold) !

I tend to be opposed to most QoL changes each of which can easily be justified but the cumulative effect of which is to dumb the game down. It's fine as it is.

Turelus

Yes, remove the costs.

Tandor wrote: »

Turelus wrote: »

Would be interested in more of the views on why people don't think it should be removed. Obviously my view on the matter is one sided so if people have thoughts I might not have considered.

I simply don't have a problem with the present system. I'm not in any guilds and don't travel to anyone, and only very rarely need to pay a nominal cost to travel to a wayshrine. For example, if I've completed a delve and want to exit it quickly without catching all the respawns on the way out then I just travel to one of my houses, which are mostly chosen for convenience of location as well as the attraction of the houses themselves. Besides, time is never an issue for me, I don't hop up and down demanding QoL changes if something takes me an extra moment or two (or costs a few pieces of gold) !

I tend to be opposed to most QoL changes each of which can easily be justified but the cumulative effect of which is to dumb the game down. It's fine as it is.

But you're already using a work around to avoid the costs no? So wouldn't you personally prefer a system where when you finished a delve you could just choose where you wanted to go rather than need to choose a house to bypass the gold costs?

The reason I support the removal is because most of us use work around any way, so if we're not paying the gold and just making longer work for ourselves wouldn't a QoL change which lets us just get on and enjoy the game be better?

Thanks for the reply, I'll probably debate people but it's nice to hear the thoughts of others and understand the other side.

Nermy

Yes, remove the costs.

I voted for Yes purely because there is a simple work around. I can afford it but why bother when I can just port to a friend.

Tandor

No, they should have costs.

Turelus wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

Turelus wrote: »

Would be interested in more of the views on why people don't think it should be removed. Obviously my view on the matter is one sided so if people have thoughts I might not have considered.

I simply don't have a problem with the present system. I'm not in any guilds and don't travel to anyone, and only very rarely need to pay a nominal cost to travel to a wayshrine. For example, if I've completed a delve and want to exit it quickly without catching all the respawns on the way out then I just travel to one of my houses, which are mostly chosen for convenience of location as well as the attraction of the houses themselves. Besides, time is never an issue for me, I don't hop up and down demanding QoL changes if something takes me an extra moment or two (or costs a few pieces of gold) !

I tend to be opposed to most QoL changes each of which can easily be justified but the cumulative effect of which is to dumb the game down. It's fine as it is.

But you're already using a work around to avoid the costs no? So wouldn't you personally prefer a system where when you finished a delve you could just choose where you wanted to go rather than need to choose a house to bypass the gold costs?

The reason I support the removal is because most of us use work around any way, so if we're not paying the gold and just making longer work for ourselves wouldn't a QoL change which lets us just get on and enjoy the game be better?

Thanks for the reply, I'll probably debate people but it's nice to hear the thoughts of others and understand the other side.

It really doesn't bother me. If the cost was an issue it might do so, but I don't think I've ever paid more than the first or at most second tier charge for traveling direct to a wayshrine and even for a non-trader and non-farmer like me with no money in the bank the cost is totally trivial. There are always other benefits to traveling to my houses so I'm not doing it simply to avoid paying a few gold. None of this has ever been an issue for me.

Loc2262

Yes, remove the costs.

Speaking about "paying for quality of life": I'd be fine with a system that costs a one-time fee to use all wayshrines for free say for a month (GOLD, not crowns!). But I don't like paying 150-1000 gold each time I use a wayshrine. This game requires way too much traveling for that.

Tandor

No, they should have costs.

Loc2262 wrote: »

Speaking about "paying for quality of life": I'd be fine with a system that costs a one-time fee to use all wayshrines for free say for a month (GOLD, not crowns!). But I don't like paying 150-1000 gold each time I use a wayshrine. This game requires way too much traveling for that.

How often are you too far from a wayshrine not to want to run/ride to it in order to port onwards for free? You do know that traveling between wayshrines is free right? I only ask because I'm often surprised how many veteran players don't realise that.

AdamBourke

No, they should have costs.

No, what's more, they should ADD a fee to Travel to Player. Same cost as the wayshrines.

Although - I wouldn't mind if they changed it to a set fee.

I'd also like to see a portal mechanic, where you can use magicka to open a portal to any location - but with consequences if you try to open a portal too far away based on your skill level.

reiverx

Yes, remove the costs.

Tandor wrote: »

Loc2262 wrote: »

Speaking about "paying for quality of life": I'd be fine with a system that costs a one-time fee to use all wayshrines for free say for a month (GOLD, not crowns!). But I don't like paying 150-1000 gold each time I use a wayshrine. This game requires way too much traveling for that.

How often are you too far from a wayshrine not to want to run/ride to it in order to port onwards for free? You do know that traveling between wayshrines is free right? I only ask because I'm often surprised how many veteran players don't realise that.

You're often surprised by how many vet players don't know it's free to travel between wayshrines?

I've never came across a non-vet player who didn't know that.

WaltherCarraway

No, they should have costs.

travel to a player / guildmate cost 0

keep it at it is seems fine to me

btw
i think that wayshrine cost is mainly for reduction on server load or something like that

LordGavus

Yes, remove the costs.

Yeah remove it.
It's not a gold sink. It's just an inconvenience.
I just use guild and friend lists to travel for free most of the time.

Turelus

Yes, remove the costs.

WaltherCarraway wrote: »

travel to a player / guildmate cost 0

keep it at it is seems fine to me

btw
i think that wayshrine cost is mainly for reduction on server load or something like that

That's kind of the point of my argument though, we're not paying the gold and using a work around any way, so why not just remove the costs and let people do it.

Kel

No, they should have costs.

Wayshrines are dotted around zones and only takes a few minutes at worst to get to. And if it's a new zone, it promotes exploration.
I'm amazed at how many players say they love to explore, but getting to a wayshrine to skip the small fee is too tedious. And no, I don't travel to another guildmate. I didn't even know that was a thing.
If the fee for fast travel is too much of a gold sink for you, just get to another wayshrine. If it's important to just instantly travel from where you are, it should cost you.
In my opinion, it's fine just how it's set up.

Elsonso

No, they should have costs.

When traveling from wayshrine to wayshrine, you get to pick your destination. This is free, and I don't see a reason to change this. The inconvenience is that you have to travel to the wayshrine.

When traveling to a wayshrine from anywhere else, you still get to pick your destination. This costs a low gold amount the first time, but more for subsequent travels until the gold value drops back down. This is convenient, and precise. It has the downside of costing gold, and more of it when done before the cooldown expires.

Guild and friend travel allows you to pick your zone, but not the wayshrine. It is free, but you don't get to pick your wayshrine, so it is not the ultimate convenience. Except for certain locations, it is usually necessary to do a wayshrine-to-wayshrine to get to the desired location. There is no guarantee that someone is in the desired zone to travel to. It does add to the travel cooldown.

The whole purpose of fast travel is to make moving large distances more convenient. As with any convenience, there needs to be some sort of check in place that dulls the benefit, otherwise it gets overused. These are basically going to be a combination of gold and inconvenience.

If there is a problem in the system, it is that subsequent guild travels are free, allowing repeated guild travel jumps to wayshrines for no charge. My feeling is that the inconvenience of not being able to pick the target wayshrine is not on par with the inconviences of the other two. The first should remain free, but subsequent guild travels should charge the remainder of the fast travel cooldown.

As this would be treated like ZOS were stabbing people in the eye, my vote is to leave it alone. The "No" matches this the best.

TheShadowScout

No, they should have costs.

Come on, those costs are so insignificant... if you cannot afford to buy some spell ingredients, you have to business using teleportation spells!

Tai-Chi

No, they should have costs.

There are legitimate ways to get to every Wayshrine in Tamriel - be it travelling on foot, by horse & cart, on a boat or by another means. It does not take that long to do it just the once on a Char and for those who take the time, it will give a better insight and understanding of how Tamriel's transport system works.

Deducing from what I have seen and read, there appear to be far too many players who just want to reach endgame without putting in any effort or time. In some cases, these are the same people who need to be spoon-fed on everything and ask for everything to be made simpler and easier.

I used to taxi people to Wayshrines, but generally speaking, I do not any more and I have never asked for anyone to teleport me to one either.

As for the increased cost for subsequent Wayshrine use? Keep it in place, if it acts as a small deterrent.

For those who complain about the cost of travelling from one's home - that might be located in a remote place - I would say, get the Mara's Kiss Inn (free) room and port from any location to there. Vulkhel Guard Wayshrine is just opposite, when you step out through the door.

Contributing to @Turelus comments; here are two more for your repertoire.

"You may think that I sound harsh but I could not possibly comment" (House of Cards) but actually "We are here to help" (ASDA) to "make this Christmas special" (Marks & Spencer).