There will never be a time in my life without my heart going out to Guild Wars for its map traveling. Yes, the original. After years of playing Final Fantasy XI, the idea of fast travel that was reliably under my control alone was heady; finally, no relying on White Mages for teleports plus running across dangerous zones for 15 minutes just to level. (The fact that my character was a White Mage wasn’t relevant here.) But then it was so marvelously transparent as a system. You clicked an area, said that you wanted to go there, and then… you were there. Finis.
Fast travel has been a part of MMOs since forever, as it’s a central component of Ultima Online (a fact Bree loves to point out whenever someone complains that fast travel diminishes the world, so I’ve pinched it from her). But not all fast travel systems are the same. As much as I love Final Fantasy XIV, its fast travel isn’t great; it’s at least better than World of Warcraft, which keeps travel remarkably limited (flight masters are barely faster than just flying somewhere once you have it unlocked). What do you think? Which MMO has the best fast travel options?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
