[FotFW] Labyrinthine Cliffs waypoints bugged

[Ashantara.8731]

The waypoints cannot be pinged in chat.

 

Please fix, thank you.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> The waypoints cannot be pinged in chat.

>

> Please fix, thank you.

 

They aren't "waypoints;" they just have the same icon. The mechanic is identical to the one used for the temple shrines in Siren's Landing. You might have noticed that (a) there are no costs to using WP in this explorable zone, (b) the icon is harder to see at certain levels of zoom, © annoyingly, the icon can be blocked by mentor/commander tags. And of course you noticed (d) they cannot be pinged.

 

If ANet were to change anything, it would be the choice of icon.

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> They aren't "waypoints;" they just have the same icon. The mechanic is identical to the one used for the temple shrines in Siren's Landing.

 

And what makes you so certain that this is intended?

 

> You might have noticed that (a) there are no costs to using WP in this explorable zone

 

...like in cities, but those are still called waypoints.

 

> (b) the icon is harder to see at certain levels of zoom, © annoyingly, the icon can be blocked by mentor/commander tags.

 

And which of those arguments is a valid excuse for not fixing them to function like proper waypoints?

 

> And of course you noticed (d) they cannot be pinged.

 

...which is a huge issue when you are trying to help new players, hence this thread.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > They aren't "waypoints;" they just have the same icon. The mechanic is identical to the one used for the temple shrines in Siren's Landing.

>

> And what makes you so certain that this is intended?

 

Because it would have been easier to use a waypoint, as they have done with every other map in the game except Siren's Landing. There's also speculation that it allows them to leave the map in the game permanently, without having to worry about people trying to waypoint in (since, another aspect that differs from actual waypoints: they can only be used inside the instance).

 

>

> > You might have noticed that (a) there are no costs to using WP in this explorable zone

>

> ...like in cities, but those are still called waypoints.

Cities are not combat instances. They have other features that differ. And again, those are waypoints. They can be reached from outside the instance.

 

>

> > (b) the icon is harder to see at certain levels of zoom, © annoyingly, the icon can be blocked by mentor/commander tags.

>

> And which of those arguments is a valid excuse for not fixing them to function like proper waypoints?

They aren't arguments at all. They are description of the elements that show that this might look like a waypoint, but isn't one.

 

>

> > And of course you noticed (d) they cannot be pinged.

> ...which is a huge issue when you are trying to help new players, hence this thread.

 

It's a mild issue at worse. There are only two teleports on the map, available to everyone without unlocking them (yet another thing that makes them different from waypoints). They aren't that far apart either. One can simply say "upper" and "lower."

 

Look, I wouldn't have used a waypoint icon because of this type of confusion. But it isn't a bug, it isn't as big a deal as you make it out to be. And if ANet decides to change things, the easiest thing to do will be to change the icon so it's less confusing. (Even making it different colors would help.)

 

[Taygus.4571]

> @"Ashantara.8731" said:

> > You might have noticed that (a) there are no costs to using WP in this explorable zone

>

> ...like in cities, but those are still called waypoints.

 

I'd have to check but I think cities have a "0 copper" charge. As opposed to no charge like the one at the zephyrites.

[Ashantara.8731]

> @"Taygus.4571" said:

> I'd have to check but I think cities have a "0 copper" charge. As opposed to no charge like the one at the zephyrites.

 

That is correct.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

The point is that the teleports in Labyrinthine Cliffs have nothing in common with waypoints other than the icon and the teleportation. All the other characteristics differ, thus it is not a bug that they can't be pinged. Annoying? Sure. Worth asking ANet to reconsider changing to true waypoints? Sure.

[Glacial.9516]

Something I've noticed with the Labyrinthine Cliffs WPs that I've never seen elsewhere is that a commander sitting on the WP can render it unusable, as any attempt to click the WP will instead click the commander tag and attempt to join. This is also true if players spawn a TP NPC on them - the TP icon takes precedence and completely overlaps the WP icon, making it unusable. Unfortunately this has resulted in a couple of trolls in the past few days.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"Glacial.9516" said:

> Something I've noticed with the Labyrinthine Cliffs WPs that I've never seen elsewhere is that a commander sitting on the WP can render it unusable, as any attempt to click the WP will instead click the commander tag and attempt to join. This is also true if players spawn a TP NPC on them - the TP icon takes precedence and completely overlaps the WP icon, making it unusable. Unfortunately this has resulted in a couple of trolls in the past few days.

 

Right, because it's not a waypoint.

 

ANet apparently didn't notice the reports from Siren's Landing about the phenomenon when they decided that it would be good to use the mechanic again. They seem to like the fact that players don't have to travel up or down to unlock the teleports, and that they don't cost anything. Especially for new players without extensive masteries, those are good things. Plus some have theorized this makes it easier to leave the map in the game without having to change it — since there are no waypoints, people won't be able to reach it after the festival ends (and the balloon travel NPCs are removed).

 

Also, at least some of these tags will be people ignorant of the effect.

 

Regardless of any of this, I think using the same icon as a wayoint for these teleports was a mistake on ANet's part, regardless of any other considerations.

 

****

In the meantime, there are a couple of work-arounds:

* Use LFG to swap to a different instance.

* To avoid commander tags, pop your own or join another player's squad (and set your options so that you can't see other tags).

* Wait a bit (and meantime stick to using the in-map special skills, mounts, and gliders). Trolls tend to get bored if they don't get any attention.

[Sarpan.9074]

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

>

> It's a mild issue at worse. There are only two teleports on the map, available to everyone **without unlocking them** (yet another thing that makes them different from waypoints). They aren't that far apart either. One can simply say "upper" and "lower."

>

>

No quibble with your other points but I've had to discover/unlock the Cliffs WPs on all the characters I've taken there.

 

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"Sarpan.9074" said:

> > @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> >

> > It's a mild issue at worse. There are only two teleports on the map, available to everyone **without unlocking them** (yet another thing that makes them different from waypoints). They aren't that far apart either. One can simply say "upper" and "lower."

> >

> >

> No quibble with your other points but I've had to discover/unlock the Cliffs WPs on all the characters I've taken there.

>

 

Actually, while we get an unlock sound, you don't actually need to "unlock" the teleports. I went there on a toon that had never visited. Both were "grey" and I was able to use them both. (The "unlock" sound occurred after I warped, not before. I made sure to use the lower one after spawning to the top deck first.)

 

Regardless of the details, I think we can all agree that the situation is more confusing than it needed to be. I think it would be better if ANet only used the WP icons for true waypoints and ensure that that faux-wp-teleports are prioritized on the map above all other icons.

[Sarpan.9074]

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > @"Sarpan.9074" said:

> > > @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> > >

> > > It's a mild issue at worse. There are only two teleports on the map, available to everyone **without unlocking them** (yet another thing that makes them different from waypoints). They aren't that far apart either. One can simply say "upper" and "lower."

> > >

> > >

> > No quibble with your other points but I've had to discover/unlock the Cliffs WPs on all the characters I've taken there.

> >

>

> Actually, while we get an unlock sound, you don't actually need to "unlock" the teleports. I went there on a toon that had never visited. Both were "grey" and I was able to use them both. (The "unlock" sound occurred after I warped, not before. I made sure to use the lower one after spawning to the top deck first.)

>

> Regardless of the details, I think we can all agree that the situation is more confusing than it needed to be. I think it would be better if ANet only used the WP icons for true waypoints and ensure that that faux-wp-teleports are prioritized on the map above all other icons.

 

OK. I naturally assumed they were locked while greyed out and ran up to them to unlock. As for the rest of your comments, I agree.

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

> @"Sarpan.9074" said:

> OK. I naturally assumed they were locked while greyed out and ran up to them to unlock.

Me, too :(

Then I started thinking about all the other ways they don't behave like RealWayPoints™, and decided to test my own theory that they weren't. Maybe ANet is experimenting with alternative teleport systems (maybe something tragic is about to happen to the magic that powers the traditional ones?).

 

Regardless, I wish they had remembered the feedback from Siren's Landing (great idea; careful about letting them get blocked). And I really wish they had chosen to make them look like the non-waypoint teleport that they are. That would have reduced the confusion about whether they are bugged or not, and how to use them, and most of all, might have made them think twice about how they function in an environment with people who like to grief.