Oh hey!
I thought that would get everyone's attention.  As promised, this week we're talking about terrain and teleporters. Let's dive right in to our questions and not waste a moment further to find out what our developers have to share this week.

This week's question:
What are your plans for terrain? Is there going to be a lot of terrain features rising on the z-axis which is impassable, basically rendering the large open map into a series of ravines and canyons funneling players into those spaces? Or will the island be relatively fairly flat? Or will it have elevation but that elevation be passable?

As we developed Earthrise, we made sure that the world is tailored in such a way so it provides different game experience - the whole island is divided almost equally between plains, hills and mountains.

Terrain elevation is more than just a logistic problem - it plays a great role in your experience as a player since it blocks or broadens your line of sight, effectively slows or increases  your movement speed, and we would be remiss if we did not mention it could be a great place intended for ambushes and strategic sudden attacks.

As we have built our world, we know that our players will find the way to take advantage of terrain features during their battles, but there are features for the explorer at heart as well. We know there are lots of interesting reasons to explore these murky ravines in search of secret passages and hidden places, and not just for strategy reasons. Who knows what fantastic secrets you might find?

Not that interested in terrain? Just want to get from Point A to B without stopping to smell the plants? For those who are not so curious and want to have fast access between different points of interest they can travel through our extensively designed teleport network for a fee. Traveling between two points will cost you credits (our form of currency), but it is generally considered to be safer and faster. Teleporters come in three different styles - "big", "small", and "jumpers". We haven't got a route map to display for you at the moment, but we look forward to revealing more about our interconnected world as time goes on.

As with all of our systems you've heard about to date, Earthrise features a highly complex environment with a careful attention to detail.  You've seen a fair number of pictures of our terrain before, but this week we're sending along an in-game screenshot to help illustrate just how varied our terrain can be. Now we don't want to give away too much yet about where exactly in the world this is, but we can say it is in a zone that we haven't presented yet in our zone and lore feature over at MMORPG.com!

I haven't been able to stop staring at this picture since I've gotten it. Enjoy!
~ m.

Great one!

Awesome screenshot..

But I still havent seen the awnser if it is possible to "climb" every mountain. I would like to see every mountain climbable.. but not from every side. From the picture below, it should figure what I mean

If everything is like this, I would love the world design already!

And I am looking forward to learn more about this place.


Also: First! z0mg rofl rofl lololol!11!!

Edit: Damn you Harabeck! This is probally what I have deserved 

This right here is going to make me go looking under every rock and in every mud puddle trying to find things.  I am a big explorer in mmos, this makes me happy

Ya I know Xy. I'll collect a list of follow up questions here - maybe they'll actually answer some of them.

Re: Terrain

Does this mean that all terrain, even the steepest cliff as climbable?

What terrain changes movement speed, by how much, and is it limited to z-axis terrain or will flat terrain but swampy or heavily vegetated also cause movement speed changes?

With no partial cover system how is terrain useful offensively? Won't it just allow people to hide behind it, forcing players to move out from behind terrain to actually engage in combat? Doesn't that nullify any effect it has because its no longer in play?

Re: teleporters:

What do you mean by large, small, and jumper teleporters?

What do they do, how does each one function, and how are they different?

How are teleporters to be used for territory offense and defense?

What's the actual cost and how does that translate in game term (is it like 10 units of common ore or half the reward from a typical quest, etc.)?

Is the cost a flat fee or does it vary depending on variables? What are those varibles?

I am very curious about the different sizes of teleporter and what a "jumper" is.  It would also be great to know if the teleport fee is a flat rate, or does it vary based on jump distance, mass, etc.?

Nice screenshot! Makes me hope for good knockback abilities.

The variable that would make the most sense for teleportation cost is distance, another good one is whether the destination is high or low security. The guard's wages and equipment cost money!

I'll be looking forward to more info about the teleportation system as time goes on.

If there are indeed bases in zones like that it will add more stratagy and planing when attacking thoes bases. Secret passages, more than 1 entrance for attackers, ambushes and bottle necks for defenders and so on.

it's probly the center of the island.