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Remove the "Leaving the mission area" mechanic


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There's a reason why there are lots of strict boundaries in the new stories: in the past, people used to go too far (intentionally and unintentionally) and glitch out the mechanics, sometimes preventing progress. There were tons & tons of complaints about this. Restricting our movement prevents that particular issue and allows the stories to use huge maps, without forcing us to load a new instance to keep going forward.

Of course, it introduced new issues; the specifics of most of them were probably unpredictable. It should be sufficient to modify the mechanic to prevent accidental crossing of the border. For example:

  • Add a visible 'warning track': this is where the "turn back" message is offered, a distance from the "disconnect" area. The mini-map would look different and there would be some sort of visual marker (a buff, an icon overhead, and/or a change in atmospheric graphics).
  • Increase the size of the allowable area to be big enough to dismount.
  • Where there are foes, make sure that the leash distance of foes doesn't extend near the border.
  • Where people are likely to run, make sure the border is at least two raptor/jackal jumps plus a dismount beyond the warning trigger.

None of that would be simple to implement, so we're not going to see it soon or even soon™. Consequently, we have to remind ourselves to be more careful while ANet figures out how to tweak the fix, that was implemented to prevent an equally serious (and perhaps more annoying) issue.

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  • 3 years later...

@"Eloc Freidon.5692" said:They need to put you back into the map, not out of the instance. Ever.

If they do that, they should also add the "exit instance" button as a permanent feature (rather than just at the very end, after the objectives are complete) to provide us with a way to force our way out of the instance when it has all gone totally pear-shaped. As it stands, the only way to do that is to deliberately run outside the area and trigger this timer thing. (That is, remember that if they make it impossible to do it by accident, they also make it impossible to do it on purpose.)

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Oh please, yes.

I mean, they have a mechanic in play for this already. Just fwoop you back to the last stable platform you were on before you got to the border. It's one they've been using more in open world maps of late, I think that—ongoing, at least, as I understand it's costly to go back and fix all the old ones—they should just use that instead. If you go outside of the border? Fwoop! Back you go.

I'm visually disabled so I don't always see the border on the minimap. Compound this with movement abilities such as jumping and teleports and it can become quite easy to get far out enough into the red to not be able to run back fast enough. This can be hilarious too in instances where they allow and encourage mount use... I haven't used the roller beetle in those and you can't prove anything.

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Yes. The boundary is completely pointless. You could take it out and nothing would change. It's not like maps aren't already filled in, unlike "Return to the battlefield." of modern shooters, where the map can literally dissipates into a textureless void. Classic Lions Arch in the personal story is a good example of this. The entire city is there, so there's no reason to curb exploration, like you're going to fall through the floor or something.

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@Steve The Cynic.3217 said:

@"Eloc Freidon.5692" said:They need to put you back into the map, not out of the instance. Ever.

If they do that, they should
also
add the "exit instance" button as a permanent feature (rather than just at the very end, after the objectives are complete) to provide us with a way to force our way out of the instance when it has all gone totally pear-shaped. As it stands, the only way to do that is to deliberately run outside the area and trigger this timer thing. (That is, remember that if they make it impossible to do it by accident, they also make it impossible to do it on purpose.)

Definitely annoying that there are some instances that make it impossible to leave because of that. I usually have to character select to leave.

At least I like how newer content lets you click on the portals on the minimap to let you leave.

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There is something in the code that reads when a player exits the playable area - otherwise the player cannot be kicked because the code wouldn't exist to kick the player in the first place.

Anet, like other gaming companies, uses polygons for various structures, including walls. Notice how you can't fly past some walls? Polygons in the way. When you sometimes see through your character/mount - you're seeing polygons. One option would be to make the edges of the instance a solid polygon so that it is a wall and the player cannot pass that point. This all assumes that the code is relatively easily modifiable.

In the past couple of weeks I started the armchair commander achievement in earnest. For one of the Rata Sum instances, I almost got kicked out. The chair is outside the playable area of the instance and so I had to sit and then stand fast in order not to be kicked. The warning appeared.

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