On the topic of "teleporting" in RP

[ShoggMommy]

I'm personally a bit uncomfortable with "I don't like it, so I'm going to pretend it doesn't exist." There is lore supporting it, so completely cutting it out does not sit well with me. Now I've not really used it ICly; as I don't really involve myself -too- much with time. Usually when I RP, it's episodic. Now using them to metagame is different and I likely won't rp with someone who uses it to god-mode. However! I've also not really run into any of these types so it comes off for me personally, as a strawman argument on my part. So I don't so much worry about it.

 

The lore exists for the game for a reason, we act within the parameters as much as possible. Sure there are some things that we tweak out, for example we do not play the Main Character. But something so integral as the shards, I would be very hesitant personally to remove. It would be like removing the MC, pretending that the current events don't exist, especially because they -are- used in the main story. It will not merely 'bend' lore, it breaks it to pretend that teleporting and shards do not exist.

 

There are better ways to do this; as others have said, one of these would be gil, or exhaustion of use, or the fact that they are likely more reserved for higher-officials, mages can only use them, your character doesn't like it, etc. And even -if- we decided that normal adventures could use it; as Caspar said- there's a lot of walking and ways to get around even with the shards. You still have to walk and take other routes.

 

To add on, most shards are in larger cities and places of commerce; Mayor Joe Schmo of Tiny Village Bork isn't going to have one. So if you need to go to Bork you gotta walk to Bork or hitch a ride with a pig farmer. So I don't really see much of a problem with the whole thing as long as it's done tastefully.

[Blue]

Also, I should point out, though this is nitpicking, that technically speaking airship flights are rare. Unlike in FFXI where an adventurer could just buy the pass (at an insane cost, though, unless you entered in the good graces of the Archduke), in FFXIV you can get the airship pass only by becoming an ambassador of your starting city through several exemplary deeds that get the city leader's attention. It's to be considered a rare prize, and this implies that passes are difficult to come by.

 

The MSQ explains that due to Garleans' proximity and their cannons, airship flights are used scarcely and only for very extreme situations, as there is risk that the Castrums will shot them down at any time if spotted.

 

So, while it IS nitpicking (because we've got chocobos and ferries too), I think it is fair to assume that Teleport travel is at least more frequently used than airships.

[Nebbs]

I have in the past been in a group that imposed realistic travel times. While this added to the feeling of a big world, I found it got in the way of doing RP. It also meant that you were OOC when not in your characters agreed location.

 

The compromise I came up with is that forms of quick travel are available, but requires you to actually do something to use it. So you have to get to an Aetherite to teleport, and you will often see me running up to one, so much so I no longer think about it. Then there is ship travel, and chocobos and wagons.

 

The other thing you can do is ignore time in between RPs, so my character saw you yesterday, and now I meet you again on the other side of Eorzia. That could have been a week for me, and if you use the in game clock.. more. So time when you are IC is slowed, and then sped up in between.

 

I am certainly not a fan of IC TPing about like a demented imp. I find the ability to remove a character from a situation by just TPing out breaks a lot of plots. And after all we RP for fun and engagement, not avoidance?

[ShoggMommy]

So, while it IS nitpicking (because we've got chocobos and ferries too), I think it is fair to assume that Teleport travel is at least more frequently used than airships.

 

I would have to agree with Blue on this. Besides one has to attune themselves to the Aetherytes as well. Which you would still have to get permission to do from the local authorities. Afterall when you first arrive at your city, your starting quests have you talk with the local authority on the matter.

[Ignacius]

Easy questions get easy answers!

 

It would appear that adventurers are all possessed of the ability to teleport except in the following conditions:

 

-They are actively engaged in combat in a combat zone, such as a dungeon or in a fight in the open world.

 

-They are adventurers.  It does not appear that non-adventuring types, mundane or mystical, are all able to teleport.  This might be for various reasons.  Maybe adventurers are the only ones who routinely travel between cities, thus the only ones who routinely attune to multiple aetherytes.  Maybe it's too expensive for the average citizen.  Whatever the reason, it appears that only the adventurers are universally possessed of the ability.

 

-They aren't taking much with them.  You can't teleport more than you can carry with you.  So carts of goods still have to travel.

 

That would say to me that teleportation is easily disrupted in combat by even unintelligent critters (it's a delicate process), is expensive, is difficult to get attuned, and isn't useful for most transportation needs.  Therefore, it's only really plausible as a means of travel for adventurers looking to globetrot.

 

We aren't possessed of the abilities of Ascians and the like to simply vanish into thin air.

 

So it should be pretty easy to construct stories and scenarios to stop teleportation.  If someone tries to teleport out of a situation, it should be almost comically easy to stop someone from doing it or not accomplishing objectives when they do.

 

However, to try to strike it from the record seems not only implausible, but takes away the core of being an adventurer.  There's a big glowing crystal in many towns and Alphinaud seems to make pretty clear that they're seen as boons (he says the Scions are probably the only reason that Vesper Bay has no Aetheryte and means that as a bad thing).  So it's not just there, it's part of the fabric of Eorzean infrastructure.

 

Pretending it doesn't exist isn't a lore stretch, it's a lore break.  However, you may have many, many reasons your character doesn't teleport personally, if you'd like to avoid it.  You could be too poor to reliably use it (your character has better uses of his money).  You could have a religious objection (weirder things happen).  You could feel that teleportation makes you skip the places you can do good and/or make money (which is true).  You could simply not be able to do it for some bizarre reason (you're allergic or aether-intolerant).

 

But in response to the OP, I wouldn't strike it from the canon.  Not only does it exist, but it exists in so obvious a form that it can't be taken as a mere game convenience.

[Coatleque]

I think the lore itself strikes a good balance between the (in game) reality of aetherite travel vs conventional means. For my part, Coatleque will only resort to using an aetherite in emergencies or if it absolutely makes sense for a specific scene. No explanation for long-travel is really needed more than "I don't have the energy to use it right now".

[111]

I think the lore itself strikes a good balance between the (in game) reality of aetherite travel vs conventional means.  For my part, Coatleque will only resort to using an aetherite in emergencies or if it absolutely makes sense for a specific scene.  No explanation for long-travel is really needed more than "I don't have the energy to use it right now".

Also it's expensive.

 

To teleport from one city to another is several hundred Gil. That's a lot of money for most characters. Plus you can't take much with you, like baggage, clothes and the like. If you have a mount you'd have to ship it separately. Not to mention the fact it gives most people who us it the equivalent of super jetlag. Also you have to have been there before to attune to it.

 

The combination of cost+limited capacity+jetlag, means that it makes sense for most trips to be conventional. It's like real life in a city. You could take a taxi everywhere you want to go, but for most we take the tradeoff of public transportation.

[111]

Also, I should point out, though this is nitpicking, that technically speaking airship flights are rare. Unlike in FFXI where an adventurer could just buy the pass (at an insane cost, though, unless you entered in the good graces of the Archduke), in FFXIV you can get the airship pass only by becoming an ambassador of your starting city through several exemplary deeds that get the city leader's attention. It's to be considered a rare prize, and this implies that passes are difficult to come by.

 

The MSQ explains that due to Garleans' proximity and their cannons, airship flights are used scarcely and only for very extreme situations, as there is risk that the Castrums will shot them down at any time if spotted.

 

So, while it IS nitpicking (because we've got chocobos and ferries too), I think it is fair to assume that Teleport travel is at least more frequently used than airships.

 

I believe this has changed slightly. That stuff happened before operation Archon. 

 

Everything since then has shown airships becoming more and more common, because Cid has the Ironworks punching them out. (And Free Companies are building their own)

 

There is even a bit in the MSQ about buying Ceruleum fuel futures, because the demand is going to be huge.

[Ryanti]

I tend to think of the teleportation issue as something that I've been trying to wrestle with for a long time. One side of me understands that it is lore that exists in the game and therefore I cannot ignore its application. Another side of me is -very- hesitant to use it because of how easily it can be taken advantage of by people. I've seen RP'ers that have breakfast in Ul'Dah, go shopping in Limsa, attend a meeting in Ishgard, and be back in Ul'dah by lunch hour, and that just does not sit well with me if you aren't a complete and utterly deticated magi.

 

In a world building sense, having everyone be able to teleport willy nilly would destroy the sense of adventure and discovery. I'm not sure how many feel this way, but I believe that if you have a pseudo-medieval/kind of not modern but sort of maybe enviroment to work with, any kind of transportation that would be faster than a car or a speedboat would have a huge oppertunity cost, so that it would definately either not be mainstream or something for early adapters. Because after all, this isn't the Third era.

 

I've never roleplayed Ryanti teleporting yet. But if I ever do, it would only be under dire or extreme circumstances. There will be a large oppertunity cost. Ryanti will probably vomit. Ryanti will probably be sick for the entire day. Ryanti's immune system might take a hit, or maybe I will give him hangover symptoms. Basically something that will prevent him from teleporting 50 times a day without extensive experience, practice, and training in the art.

 

 

That's just my cup of tea.

[Erik Mynhier]

A sort of middle ground we reached in RWing is the "Aether Bracelets". This allows all access to aether travel while providing a bit of a limit. I will explain...

 

To allow for long drawn out missions/rp while still being able to come back for events or simply for boredom we have "Aether Bracelets". Tech retro-engineered from allagan/imperial tech by Flame/Maelstrom/Twin science. (As stated a sort of logical next step to the 1.0 ic GC travel aether)

 

The bracelets are not all powerful port devices, we limit the things to 2 charges, 1 to return you to your last point before recharging and one to bring you home. So you are out on a mission and wanna come back. You port to the house, charge it, (2 charges can only charge at our hq or an alliance base like Bluefog) then when you're done you port back to the last place you ported from (back to your rp) with one charge to return home and start it over again.

[FreelanceWizard]

I think the lore itself strikes a good balance between the (in game) reality of aetherite travel vs conventional means.

 

This is pretty much where I'm at. Between the Fernehalwes post and the lore in the MSQ, it's clear that teleportation is just one of those things that adventurers and other aetherically powerful beings (and thus rare in the grand scheme of things, if not among PCs) get for their personal use. Conventional means of travel are still quite important for a variety of reasons.

 

Someone likened it to air travel, but I'll go a step further. The spell Teleport is like chartered business jet travel. Few people use it, it's costly to operate, and it's not the right solution for everything, but it's the right tool for the job when you absolutely have to get from point A to point B as fast as you can.

 

This being Final Fantasy and adventurers being a rare subset of people, I personally have no problem with them teleporting around. Teleporting in no way eliminates travel by foot or chocobo for them, too, since you can only teleport to aetherytes safely (as explained in the MSQ) and those aren't out in the field, in ruins, or in any place you'd need to go as a professional adventurer.

[D'aito Kuji]

tl;dr

 

 

I don't teleport and delete the ability from my head canon

 

Wordy words

 

I do not teleport and I generally do not acknowledge that as a possibility for others (in my own head canon).  The exception is the "masked murderer" (based on Lahabrea but not Lahabrea) that D'aito has been spending a lot of her time trying to catch for bounty.  She knew she had him cornered one time.  But once she got to where he should be, both he and his scent had vanished.  She didn't know what to make of that and presumed her nose was mistaken about his direction or she had been tricked in some way.

 

When I'm actually playing the game IC or writing IC things on my characters blog, I try to think of the adventure taking place in real time.  This involves a LOT of travel time. I've mentioned this on the blog that being an adventurer is less about adventure and more about being comfortable while traveling.  I imagine the adventurer spends 80% of their waking lives in transit.  The rest of the time being love making, bar fights, battles, and hunting.

 

Most storytellers skip that actual traveling and get back to the action fairly quickly for obvious reasons.  If I can, I will guestimate the distances in Eorzea and try to determine how long it would take to walk, ride, float, or fly to the destination.  In some cases, from Southern Thanalan to the North Shroud, it could/should take a couple of days at maximum speeds (airship).  I do this because it's some kind of messed up fun for me and also because I tend to be absent from the game for long periods of time because of real life.

[Sounsyy]

As has been said many times throughout the thread, to eliminate aether travel entirely from canon is lore-shattering. They exist in canon and are responsible for the growth and birth of many of our existing civilizations.

 

That said, not every character needs to have access to aetheryte travel. In fact, there are plenty of solid reasons and justifications for not doing so. Many given within the lore surrounding the aetherytes themselves. My own character, for instance, does not have the fortitude for aetheryte travel. If ultimately necessary and someone else teleports her, she will do so and proceed to wretch all over the place. However, she much prefers conventional means of transportation. Chocobo porters, personal mounts, walking, or ferries.

 

 

Per 1.0 lore, airship travel was incredibly rare and costly venture. Mainly because more and more airships were being shot down by Garleans and airship travel to the north was prevented by the Dragonsong War. (Dragons were attacking civilian airships in the Coerthas region.) In addition, until more recent models of airship became mass-produced by Highwind Skyways, airships were predominantly used for cargo or military use only.

 

Airships are miracles of the Eorzean skyscape—flying vessels born from the ingenuity and ambition behind the Garlean Empire's most advanced technologies. The airships of the realm's free nations most commonly achieve flight by either one of two means—large balloons of hide and cloth filled with gases less dense than the surrounding air, or wings of magitek making, made to beat by powerful ceruleum-burning engines. Despite whatever technological simliarities they may share, however, the realm's vessels are easily distinguishable on sight from the enormous and sinister juggernauts of Garlemald—armored monstrosities designed for the sole purpose of destruction.

 

By pioneering the sky routes between the realm's major cities and establishing regular flights along them, Highwind Skyways, an institution founded by the exorbitantly wealthy aristocrat and adventurer Tatanora, is now slowly but surely making commercial flight an ordinary aspect of everyday life in Eorzea. Even so, only a few airships are permitted to take flight at any given time, for the Garlean Empire is always watching, ready to strike at the first sight of an enemy vessel.

 

It must be nigh on fifty years ago now that I began my apprenticeship with Tatanora, a famous adventurer and businessman. I still recall the day he conceived his revolutionary enterprise: he proposed the idea of building passenger balloons that shared the principle─if not the purpose─of Ixali dirigibles. His company was the very first air travel service in the realm, and marked the birth of Highwind Skyways. Of course, it was not until around thirty years later, when Cid Garlond brought airship technology to Eorzea, that flights between cities became a regular occurrence.

 

Those were the days, though... If I close my eyes I can still see the workshop─can still hear our excited optimism as Tatanora and I worked tirelessly on the construction of that first balloon... Ahem. Pray excuse an old man his reminiscing. What were we speaking of? Ah yes, “lathes.” I believe the lathe Master Tataramu refers to was the one we used in the old Fallgourd workshop. ...But I'm afraid the place was shut down and dismantled for lumber after Tatabaru assumed management of the company. It was the end of an era, after all.

 

“Spread your wings and soar”... That is the Skyways slogan. When I first heard Tatanora utter that phrase' date=' I knew at that moment what my life's work would be.[/quote']

 

By pioneering the sky routes between the realm's major cities and establishing regular flights along them, Highwind Skyways, an institution founded by the exorbitantly wealthy aristocrat and adventurer Tatanora, is now slowly but surely making commercial flight an ordinary aspect of everyday life in Eorzea.

 

"For my dear friend' date=' Dezul Qualan. On these wings I pledge our everlasting bond. -Tatanora"[/i']

 

“Tatanora” is my grandsire. He is the man who founded Highwind Skyways, forty-six years ago. And I'm fairly certain we've all heard that second name before... ...Then it was true. I speak of an old rumor. 'Twas said that Grandfather's company was built on his “appropriation” of beastman aeronautics─that all the balloons he flew were naught more than base imitations of Ixali-made vessels. 'Tis a rumor that was officially denied. And any mention has been thoroughly expunged from written records on the assertion that even unfounded claims of stolen beastman technology would unduly harm Highwind Skyways' reputation. I had thought it merely the rumblings of rivals, sick with envy at Grandfather's success.

 

What is it you wish to do' date=' boy? If you want to tinker with airships, the company has them in abundance. I'll have Colson arrange for one of those new Garlond Ironworks models to be docked in a spare hangar...[/quote']

 

'Twas a shaky start' date=' but the Dezul Qualan and I both returned unharmed! And we reached our target altitude of five thousand yalms─that's higher than any Eorzean airship has ever flown! A new aeronautic record! ...Unofficial, though it may be.[/quote']

 

South Shroud Landing

Constructed by Highwind Skyways to serve as a landing for cargo airships, this location quickly abandoned when the imperial presence in the area became too large to ignore. Now the site is used as a makeshift market where bandits and poachers peddle their ill-gotten wares far from the eyes of the law.

 

'Tis the “Witch's Shroud”... Godsdammit' date=' why now!? The sudden difference in aetherial density above the crown of the trees can produce turbulent air currents─a rare phenomenon peculiar to the Black Shroud and the bane of even the most seasoned airship pilot![/quote']

 

Goes without saying the bloody desert ain't got the resources of the other nations. But the merchants here got minds sharp as swords. And Ul'dahns are nothing if not perseverant. Still' date=' this place is a pale shadow of what it once was. Merchants and travelers used to come from all over Hydaelyn till the Garleans blocked the trade routes.[/quote']

 

An Ul'dahn airship was shot down by a Garlean battle cruiser to the southwest of here. We've bolstered the watch here at Camp Black Brush.

 

Despite the effort put into meticulously scheduling scores of flights throughout the realm' date=' the sad truth is that each and every airship will more than likely both arrive and depart late.[/quote']

 

Are you aware of the airship landing to the northwest' date=' betwixt the rivers Coerthas and Swiftrun? It is a favorite target of the dragons who fly out of Dravania which use the landing, but to little avail. As a result, fewer and fewer pilots are willing to risk the trip, preferring only to stop short in Millers' Glade before continuing west on to Gridania.[/quote']

 

Shortly after departing Millers' Glade in the Coerthas eastern lowlands' date=' an airship carrying supplies to Gridania was attacked by a pair of dragons. Knowing that they did not have the firepower to dispatch the creatures, the pilot chose instead to outrun them. To do so, however, he gave the order to jettison several items in his cargo hold in order to lighten the airship, thus increasing its speed. Cheers of joy filled the vessel when it arrived safely in the Black Shroud, but when the pilot realized which cargo was abandoned, those cheers soon turned to shouts of anger, for the crates that were lost were owned by one of the wealthiest noble families in Ishgard. The Horn and Hand has determined this a most opportune chance to improve our faction's standing in the mountain city-state, and so we seek volunteers to travel to the wreckage and assist in recovering the crates before bandits come across the items and claim them for themselves.[/quote']

 

The Holy See has petitioned the Ironworks for assistance with this creation of theirs' date=' the Protector. Apparently, they just can't seem to get her flying. Anyway, I came to Camp Cloudtop to cast an eye over the ship, only to learn that you had arrived some few days before with an Ishgardian lordling in tow.[/quote']

 

Camp Cloudtop

An outpost manned by the Rose Knights of House Haillenarte, who stand watch against Dravanian incursions from atop the floating islets in the sky. Boasts the Protector, a mighty airship that would avail the Ishgardians greatly in their battle against the Horde were it ever repaired to full strength.

 

The Skysteel Manufactory. This workshop is primarily devoted to the construction of dragon-slaying weapons. The Ishgardians have granted us the use of a small corner of their workshop─all part of the agreement. I think you'll see we've made the most of the space... We call it a “manacutter”!

 

Impressive little thing, isn't she? My talent for ship design has plainly rubbed off on them. They've adapted the principles of corrupted crystal technology, and constructed a mechanism which converts aether from its surroundings into elemental wind. Said wind is then harnessed by the specially engineered sails, providing the craft with propulsion and lift. All in all, a most elegant solution...

...I'm actually a little upset that I didn't think of it myself.

 

Supervised (in spirit) by the ever-absent Cid' date=' Biggs and Wedge (with a little bending over by Biggs) put their heads together to create this flight-ready miniature airship, powered by the realm's first corrupted crystal engine.[/quote']

 

Despite it being the first' date=' and most ambitious undertaking by Highwind Skyways founder Tatanora, the Invincible actually never took flight, its ten-year construction period plagued by accidents, material shortages, sabotage, and outright incompetence.[/quote']

 

Taking inspiration from the half-remembered dream of his grandfather Tatanora' date=' Tatamaru used his encyclopedic knowledge to design a small-scale version of a rotary-winged airship. Its name derives from an airship that appears in an obscure novel of unknown origins.[/quote']

 

The original Enterprise was designed and built while Garlond family prodigy Cid was still working as a military engineer for the Garlean Empire. The aft crane' date=' intended for the loading of imperial weaponry, was added to the airship in the days before Cid's defection.[/quote']

 

In short, Eorzean airship technology is less than 50 years old and was invented by "borrowing" Ixali engineering. Because airships are so costly to make and construction time is so long, very few models exist and most are used for cargo/military operations. Only recently (within the last 10-15 years) have they been used for civilian transportation.

 

 

 

Q: We’re told that the Sharlayans helped rebuild the aetherytes in A Realm Reborn, but a long time ago, like 2010, we were told that those aetherytes were there when people arrived and perhaps that’s why they chose to settle. Who made those?

 

MCKF: Nobody knows! Even the Sharlayans don’t know. Maybe it was the Allag, maybe it was people before that. It could have been a lot of people. They were there, they were useful, and after people come back to rebuild after Calamities, they rebuilt around these useful things. Sharlayan was able to adapt it, but they have no idea who created it. In the Dravanian hinterlands, there’s actually an aetheryte factory. I don’t think it’s named on the map, but go look for it.

 

What is an aetheryte?

Aetherytes are colossal structures comprised of crystallized aether. So that they may serve as waypoints for aetherial travel, these crystals have been amplified through the use of advanced Sharlayan technology.

 

Why doesn't everyone use aetherytes?

To traverse the Lifestream safely with Teleport and Return requires a great deal of spiritual energy, known as anima. While many individuals, such as adventurers, possess the fortitude to endure such travel, some individuals do not. What’s more, even if one has the ability to use aetherytes, the frequency with which one can do so varies. In essence, for some, the recast time for these spells can be far longer than for an adventurer.

 

As a result, only a fraction of the populace can utilize aetherial travel habitually, which is why chocobos, airships, and other forms of transportation still play a major role in Eorzea.

 

Why does it cost gil to use aetherytes?

Many aetheryte camps were destroyed during the Calamity, which necessitated their reconstruction. However, this came at great expense, and so teleportation fees must be collected to repay the as yet unpaid debt.

 

However, the gil doesn’t just magically disappear from your purse! Though it's not shown in the game, it's collected by the guards keeping watch of the aetherytes.

 

On a side note, guards posted by each city-state's aetheryte can tell you about aetherytes and teleportation magic. If you're interested, see what they have to say!

 

So, I did as Camate suggested and visited the guards around the city-states aetherytes. Here's what Nicia in Gridania had to say:

 

 

What is aetherial travel?

Before one might understand aetherial travel' date=' one must first understand the substance that makes it possible - aether. What is aether you ask? Why, only the source of all being! Though it cannot be seen, it is everywhere... or should I say, it is [i']everything. Aether flows around us and within us, and without it we would cease to exist.

 

When we die, it is believed that the shock separates our spirits from our corporeal forms. Our bodies are then broken down and are absorbed back into the aetherial river, while the soul is left to journey to its final destination in the afterlife. Some call this "returning to the lifestream." However, our ancestors discovered ways in which, through meditation and focus of spiritual energies, one could reduce her body to aether without losing the grip on her soul, in turn allowing for travel upon the Lifestream. These methods have been given the names Return and Teleport.

 

 

What is an Aetheryte?

As you travel through Eorzea' date=' you will oft come across large floating deposits of a crystalline substance known as aetheryte. The one before us here is a fine example. It is said that aetheryte is the solid manifestation of the planet's lifeblood, aether, and that [b']by touching it, the aether which makes up our bodies resonates with that contained in the crystal.[/b] This is called "attunement."

 

Normally, when one's body is reduced to aether, it will naturally gravitate to the location with which it resonates the greatest - or one's "home point." This is why upon losing consciusness in battle, many wake to find themselves back at an aetheryte. In other words, aetheryte act as lodestones, assuring that the body, in its aetherial form, is not lost to the pull of the greater flow. And, because signatures of past attunements are maintained within our bodies, it is possible (with some spiritual training, of course) to ignore the pull back to the strongest resonation, and travel to another beacon. Many refer to this as "Teleportation."

 

What is even more amazing is that when teleporting, we can "carry" those with whom we have created a bond, such as an adventuring party - assuming they have previously attuned with the desination aetheryte.

 

 

What is the difference between Return and Teleport?

As Return merely involves allowing the body to be drawn back to the strongest aetherial beacon - one's home point - it is fairly easy to execute and requires very little spiritual exertion. Usually, a few moments of rest is all that is needed before it is safe to attempt another jump. Teleportation, on the other hand, comes with a greater price. A great deal of spiritual energy known as "anima" is required to fight the natural flow of the Lifestream and guide one's body and soul to a comparatively weak aetherial beacon. If one's body lacks sufficient anima, teleporting to a location may prove impossible. Luckily for most of us, anima is restored quickly and should not prohibit regular travel.

 

Then why, you ask, must we pay gil when using Telport? Well, after the Calamity, many of the existing aetheryte camps were destroyed. To relocate and rebuild them required a large sum of money, much of which was lent by certain men of business from Ul'dah. The gil you pay when either leaving from or arriving at an aetheryte goes to paying off that debt.

 

 

Just to be thorough, I went and talked to Sundhimal in Limsa Lominsa and Nenebaru in Ul'dah about Aetherytes as well. They say almost verbatim the same thing, with only slight variation of wording on the flavor text in between the important bits.

 

*Note: Heavensward Spoiler Text removed from quote for safe viewing!

The very first that man did conceive to traverse great distances' date=' and the ancient precursor to all methods of travel that utilize the Lifestream: [i']Flow[/i].

 

The spell entaileth the reduction of the corporeal form into its constituent aether, that the caster might enter the Lifestream and ride its currents thereby. Unlike the teleportation magicks of modern times, it requireth not a lengthy incantation.

 

Know that the scholars of Sharlayan forbade the use of this spell - and with good reason. The caster hath but limited control over his course. For every mage who came safe unto his destination, another would be set adrift in the Lifestream, never to emerge.

 

Also, text from a 1.0 NPC... hehe found ol' Yuyuhase...

Don't mind ol' Yuyuhase. He ain't all there' date=' if you read me. Anyway, the city asks that you take care not to use the aetheryte too freely. They have been known to break, after all. And these days, there are none left capable of restoring them.[/quote']

 

 

Also, from the 1.0 archives:

Aetheryte is the name given to massive shards of crystallized aetheric mist, precisely cut and fused to arcane machinery. While it is not known when or by whom these devices were originally constructed, their teleportational qualities have become the backbone of everyday transportation throughout the realm, with most managed and operated by individual city-states. Their existence in Eorzea seems to be what drew scores of people to settle in the hostile land in the first place.

 

Though the exact mechanism behind teleportation via aetheryte is still largely a mystery, one theory states that when a sentient being approaches one of the portals, the aether that makes up its body resonates with the aether of the crystals, which in turn results in a complete breakdown of the being's mass, allowing it to temporarily return to the invisible aetheric streams that course throughout the planet.

 

The being's soul, which cannot be broken down, then guides the particles to a predetermined destination, and upon arrival, the corresponding aetheryte receptacle reconfigures the mist back into its original form. This whole process takes only a matter of moments, allowing for nearly instant transportation to faraway destinations.

 

However, being broken down to the aetheric level can take its toll on one's body, and rest is often required after several consecutive jumps, especially as the distance becomes greater. As a precaution, most city-states strongly discourage over-teleporting, as it can lead to irreversible damage...

 

 

 

 

Hope this helps! ^^

[Berrod Armstrong]

*saves to his lore reference document*

 

Sounsyy does it again!

[Lilia Lia]

being an adventurer is less about adventure and more about being comfortable while traveling.  I imagine the adventurer spends 80% of their waking lives in transit.  The rest of the time being love making, bar fights, battles, and hunting.

 

This is more or less what I was getting at.  Striking the "teleportation" thing out just creates more story possibilities. 

 

But, other people are giving reasons that I can still treat teleportation as a non-option if I see that as appropriate for my character, so that's going to be good enough for me.  "Adventurers can teleport all day because they are adventurers" still seems distasteful to me but I can just not bother with it.  I just wanted to find a way around "I should teleport" being the obvious solution to every possible plot element involving my character's location being inconvenient.

 

Having to get from point A to point B is a big part of adventure RP to me.  Trivializing travel with "we can teleport whenever we want" just ruins a lot of it, even though it's in the official lore.  It's tempting to try and mitigate story elements that we think are limiting our own stories.  So in that sense wanting to remove teleportation from my RP is just an attempt for me to improve my story rather than me wanting to trample on other people's interpretation of the lore.

 

Sure, I live in a world where people use "glamours" to completely change their race, and it takes less time to teleport to another city than it does to walk down the street.  When this starts making my story less interesting I start wondering whether there are ways I can exclude these lore elements.  If I can't teleport, and if it hardly comes up when others can, that's good enough.  Making it a non-option is the important part though, because I want it at least be a bit of a big deal if I'm in Wineport and need to get to Mor Dhona.

 

To give another example of this, I think being able to use linkshells pretty much as cell phones is sort of lame. It's in the lore, but I still avoid using it just because it doesn't suit the setting to me.

[Artigan]

Snip!

 

Hope this helps! ^^

 

Date my avatar?

[Sounsyy]

Making it a non-option is the important part though, because I want it at least be a bit of a big deal if I'm in Wineport and need to get to Mor Dhona.

 

Perhaps your character has an irrational fear of being spliced which prevents her from using the Teleporter. Like people who refuse to fly because of plane crashes. Could turn your aversion to teleporting into an interesting character quirk should the topic of teleporting ever get brought up in your RP. ^^

 

However, being broken down to the aetheric level can take its toll on one's body, and rest is often required after several consecutive jumps, especially as the distance becomes greater. As a precaution, most city-states strongly discourage over-teleporting, as it can lead to irreversible damage...

[Lydia Lightfoot]

Newb to the setting here! Most other MMOs have the same thing this one does - a "conventional travel" option and an instant one. Usually, the instant one is really there for QOL for players, even if it's acknowledged in the setting's canon (which it usually is). 

 

A good rule of thumb is that regardless of things like currency costs, a theorized metaphysical toll, etc, there's one logic which trumps all - if the instant travel option was perfect in the setting (be that perfection a matter of cost, reliability, or whatever), nobody would use the conventional travel option, and so we wouldn't see that option exist. Of course every MMO also requires you to first use conventional travel to reach a new "waypoint" in the instant travel system before you can access that waypoint, but that's generally an OOC restriction in most settings.

 

You can see this in the real world. Relative to riding a horse, taking a car is quicker (not exactly instant, but... compared to a horse, over a long distance, it's pretty instant). Within a pretty short span of time, people stopped riding horses around and started using cars. It really only took just long enough for the infrastructure to catch up to the technology.

 

It's the same in most of the Star Trek shows. The only time they use a shuttle is if something is preventing them from using the transporter. It's also why JJ Abrams introducing a cross-galactic transporter technology makes starships obsolete, but I digress!

 

Since chocobokeeps exist in force throughout the land, and the ownership of a chocobo is considered a valued thing to work for in the setting (as opposed to "ugh why do you want to buy one of those birds just use the crystals gosh"), the logic of the setting says that the aetheryte system is probably just not a thing most people are able to use on a consistent basis. That's how I see it, anyway.

 

Doesn't mean some people might not be able to use it all the time, though, if that's how they want their character to be. Just don't let them tell you that you're weird for riding your chocobo from Thanalan to Gridania.

[13uddy]

For my character, I've worked out that he personally prefers not to teleport.  Leaving the cost issue aside, he actually has a physical reaction to it somewhat akin to motion sickness.  The severity of the reaction differs depending on various factors (such as distance), but it isn't anything too extreme.  Mostly he will just get nauseated and disoriented, but he may also get a headache or some other form of discomfort.  He will teleport if it is essential, but would prefer to avoid the discomfort it causes him and use alternative methods of travel.

 

OOCly, though, I have no issue using teleport and return.  I just thought it would be an interesting "flaw" to play with.

[Flickering Ember]

I RP that Ember is not talented with teleport magics. She never uses teleports IC UNLESS...

 

....Someone else teleports her. She will hold onto someone else's hand and allow them to use teleport magic.

 

Most of the time though, all her traveling is by conventional means.

[O'hteco]

West is always in and out of the city states - Ic, she spends a ridiculous amount of downtime waiting for airships to arrive to the station. If she ever takes a teleport, it is due to some extravagant expense or someone bought it for them. I just play it up that it costs great a deal and air bus is far cheaper.

[Maril]

Two of my three active rp characters can use aetherytes for traveling, but both characters aren't as good as one another with it. My miqo'te alt is able to go farther, but less often, where as Nailah does well with shorter distances and she will recover from them faster. I follow the lore that the lore team has given on it. However in most cases, I prefer not using them at all, in favor of getting the walk/talk RP in as well - which can be really fun and enriching, and it contributes to a sense of the world feeling bigger to me. Most of the times where I end up using the aetherytes icly, it's because it's getting late/time is running out oocly. 

 

I generally do not take well to people who just teleport in front of my eyes in RP, which is also why I make a point out of making sure people who are IC around me can't see me when I do an OOC teleport after ended RP.

[Jana]

I misclicked and voted for "Doesn't teleport at all" instead of the middle option cuz I'm a doof, but Jana is an adventurer and can teleport. She chooses not to because she is a miser though, and paying gil for an airship followed by a chocobo ride is cheaper in anything that isn't an emergency.

[Kaiz]

Sin's lore team quote in post 5 pretty much covers all instances in my opinion. 'Adventurer' is a fairly loose term in game, and any PC can consider themselves to fall on either the animus-heavy side or not, and thus have ease or difficulty with teleporting around. 

 

So far I haven't had a reason to teleport ICly, but I do wonder if Kaiz would be familiar with the idea or not. If Othard becomes a playable area at some point, they'll almost certainly have aetheryte there since the teleportation is the main way of fast-travel in FF14, so I'm tempted to just assume Othard would have aetheryte crystals too.

[Hali]

Corelyn cannot use the Aethernet at all, being Garlean. She has a teleporter device that can take her back to her workshop, but that's all it can do, and has a very, very long recharge time.

 

Dail'a can use it with a bit of frequency, but only uses it when alone. He also dislikes how it feels to do so, so while he can... he more often doesn't.