Jonric: What means of travel will be available to move around the gameworld? How quick and easy will it be for players to meet up with their friends?

Robin Dews: In terms of transport, despite the size of the area, we won't be using trivial spell casting to solve gameplay problems. This would be completely counter to the nature of magic in the Warhammer world, and so there won't be instant teleports to speed you from A to B.

The landscape will support a network of coaching inns and barge docks, and players will be able, for a fee, to hitch rides. These will move at a significantly faster rate than walking pace (rather like the horses in Dark Age of Camelot), but will not be player-controlled. In addition, players with the requisite money and skills will be able to buy and maintain persistent horses that fit into one of their 'pet' slots. These will enable these characters to move at a significantly faster rate across the landscape and also transport additional goods.

Under the 'make it real' design philosophy, we want to make it a real event in a player character's narrative when they move from one location to the next and give them the feeling that they are really in a world!

One of the areas where we do intend to allow a great deal of abstraction is in the communication channels. It is essential in games of this type that the players can quickly and easily locate companions either for short episodic adventure sessions or within longer-term groupings like Guilds, no matter where they are physically located on the map. The design and code team are therefore paying a great deal of attention to this part of the game. Physically getting together might be a different matter though. :)