[Vega001]

Originally Posted by Cubical

Having a great deal of content as well as having a great deal of pointless content isn't the same as having less pointless content and having the same amount of content. If anything, the time you spend making that pointless content you could be spending on making more content to entertain the players which in reality would mean a smaller overworld might actually have more content(playable content?) than a server that has spent more time on a bigger overworld. Not to mention a higher morale among the staff.

I don't think I completely understand what you're trying to say here. You seem to be directly associating large overworlds with pointless content. The fact remains that the more levels there are in an overworld the more places you can exclusively put content. Sure you could fit the same amount of content into a smaller overworld, but then you might have to put content for multiple, different things in the same place, which might not bode well for gameplay. I can't imagine any content that is designed to be pointless. I believe whenever someone develops something to add to a server, it is because he or she genuinely believes players to find it interesting and entertaining. It is up to each and every player to decide for themselves whether content is or is not pointless.

Originally Posted by Cubical

That's what a lot of developers don't get, just because the developer knows where everything is doesn't mean it's not going to take a new player weeks to figure out where/how to get to lets say Hotaru on Kingdoms. As for putting signs, it's also much harder to navigate players long distances on bigger overworlds because they have much more of a chance of taking a wrong turn or getting turned around. People who have experience playing Graal tend to retain information about where things are at because that is how it has always been. A developer just assumes we can get to where ever we are trying to go without an abundance of help. After a while of doing this players get used to thinking how the Developers think and just go the logical way. This also doesn't account for how much easier it would be to navigate players to new additions on a smaller overworld.

A developer would not need signs to navigate around an overworld because they would (should) know where everything is. Ergo, the purpose of putting signs in an overworld would be to help players find their way around. Any decent developer would know to put signs at forks and turns in paths, so players shouldn't get lost at those places. Furthermore, it is my belief that any player that seriously wants to learn how to navigate a new overworld would try to remember how they arrived at where they are and would consult their map (that most servers have). On a server like Zodiac, where new players are constantly traveling to a dungeon, dying, and traveling there again, I don't think remembering how you got somewhere is as problematic an issue as you claim it to be.

Originally Posted by Cubical

Yes but half the gaming experience is actually experiencing it with other players. You may be able to chat with them from where ever you want but that just isn't the same as talking directly to the players avatar. Items to warp players may help them get back to places a bit quicker but it doesn't change the fact that all the development work that was put into levels between POINT A and POINT B have went to a total waste and players will only see them once or twice.

To my knowledge, most servers (and most other games) that enable warping to locations require a player to have visited those places before. The purpose of warping is to enable players to travel to a location of importance quickly. While you are right that, under normal circumstances, the levels between points A and B would be wasted because of the warping, I believe there is a significant fact you are overlooking. A lot of content is not located directly next to (or even in the same level as) a warp location. Instead, players often have to travel through other, nearby levels to get to the content. This would mean at least some of the levels that you mentioned would be wasted, would actually not be wasted. Moreover, many levels on an overworld like Unholy Nation's are host to playerhouses. The players that own these houses most likely would not consider the levels that contain them to be wasted.

Originally Posted by Cubical

However I am aware this is personal preference I would more or less like to stick to the discussion about the size of overworlds.

Your original post contained questions about the over-detailing of levels, but if you want the discussion to focus on overworld size then I'll refrain from discussing the leveling issue further. I have more to say on the issue, so if you would like to hear it, feel free to send me a PM via the message board.