Skyrim is a beautiful and big game, just like Oblivion. And Fallout. And New Vegas. Which brings us back to the never ending question we face with every new bethesda game: how can we avoid using fast travel and reward players for it?

Everyone knows what the default rewards of not using fast travel: more radiant quests, more XP, more loot etc. but we still fast travel a lot. How can we minimize it even more? Instead of simply disabling it, could we somehow make it even more rewarding and fun to fast travel?

Refilling loot containers on roadsides? A player may find our loot container once, but taking the same path again a few days later, they will find new loot in there. (maybe providing that they've moved x distance away from it, to avoid farming)

On the first run I avoided fast travel at all cost. It was way more fun doing it myself. Bethesda has still bowed vs some users by offering carriage rides, but I like them in the sense they kinda work like silt striders.

Mod wise you could introduce a series of checkpoints for players and several routes to follow whenever they take a travel to a certain city. Having at least 2 routes to each nearby city. The regular road and a shortcut, would be nice.

Same here, they did a lot to make sure it's interesting to travel by foot.

And it is, but gets a bit repetitive. We need the acrobatics and athletics skill back?

You could certainly introduce travelling perks. Come up with a number that measures the distance travelled while in the skyrim worldspace and reward athletics perks for reaching certain milestones.


That isn't even too difficult, in theory.


Another idea could be to integrate 'places of power' into certain parts of the Skyrim worldspace. These should be reasonably hard to spot locations, hinted by a certain clues found as you travel skyrims roads and are unmarked on the map. Meditating at these places of power will offer new permanent perks. Much like the divine altars or birthstones.

That wouldn't be such a bad idea. Monasteries even? Like High Hrothgar, only unmarked?

Maybe we could make actual carriages going around the country? Allowing people to hitch a ride as far as they'd like without any fast travelling on it.

Should be doable - the pathgrids and animations are all there. You'd have to look at the intro sequence to see how that was all done.

The only issue is, that doesn't necessarily offer the solution you're hoping for. Once the player is on board a carriage he will lose control. It would be the same effect as fast travel, except slow - no extra exploration. On the plus side, I suppose the player can disembark wherever he choses, so he can get off the carriage and walk the extra distance to whatever cave he's after.

That's true, it would just be slow travel.. and a lot slower than walking anyway.