I understand the hesitation the developers have about allowing full fast travel between all Whispers. The level design in No Rest for the Wicked is honestly fantastic—it reminds me a lot of Dark Souls 1 with how interconnected everything is, full of clever shortcuts and rewarding exploration.
That said, I think fast travel doesn’t necessarily have to take away from that experience. One example that comes to mind is Red Dead Redemption 2. That game has a massive, beautiful world filled with dynamic events, hunting, gathering, and moments of serenity in nature. Despite having a fast travel system, most players still enjoy the journey—because the world is alive, unpredictable, and full of meaningful distractions.
I think Wicked already makes exploration enjoyable just through the resource gathering. Picking herbs, looting creatures, finding ingredients for crafting—it’s already satisfying. But without variety, that loop can become repetitive over time. The key is to expand the world’s unpredictability and reward curiosity.
Here are some ideas for random events and world interactions that could make exploration feel more alive and worth doing even with fast travel available:
- Faction skirmishes: Guards clashing with bandits, cultists, or rebels in contested areas. You can choose to intervene or sneak past.
- Mobile patrols or outposts: Temporary faction camps on main routes that affect enemy spawns or offer minor services/trades.
- Prisoner transports: Small groups escorting prisoners across the map. You could free or rob them.
- Civilians under attack: Random encounters where villagers are being harassed by enemies.
- Tracking challenges: You find animal trails or signs that lead to hidden dens or hunts.
- Traveling merchants: Appear in the wilds with rare or time-limited stock.
- Rare spawns: Some herbs, stones, or fish only appear in certain weather, moon phases, or times of day.
- Battlefields or ruins: Stumble upon old battle sites with corpses, gear, journals, and hidden treasure.
- Symbolic warnings: Painted symbols, cursed totems, or blood trails suggesting danger or hidden secrets.
- Wandering NPCs: NPCs that are like Players but they act like rival scavengers —they mine ores, chop trees, or loot corpses, and if you don’t get there fast enough, they might take the resources before you do.
As a compromise for fast travel, maybe you could split Whispers into two types:
- Major Whispers: placed at the entrances or exits of major zones, and allow full fast travel between them
- Minor Whispers: more common, but limited—maybe only allow return to Sacrament or your home from them
But overall, I think the real question isn’t “Should we allow full fast travel?”—it’s “How do we make traveling interesting and rewarding?” If exploration itself feels rich and exciting, players won’t even want to fast travel all the time.