Let's not kid ourselves. Road roleplay does not exist and cannot really exist on this map. Despite the goal of the tile/region system being to concentrate roleplay, it has failed. Players were able to expand far too quickly and the map itself is just way too big.
Don't get me wrong, I like big maps and I don't think big maps are bad. But nations needs to be concentrated in the center of a map rather than thrown to every extreme corner possible. Expand outwards and inwards instead of expanding away from your nation/every other nation. And as I said previously, I am the BIGGEST proponent of road roleplay. I love it. I would do anything to breathe some life into it. But at this point, I don't think anything can save it besides a different map or a massive editing of our current map.
The point IS to make it feel more realistic and immersive. For boats, I think it works fine. You're in the middle of the ocean, you likely wouldn't have any reference point for movement. Carts will be tricky but I think we can make it work. I don't think it's fair to say that players WON'T roleplay on them but I might be too over-enthusiastic in thinking that players will. But the option is there.
And, as I said above, I know the map isn't designed super well. On paper, it sounds great. If we had an active 400, 500 playerbase then I think we'd be fine. But we're stretching out 100, 200 players super thin and that just doesn't work.
Shops are next up on the chopping block. Two moderators have been brainstorming and working out a system for a few weeks now and I want to push that through soon after. Likely soon to follow THAT will be regions.
That's part of the hope. They'll likely be pretty plain at the start, however, as I'm most interested in getting the systems in place then making them look pretty.
You don't have to wait on the boat the entire time. Once you learn the schedule (and it'll be simple; every 10 minutes, maybe every 5 or 3 minutes, something like that) you can just roleplay, shop, bum around, etc. till the boats about to set sail. Then you just sprint down to the docks and hop on.
Or you can just roleplay on board, sit afk, etc. Options. Also I'm not going to push through the pirate thing unless it's clear a MASSIVE MAJORITY is in favor of it.
They'll still be faster than walking. Since every fast travel has to be hand-made, part of the work involved will be walking to the destination and seeing how long it takes. Carts should be twice, or three times as fast compared to walking.
It can be placed wherever. That's the point of a 2nd round of feedback. Just let me know and we can work out something together. Same goes for everyone; if the spot isn't ideal, we can work something out. Just don't expect it to be plopped down right next to your city entrance.
I want to de-emphasize the importance of spawn. Spawn is where you... well, re-spawn at. You're there for but a moment until you decide on where your roleplay takes you for the day. Making it more important, even if it's just for travelling purposes, adds a fourth island that scatters our population around. Can't make any promises about horses but it's known and acknowledged by our coders (and I've got a tiny idea I'll be testing later.)
Understandable, but rules also exist for a reason. Players abusing fast travels during PVP can and will be punished.