The last few expansions the guild portals haven't been as clear as to where they take you. I think there are a few which could do with some kind of description added to make it easier to know where they will take you. The majority of the older ones don't need any descriptions as it is all the name, as you can see from the full list below. I've added a note next to those who I feel need a description added and highlighted them in red. Amber is possibly in need of a description as it could mean a couple of zones. Green the guild message itself needs to be made clearer. Arcstone Spirit Sapphire Brilliant Frigid Gemstone - Eastern Wastes (TOV) - Needs zone adding to description along with something to say which version of the zone Broken Timestone Burning Lamp - Ports to Stratos - zone needs adding to description Chipped Shard of Slaughter Chunk of Argathian Steel Cloudy Stone of Veeshan - Ports to Plane of Sky Crystallized Dream of the Feerrott Dragonscale Faycite Drowned Katta Castrum Powerstone Etched Marble of Barindu Forest Emerald of Faydark - Ports to Greater Faydar - could do with being clearer Fragment of the Combine Spire - Ports to Lceanium - zone needs adding to description Frozen Shard of Iceclad Fuligan Soulstone of Innoruuk - Ports to Plane of Hate - zone needs adding to description Goru'kar Mesa Sandstone Grassy Pebble of The Commonlands Karana Plains Pebble - Ports to North Karana - could do with being clearer Katta Castrum Powerstone Lavastorm Magma Miniature Worker's Sledge Mallet - Ports to Overthere (ROS) - needs zone adding to description along with something to indicate which version of the zone Moss Agate of Stonebrunt Opal of Toxxulia Othmir Clamshell - Ports to Cobalt Scar (COV) - zone needs adding to description along with something to indicate which version of the zone - along with something added to the zone message in the guild hall to indicate which verson of the zone you are taking the portal to. Shadowed Sand of the Twilight Sea Shattered Bone of the Dreadlands Splinter from a Guild Standard Stone of the Shard's Fall Stormstone of the West - Ports to Ethernere - Zone needs adding to description Undershore Coral Unrefined Brellium Ore Velium Shard of Cobalt Scar - needs something added to indicate which version of the zone - along with something added to the zone message in the guild hall to indicate which verson of the zone you are taking the portal to. *Edit* - Correction for Brilliant Fridged Gem Stone - goes to EW not CC.
Or they could just do away with the cutesy names and just rename all the stones to their zone name: (insertzonenamehere) Portal Stone
Either way, there needs to be something to tell the difference between, the 2 stones to Cobalt Scar and the guild hall message for the same. We have had returning players who have set the portal to the wrong one, not knowing what the COV one was, with the guild hall message being the same it isn't noticable until you arrive in the wrong version of the zone.
I believe I made a feedback request a long time ago that there should be an additional column with the destination on these. With the loss of the Daybreak Community Issue Tracker and the lack of any dedicated place for feedback, who knows where it has gone. While in-game is preferred, I have made a table here: https://everquest.fanra.info/wiki/Guild_halls#Teleportation_Assistant
There is a "lore tab" ... Why not use that to describe where the stone takes you. The tab is there for a reason... why not use it?
I've asked them many times over the years to stop using the same zone names. There is zero reason that zones like Cobalt Scar (Claws of Veeshan) could not have been named Veeshan's Scar or something similar. Looking at the lore from the old Cobalt Scar https://everquest.allakhazam.com/db/zones.html?zstrat=111 Veeshan's Scar would have worked just fine for the CoV zone, especially with the expansion called Claws of Veeshan.. Every other zone name reused could have also been changed to something else.
It doesn't help once the portal is set, but when you are looking at the stones on the vendor, if you sort them by price (ascending) they will be in expansion order. That's the only way I can ever be sure of what I'm buying.
That is how I do things too, but in a few years time will you still remember which order they came in? For those returning to the game it isn't easy to tell them which stone they need if your not at the teleporter.
I find the portal stones both cutesy and charming. However, the guild portal and accompanying stones are unwieldy and cumbersome. I propose we do away with the stones, target the portal vendor, and say the name of the zone we wish to port to which then whisks the player to their desired destination.
You say, "Hail, Zeflmin Werlikanin" You say, "Cobalt Scar, you know, the CoV one" LOADING, PLEASE WAIT You say, "Dammit, Zeflmin. I wanted the OTHER Cobalt Scar." Might work, though.
On a related note, would love to see a clicky to port to wherever the guild portal is set and also port to the guild banner. And how about if clicking on a planted guild banner would return you to your guild hall ?
It works with the lobby/wayfarer-magus, because the list of zones is relatively short. A list of GGH-supported destinations would be long a require some scrolling up/down, before you find your desired destination. And I like not having to spell out the zone name, if I want to go there quickly. A description on the lore tab of them item is a good idea.
I troll my guildmates all the time by setting the portal to SoV cobalt scar instead of the CoV version. it never gets old. Even though there is a statue from the collector's edition right next to the portal, completely eliminating the need to use the portal, people still fall for it.
You would make a good wizzy, then you could do the same thing to CS and GD, both TL messages are the same for both expansions......they asked to go to GD and CS just didn't say which one. At least RoF had different zone names.
On the topic of guild hall portals, was there some reason why there wasn't a portal to the Plane of Health for TBM?
So it does, this further proves the point that they need a zone name on them. *Edit* Oh thats new, I could edit my first post!