One dev wanted portals with no restrictions, another one wanted no portals at all. This was the compromise and it's not likely to change. Go ahead and world hop or mod it.

Yeah, the point is that the game wants you to explore via boat.
There are bypasses:
World switching or
Use mods.

I tried playing all three ways. Almost an entire playthrough of vanilla Valheim (up to and partially including the Plains) without a storage world. Then I started occasionally using a storage world. And did that to a greater or lesser degree for a whole playthrough of vanilla Valheim up to and including a couple of weeks of Mistlands. Then, the mist made me install my first mod (to increase wisp light de-fog range). A couple of weeks later, I had unrestricted portals. Gotta say it was an improvement and really a lot less of a "cheat" than the world swapping...less immersion-breaking as well.

Yeah, explore with the boat is fine, its relaxing. Mods and world hop is fine too (but need smthng from u, if u need/want to skip). U need to spend some time to bypass. Doesn’t see anything good to player exp in that, just a trouble. Get curios.
I just can’t understand the reason/idea/whatever stand beside the portal restrictions.

Originally posted by #:

Yeah, explore with the boat is fine, its relaxing. Mods and world hop is fine too (but need smthng from u, if u need/want to skip). U need to spend some time to bypass. Doesn’t see anything good to player exp in that, just a trouble. Get curios.
I just can’t understand the reason/idea/whatever stand beside the portal restrictions.

The reason is to make you have to actually take things back on a boat instead of only using a boat to get somewhere the first time. It's to create a need for carts and cart-paths. It makes the game take longer and adds in many more sea voyages and some land trips (that can become adventures, or misadventures). I get why they wanted it. I just don't want to do it anymore.

As much as I chirp about the game being grindy, inconvenient, and time wasting for the sake of being "brutal" and "hardcore", I do enjoy the rule of no metal through portals. It makes voyages have a purpose and there's nothing quite like the thrill of a whole cargo hold full of metal sailing back to your base.

I do think that metal bars should weigh half as much as ore though since the impurities have been smelted away. This would make it set up a small camp near your ores and smelt while mining.

It should just be an option. If they had unlimited portals in base game I would either not use them or mod them out.

Some folks like to travel everywhere. One of the first mods I always add in Bethesda titles is some form of no fast travel, for example. I want to see the world, not teleport past it.

Originally posted by #:

BTW played ~250 hours.

Doesn't matter. Fan boys will introduce themselves as "experienced players" and tell you to cheat. LOL this community.