Teleport System

[Rentahamster]

it takes almost 30 minutes to run from uldah to camp clory for the uraeus.

It takes longer than that. 10 minutes from Uldah to Drybone. 10 Minutes from Drybone to Tranquil. 20 minutes from Tranquil to Emerald Moss, and about another 10 from Emerald Moss to Glory.

[Vendeen]

Just to toss my 2 cents in here, I personally, after the implementation of Airships and Chocobo's (assuming they will *fingers crossed*) would think I would use less Anima anyways because I could just grab a chocobo from town or the camp I am at and just race to wherever I want to, to get around. I am a casual player and I feel that the teleport system is nice to get things done quickly, however I do agree also with one posters opinion on how this game would be "farmville" like. Just to get on, get your stuff done and get off takes much of the fun away for me personally, but that is my loss being a casual player. I do however on weekends like to spend hours playing.

I guess to sum it up, I like the teleport system as it is, and can only see it improving after more modes of transportation are introduced. Less Anima will be consumed IMO

[Mega]

Lets not argue for the sake of "casual" or "hardcore". I am a casual player myself and here I am stating teleporting in FFXIV is horrible. Do i really need to explain how I'm casual? Nah. Look, we're all riding the same boat together and how this game changes effects everyone equally. Thats what makes MMOs fun. We all start from the same place and our actions dictate where we go.

I want a game where I can get bigger and go farther based on the time I've put in. If thats not your thing, then why are you playing MMORPGs?

[Rentahamster]

You took Mega's arguement about a short airship ride and started spouting about how you can do a leve in that same amount of time. You're not refuting his position, you're making comparisons that just don't matter. Not classic straw man, but close enough.

It's not a straw man, nor is it even "close enough".

Mega made a statement:

If you can only play for an hour, whats wrong with an 8 minute airship ride?

He specifically asked, "what's wrong with an 8 minute airship ride". As in, "Please, I would like some feedback as to any possible negative consequences to an 8 minute airship ride".

What I did was simple. It's called, "I answered his question".

I gave specific examples why 8 minutes is not a trivial amount of time to a certain segment of players with specific goals in mind.

This is what people do in a reasonable debate.

Some MMORPGs DO cater to casual players. Play LotRO, WoW, or Rift. Not every game needs to, however. Last time I checked, FFXI (moderated) and EvE(hardcore) were doing just fine.

Last time I checked FF14 (the game we are talking about) is doing horribly. Telling players to play another game is not the path to a successful game. The goal is to tell players to play OUR game.

The problem is that even if a single gameplay mechanic doesn't really affect people who play more than casually, they add up and eventually end up watering down the experience for everyone.

That wasn't the point I was trying to make. Let me quote myself again.

If a gameplay mechanic can be implemented that helps out casuals, yet does nothing to impede the progress or enjoyment of the more hardcore players, there is no reason why it should not be implemented.

In other words, If I can implement a gameplay mechanic that increases the enjoyment and playability for casuals that does not in any way affect the difficulty or enjoyment of this game for hardcore players, why shouldn't I do it? If there is no risk of "watering down" the experience, that means it's a good idea. I am of the opinion that there are many solutions available to us that can keep the basic elements of the game friendly to casuals while still giving more hardcore players a tough challenge should they choose to follow that path.

Making this game overly solo friendly is KILLING the adventure aspect, the teamplay aspect and most of all, the level of difficulty / time put into content. These NM's we have are a damned joke. MMO's aren't FOR casual players. You want casual buy a 360 and play FFXIII.

I sympathize with your sentiment (I am a hardcore player myself), but if we want SquareEnix to have a successful product, we can't just restrict the game to just a narrow population of gamers.

Like I said earlier, the ideal solution would be to implement a solution that gives net benefits to both the casual and hardcore niches. This is not a zero-sum situation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-sum) where anything that benefits casual players is going to always negatively effect hardcore players equally.

[Atomsk]

Making this game overly solo friendly is KILLING the adventure aspect, the teamplay aspect and most of all, the level of difficulty / time put into content. These NM's we have are a damned joke. MMO's aren't FOR casual players. You want casual buy a 360 and play FFXIII.

I love the "hardcore" players of FF14. Rush to 50 for what? Oh yea, the 3 NMs. There has been absolutely no reason for a "hardcore" player to exist in this game, aside from elitism. Like you said, the NMs are a joke, and I think the player who levels to 50 solo is more hardcore than the "hardcore" players who are grouping. 100-200 SP per kill solo compared to a 4-5 person link for 900 SP per kill? That takes some damned dedication. And what solo player(aside from the 50 thaum/conjurers using the system to their advantage) is killing the NMs? Sorry, but I find it hard to believe that people being able to do some things, like level solo, are somehow managing to ruin this game when the harder content still requires a group to do.

[Nephera]

Lets not argue for the sake of "casual" or "hardcore". I am a casual player myself and here I am stating teleporting in FFXIV is horrible. Do i really need to explain how I'm casual?

While Casual and Hardcore are archetypes we use to describe play styles there's really degrees to which you can be in either camp. TLDR your casual is not equal to someone else's casual. And regardless of how hardcore someone is they could also only have an hour a week to play.

Nah. Look, we're all riding the same boat together and how this game changes effects everyone equally.

Yes, that is why we need compromise, teleporting is a feature that is completely opt in. People didnt boycott oblivion because it had fast travel, even though some people complained endlessly that it was in the game and went so far as to mod it out when it was a feature that was completely ignorable, at the end of the day these people looked like a group only interested in telling other players how they should play their game.

Yes anima should go up in cost when the other methods of travel come out, no it should absolutely not be removed entirely. If i dont have people waiting on me I will probably take a chocobo or an airship to save anima unless i only have an hour.

I want a game where I can get bigger and go farther based on the time I've put in. If thats not your thing, then why are you playing MMORPGs?

well i can think of a few reasons that people who are not you(which are most people, I'm no expert on who is who but i'm fairly sure thats right) might have:

In regards to the travel dillema exclusively:
A) your friends got you into the mmo and you want to play with them but you dont have nearly as much time
B)you want to get something done other than walking done in your limited time available
C) you have a linkshell full of people you like and you want to be able to participate in things that linkshells do without them waiting on you (though this is possibly a repetition of C, you're more likely to be kicked from a linkshell [if you ls leader is a jerk] if you miss a lot of events.Rather than get kicked from your circle of friends who probably have a little more patience with you ).
D) Someone may have friends who themselves dont have much time to waste.

In regards to the time=might mentality in general:
E) Some people like a game that rewards based on effort as much as time. (Take raid reward systems for example: why only award one item for 20 people who ALL put in their effort? Assuming nobody was shirking their duties during the raid doesnt everyone deserve some reward? This is why a lot of games implement token systems now so you dont get completely shafted for putting in a bunch of effort for nothing.)
F) you are always going to be a step ahead of people that have less time than you always so why stomp all over them( XI has all the people its going to get because it pushes casuals into the sand)

g) you can implement systems that cater to both crowds and many games do this

[BigDawg]

Most of the issues you described could easily be resolved by planning with your friends and our ls members on the next day's events. I'm not quite sure what type of linkshell, guild, static party you have been in the past, but it takes little to no time to identify the next day's plans and log in that area.

That being said the rate of generation right now is ridiculous. I can not remember the last time I was under 80 Anima and I play everyday. What needs to happen is the starting cities removed from the anima teleport list, airships added, anima generation lowered significantly, and finally chocobo's added.

[BelgianRofl]

Lets not argue for the sake of "casual" or "hardcore". I am a casual player myself and here I am stating teleporting in FFXIV is horrible. Do i really need to explain how I'm casual? Nah. Look, we're all riding the same boat together and how this game changes effects everyone equally. Thats what makes MMOs fun. We all start from the same place and our actions dictate where we go.

I want a game where I can get bigger and go farther based on the time I've put in. If thats not your thing, then why are you playing MMORPGs?

Are you listening, Square-Enix?

[Frebaut]

After the 8 min ride you still need to walk to the Crystal to start your leve or turn in your craft leve.

[BigDawg]

After the 8 min ride you still need to walk to the Crystal to start your leve or turn in your craft leve.

and? What do you expect to just snap your fingers a moogle appears and you hand in your quests?