The little things in the game [Spoilers]

[Teakwood]

All those CoP quests that practically nobody has ever done. I noticed the Odin-shaped hole in the storyline of the game before ToAU was even released, due to the CoP quests and their foreshadowing of the Moblin mission in Aht Urhgan; I predicted to my friends that the next expansion was going to be about Odin and Alexander and how Odin was at the centre of every conflict in the plot. I was -half- right: ToAU was all about Odin, and served as setup to the narrative payoffs in WotG, but the whole time (with the exception of the huge plot twist in WotG/Abyssea) I was going, 'HaHAH, called it!', which is a feeling I love to have.

FFXI's storyline is way more intricate than it's given credit for, if you're not just spamming Enter through cutscenes; I finally finished San d'Oria and, years later, got another vital piece of information I missed that fits into the puzzle.

In any event, my point is it's not just the scenery that supports close reading and attention to detail, although FFXI's zone design and general art direction are probably still ten years later the best on the MMO market in my opinion.

[Eeek]

The latter WoTG: Windurst missions tie in really well with the story from the RNG AF quests. This is the example that popped into my head, but I know there are countless moments where minor and major storylines intersect in FFXI. That degree of attention to detail really ties the world together and gives Vana'diel its richness and depth. And even though the graphics are definitely aged, the world still looks and feels 'right' after nearly 10 years.

[Shadotter]

Wow, I wish I knew how some of those events in the first scenery video are triggered.

[Thonuwan]

Just watching for a lot of them. Some are time based, like the fountain or the wyvern over the lake.

[Krisan]

One thing I noticed that I think is pretty easily overlooked.. Momiji in Lower Jeuno appears to be Maat's wife. (She's wearing a Maat's Cap and everything.) I probably passed by her a million times and never noticed the hat she was wearing until one day I got a close look at her.. Her dialogue doesn't explicitly mention Maat, but it's implied. (She mentions her husband is "full of life" and she can hardly keep up with him.)

[Urthdigger]

The original poster is my brother, and pointed out something to me. The avatar gates in Pso'xja have pictures of their avatar on them. We actually managed to find Bahamut's gate just now, in the I-7 tower. Carbuncle's is well known, as you use it for CoP, and Phoenix is slightly less well known as it's for a side-quest... think I'll go find Diabolos and Fenrir now

Edit: Locations of which gate
Bahamut: I-7
Carbuncle: J-8
Fenrir: H-10
Phoenix: G-9

There doesn't appear to be one for Diabolos. The gate you have to pass to enter the shrouded maw may be considered like it, but it doesn't target as Avatar Gate, nor does it have images of Diabolos.

[Shadotter]

Hmm, looks like there is no gate for Diabolos, though I guess you could consider the shrouded maw his gate, but it doesn't have a carving.

On another note, each of the markers for the marker quest also have different carvings on them relating to the story told on them.

[Akujima]

Hmm, looks like there is no gate for Diabolos, though I guess you could consider the shrouded maw his gate, but it doesn't have a carving.

I'm guessing because Diabolos is one of those summons that isn't celebrated too much like the others? Maybe, but it's just a thought, heh.

...In any event, my point is it's not just the scenery that supports close reading and attention to detail, although FFXI's zone design and general art direction are probably still ten years later the best on the MMO market in my opinion.

So true. Every area is so unique, and the fact that they are so unique makes Vana'diel feel bigger than what it actually is on paper. Don't get me wrong, Vanadiel is still huge though @_@...

[Crawlerbasher]

If you look under the star tree in Windurst Wall you notice that it sparkles with a green tint.

[Shadotter]

Felt like adding some new stuff.

The evil weapons mobs mostly (only?) spawn around the crystal line or areas relating to it. So far as I know, no reason for this is mentioned.

When doing Tenzen's path in one of the CoP missions, it is mentioned that Fenrir is dead, however, at the end of the windurst storyline, you end up resurecting him, so apparently this places CoP before the rank 10 missions in the timeline.

CoP also seems to infer that the Moblins were originally actually searching for Alexander, due to talk of them digging looking for the iron giant.

The Caturae NMs are all named after pieces in a game very similar to chess, with many of the titles you get relating to the translated names of the pieces.

Finally I'm planning in the near future on going on a photography spree taking pictures of notable differences between the [s] zones [a] zones and the zones they are based on. Besides zone lines and quest specific areas, any suggestions?