One to Fifty, One Zone - Long OP

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Originally Posted by Mimmo

make the regions fuller too. Each region in XI had something special in it like a beastmen camp or a crag or a cave etc

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THIS!

There is absolutely no point in adding few waterfalls and new rock shapes to vary the landscape. Put SOMETHING INTERESTING in there. Plains and deserts are not interesting they are not FF-imagination quality and definitely don't compel you to explore them.

I actually thought the "random" placement of mobs within areas was kinda interesting. I mean the OP says you don't have to explore the different regions and can stay in one if you wish to go from 1-50 but I think you are neglecting the fact that different mobs drop different materials to make different pieces of gear which is a reason as to why you would go elsewhere.

It wouldn't really make sense to condense and cut down zones, it would almost be like taking out the zones of RoTZ and CoP because we don't use them, as of now. They prolly would've been better off creating the zones and closing off the ones that served no purpose until later on but instead they decided to allow access to nearly every area in each region which in the end seemed like a bad idea. I think if anything what the devs should attempt to do is just list each region and each zone in the region and give us an idea of which places are developed and which ones are being saved for later. I think if nothing had to be changed with the game we would find those other zones having more life to them but since a lot had to be changed with the game those areas still lost a sense of life.

As to the last post made about how deserts and plains aren't interesting, I think the true issue is that each region is just lacking life however with the addition of settlements and the added addition next VU I think that will slowly change. If I'm not mistaken they plan on adding beastmen forts which would be interesting however as for crags I don't think they would serve in this lore. As for caves there are "caves" but for the most part they are just one level zones or feel like that, there are no caves like ordelle's but there is mistbeard cove, Copperbell Mines, Nanawa Mines, Mun-Tuy Cellars, The TamTara Deepcroft, and Cassiopeia Hollow. We do have caves of sorts but they aren't fully developed. What we need to remember is that the devs originally in charge of this game setup a near bare bones game in which they had a majority of quest and missions done for the classes only but introduced all the zones at once so players could explore it if they wanted to. However is some cases some of the other regions are used and previously the crafters did have to go to long winded areas to turn in items which has slightly changed,

However as an example right now for my Botanist 36 quest,I have to go to the flower bed south of Crimsons Bark, however I doubt I"ll make it since I do recall they added some higher level mobs there but I"ll find out soon. Anyways instead of saying things need to be revamped and changed completely I think it's better to say that areas just need to be given more life to them and developed further. For the caverns they can add more depth to them and make them as interesting as their XI counterparts by adding secret passages and such. It's not impossible to do since they did just alter LL to add stairs to make the fisherman and Marauder guild easier to get to lol. So yea, instead of condensing the world around us it's much more logical just to add more life to those areas, based on the latest mob placements it's almost as if they are saying all these region are developed for 1-99 in mind, rather then having to go through the pain of reorganizing mobs later on they already have it developed with that in mind.

Just give them time, we were already given more quest, the dungeon concept and soon enough the materia concept. Based on their record I would say they are doing a good job focusing on the major major issues with the game and will be able to throw more life into the game once the core of it is done. You can't really begin to make the whole world interesting if you are still making sure the core is well defined or else you'll neglect the most important thing about the game and that's the ability to fight and slay foes. Once that major adjustment has been deemed complete they'll have a lot more resources at hand to bring more life to the game. However they have been doing that to since they introduced settlements. In the end I think it's just safe to say wait for the next expansion of settlements and if I"m not mistaken the introduction of beastmen forts which will make things a lot more interesting if they have the same amount of depth as the yagudo castle.

Copy/Paste from my translations

From new game magazine that came out on 7/30 in Japan.

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Gonna post some more in this post with info within that site I linked earlier.

*** Just remember this is from the site, I don't have the magazine so no confirmation if all this stuff posted on their is actual stuff from magazine.

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改良マップのひな型もできてるらしいぞ
神ゲーはじまったな
Draft for the remodeled map is made
God game gonna start (Kami-ge Godly/Good/Awesome game)

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一マップに2つ3つのランドマークを置くらしいぜ
One map will have 2-3 land marks

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──マップを大規模改修中とのことですが、具体的にはどのような変更が行われるのでしょうか？
You said the map is having major remodeling changes, basically what kind of changes will be made?

吉田　すでに仕様は決まり、サンプルもできあがっているので、
後はレベルデザインを煮詰め、その後物量をこなすという状態です。
コンセプトとしては一度足を踏み入れると忘れられない印象が残るように、
それぞれのエリアやゾーンにテーマを3つくらい入れていこうかと。目安ですが。
YoshiP: Specifications are already decided and sample is already made. Next need to get into level design and (...dunno how to translate this part basically making adjustments to them.)
From concept, it's type of area once you step in you wont forget. In each area/zone want to put around 3 themes

岩尾　ランドマークとして機能するようになります。
Iwao: It will act as a landmark

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Rest is already mentioned in the other translation. Might see more info posted later on, we'll see.

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Originally Posted by Achilles

I think most of those areas you mentioning came in later expansions, I could be wrong but pre-zilart there wasn't much to explore. I'm assuming you started the game a year or so later and got those fond memories.

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Kazham access came with the Rise of the Zilart expansion, which included Temple of Uggalepih and Ifrit's Cauldron. I'm not sure if The Sanctuary of Zi'tah was an original region or not, but all the others listed in the first 6 posts of this thread are areas of basic FFXI. Yes, there are issues with the 'one large map' not having enough variation, but there are still underground campsite areas (Mun-Tuy Cellars, Cassiopeia Hollow, Nanawa Mines) which give a new flavor to the area, and there are new kinds of mobs that you find as you increase your campsite ranks, which don't exist at lower camps (antelope, anglerfish, crabs, wolves, mites, slugs, gnats, etc). The biggest problem is that the low rank mobs still exist at those higher camps, and there are sometimes no identifiable boundaries between areas (I've wandered into an auto-abort of a leve because I walked out of the leve's 'boundaries' while looking at a new area as I was near leve targets, so don't go wandering across any bridges in gridania while doing a leve, unless your target is marked on the other side of it). I've even seen r39 aggressive mobs next to an r2 non-aggressive mob near Ul'dah, where the only separation was a hill slope

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Originally Posted by Reinheart

Copy/Paste from my translations

From new game magazine that came out on 7/30 in Japan.

===============
Gonna post some more in this post with info within that site I linked earlier.

*** Just remember this is from the site, I don't have the magazine so no confirmation if all this stuff posted on their is actual stuff from magazine.

Rest is already mentioned in the other translation. Might see more info posted later on, we'll see.

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Hehe I was just about to post something saying that they already came up with drafts for the zones and how they want them to be memorable with 2-3 themes (land marks) per zone as per a interview but you beat me to it ;)

Good job and thanks a lot for your work on translating those bits of info.

I completely agree

A major redesign of the world(1/3 the size of each zone, 3 times the zones, more variety) and an auction house(sorry retainers just aren't working) are the 2 biggest changes the game needs by far. Imo, of course.

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Draft for the remodeled map is made

One map will have 2-3 land marks


吉田　すでに仕様は決まり、サンプルもできあがっているので、
後はレベルデザインを煮詰め、その後物量をこなすという状態です。
コンセプトとしては一度足を踏み入れると忘れられない印象が残るように、
それぞれのエリアやゾーンにテーマを3つくらい入れていこうかと。目安ですが。
YoshiP: ...

From concept, it's type of area once you step in you wont forget. In each area/zone want to put around 3 themes

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Hi Reinheart,

Thanks for the translation. :)

Yah this is great news! I'm really happy to hear that they still "get it" and are busy progressing forward with this.

Our own distinct versions of unique sub-areas / thematic areas within each region sounds so good! :) I can't wait to see our versions of unique areas like a "Rolanberry Fields" or "Qufim Island" or "Sky" etc.

*bump* and /cheer to Yoshi P and dev team progress.

/pose

Ok so I replied to a member complaining about the level designs basically I said they are bland.

Let's face it Square Enix you "failed" to create a Final Fantasy esque world that is alive and vibrant
with ROLE PlAYING qualities....other MMO's that I've played(I won't mention any because I just know
you guys will find faults with any games I put on here) have succeeded where you have failed.

Part of the emersion of Role Playing games is the environments. The environment is suppose to whisk you
away to a Fantasy land that is unique and never the same. In Final Fantasy you can run for ever and be
in the same looking area it is very BORING.

Even after a year and countless threads about this issue Square Enix has failed to address this serious issue.
It has kept me from logging on, yes just the bland environments has kept me from logging on. The gameplay
also keeps me from playing and PAYING for this game (when it comes to that).

It is years after games like Final Fantasy 7,8,9,10,11,12 you would think that Square Enix would get this right
after SO much experience of cranking out great RPG's, but somewhere along the way Square Enix has lost it's
way and some of it's magic.

Square you have become too comfortable with your Video Game business model and FFXIV has cost you many
fans. By now you should be talking about a new expansion that replaces some of the terrain and adds new "towns"
not cities because you already have some of those. We need Towns with NPC's that talk to you and interact with you
with taverns, stables, Inns, etc etc etc.....

Look Square....check out these AAA titles coming out....

Guild Wars 2 =will destroy you
SWTOR=will compete with you
Tera=will compete with you
Secret World=will compete with you

Just be glad that GUild Wars 2 is F2P because if it was
Monthly pay if would Completely Annihilate you.

How long do you plan to have this F2P version of FFXIV out Square?? I for one am sick and
tired of being your Beta tester. I will not pay a monthly fee for this game until you have added
unique land structure, more towns, more dungeons (are there any?), and engaging areas.

And that's just the battle environments, I don't even want to get into characters and gameplay
because that's also severely broken.

/rant off