One to Fifty, One Zone - Long OP

The layout is outstanding, but graphically it cant compare.

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Originally Posted by Zenval

The layout is outstanding, but graphically it cant compare.

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layout is better then 90% of the garbage we have now....and to be fully honest, id much rather take a slight step down in visuals to more out out of the game. Its sad when 1 guy can come up with something better then a team of pros after years of planning.

Honestly...did they even plan most of this stuff, its like they got half way done and slapped the world and game content together in a matter of weeks to meet the deadlines.

If the only highpoint of game is the polygon count, something is wrong :O The games that mark my favorite lists aren't these graphically oustanding titless, but games with atmosphere, depth, an intriguing story. Game developers focus too much on how the games look nowadays, and they end up sacrificing a lot of other things. Most games today have no replay value aside from multiplayer gimmicks. Maybe that's just we as gamers outgrowing the games that defined our youth? But I played Majora's Mask again for the 100th time a few weeks ago and it is still amazing.

It's not like SE can totally trash their engine and start anew, they have to work with the foundation they already have, and its gonna be tough, but it could be what saves this game.

They were stupid for wanting both top of the line graphics and have it a multi-platform game. I mean even this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5be28...eature=related
is awesome compared to what we have. It just seems to have so much more depth and I don't see the copypasta we have now.

They should have either dulled down the graphics, which I would have been ok with, or kept it PC only with high spec requirements(though this would alienate a lot of JP players). It'll be interesting to see how they plan to fix it. I want the game to succeed but damn, give me a sweet world like the ones posted and I'd drop this game in a heartbeat.

Just one more day until the work week.

By then, we'd have been heard or ignored. Either way, the answer will be clear enough. But if I may dare toss a bit of optimism into the pessimism pot to cheer some up, it's also possible that rather than no information coming, or the usual bit, it's also possible we could get a little more than expected. :)

I understand and definitely share everyone's worries about the engine, too. That's definitely beyond their control at this point, no matter how much we ask. Hopefully we'll know for sure, soon, what's going on.


To any late arrivals just now clicking 'last page': (Frequenters can skip!)

This thread calls for a true adventure in Eorzea. And no adventure is without milestones, progression, diverse experiences, danger, awe, and surprise. And an online adventure should always have room to grow, to expand. We should always look forward to where the future will bring us.

But currently in Eorzea, I worry for the future here, as an adventurer. I worry because of our few huge, bloated zones. Zones, which are connected through seams, yet offer bare experiences, and set no milestones. Zones which contain enemies from 1 to 50. From 50 to 99.

There is no room for any new areas to be added to our world. We do not NEED any new areas. We have 5 zones which contain monsters from 1 to 99, or 20's to 99. When our level cap is released, will we ever get a chance to visit new areas? Is there any hope?

And what of new players? What of us, who enjoy reliving our adventures as a different class? Our experience from 1 to 50 should take us to all sorts of diverse, exciting places. We should have not 3 zones to choose from, but paths to choose from. Paths through a real world. Places which serve a purpose in our character's leveling-life.

This thread contains countless ideas and hopes of fellow adventurers. And while some are content with Eorzea, others want to see her flourish to become the best she can possibly be. And while we all have our own opinions and ideas of how to get her there, in the end, we all want the same thing: A world we can love.

Breathing life back into Final Fantasy 14 must start with its very foundation - Eorzea herself.

how is it possible that this game can suck so bad? that new starwars mmo @ e3 looks more well rounded. Cman SE Starwars!! U gonna let em steal the spot light?

Bump for great justice! Nearly fell off the front page. Bad things happen when threads fall off the front page.

Man I had a lot of reading to catch up on today >_< was balls deep in Sony Vegas for the majority of it /sigh

anyways...

Almost page 50! woot. A lot of great responses from the community yet again and it seems our topic is stronger than ever. Hopefully this next week, along with 1.18/Letter XI and some Bayohne bait we can get a response here :D
Keep up the likes and comments and lets make this thread 100 pages by next week. We will be heard!!


ALSO check out http://bluegarter.guildwork.com to find out why I was balls deep in Sony Vegas all day x _ x

Wow, one day off and almost 500 posts ^^
I hope Bayohne can give us something about this anytime soon.

Happy 50th page Sio!

Just got back into ffxi and god that game has changed so much in 2 years.

Shows that the Dev team can change things but it takes time I suppose.

The big thing that hit me straight away was the zones in ffxi. The graphics are obviously old school 2002 fare but the variety and feel of each zone is immense still, especially when you add great music for nostalgia.

Walking back into ronfare was nice, felt like home. That's what this game needs.

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Originally Posted by kurokawa

Walking back into ronfare was nice, felt like home. That's what this game needs.

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<Yes. please> <Can i have it?>

50 pages woot! Bound to get some correspondence! Suggestions and ideas thrown out here have been phenomenal, and I'm glad that we all could create a decent thread without resorting to arguing and trollololololing, like so many that go down here--just a testament to how undivided the community is about this issue!

Thanks again Sio, and everyone for contributing! Our adventures are sure to come!

Thanks, everyone, for bringing us this far!! :D

I hope that come business week, all of our dedication for the last few days will be acknowledged. Crossing my fingers and toes for any possible information. Continued thanks to our French and German posters, and our readers.

Richard, your video was truly inspiring. Thank you for sharing with us here, it's great work!

Also, if anyone else would like to create their own map progression ideas or scenery, I'd be honored to put it up front. :)

Even if they take your advice on board, then there are still a lot of compromises to be made.

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Originally Posted by giftforce

Even if they take your advice on board, then there are still a lot of compromises to be made.

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thanks captain obvious

I agree, beautiful write up OP.
I'm aware of the lack of transportation but I believe anima teleporting is ruining Eorzea.
Instead of waiting for an airship, traveling via foot by chocobo or receiving a surprise teleport from a whm, I just teleport.
It made it feel worthwhile when I arrived when it took some of my time.
This method almost grants the feeling that I've seen and can see everything this game has to offer. Without any work I might add.

Well, I think there's two possible outcomes: We'll either be informed that nothing in our current world is changing, aside from the addition of more camps. Or, that we can expect a true, diverse experience from 1 to 50 in time.

And I believe it's important for us here to know where we'll be in our future, both in higher levels as well as the too-often-forgotten early levels. An answer, either answer, will help us understand their real direction for Eorzea and for this game.

Should a true world be on its way, I look forward to waiting. :) Here's to a crown!

Jobeto, thank you for your thoughts. I understand how you feel.

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Originally Posted by Siobu

Well, I think there's two possible outcomes: We'll either be informed that nothing in our current world is changing, aside from the addition of more camps. Or, that we can expect a true, diverse experience from 1 to 50 in time.

And I believe it's important for us here to know where we'll be in our future, both in higher levels as well as the too-often-forgotten early levels. An answer, either answer, will help us understand their real direction for Eorzea and for this game.

Should a true world be on its way, I look forward to waiting. :) Here's to a crown!

Jobeto, thank you for your thoughts. I understand how you feel.

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Anytime Siobu. No words can describe how elated I felt from reading your concise summarization stating the lack of progression and sense of achievement this game desperately needs.

Some background: I played FFXI since the Japanese PS2 version, on and off til about 2007 (paying for the account all the way through). I was eager to get on FFXIV this past Sept after doing my research, and I've been playing it consistently about twice a week since.

That having been said, I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment in this thread, and would go as far as to say that the success of the game may rely on whether or not this is addressed. I, too, unfortunately miss the feeling of adventure and progression that I had in FFXI (even vanilla). I remember the leveling in Ronfaure, graduating to La Theine, getting through Valkurm, the epic run to Jeuno, working up to the Shadow Lord battle, and finally taking him out. Reading this thread really does make me miss that feeling. [Take an important note: I didn't get nostalgic about any story elements, as I played in Japanese, and although I do have some understanding, most of the story I got second-hand. The real adventure was progressing through the lands, working towards, and defeating, the big boss.]

Improving game mechanics is a great step, don't get me wrong. However, I feel that to really keep players interested, we need a varied world that we should want to see. I'm currently bouncing back and forth between La Noscea, Thanalan, and the Black Shroud, like everyone else, and it's honestly difficult to keep motivated. For me, there is a lack of direction and purpose to the leve grind. I'm just holding onto the hope that I will eventually get that adventurous feeling again.

I wouldn't mind a boat that goes to Norg. I miss Vana'diel.

Mordecai Jiggs | ARC27 LNC22 CON20 | Rabanastre

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Originally Posted by Siobu

Well, I think there's two possible outcomes: We'll either be informed that nothing in our current world is changing, aside from the addition of more camps. Or, that we can expect a true, diverse experience from 1 to 50 in time.

And I believe it's important for us here to know where we'll be in our future, both in higher levels as well as the too-often-forgotten early levels. An answer, either answer, will help us understand their real direction for Eorzea and for this game.

Should a true world be on its way, I look forward to waiting. :) Here's to a crown!

Jobeto, thank you for your thoughts. I understand how you feel.

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Brace for tomorrows "we are adding camps and re-arranging mobs" as the best they can do to make the world feel more filled out. Maybe im just a debbie downer, but i can't help and think they dont want to do that much work to get this up to snuff for us to start paying. I also have a feeling that SE's higher ups have given them like a fall deadline until they need to start charging....cause this games been quite an expensive screw up.

Makes me miss Vanadiel too.... Im still holding that tiny candle of hope that they were hard at work on FFXI-2 XD
(they did say they tried to do everything a lot different from it for 14 on purpose....so maybe?)

also i logged in last night (and promptly right back out) but is it just me or are the characters movements feeling really heavy and slidey?

This was one of the main issues I stopped playing the game. I really enjoyed the experiences I had in FFXI and felt FFXIV didnt deliver on that. I played JP release of FFXI as well, so I know the hardship it had when it first came out. I hope the dev's see this and are reactive to this issue, it might bring back a lot of players. I'm glad to see the dev's are fixing some of the things they said they would like the battle system and Professions ect. Who knows they seem to be reacting to what the players want, maybe this isn't such a far stretch.

They have to know that without huge changes they will not get a re-interest in the game they way they want. I hope SE gets there heads out of there *&*@ and stat being the company they used to be when XI came out. Meaning Square-Soft. And yes XI was being worked on by SS before they became SE and even release in JP under the SS name. Though it released over here in the west under SE.

Yea they really need to fork out the changes. I'm sure everyone remembers Yoshida saying they have multiple teams working on different aspects of the game. My hope is that after these battle changes are done their 'world/zone' team have a fix ready to go(even if it's just one zone). Otherwise, I can really see FFXIV dying off when GW2 comes out. Not to mention if they actually started charging before ps3 release everyone would go to GW2 or any other MMO at that point. I think the biggie is they just need to put out some HUGE change(like grid being totally redone) and do it well. If the players can see they can do what it takes to make a good game they'll stick around.

Waiting 1.5 months for a patch is not going to cut it.

This should be the next priority right after the battle system. I hate leveling 1-50 in Thanalan. SE CHANGE THIS PLEASE!!!

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Originally Posted by Xeno

This should be the next priority right after the battle system. I hate leveling 1-50 in Thanalan. SE CHANGE THIS PLEASE!!!

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Then try leveling in different areas, no one is forcing you to stay in Thanalan. :P

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Originally Posted by Sonic_the_Hedgehog

Then try leveling in different areas, no one is forcing you to stay in Thanalan. :P

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while no one "forces" you to stay anywhere in an MMO, SE has not done a good enough job of optimizing any of the areas for leveling. The best SP you can get is from spamming Levinshower, Dunesfolk and Ranine Reveries in Thanalan. There is no incentive to level anywhere else because the SP/hr just does not compare. Due to this the majority of the population in each server stays in Thanalan. Most of the time you're hard pressed to find a pick up group for leves in any other area which technically "forces" you, even if indirectly, to level in Thanalan.

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Originally Posted by Richard

while no one "forces" you to stay anywhere in an MMO, SE has not done a good enough job of optimizing any of the areas for leveling. The best SP you can get is from spamming Levinshower, Dunesfolk and Ranine Reveries in Thanalan. There is no incentive to level anywhere else because the SP/hr just does not compare. Due to this the majority of the population in each server stays in Thanalan. Most of the time you're hard pressed to find a pick up group for leves in any other area which technically "forces" you, even if indirectly, to level in Thanalan.

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That's why I never played looking for the best SP. I've never been in a rush to get to the end because there isn't shit to do once you get there. I go to different areas when I get bored with one area. Anyway I was just teasing the guy notice the :p

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Originally Posted by Richard

while no one "forces" you to stay anywhere in an MMO, SE has not done a good enough job of optimizing any of the areas for leveling. The best SP you can get is from spamming Levinshower, Dunesfolk and Ranine Reveries in Thanalan. There is no incentive to level anywhere else because the SP/hr just does not compare. Due to this the majority of the population in each server stays in Thanalan. Most of the time you're hard pressed to find a pick up group for leves in any other area which technically "forces" you, even if indirectly, to level in Thanalan.

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This, I'm not going to waste my time by getting lower sp/hr just to be in another zone.

I hope we get some info on monday about 1.18 Cuz every time I log in i play less than the previous time I logged in. Se should of just used an existing engine and focused on game play. there lots of engines out there unreal, cryengine, source, Frostbite . and they dont lag in congested area either If fact they have better gfx and run smoother.

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Originally Posted by Carzilla

I hope we get some info on monday about 1.18 Cuz every time I log in i play less than the previous time I logged in. Se should just used an existing engine and focused on game play. there lots of engines out there unreal, cryengine, scource, Frostbite . and they dont lag in congested area either If fact they have better gfx and run smoother.

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I agree they bit off a little more than they could chew with designing a branch new engine from scratch to house XIV in, but what's done is done. Let's hope they progress forward from where they are, use this engine in better ways and fix all the mistakes they made.

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Originally Posted by Sonic_the_Hedgehog

That's why I never played looking for the best SP. I've never been in a rush to get to the end because there isn't shit to do once you get there. I go to different areas when I get bored with one area. Anyway I was just teasing the guy notice the :p

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I'm pretty sure the point in case is that leveling from one to fifty across three regions still doesn't hit home as leveling from 1-50 in about 5 zones in FFXI and to get to those 5 zones you have to run through about 10 zones all with different scenery and music and etc. The point is that the progression in this game is very linear and the maps are too large and little varied.

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Originally Posted by Richard

I agree they bit off a little more than they could chew with designing a branch new engine from scratch to house XIV in, but what's done is done. Let's hope they progress forward from where they are, use this engine in better ways and fix all the mistakes they made.

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I think there's a lot of truthiness in that statement. Designing an engine is a monumental task, not to mention designing the tools you will use to manipulate it. And I think everyone in this thread would agree that even when using an existing engine, creating an MMORPG is, as well, a monumental task. However, for them to have created a very specific engine for their game, from a software developer's perspective, they did so with good intentions.

I certainly would not have been disappointed had they chosen to use an existing engine. Today's engines are built to be extensible and versatile enough to handle any manner of project thrown at it.

That being said, I'm sure if they are capable of creating an engine like this, it cannot be complete rubbish. We'll just have to wait and see how they use it in each coming patch (hopefully to do what this thread is suggesting).

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Originally Posted by CrstyCaptin

Yea they really need to fork out the changes. I'm sure everyone remembers Yoshida saying they have multiple teams working on different aspects of the game. My hope is that after these battle changes are done their 'world/zone' team have a fix ready to go(even if it's just one zone). Otherwise, I can really see FFXIV dying off when GW2 comes out. Not to mention if they actually started charging before ps3 release everyone would go to GW2 or any other MMO at that point. I think the biggie is they just need to put out some HUGE change(like grid being totally redone) and do it well. If the players can see they can do what it takes to make a good game they'll stick around.

Waiting 1.5 months for a patch is not going to cut it.

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Its funny they claim that they have multiple teams working on various parts of the game, but EVERYTHING is waiting on the battle changes. There are some things that should be worked on that have zero impact from battle changes.

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Originally Posted by Richard

I agree they bit off a little more than they could chew with designing a branch new engine from scratch to house XIV in, but what's done is done. Let's hope they progress forward from where they are, use this engine in better ways and fix all the mistakes they made.

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It does seem like a lot of issues are a direct result of the engine and server performance.

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Originally Posted by Sigmakan

It does seem like a lot of issues are a direct result of the engine and server performance.

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true, and i hope they won't ever stop working on this engine to get it to a proper level. Not the game also its engine is still in beta. They HAVE to work hard on that part. If they manage to get this engine faster, later on dx 11, add better lighting etc. etc. it will be a decent engine. But the IF is a very big one :) lets just hope they manage. As far as i know AOC also has its own engine (if im not wrong) and after years of patching and improving they finally have their engine perhaps 80% where they wanted it to be.

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Originally Posted by Mack

I'm pretty sure the point in case is that leveling from one to fifty across three regions still doesn't hit home as leveling from 1-50 in about 5 zones in FFXI and to get to those 5 zones you have to run through about 10 zones all with different scenery and music and etc. The point is that the progression in this game is very linear and the maps are too large and little varied.

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Definitely, Mack.

And if I may offer another point, it's that the higher the level, the further from home we should be taken. And each zone should should not only be challenging, new, and dangerous, but diverse enough to taunt us with its uniqueness and beauty: "If you want to get past me, you have to beat me first." And we should want to.

As we stand right now, not only do we not adventure, but the camps themselves frequently crisscross each other. To use Thanalan as an example... After one is finished with Black Brush, they trek to Drybone. After Drybone, they trek back across Black Brush and to Horizon. After Horizon, you trek back and forth between Nanawa Mines and Nophica's Wells, crossing Black Brush, again and again. We're always just beside new adventurers, running back and forth.

We should be taken deep into danger and darkness, or places of unparalleled beauty. If we have a desert, there should also be snow. If we have grasslands, there should also be jungles. And if we have a forest, there should also be moorlands.

And when we've reached our highest ranks, take us even further to places we can't imagine.

Let's make sure we're heard tomorrow, everyone.

(Edit: Zanfire, thanks for the support outside these forums!)

What is this doing at the bottom of the page I thought everyone was on top of things here! XD

Thanks, Mack. :) I try not to double post if possible.

After thinking a bit on my last post and that we're always close to home, as well as Zenval's post several pages back, I wondered if being tethered to the guildleve desks in the main cities could hold us back from visiting zones far, far away?

I'm not so sure either way... What do you all think?

I'm assuming the map will open up a couple more cities, Ishgard is the obvious one and I have no idea what Ala Mhigo is like but perhaps another region up North might have a city or two as well. However this said, that is the reason Anima was implemented because we will most likely be running back to the home cities for leves every once in a while but I don't think its that bad, I think once Ishgard opens up and we can pick up leves there its the same as leaving say San'Doria for Jeuno and staying in a Jeuno for a long long looong time.

This said I will always stand by my plea to nerf leves, make them solo only and give us something better to do because the game is too leve-centric and they are a bore no matter how many different leves you throw at us. They are very simple and very repetitive in nature.