Here's a clearer map, in case you have a hard time reading that damn Eorzean font (myself included, haha).
http://www.ffxivmaps.com/img/region-eorzea-large.png
Printable View
Here's a clearer map, in case you have a hard time reading that damn Eorzean font (myself included, haha).
http://www.ffxivmaps.com/img/region-eorzea-large.png
I like the idea of massive zones(I mean there is a thread in the forums showing off all the cool hidden hard to find stuff that would never be done in a normal sized zone) But then again smaller zones have their own appeal.
The best thing would be massive zones that have regions within them. For example we all know there are hidden and locked dungeons and caves all over the world. Those could be zones and look different and unique while the massive zones that connect them could be like what we have now. The world could be built upon that idea so A)the world still seems massive and B) the world has more variety.
A world that has smaller zones, with loading time in between zones, that allows the game to load a greater variety of textures per zone and give the artists more leeway to make the environments more detailed and less monotonous.
For sure.
Also, the zones wouldn't necessarily have to be incredibly small compared to the ones we have now. We could have each zone the size of the Blackbrush area and the Horizon area combined! This alone would make the zones unique and also expand the length between each city-state.
There's a difference between lack of knowledge and simply not caring. As a player, I don't give a rats behind if this game is supposed to run on Atari, I want it to be great on the console I'm playing it. And if you're gonna use the technical card, the PS3 can't handle it? SE knew this before starting development on this game and I'm sure we all would've been OK with a little less polygon count and a lot more variety...just saying. But of course I anticipate an attempt at a witty remark from you and others like you defending the game the way it is *no matter what*. There's two sides to a coin, something knowledge alone doesn't give you, try common sense.
It can be done, but that isn't to say it won't take a long time, because it most likely will. Maps have been needing an overhaul since Open Beta. Its been a very long time of hearing people complain about seeing the same scenery throughout entire zones. I understand that multiple textures in the same zones will stress the memory and whatnot, so only other option that I approve of would be to just create multiple zones for each area. It wont be easy and it can't be done in the snap of a finger, that I can understand.