Even zone design and traversal is formulaic

The only well designed Zone is Shaaloani.

Just one big area, no walls, no cliffs or mountains that block your path.

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Originally Posted by Arohk

The only well designed Zone is Shaaloani.

Just one big area, no walls, no cliffs or mountains that block your path.

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Shaaloani is literally the zone with an obvious cliff marking the edge of the map:

https://lds-img.finalfantasyxiv.com/...0c57997bc0.jpg

Like, how even is this "well designed" or "immersive"? :confused:

They design the zones to be set pieces for the story and that is literally it. After that the story is done they are forgotten and discarded.

I think the initial formula is probably okay for expansion release. The failure happens afterwards in giving us very few reasons to go back to zones once an expansion is passed.

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Originally Posted by Jeeqbit

Consistency with pulls is mostly to do with an issue that actually still exists in some ARR dungeons where you can pull something like 10 mob packs. And although it is easier to deal with now, the further back in time you go, a lot of healers could not handle it with the kit they had or it depended a lot on all 4 players being good at playing, which isn't realistic when there's almost always 1 or more new/returning players.

You're right that you can predict how the story goes quite a lot by the level of FATEs in the area and knowing that you will get a dungeon at X1, X3, X5, X7, X9, X0 and trials at X3, X9 and X0. But if they didn't do that then it's not spaced out enough. ARR suffers from that where you suddenly do 3 dungeons in a row, then nothing for ages, and it's tedious enough that when I get to them it's time to sleep so I'm recharged to do them the next day.

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You know what. I'd rather take the unpredictability of ARR, knowing that nothing is expected, and you don't know when the next set of Dungeons or Trials are coming.

Give me dungeons and trials and random intervals.

Give me variety of dungeon pulls, while you're at it, give me a dungeon with 2 bosses only, then with 6 bosses.

Give me a zone that is super small, then a super large one with 6 sections.

To be honest, I know this is trivial. And it probably would not have triggered me if this was the only case. But because this formulaic-style just permeates and continues in every aspect, even new tome stones patch number X, new Augmented gear in patch number Y, it becomes so aggravating knowing that I got immersion-broken even by seeing an Aether Current up on a cliff that I knew I couldn't reach yet, because the "second upper half of the zone is still locked away".

10 level just dont work as well as the 50 during ARR did and we did get more dungeons back then on the 50 cap... ik many dont care about em but its part the reason the game became way less fun to me...

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Originally Posted by AmiableApkallu

Shaaloani is literally the zone with an obvious cliff marking the edge of the map:

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don't play stupid man, you know wha i mean...

https://i.imgur.com/1FRSCDZ.jpeg

I kinda wish we can actually climb the cliff that divides Urqopacha… well, and any other of these ‘dividing walls’ we have in many zones. Idc about the fall damage or the hazards it entails by doing so.

Just.let.me.walk.pass.these.arbitrary.walls.without.flying

Yea I kinda dont like how it has to be exactly 6 zones + 2 cities. Using one of those full zones on the Golden City felt like waste.

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Originally Posted by Arohk

The only well designed Zone is Shaaloani.

Just one big area, no walls, no cliffs or mountains that block your path.

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Most of the zones are "pretty" but have no substance. Shaloaani and other zones have a plethora of prop buildings that you can't enter because they can't be arsed to design interiors of houses and make them look actually lived in. NPC's are just posted outside all "howdy! It's a good day for fishing, heheh!"