This is my version :D much better
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Sorry to break it to you butFFXIV IS made of zones. The game is designed so you do not notice the transition. Devs have explained this more then once. I am unclear where the copy/paste ignorance comes from though. Thanalan, Black Shroud, La Noscea, and Coerthas all look completely different to me. Many of there regions look different from the next. Heaven forbid a mountain range actually ranged, or a prarie went on for as far as the eye could see, or a desert area was actually full area. I Find the world exspancive and appealing. I don't mind that a mountain range actually has more the 2 mountains and is actually a range. I have never had my horse fly part an entire mountain range in a matter of second like you do in alot of games on a mount.
it comes from the fact that there are no unique land scapes. once you've Seen 3 tree types, 2 bush types 2 fishing spots and 1 over/under pass in thanalan you've seen them all. same applies to Gridania and la nosca.
there's also no transitional maps at all, Forest to insta desert, desert to insta ocean is just one example.
You know... I've always wondered... there have been a few deserts that lead to the ocean in FF games... does that ever happen naturally? I'd think the proximity to water would cause some type of plant life to grow....
FFVI had deserts but the landscape became green as you approached the water
Same with corel desert in FFVII
FFVIII had a few deserts that lead right into the ocean as did FFIX....
FFX had the Al Bhed home island that did this... but if I recall from playing the cactuar game, there was a little shrubbery near the water... I think....
I think Dalmasca had to have bordered water directly at some point in FFXII
Seems like more than just a few bushes would grow though, if you bordered the ocean
Wait, is it a fact Level Sync is coming in 2.0?
The coast of peru is the closest thing I can think of, but even there I'm sure there's a little more plant activity than some FF zones. >.>;
http://g.co/maps/dwk3t
Yes, there are! A few examples found directly from google:
Namibia
Seems to be mostly in africa, more namibia
Dunno where this is