Transitions from an area or instance
Good Morning
I think re-working the games mechanics is important for making a fun playable game, such as they are doing with battle currently, job system, materia crafting, etc.
However, I think the world environment is incredibly important as do many others. When I play a FF game or RPG I want to feel like I am in the game, that my character is an extension of myself. I can play a role through my character and have it feel realistic. Many refer to this as immersion.
There are many areas right now that need addressed to help immersion, this thread is to talk about ONE of those areas, transitions.
Right now, anytime you come to a zone that has a load screen, the graphic that you enter and the graphic that you exit don't match at all. For example, the market wards in Ul'dah. You come up to an alley, an open alley, you can see booths and shops with doors,etc. But then you zone and enter some closed in area that doesnt really match.
I'm left wondering, "How did I get here?" I never passed through a door, did I teleport into the wards? Why would I teleport when I'm right here? Is the market wards actually in another dimension?
This doesn't make sense. It's not the zoneing that bothers me, it's not the black load screen, what bothers me is the two zones not matching up. Why not have the Ul'dahn market wards be the alley we see, open to the sky above with our retainers filling up both sides of the path, you would still zone, to keep market stress from boggin down city play. Or an easier fix, but not as nice, would be to have us walk up to a door that looks like the doors in the wards and have us enter that to get inside.
I think doing this would greatly help the fluidity of transition areas.
Another example that really bothers me is when you zone main map areas, like when traveling from Ul'dah to Gridania. You are running through a desert like area, then POOF magically are in a rainforest like area.
It is the same for transitions in story line missions, quests, world map zones, going to market areas, etc. Pretty much anywhere that has a loading transition screen doesn't make sense and is killing the game.