Geographical Landmarks

Am I the only one that feel that adding more geographical landmarks to Eorzea would make the game a lot more immersive? I'm typing this as I look at a lovely waterfall in the middle of a rainforest. I envisage walkways being built out over the edge of the waterfall, allowing people to gather to chat while being surrounded by the sound of thundering water. In FFXI, I remember that I would commonly refer to various landmarks in FFXI (eg. windmills). I'm aware there are some dotted about the place, but it would be nice to see a few more along the main roads, where you would expect them. Oddly enough, even the camps are kept away from the main roads - this seems rather illogical from a city planning point of view ;)

Would you like to see more dotted here and there, big and small, in Eorzea?

Also, what kind of geographical landmarks would you like to see around Eorzea?

I agree 100%. Take a look at how FFXI even just had little things here and there, it made the world feel alive - which is what I think you're driving at. It feels like an empty, lifeless world.

Check it out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iesY1XssACM

I agree. Also adding things like the holes in the ground like in Yuhtunga Jungle from FFXI are always fun, though most people will flame me for saying so :p

Honestly, SE just needs to have quest-related NPCs out in the wilds, rather having all NPCs congregate in the cities and camps like they do now. Having a unique visual landmark is nice, and helps to give a bit of flair and personality to the environment, but what good is it from a gameplay perspective if there's nothing to do there?

Going with the waterfall example, rather than simply building bridges around it, why not have an NPC who gives you a quest standing next to it? Say like the NPC was carrying a valuable wedding ring so he could propose to his one true love, but he tripped over a rock and dropped the wedding ring in the raging torrent of water, and now fears it may be lost forever. And in order to retrieve the wedding ring for him, the player must jump down the falls, plunging into the depths of the water below and look around for the wedding ring in the mud and silt at the bottom of the lake or river.

Redesigning the maps should be more than just a visual change. It should have an impact on the gameplay as well.

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Originally Posted by Loony_BoB

Am I the only one that feel that adding more geographical landmarks to Eorzea would make the game a lot more immersive? I'm typing this as I look at a lovely waterfall in the middle of a rainforest. I envisage walkways being built out over the edge of the waterfall, allowing people to gather to chat while being surrounded by the sound of thundering water. In FFXI, I remember that I would commonly refer to various landmarks in FFXI (eg. windmills). I'm aware there are some dotted about the place, but it would be nice to see a few more along the main roads, where you would expect them. Oddly enough, even the camps are kept away from the main roads - this seems rather illogical from a city planning point of view ;)

Would you like to see more dotted here and there, big and small, in Eorzea?

Also, what kind of geographical landmarks would you like to see around Eorzea?

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Did you see that thread where it links a post by Yoshi-p saying they will redesign the maps?

The new teams sees the same thing we do.... it's hard not to notice the poorly designed maps and areas but they are aware on in due time it will be fixed. So now let's stop all those threads about the maps and landmarks please...

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Originally Posted by Rhianu

Honestly, SE just needs to have quest-related NPCs out in the wilds, rather having all NPCs congregate in the cities and camps like they do now. Having a unique visual landmark is nice, and helps to give a bit of flair and personality to the environment, but what good is it from a gameplay perspective if there's nothing to do there?

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Immersion! Making you feel like the world is alive! However...

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Going with the waterfall example, rather than simply building bridges around it, why not have an NPC who gives you a quest standing next to it? Say like the NPC was carrying a valuable wedding ring so he could propose to his one true love, but he tripped over a rock and dropped the wedding ring in the raging torrent of water, and now fears it may be lost forever. And in order to retrieve the wedding ring for him, the player must jump down the falls, plunging into the depths of the water below and look around for the wedding ring in the mud and silt at the bottom of the lake or river.

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Absolutely! This would be taking it to another level. I would be delighted with this sort of thing. :)

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Redesigning the maps should be more than just a visual change. It should have an impact on the gameplay as well.

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A bit of both, really. ;)

I believe the zone design for FFXIV is as follows:

Several key areas within each zone that have their own unique theme/design.

The problem is, they are connected by copy/paste and an extremely boring landscape.

Now, heres the real problem. Many people spend most of their time travelling through the boring parts to get to the interesting parts.

For example, if you travel from gridania to uldah, most likely you will be traveling along the road. So all you see is the same layout of forest for 15 mins then you get to Thanalan, and you spend another 15 mins of seemingly, and often times actually, the exact same landscape.

When you finally reach your destination, you're like WOW this is awesome, but that last 25 mins of landscape was total crap.

So, I think improving the areas along the road and the paths people take to travel should be a priority. And adding special landmarks would certainly be one of many tools that could be used to accomplish that.

I've seen some really beautiful landmarks and rural villages out in Coerthas and other regions. I feel they all have an interesting story to tell as time goes on but right now the have no ties to the average player seeking quests and level advancement.

I recommend everyone check out Falcon's Nest and Owl's Nest in Coerthas for starters. Most lore you'll get in the game in my opinion. Hope quests for those places come out sometime in the near future. I just wish there were more places like those in the game. I enjoy chatting with the NPC's there. But I feel disconnected after I talk to them all since their are no mini-games or what not to par-take in to tell stories about.

It would be a huge step forward. Next step would be zone variety as opposed to a few gigantic zones.

I don't think the problem is that they lack landmarks, I think the world is just so huge that you never see them. You can actually find really interesting corners of Eorzea (there's a video on Youtube for XIV scenery as well), it's just the average player who only has to go to the same 3-4 aetheryte for leves and has no reason to explore those corners will never see them. I think what they need to do when they redesign the zones is make them significantly smaller.