About certain instanced areas... (Rising Stones, Waking Sands, ect.)

Now, I do remember the days at launch when the Waking Sands was not at all instanced, and there were 20+ people crowded in front of Minfilia's desk at any given time. I remember, and I totally understand why they made it instanced. That was a mess lmao.

But I really wish it were possible to enter places like the Sands, the Stones, the Intercessory, and Fortemps Manor as a party. They'd make such nice places to take screenshots with a few friends or even roleplay settings (particularly the Sands and Stones, for those whose characters may be a Scion or a Brave).

'Tis but a dream I fear will never be anything more.

honestly, they should have made JUST Minfillia's office instanced, and kept the rest of the area public. It makes sense that people wouldn't be running in and out of the Antecedent's office and bugging her constantly, but at least early on, the Scions had a lot more going on than whatever quests you were working on at the time, and having other people going about their business in there helped with that atmosphere.

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Originally Posted by heiligeharmonie

Now, I do remember the days at launch when the Waking Sands was not at all instanced, and there were 20+ people crowded in front of Minfilia's desk at any given time. I remember, and I totally understand why they made it instanced. That was a mess lmao.

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It was always instanced. What instance you enter depend on where in the MSQ you are.

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Originally Posted by Lukha

honestly, they should have made JUST Minfillia's office instanced, and kept the rest of the area public. It makes sense that people wouldn't be running in and out of the Antecedent's office and bugging her constantly, but at least early on, the Scions had a lot more going on than whatever quests you were working on at the time, and having other people going about their business in there helped with that atmosphere.

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They make it that way so they can change which NPCs stand where in the rooms depending on where in the MSQ the player is (example the walking sand before and after the garleans raid it).
You still meet other players who are around the same MSQ quests as you.

Of course that don't count for Fortemps Manor, because you are the only guest. While in the Scion HQs you are not the only adventurer.

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Originally Posted by Felis

It was always instanced. What instance you enter depend on where in the MSQ you are.


They make it that way so they can change which NPCs stand where in the rooms depending on where in the MSQ the player is (example the walking sand before and after the garleans raid it).
You still meet other players who are around the same MSQ quests as you.

Of course that don't count for Fortemps Manor, because you are the only guest. While in the Scion HQs you are not the only adventurer.

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But you can't. They changed that, I assume because at launch (and the time immediately following any MSQ addition) there were large numbers of people all at the same point in MSQ (hence my mention of 20+ people crowded in front of Min's desk) and it just looks silly. You don't need an instance to move NPCs around, really--though I'm not saying that wasn't a factor in the existence original quest-based instance, because the small size of the area justifies it--because you can walk through anywhere else in the world and see people standing in cutscenes in front of NPCs who aren't there.

I've just gone into the Sands and the Stones with a FC mate, who has finished MSQ through 3.1, same as I have.

http://i.imgur.com/mG018QH.jpg?2
http://i.imgur.com/sCNy7Tr.jpg?2

As the party list tells you, we are both present in the Sands and Stones at the same time, however, the map only shows me. We are both present but not visible to each other. I personally don't mind not seeing randoms about, but it'd be nice to actually see my friends, if only in the common areas of the Sands and Stones. I'm a Scion, my friends are Scions and non-traitorous Crystal Braves--what, are we all supposed to just be missing if we're not the WoL? Instancing the areas completely is great for the purpose of playing the MSQ and the standard player, but for some people (like roleplayers), it makes us miss out on a great venue for screenshots and interaction. Being able to enter the same instance as party members would be a lovely compromise. That said, I doubt the devs would find it to be something worth their time. ;-;