Has SE mentioned anything about giving us a reason to explore in ARR?

I feel that zones at the moment are just a place you go to according to your level to grind FATEs, do quests, or gather. I've played other MMOs that gave you a reason to fully explore each and every zone. Whether it's to uncover an artifact in RIFT, a Datacron in SWTOR, or to uncover a jump puzzle in Guild Wars 2.

I'm not trying to hate on the game or anything. I actually really like ARR. I just feel as somebody who enjoys the exploration aspect of games - offline and online - ARR has very little to offer in that aspect. The zones are absolutely beautiful in ARR and it would be a shame to see them go to waste if players have no reason to ever return to them. In fact, I'd rather SE add more to the current zones rather than completely new ones. Open world dungeons should totally make a return :cool:

I agree. They haven't really said anything about it, but there's a treasure map feature coming in 2.1 that I'm hoping will help at least a little

Give us a reason to explore? Sounds like a fetch quest in the making. Listen... if u want to explore or anyone for the that matter don't need any lofty goal or mission to do so. Go explore or dont. Nothing SE does prevents anyone from doing that now.

Achievement Log shows that you gain experience points for uncovering all locations on a map.

I saved all of them for level 48 and I practically hit 50 while doing this. it was also really rewarding to go see everything.

Sometimes you have to make a reason for yourself to go explore out of the way areas. The main story and some sidequests make a point of having you explore a lot of the world but I'm sure there's some places previously unused that they have plans for future story.

For me the crafting and gathering system has been cause for tons of exploration. You see almost every nook and cranny of Eorzea if you complete gathering logs, and I did this while leveling pertinent crafts and sell off mats. It's not everyone's cup of tea though, I guess. About to level Fisher to see even more.

There's no exploration in this game. You are on a sightseeing tour. There is nothing to discover as the main questline leads you by the nose from one pretty set-piece to the next. Everything you could hope to see is readily mapped out for your convenience.

Isn't exploring something you just do of your own accord? If they're giving you a reason, you're not really exploring, you're just going because you're told to.

Like the first time I went deep into the U'Ghamoro mines for the Titan Aetheryte. Was it exploring? Or was it because I had to go there for my Relic Reborn quest? I think the fun of exploring or finding a nice scenic spot is when you just do it yourself, not because it's next to a waypoint you've been sent to.

I wish they would do this as well. I can't remember why but I know I was going through one of the lv 1-10 zones the other day and was like wow this is a really cool zone.. too bad I haven't been here in 2 months.

There are small regions to explore in this game that have nothing to do with hunting logs, quests, or FATEs. They just don't give you a prize for doing so.

I don't know why other people explore, but I like having a reason to explore beyond just sightseeing like a tourist. I like being able to uncover new areas not on the map, finding small treasures (valuable or not), maybe discovering secret caves, a mini game, new enemies, etc. In ARR, the zones are just hub for quests and offer absolutely no reason to go beyond filling up your map. Even the original 1.0 gave a reason to explore....like discovering the stronghold bosses for the first time, or finding NMs and even the world NMs.

Same reason to go walk in the park. Something to do.
No everything need a reason other then that.

Beautiful scenery, XP, and some rare fishing spots...

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Originally Posted by ReithDynamis

Give us a reason to explore? Sounds like a fetch quest in the making. Listen... if u want to explore or anyone for the that matter don't need any lofty goal or mission to do so. Go explore or dont. Nothing SE does prevents anyone from doing that now.

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Originally Posted by Lord_Zlatan

Achievement Log shows that you gain experience points for uncovering all locations on a map.

I saved all of them for level 48 and I practically hit 50 while doing this. it was also really rewarding to go see everything.

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Originally Posted by CrystalRainbow

Same reason to go walk in the park. Something to do.
No everything need a reason other then that.

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You guys are missing the point of my post. I'm not talking about just the sightseeing aspect of exploring....but the discovery and rewarding aspects as well. Perhaps I should have clarified that.

Ok, here is a great example of what I mean:

You're wandering around Eorzea and you come across a new zone. You run to the hub with levequests and enjoy the sight along the way. You might do a FATE or two or stop to fish for a bit. After doing a few leves, you move on because by then, the entire area is uncovered on your map. However, what if you had a reason to go 200 yalms out of your way to check what is behind some big rock to the east? With the way things work now, you won't find anything at all. However, what if you discover a chest that contains a vanity item, or a hidden entrance to a small cave and at the end of that cave there is maybe a cool ring for you to use or books that go into detail about the lore regarding that cave or zone you're in? The cave is unmarked on your map and you have no way of knowing it's there unless you go out of your way to explore and uncover it...unless friends tell you or you look it up online, of course, lol.

As things stand now, once your map is filled, you've practically explored the entire area. You won't find anything new beyond fishing spots or gathering points and have little reason to return once you finish your gathering log in the zone unless it's to FATE grind with other classes or friends.

The problem is that the world is so small and cramped that It barely feels like exploring... nothing like discovering the Manaclipper and getting to Purgonorgo in XI.

You needed a reason? I haven't reached level 50 yet and I have every single bit of the entire world map explored already.

You do get XP for finding new areas for your map (relative to your current job level), as well as an achievement for mapping all of a zone. Really what more did you want?

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Originally Posted by Teleniel

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EXP and achievements are silly rewards to give players that DON'T want to explore, lol. Those are for people that just want to have a nice and high achievement score and look for any means of gaining exp to level up. I want to find hidden areas, hidden lore information, hidden treasures (valuable or not), hidden NPCs, hidden enemies, etc.

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Originally Posted by Versiroth

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And that's the problem. All you have to do is run around and the map is fully unlocked for you, lol. After that, there is really VERY little reason to go back to older zones to explore because once the map fills up, there is nothing else to explore. No hidden areas, no hidden trinkets, no treasures stowed away under a pile of rocks, no hidden lore items.....nothing. Zip. Nada. The only reason to visit old zones is for FATE grinding, leves, and gathering.

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Originally Posted by Teleniel

You do get XP for finding new areas for your map (relative to your current job level), as well as an achievement for mapping all of a zone. Really what more did you want?

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Scroll up like two posts... he goes into detail about what more he wants....

Personally, I enjoyed getting to all the aetherial gates in 1.0. You had to master monster aggro mechanics, pray for it to rain, walk slowly by giant crabs you didn't really see anywhere else in the game, all the while taking in some BREATHTAKING views (all of the la noscea ones) and praying the lvl 99 one-shot-kill-you-with-a-ranged-attack wyverns didn't see you. It was fun as hell, and I miss it so much.

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Originally Posted by KamikazeMan

The only reason to visit old zones is for FATE grinding, leves, and gathering.

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You've listed three reasons to visit older zones, and the gathering one really shows you the world in detail you wouldn't have otherwise seen. Random chests and trinkets would be the same deal, you find them, and never go back. At least with gathering and these other options you do return quite often and spend a lot of time in places few people go.

I mean I guess little chests would be fun or looking for NMs, but there is a lot of reason in-game currently to check out the scenery and explore the map - people seem to just label it "boring" and "pointless" without even trying it.

I'm not trying to argue or anything, this just seems to be going around in circles... people mention things you can do to explore, and then being refuted as they aren't what you'd consider ideal.

Exploring as it is is a joke compared to 1.0, hell it's a joke compared to Everquest. You could do it with impunity the moment you get a chocobo, with it being only a little harder before that due to sprint.

I can literally run around the main beastman camps with nary a nod and a wink from its residents.

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Originally Posted by Valhinjin

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You'll always reach a point where you won't return to an area, but in ARR that point comes way too soon. And yeah the reason I don't consider them "ideal" is because there is no real exploration outside of sightseeing, achievements, and EXP content in ARR...which is what I've mentioned several times already, but people aren't reading my posts so I have to keep repeating myself, lol. I want a reason to look under every nook and cranny. Not just run through zone for under an hour and fully explore it with nothing new to find.

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Originally Posted by Kallera

Exploring as it is is a joke compared to 1.0, hell it's a joke compared to Everquest. You could do it with impunity the moment you get a chocobo, with it being only a little harder before that due to sprint.

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Lol...you know, it was great how in 1.0 they practically discouraged using a Chocobo for exploring, but now having a mount means you can fully explore an area within 10 minutes and not worry about anything. In 1.0 You had to slowly walk around certain enemies, memorize enemy aggression to figure out the best way to avoid them, wait for powerful enemies to turn away to rush passed them, or wait for that foolish adventurer to try and run through an enemy so you can run behind them and avoid being killed. Plus those open world dungeons were amazing when you first discover them. I actually enjoyed constantly returning to them since apparently many people didn't even know they existed.

There's nothing to really explore. The maps are extremely restricted by canyons and cliffsides with no way to go "off the beaten path".

I miss "mountain climbing" in Rift. :/

We don't know how the treasure chests will work, but if it's anything like artifact gathering, it's a good move. After all, artifact hunting is literally the most engaged in activity in all of Rift. I do think XIV needs larger, more open maps to make full use of such a concept, though.

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Originally Posted by Kallera

I am also not a fan of arbitrary invisible walls. I understand the purpose for zone boundaries, but some of them just seem like I'm running in place for no reason, or I'm in the midst of a sick jump with my chocobo, only to magically stop midair and fall straight down.

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Yes, this exactly!

I am also not a fan of arbitrary invisible walls. I understand the purpose for zone boundaries, but some of them just seem like I'm running in place for no reason, or I'm in the midst of a sick jump with my chocobo, only to magically stop midair and fall straight down.

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Originally Posted by Naunet

I miss "mountain climbing" in Rift. :/

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Rift is still there, go mountain climbing in it.

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Originally Posted by KamikazeMan

Lol...you know, it was great how in 1.0 they practically discouraged using a Chocobo for exploring, but now having a mount means you can fully explore an area within 10 minutes and not worry about anything. In 1.0 You had to slowly walk around certain enemies, memorize enemy aggression to figure out the best way to avoid them, wait for powerful enemies to turn away to rush passed them, or wait for that foolish adventurer to try and run through an enemy so you can run behind them and avoid being killed. Plus those open world dungeons were amazing when you first discover them. I actually enjoyed constantly returning to them since apparently many people didn't even know they existed.

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This has nothing to do with chocobos.
Put in lv 80 enemies with ranged attacks who block some ways in ARR and you have the same like in 1.0

http://wiki.ffxiclopedia.org/wiki/An...%27s_Footsteps

Anyone remember this quest?

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Originally Posted by Haibel

Rift is still there, go mountain climbing in it.

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Jamaican food still exists, go be a jerk there.

Maps are too small to "explore". Working as intended though... apparently...

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Originally Posted by KamikazeMan

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so as soon as you've found the hidden areas once, what reason was there to explore again? or when you found that worthless treasure how good did you feel? sooner or later no matter how big the game is you'll have been there and done that. SE has given you a reason to visit old zones, most of them have a broad range of levels some of them even have targets from lv1 to 50. If you only go to an area to do a quest objective or fate grind that's a personal choice.

I remember how much people complained when there was random level 80 mobs making map completion a nightmare in 1.0

You can't win, half want something and half want something else.

As someone who got full map completion in 1.0, I'm really happy that they've not added random high level mobs to tiny winding paths. It was just frustrating.

It's funny there was some areas I was not even familiar with just waltzing around one day. I ran into that stretch of Dully's in North shroud and they just mauled me with Heavy strikes. Wish there was more of that.

Exploration in ARR isn't really plausible. I mean it is, but that's like saying you should go treasure hunting and explore in your yard. The zones are too small and too limited in terrain. There are no real detours in ARR, as almost every location for potential exploration is actually intentionally there for some active reason (i.e. quest/leve).

That's kind of what happens when you instance everything and zone off areas. Everything ends up being for useful/progressive reason. Exploration isn't necessarily always about finding things or whatnot, it's main attraction is about learning what's around you. You can only do so much within your own yard. Perhaps in 2.1, treasure hunting will help spark some sense of exploration though. All that'd be missing is the roads to nowhere.

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Originally Posted by Blarp

There's no exploration in this game. You are on a sightseeing tour. There is nothing to discover as the main questline leads you by the nose from one pretty set-piece to the next. Everything you could hope to see is readily mapped out for your convenience.

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This. This is a theme park remember? not a sandbox... Time to get your hand held (rushed mind you, as intended) through all the content and grind mindlessly at the endgame (where they have been stated their focus was on) for shiny armor that everyone wears with zero customization or ways to make you look like your own unique char! How exciting! /rant

Tea anyone?

In all seriousness... Exploration? I wish. Zones not big enough to warrant that. It's a good thought though.

I had a nice tour of the beastmen strongholds but they all appear unfinished, and the garlean strongholds seem a tad bit on the small side. On a side note dailies will be hell with such small areas lol

One way to enhance exploration is to change areas over game days.

Posted this in Q for live letter:

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Can we have zones which change structurally back and forth over the course of game days, opening up or restricting zone access for periods of time?

For example

a) creating walkways across Bronze Lake during one game day which disappear the next so we have to use the boat to get across as normal.

b) walking/island hopping to Pharos Sirius when the tide is out, and when the tide is in we take the boat as normal.

c) cause heavy snowstorms in Coerthas blocking normal routes while opening up other secret routes

d) allow walking from Vesper Bay to La Noscea by a subterranean tunnel zone which rotates between opened up and flooded

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http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...=1#post1585160

Also, the world is just too static

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Also can we see ingame changes to reflect changes in the atmosphere of zones between day/night or good/bad weather.

There should be a reason to get back to camp during a heavy thunderstorm or to avoid the wilds at night time.

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