Can we please have flight unlocked as part of the main story?

After looking at the progress someone can make through the game without even coming close to doing all the quests required, along with flight being necessary to reach Hunts effectively, it seems like this really should be a feature that is unlocked via completing main story quests rather than running around gathering nodes and doing a bunch of likely boring and repetitive quests. There is very little fun to be had running around a zone trying to find green swirling vortexes, or having to pour over a quest log to figure out which quests aid in attunement.
:(

I don't know why people complain about aether currents... Honestly they aren't hard to complete, takes at most 30 mins per area. If players have a problem with the amount of time it takes, this is FF, and I'd like to point out the Relic questline as how long it could have been...

The whole point was to force you to explore the zone on foot, get to know the landscape and the layout, before you got the freedom to just fly over it and ignore it. Trust me, it seems like you leave that zone as soon as you unlock flight, but you'll be going back way more than you would expect for MSQ, for hunts, and for other tasks.

They finally gave us puzzle-lovers a toy to play with and you want them to take it away.

*run in direction* ... *spams aether compass* ... *runs in the direction it tells me*

as for the side missions there right there so, theres not really a way you could of missed it.

Oh. So YOU'RE that guy from the live letter.

I like how the flight was handled. I'd be lying if I said I didn't want flight available right away, but I agree with the reasoning behind the currents. On the plus side, you do get one area as a freebie after completing a few MSQ's.

And unlike FF11, land-based mounts don't allow you to avoid aggro in this game, like flying does. Small price to pay for such a nice convenience. Especially since you get 3 flying mounts from the MSQ for free!

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Originally Posted by Colt47

There is very little fun to be had running around a zone trying to find green swirling vortexes, or having to pour over a quest log to figure out which quests aid in attunement.

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That's like...your opinion man


Also I respectfully disagree. At first I was like "what, I have to do all this to fly?"
But, in the end I actually really enjoyed it. Getting the last aether current and finally having flying in all zones felt like an accomplishment and I got to see the zone from the ground first.

Not to mention once you unlock flying for a zone there's a whole bunch of side quests that take you to places you can only reach with flying which was a nice touch and made unlocking flying even more of a reward.

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Q45. I would like to be able to fly as soon as I enter a new area. Do you have plans to make adjustments so we can obtain Aether Currents easier, or be able to fly faster than the way it’s current set?

A45. We purposely made it so you can’t fly right away. Allowing players to fly right away would detract from the adventure in these areas, and because you can fly after exploring the ground, you’ll have a better sense of accomplishment. This has been set this way so that you’re able to feel a bit smug compared to those who can’t fly.

We have placed the Aether Currents as quest rewards, and we tried to put these quests as the starting quests, but since there are some quests that are tied together by completing other quests, we would like to adjust these when we have the opportunity. We understand there are pros and cons for this but we would like to be particular about the gaming side, so please continue to submit your feedback.

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The answer is no

I hope they do it again for any new areas they add. I love the currents.

Also at least one zone is unlocked through MSQ only..........so

http://e2e.ti.com/resized-image/__si...easybutton.jpg

um.... no. You need to earn it. Enough of this game is using the easy button as is.

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Originally Posted by AskaRay

I hope they do it again for any new areas they add. I love the currents.

Also at least one zone is unlocked through MSQ only..........so

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Yeah... I'm hoping that one day down the line they'll find a way for us to fly in the original zones too. Just for the sh!ts and giggles mostly, but who knows how the original story may evolve over time....might wind up running around in those old zones again.

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Originally Posted by Raist

Yeah... I'm hoping that one day down the line they'll find a way for us to fly in the original zones too. Just for the sh!ts and giggles mostly, but who knows how the original story may evolve over time....might wind up running around in those old zones again.

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Probably not...since they weren't designed for it,a nd there's probably a lot of places we arent supposed to see...
But I'd be lying if I said I didn't really want to cut across from Fogfens to Lake Silvertear in Mor Dhona in under a minute.

Here, it's been made all lazy mode for you already.

http://i.imgur.com/MKhiGQQ.jpg

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Originally Posted by Catwho

The whole point was to force you to explore the zone on foot, get to know the landscape and the layout, before you got the freedom to just fly over it and ignore it. Trust me, it seems like you leave that zone as soon as you unlock flight, but you'll be going back way more than you would expect for MSQ, for hunts, and for other tasks.

They finally gave us puzzle-lovers a toy to play with and you want them to take it away.

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That's great! And meanwhile, it's the only way to reach a hunt if it spawns on an inaccessible ledge, thereby forcing people who aren't into that sort of thing to have to go wonder around a maze of a zone trying to get to aether currents, or find quests that give them that. It's not as simple as run in X direction.

Also, some of us want to spend our time in other ways, like running things with friends. I mean, that was the point of making dungeons part of the main story, right? Why should someone more interested in doing things with buddies be forced to run around doing fetch and kill quests solo and run around an entire zone for an hour solo?

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Originally Posted by Mokikoza

Here, it's been made all lazy mode for you already.

http://i.imgur.com/MKhiGQQ.jpg

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Since when did someone become lazy when they don't want to do something that feels like they are at work in their off hours?

Considering how fast you get from A to B on the maps while flying, I'm glad they didn't allow you to do so right away. Sure, finding aether currents is annoying for those who just wanna rush through everything but for someone like me who loves to explore and see what the areas have to offer, doing it this way it much more enjoyable. Find what I can first, then once I can fly it's time to go through the area again from higher up and see what I might've missed.

It's really not hard to do the the Aether currents.

It helps to look up a map of all their locations first so you can plan your course.

Yeah, no. You're just a whiner that wants everything handed to them... It's already been answered in the live letter, if you want to fly you have to explore the zone first. They're not going to change it just because you're too lazy...

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Originally Posted by Muzetta

Considering how fast you get from A to B on the maps while flying, I'm glad they didn't allow you to do so right away. Sure, finding aether currents is annoying for those who just wanna rush through everything but for someone like me who loves to explore and see what the areas have to offer, doing it this way it much more enjoyable. Find what I can first, then once I can fly it's time to go through the area again from higher up and see what I might've missed.

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Yeah, I agree they shouldn't give flight right away. It's just that after you've ran through the main story you've already gone through all of the zones so there shouldn't be a reason to have to go back and do a lot of backlogged content just to get flight. Some people do skip those quests because they find them boring and don't want to do them. They shouldn't feel like it's a forced part of the game to have to complete content they don't wish to do just to get an ability Square Enix is advertising as part of the expansion. Not to mention they give a griffon mount with the collectors edition.

Some people must be reading the title and thinking this is some kind of spur of emotion posting. There's some issues with how they are doing things that needs to get fixed.

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Originally Posted by Joshyuchiha

Yeah, no. You're just a whiner that wants everything handed to them... It's already been answered in the live letter, if you want to fly you have to explore the zone first. They're not going to change it just because you're too lazy...

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Uh, no. Read above posting. If someone doesn't want to do content because they don't find it engaging, then that isn't laziness. That is the person choosing to do things they do find engaging. It's just that in this case x activity is required to unlock a key part of what has been advertised as part of the expansion pack.

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Originally Posted by Raist

Yeah... I'm hoping that one day down the line they'll find a way for us to fly in the original zones too. Just for the sh!ts and giggles mostly, but who knows how the original story may evolve over time....might wind up running around in those old zones again.

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I see two advantages with flying: 1. No aggro. 2. Don't have to deal with terrain when it gets confusing. I was doing some sylph dailies today and level 60 takes care of #1. At some point I agree that if #2 can somehow be addressed, I'd be happy. Even if you aren't allowed to fly as high as other maps.

Should be allowed to fly off the bat. Once you get flight all your quests are done. No one does the fates. You'You'll do hunts for a bit till you can do alexander. But after that it's a gimmick.

While if you have it off the bat it will seem more useful than it is now.

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Originally Posted by Colt47

They shouldn't feel like it's a forced part of the game to have to complete content they don't wish to do just to get an ability Square Enix is advertising as part of the expansion.

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We shouldn't feel like it's a forced part of the game to complete content we don't wish to do just to get level 60 which Square Enix is advertising as part of the expansion. /sarcasm

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Originally Posted by Jinrya-Geki

Should be allowed to fly off the bat. Once you get flight all your quests are done. No one does the fates. You'You'll do hunts for a bit till you can do alexander. But after that it's a gimmick.

While if you have it off the bat it will seem more useful than it is now.

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Well, they certainly did make the zones a pain to navigate compared to the older ones, but that's probably not going to come to pass until they get to patch 3.5 or something way down the line. Plus I don't think the community at large is going to react well to this. You can see the previous page of posts about easy mode and random tongue in cheek from some of the vocal advocates on their feelings about just having it unlocked when story mode is done. The only reason I can see someone doing what they are doing on the previous page is that they went through it and now don't want anyone else getting it more easily then themselves. Sort of like coil gear when they nerfed it with echo.

However, I try to generally avoid going into tongue in cheek because they have a point through all that mushed up insanity as well that should be considered.

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Originally Posted by Kasenai

We shouldn't feel like it's a forced part of the game to complete content we don't wish to do just to get level 60 which Square Enix is advertising as part of the expansion. /sarcasm

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It depends on the class. I actually observed how this panned out for a lot of my friends, and it seems that those who played DPS were more likely to complete the overworld content because the queue times of getting into dungeons meant they needed something to do while waiting. Meanwhile healers and tanks generally got in faster and would level without doing a lot of the overworld quests.

I'd also say dps probably has more fun soloing, but given the fact the monsters have a lot of HP compared to what they used to and the fact Dragoons and Monks depend on positional damage... yeah one of my friends wasn't too thrilled. :p

So for some people it's not an issue, for others it is because they end up having to backtrack after hitting 60 to wonder around places on foot like Cloud Top and the dravanian highlands to complete things they were forced to skip past due to the leveling up process and zoning.

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Originally Posted by Colt47

That's great! And meanwhile, it's the only way to reach a hunt if it spawns on an inaccessible ledge, thereby forcing people who aren't into that sort of thing to have to go wonder around a maze of a zone trying to get to aether currents, or find quests that give them that. It's not as simple as run in X direction.

Also, some of us want to spend our time in other ways, like running things with friends. I mean, that was the point of making dungeons part of the main story, right? Why should someone more interested in doing things with buddies be forced to run around doing fetch and kill quests solo and run around an entire zone for an hour solo?

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You can easily get the aether currents while you're leveling in the zone. Hunts are a non-issue unless you were procrastinating and refusing to do your currents.

Playing with friends also a non-issue. You could do all the quests and aether hunting with your friends if you wanted. It's not keeping you from playing with your friends, you just don't feel like doing them and are grasping for some excuse to try and make your personal opinion sound like it's more than just a personal opinion.

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Originally Posted by Colt47

After looking at the progress someone can make through the game without even coming close to doing all the quests required, along with flight being necessary to reach Hunts effectively, it seems like this really should be a feature that is unlocked per zone via completing main story quests rather than running around gathering nodes and doing a bunch of likely boring and repetitive quests. There is very little fun to be had running around a zone trying to find green swirling vortexes, or having to pour over a quest log to figure out which quests aid in attunement.
:(

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During mainstory your NPC group expect to walk with their foot to the next destination. So flying should be unlocked after the MSQ, not during.

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Originally Posted by Malevicton

You can easily get the aether currents while you're leveling in the zone. Hunts are a non-issue unless you were procrastinating and refusing to do your currents.

Playing with friends also a non-issue. You could do all the quests and aether hunting with your friends if you wanted. It's not keeping you from playing with your friends, you just don't feel like doing them and are grasping for some excuse to try and make your personal opinion sound like it's more than just a personal opinion.

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That was a bad posting on my part. I think one of my later postings better illustrates what I'm getting at.

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Originally Posted by Felis

During mainstory your NPC group expect to walk with their foot to the next destination. So flying should be unlocked after the MSQ, not during.

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Yeah that is what I meant. I didn't realize I put "during" in my original posting. :(

Flying is not needed to progress thru the game but if you want the benefit of beeing able to do so then you need to do what is required, boring or not.

This may seem unfair but its like asking for a relic weapon without having to go thru the grind to obtain one.

They aren't even that hard to find, and it's kinda sad how people don't want to explore in an MMO. They complain about linearity and yet when offered the option to go off the rail and explore and discover to unlock something they whine about having to go off that trail to earn the benefits of something like flying.

A lot of the arguments are "side story" grade content---you are not required to do them...it is optional content. Personal flying mounts are not needed to complete MSQ...in fact for some legs you are expected to traverse the landscape--it forces you to follow a route of sorts with little purple circle instances and destination markers along the way.

Where flight would be needed for main story, they provide a method of travel to get you there.

Just like you are expected to attune to aethyrites and register with chocobo keepers and summoning stones to facilitate travel around the zone with those options, for a personal flying mount you have to gain access to a flying mount (quested) and attune with the aether currents in a zone. It really isn't all that different from the gating for other modes of convenient transportation in game.

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Originally Posted by Airget

They aren't even that hard to find, and it's kinda sad how people don't want to explore in an MMO. They complain about linearity and yet when offered the option to go off the rail and explore and discover to unlock something they whine about having to go off that trail to earn the benefits of something like flying.

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They aren't hard to find, but they can be hard to get to due to the terrain being more difficult to traverse than the original game. The zones are built to be navigated efficiently via flight from the get go and make land travel very arduous. There are a few places in the original game that are a pain to navigate, but they are limited to specific sections such as in Eastern Thanalan or East Shroud. Here no one needs look further than cloud top to see land travel issues.

http://goo.gl/XhtUde

I disagree.
Things are already given to you pretty easily in this game.

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Originally Posted by Colt47

They aren't hard to find, but they can be hard to get to due to the terrain being more difficult to traverse than the original game. The zones are built to be navigated efficiently via flight from the get go and make land travel very arduous. There are a few places in the original game that are a pain to navigate, but they are limited to specific sections such as in Eastern Thanalan or East Shroud. Here no one needs look further than cloud top to see land travel issues.

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Which was the whole point as it would motivate people to go out of their way to learn flying by doing sidequests and explore the map.

I had no issues getting around cloudtop on my Choco...George and I unlocked enough of the bottom half of the map and to have all available currents before I advanced into Blue Window. Defeated Bismarck, unlocked flight and finished the map. Easy-peasy.

It is called exploration...adventuring. Isn't that what everyone keeps calling us? "Adventurer". Even when on a crafting or gathering class the quest NPC's for those classes STILL call me an adventurer.

How hard is it to do side quest, MSQ and use a compass? Some people just want things handed to them on a free platter I guess.

I can't believe this is even a thread. It is not that difficult nor that time consuming so please enjoy the little exploration we have in the game that the majority of the players have asked for.

Im mad that they are not doing more broom quests ;_;. Those quests weren't even that hard. And the moogle ones were lol once I learned about the mighty Z axis.

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Originally Posted by Devils_Lawyer

Which was the whole point as it would motivate people to go out of their way to learn flying by doing sidequests and explore the map.

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Okay, so why did they have to make the terrain harder to navigate to get people to do quests? Why didn't they make fewer quests and award more experience per quest, but put more time into each quest so as to make them engaging and interesting?

A quest shouldn't be the same thing as a job: We have jobs already in the game in the form of leves. A quest should be an invigorating experience to go through and have some kind of real impact on the world, such as how the main scenario quest does. From what I've seen, the quests for the most part are all minor tasks that really don't push the same kind of narrative weight. Compare the stuff you are doing out in the overworld of Heavensward to something like the Manderville quest chain, for example.

Yes, the Manderville stuff doesn't have that serious overtone, but it's light hearted and quirky. Real thought went into this quest chain to make it as entertaining as possible and it feels like a labor of love. Even from the get go, it makes you feel as if you'd really be missing something if you didn't read all that text coming on the screen, which is a sensation that has been missing for a long time in MMO's pre voice acting.

Also, there are points in the overworld where the mini-map gets so busy with quest markers that it can be potentially overwhelming, and having fewer but deeper quests with stronger tales seems like a better approach than what they currently tried to do here.

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Originally Posted by Colt47

After looking at the progress someone can make through the game without even coming close to doing all the quests required, along with flight being necessary to reach Hunts effectively, it seems like this really should be a feature that is unlocked via completing main story quests rather than running around gathering nodes and doing a bunch of likely boring and repetitive quests. There is very little fun to be had running around a zone trying to find green swirling vortexes, or having to pour over a quest log to figure out which quests aid in attunement.
:(

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No thanks. I enjoy the journey of unlocking stuff.