Lets Talk About Ishgard

Ishgard is empty most of the day, even on the Balmung server. There are simply not enough incentives to stay in the area. Most people seem to flock to the main three city states, and Idyllshire. I don't even see people in Mohr Dohna that much, but its still more populated than it.

My proposal is housing, if we give people reasons to actually STAY in Ishgard, then It might get a bit more populated, but still I don't know if its enough.

How do you think the devs could make all the city states equally, or more active? When I began Heavensward, I really wanted to hang out with people in Ishgard, but now it seems a little far fetched. I hope that wherever we go in the next expansion, it doesn't get left in the dust when that inevitable new city takes the helm.. The only time Ishgard is ever populated, is when a new patch comes out.. imagine when the HW story is completely through.. we're in the in between period before the next expansion.

I noticed that as well on Gilgamesh. But on the other hand I kinda like it better this way. It helps new players to feel like the game's going well when they create a character and see Limsa packed with people all the time, or a bunch of players enjoying the quiet atmosphere of the markets of Ul'Dah to craft, etc.

From a veteran perspective something could be done to Idyllshire to appeal more, but I can't quite see that happening.
Limsa has the markets close to the aetheryte.
Ul'Dah and Gridania are nice places to craft and the adventurer's guild, as well as the grand companies, are on the same map as the aetheryte.
Mor Dhona and Idyllshire allows you use your mounts while on a "city", and even though you don't have a market you have a summoning bell and moogle mail to be accessed all the time easily. Not to mention the whole tome exchanging thing, scrips, etc.

Right now everything Ishgard can offer, every other place can do it better. So I'm not sure SE can do something about it without changing some aspects of the environment, or adding the apartment system to the city itself instead a separated place like housing wards work.

Ishgard seems fine to me. Foundation may seem a little empty (due in part to how big the city feels, I imagine) as most people tend to hang out in the Jeweled Crozier, but that's only like the other cities - while LL's aetheryte plaza may be crowded, you don't see tonnes of people on the Upper Decks, same for Ul'dah's marketplace compared to somewhere like the Chamber of Rule. Basically, the crowds tend to congregrate around the marketboards. Idyllshire and Mor Dhona are a little different as they're spots for gatherers/ crafters to submit turn-ins and don't have multiple areas, so they'll naturally feel more lively.

I do really want Ishgard housing though, don't know if we've heard anything concrete about it from the devs. Seems we're getting apartments first.

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Originally Posted by Lunaxia

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Also worth mentioning that you can put two Gridanias/Ul'Dahs/Limsas inside Ishgard. That helps the "emptyness" feeling. The city is just too big compared to ARR ones (and the tiny Idyllshire), so even a crowd will still make it look empty unless there's a huge amount of people in there.

Why does it matter whether or not people stay in the city? People brought this up before with the 2.0 cities, but nothing of value was lost.

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Originally Posted by MilesSaintboroguh

Why does it matter whether or not people stay in the city? People brought this up before with the 2.0 cities, but nothing of value was lost.

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I think the OP would just like the city to have a bit more life in it comparable to what the other cities have but in reality it would all be hollow anyway as 90% of the people in the cities just linger near the marketboard anyway so I don't think this is an issue that could easily be resolved without a massive restructuring of the cities and the placements of everything.

The inevitable result of unleashing fast travel to as great a degree as seen in FFXIV; you won't see people commuting anywhere near as much because people don't have to commute anywhere near as much. It is up to you to decide if that is a good thing or a bad thing.

IDK during patch release days and when HW first released. Ishgard was live and popular.

The reason its a barren wasteland now is because it simply does not provide anything of importance outside of story and side missions. There is no grand company to join for ishgard.

So unless they add new vendors and unique things in ishgard, it will continue to be an empty city.

There is nothing much in Ishgard that other cities don't provide.. everything is pretty spread out and the city is huge, if you're going to a city for a marketboard, nobody is going to go to Ishgard..
and it still doesn't have a company chest either.. I think an Ishgard Grand Company would be awesome! And definitely get people there more.
But Ishgard is my favorite city, and I'm pretty happy with it not being very busy.. Its a really peaceful place to sit

I dont mind it being as empty as it is. It kindof works. Think of all the things going on with the city. You have the threat of Dragons attacking. There's quite a bit of crime in the city (as seen in the story quests) and.. well its just plain cold and unpleasant. In my opinion the lack of people helps a lot with the atmosphere. It's not supposed to be a bustling city with tons of merchants like Ul'dah or a huge port with tons of trade going in and out like Limsa. It's a cold snowy city, wrecked by war and overflowing with depression and crime. The atmosphere isnt supposed to be bustling and full of people.. it's supposed to be cold and depressing. And I think it pulls it off very well.

Could Ishgard even have a grand company? Perhaps it could open its houses, and you could pick which one to be apart of. Fortempts and etc.

I don't stay in Ishgard because it's cold and depressing. I prefer a warmer, friendlier, more pleasant atmosphere.

I like the sparse player population in Ishgard, on Balmung. Makes me feel like the city really is slow to accept foreigners.

However, a city center where people can hang like they do in Ul'dah adventure guild , or some sort of repeatable daily quests centered in the city can help keep people inside.

I say Ishgard is pretty lively on my server. Every time I sign in, I see a lot of players running around. Jeweled Cozier is definitely the popular spot because people love to either craft or shop there. It's very peaceful and quiet when there's not that many around plus I love the environment which it's very..big and cold lol.

Like a few have already said, it would be spectacular if Ishgard would have their own grand company-I will definitely join; once the housing (apartments) are available, I will be living there.

Slight necro I know, but I've been wondering about this myself. It does look very empty, like a ghost town. I know narratively that it kind of fits, but even within the narrative, for a city of this size there'd be a bit more life to it than it currently has. It needs a few more groups of npcs I think, just milling around. Maybe some soldiers, a few of the great houses and some brumes.