Creeping around the ghost town

3.0 player here. I'm just taking my time with FFXIV. While I miss the hustle and bustle (bustle?) of busying towns like in the days of 2.0, I also enjoy the benefit of content that has been shifted to boost people right through it including cheap prices for higher-end mats and gear that is more or less ignorable now.

I said this a while ago... or maybe in another game. The core zones in FFXIV are very much ignored and ghost-towny. Like... I've been the only person in... most of Heavensward maps... (I'm leveling my DoH/DoL jobs... so I'm flying all over). The only life I really see is when I.... well DF isn't much life as people are autopiloting their alternative jobs. The main cities has a few people afk/emoting which is nice. I think the MB is the only place that proves people even care or persist in pre 4.0 content.

My point, SE don't forget that you have 2 other versions of your game that people now only have an option to go through. If I were a new player (on Gilgamesh which is very populated) and ran around looking for life, I'd better trying to find some sort of beastmaster or BLU job because there just aren't players in the wild. Yes this is a heavily instanced-based game and of course power creep voids old content. But how about a introducing a persistent means to bring players together that's not meaningless events and outside of pvp (which still divides the community)? A system that is rewarding for all players and relates to the story of the game rather than some segmented add-on that impacts nothing larger than that space?

FFXI had a number of systems/dynamic events that played into a larger system (though they died out when the focus shifted to the segmented end-game players). Conquest, Campaign, a few other modes that seemed to pop up like FATES and actively effected the larger game.

I thoroughly enjoy this game, but I know that I'm existed in a largely ignored content space. I just want to see a mutually beneficial reason for players to populate the old territories rather than this game fall victim as others to marching players down a procession of new to void and back to new content. I want to see "jump" items disincentive. I don't have the answer but am one that struggles within the problem.

Or perhaps it's not a problem. Perhaps this will be a larger move to make zones offline. Without undersized (and I don't think you can do FATES unsynced), most old content is impossible to complete on your own nor would I recommend doing so. From the point of an old gamer that has been to endgame in other MMOs, it's very hard to motivate new players to keep playing if they essentially have a completely different gaming experience as the older community. The old content has moved from enjoyable to a choir serving as a gate for non-jumpers to hop through. DF is another subject, I just wanted to focus on the actual world that exists before the next "point 0" drops and again abandons voided territories.

~Concerned but hopeful

I'm not sure I really understand your problem - maybe because I dont share it (and thats not only because I'm "done" with the old zones and am now contributing to the ghost-town-problem by mainly hanging around my own house).

But let me tackle this from two sides.

First, the open world: Looking at most HW and SB maps, they're huge. They're wild. Its wilderness, after all - not excatly the place to "logical" meet a lot of people. I understand the whole "this is an MMO"-appeal and obviously you want to share this world with other players, but honestly it never bothered me when the maps were empty. It makes lore-sense to me, so to speak, that there arent 100 people running around in the snowy Highlands. That I dont meet someone every minute I walk through a dense forest filled with monsters. I dont mind those maps being sort of empty, because they dont look as if they're supposed to be be buzzing with life in the first place. Seeing the cities being epmty at times is another thing - ghost twons are indeed a bit sad, but not having a lot of people running around in the Hinterlands? Looks perfectly natural to me.
What do you gain from seeing a lot of people running around, minding their buisness on a world map anyways?
From a gameplay-prespective you also dont need to worry: FATEs scale based on how many people cleared the last FATEs on that map. If there arent many people in an area doing FATEs, the FATEs will get easier and you'll be able to solo 90% of them.

Second... since you're bringing up FFXI and how people dont talk in DF: Maybe this is yet again a case of someone who has to wake up and realise that socialising in this game works differently than what they're used to from their old MMOs. I've never played FFXI, but I continue to hear stories how people basically just sat somewhere, chatting for hours because they had to wait for CDs. Or something to spawn. And I do get that you want that back, but it simply works different in this game.
Why would I want to have a conversation in DF, that will slow down the run, when I'm actually already in a voice-call with my boyfriend anyways? I'm in that dungeon to play the game, to get my tomes, my exp, my whatever - not to have a conversation with someone. If I want to have conversations, I'll have them with my friends, my LS, my FC...

You brought up FFXI - from what I understand the gameplay worked different there, a lot slower, minute-long CDs and nothing in between. Look at Eureka, FFXI-inspired content, and how people realised that their chatty-exp-chain parties dont work with FFXIV because it has a much faster combat-system, that requires you to push a button every few seconds, leaving less time to chat.
Fighting and chatting just doesnt go well together in this game.

I believe most people socialise within their groups - FCs, Linkshells, friends... - and I honestly dont see a problem with that. Not even with it just being those groups.

Your problem seems nostalgic and artificial to me, to be honest - no insult intended, I can understand wanting the good old times back, but: How good were those, really?
What is to gain from a lot of people just standing around in a city except it looking like a lot of people are playing the game (or not if they're just afk)?
How does it add to your enjoyment of the game when the whole dangerous forest is crowded? To me that would just look weird and out of place.
Open world content doesnt require parties - and if you want to socialise, there are way, way better ways to do that than DF.

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Originally Posted by DawgPilez

Or perhaps it's not a problem. Perhaps this will be a larger move to make zones offline. Without undersized (and I don't think you can do FATES unsynced), most old content is impossible to complete on your own nor would I recommend doing so. From the point of an old gamer that has been to endgame in other MMOs, it's very hard to motivate new players to keep playing if they essentially have a completely different gaming experience as the older community. The old content has moved from enjoyable to a choir serving as a gate for non-jumpers to hop through. DF is another subject, I just wanted to focus on the actual world that exists before the next "point 0" drops and again abandons voided territories.

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I'm not quite sure what you mean by this aswell - what old content in the open world cant be completed on your own? Except for a few FATEs you can still very much enjoy all the content there is.
What content is a "choir" to you? The only content you're required to do in order to reach endgame is the mainstory - this is an FF-game, so a story-focus is to be expected. And I'd say when it comes to the mainstory you're benefitting from having less people around - at least if you care about the story. Felt kinda weird being sent out into the wilderness where no one ever goes - only to get there and be surronded by 50 other people.

And dungeons and trials are ofc impossible to complete on your own - it is an MMO after all. But thats why DF and PF and FCs are a thing: so you dont need to do that by yourself.
Open world content however... no problem for the most part.
So whats the issue?

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Originally Posted by DawgPilez

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I don't think its a matter of concern. The issue simply lies on "Why do I have to be in this area/map/town?" Whenever there's a new thing to do with rewards, people flock to them and then slowly they die out. The "open world" is not really threatening and eventually, said danger is irrelevant.

If you notice, events are still in the old 3 city-states, I don't think there's been an event that has Ishgard or Kugane (now) sharing in the festivities or having seasonal events of their own. So, while the old zones are still tended to in a way, there's really so much they can do to pull veteran players back to what they have seen thousands of times.

Instances and housing aside, you'll always find people at the Limsa Aetherite and imo, its a good spot to socialize. LS, FC and instance-wise, just talking about random things can always help. All I can say is that if it isn't happening in instances, make it happen.

I've been leveling an alt on Midgardsormr and there have been people in every zone, including HW zones as I open and explore those. Maybe it's the time of day you're playing, most of my alt playtime is evenings and weekends.

I know nobody want's to hear it but part the reason zones regardless if they're new, old, semi-old feel empty is because everyone is hanging out in their private chambers/apartments/homes these days. Despite the fact the wards also feel dead, it's actually just players being inside their houses, (most often locked) mixed with the fact that there're so many housing wards between four districts plus subdivisions that it scatters players out enough to feel empty.

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Originally Posted by bounddreamer

I've been leveling an alt on Midgardsormr and there have been people in every zone, including HW zones as I open and explore those. Maybe it's the time of day you're playing, most of my alt playtime is evenings and weekends.

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I'd like to add that server choice is a pretty big one too. A lot of people like to say server community doesn't matter because of cross-server features, but this is definitely a point where it still kind of does matter.

A raid-centric/gameplay-centric server like Gilgamesh will naturally see people stay in the newer zones because...well, that's where the content is at. So it's not a big surprise to me that OP feels the lower leveled zones are barren there.

Then as Vivi above me said: some servers have an unspoken culture that most "in person" socialization takes place in FC homes/personal housing/apartments/etc.

Preferred worlds (Like Midgardsormr right now) have a surge in both brand new players and transfers alike, which means you're far more likely to run into other people doing the same content as you if you're a late runner. Because of that, you have a higher chance of meeting folks "in the wild" so to speak. It's also a fresh chance to form new "cultural norms" on previous servers.

Then there's RP servers (Balmung, Mateus, and I believe Omega?). These servers will always keep the lower areas populated, even Heavensward areas, because they care more for setting and in-person socializing than any other server type. There's also several non RP-ers that will meet up in the same manner and people-watch/help participate in events because why not? Everyone else is.

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Originally Posted by DawgPilez

I thoroughly enjoy this game, but I know that I'm existed in a largely ignored content space. I just want to see a mutually beneficial reason for players to populate the old territories rather than this game fall victim as others to marching players down a procession of new to void and back to new content. I want to see "jump" items disincentive. I don't have the answer but am one that struggles within the problem.

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I agree with Mahrze in that the game does already try to localize events in older areas, though some more than others. That being said even on Balmung I just reached Mor Dohna on my new main and I was shell-shocked to see how empty it was. So I totally get what you mean. Though it could be a combination of the time of day (Tuesday evening, not many folks on to begin with even on that server) and it not being an ideal place for that kind of gameplay.

Honestly if you're wanting more in-person activity in lower-leveled zones...you might want to consider trying an alt on other servers. Each server does indeed have its own vibe, which sounds like you're looking for that to avoid feeling like a ghost town. I would definitely consider trying one of the preferred worlds if all you're wanting is folks in the overworld. Or you could give Mateus a shot if you don't mind folks RP-ing. They're incredibly social and more likely to strike up a conversation (not RP, of course).

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Originally Posted by Vivi_Bushido

I know nobody want's to hear it but part the reason zones regardless if they're new, old, semi-old feel empty is because everyone is hanging out in their private chambers/apartments/homes these days. Despite the fact the wards also feel dead, it's actually just players being inside their houses, (most often locked) mixed with the fact that there're so many housing wards between four districts plus subdivisions that it scatters players out enough to feel empty.

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How do you know that everyone is alone inside their locked houses/apartments if you can't even go inside to see them?

I too am taking things slowly and casually. With so much to take in I'd like to enjoy the process. Ghost towns or no ghost towns.

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Originally Posted by Penthea

How do you know that everyone is alone inside their locked houses/apartments if you can't even go inside to see them?

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Friend-list, linkshells, Free Company page, and player search can all list the locations of individuals. While I can't say for certain if someone is inside of a locked house, do think I can safely assume it if you know where they live, and it labels they're inside of a home. Of course that would be an accusation so I won't pretend like I do know.

Your mistake was saying *FF11* if you left just those two letter and two numbers out then your comment would of been well recieved. FF11 IS Kryptonite to most people.

I played 2.0 during beta and when it first released and then I was a little late to the HW party, so I got the ghost-town effect as well (although maybe not quite as much since I was only a few months late). That being said, I MUCH preferred the ghost-town experience if I'm being honest. It totally killed my immersion and experience when I was playing 2.0 and saw a MILLION other people talking to the NPCs that I was speaking with and crowding around certain areas that were marketed as "very dangerous" or just seemed like in general they should be rather abandoned.

Contrast that to my experience playing HW and WOW. It made the story feel so much more organic. Just me and the NPCs by ourselves. I would run into a few people now and then which felt natural and welcomed. I ran into a lot of people in the cities which was nice. I liked it a lot. In fact, I liked it so much that I decided to purposely put off playing SB until a bit after the release so that I could have the same experience again. And I was pretty glad for it too, especially after hearing about the (not totally unexpected) login issues and server failures.

Also @Penthea, you can do a player search and take a look at gridania, limsa, uldah and kugane to see a huge list of players who are currently inside their homes. It's often a very sizable number.