Gimme some of that personal space..

Whenever there is a new patch people tend to pile up on and around the new quest NPCs, so much in fact that you can barely even see them.

Since I like to read and experience the story it kinda bums me out when there are 20+ people standing on and so close around the NPCs that I can't even see what the quest NPCs are doing when I talk to them.

https://i.imgur.com/o4dK25k.png
https://i.imgur.com/Y2ozDeG.png


This can also be a problem even if there is just one single more player doing the same quest. So "Waiting for a week or two until it dies down." Isn't really a great option, especially not when you just want to enjoy the new content right away.

https://i.imgur.com/gBSpZxw.png


What I would love is if there was a toggleable option to hide player, chocobos, mounts and pets within a small radius around myself and the NPC when I'm interacting/talking with them. This way I would actually be able to see the NPCs and better immerse myself in the story.

I can't cosign this hard enough.

It's exciting to see so many people out and about, but it really spoils the experience to not even be able to see who I'm talking to. Please enforce a radius around the NPCs in which only the player and the NPC are rendered.

I KNOW they're only doing canned emotes but I still want to be able to see them. Their expressions, their reactions. SE took time to think about how they should behave, and I want to see it.

I like what they do in WoW where theres an aura around major NPCs that dismount anyone nearby, but also I think keeps people from merging into their character model. You could also make their models bigger than normal during important MSQ chains but that might look silly.

Reminds me of this when trying to talk to an NPC and there are a billion people around.

I'd settle for it just loading the NPCs first, rather than after 200 PCs.

This is why I wait to do the MSQ when it's first released... Let the masses disperse a bit. I'm in no rush; the story quests will always be there. It's not as though they will disappear... unless the servers crash or the world ends (literal or virtual) then I'm SOL.

Poor Alphinaud. Be strong, my friend!

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Originally Posted by Zwipp

https://i.imgur.com/Y2ozDeG.png

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When I see this image, I think of something ever so slightly different.

People are just selfish.

Isn't there a button to hide player names or am I thinking of another MMO?

That said I'd absolutely support a one foot 'no step' zone around NPC's, or at the very least enforcing a no mount area around them. One part of the new Eden storyline was made less impactful because people were just casually standing on the fainted NPC. Making it not only hard to find them but also made an otherwise tense situation kinda hilarious.

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Originally Posted by ElazulHP

Reminds me of this when trying to talk to an NPC and there are a billion people around.

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CANNOT GIVE MORE LIKES FOR A VLDL REFERENCE, DANGIT

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Originally Posted by Raim

I like what they do in WoW where theres an aura around major NPCs that dismount anyone nearby, but also I think keeps people from merging into their character model.

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I liked their solution too, but every time I wish they'd use it in FFXIV I'm reminded of how difficult it would be because SE often moves quest NPCs between quests, even if they're in the same room they were before they might now be standing in a different group of players. Do you then only block people from overlapping their version of the NPC? Would they then be displaced onto someone else's? Would we need to phase players between quests to accommodate that instead?

There are a lot of half-solutions... though for dialog-heavy quest chains I prefer just having it closed off from the public entirely, like the Ocular is great for that. Eden is the worst for it.

Alternatively - hiding players is nice. I found myself going into gpose in Eden so I could hide other players just to see where Thancred was so I could dig through people to talk to him.

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Originally Posted by Enla

Isn't there a button to hide player names or am I thinking of another MMO?

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It's being used in the OP's very screenshots.

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Originally Posted by Tsukino

It's being used in the OP's very screenshots.

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Derp on my part. Thanks for clarifying. xD

Yeah, I don't like waiting too long to do the new MSQ, because I don't want to run into spoilers or anything, but damn...I waited a couple days and started last night hoping that was good enough, and it's still a major crowd around every quest NPC I come across. I think I'm to the point now where I should just keep powering through though.

What really irks me though is all the AFK icons by some of these people's names, like do you want to play the game or not?

If not, then get out of the way before you AFK. "...Huh, I'm a poet, and didn't even know I was rhyming those words, but it happened anyway." - Captain Holt (Brooklyn 99)

I asked Gaia is she was ok if all 4'9" of her could sit on Urianger's shoulders. She told me to STFU.

The stealthing function that is applied while fishing could be reused here just around the NPC I suppose. Sometimes I wonder if I'm disconnecting because the NPCs are doing their little RP walk away and I can't see them doing it due to the mass of people so it just feels like an awkward pause.

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Originally Posted by Enla

Isn't there a button to hide player names or am I thinking of another MMO?

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Not just an overall option, but a temporary toggle, too. If you press and hold 'X' (by default), all the nameplates for anyone but NPCs vanish, and other players become unclickable (so you're guaranteed to be able to click the appropriate NPC). Which is another of those quality-of-life features that I wish was better advertised to players, because a lot of people don't know about it.

(Another being Numpad 0, which will select the nearest interactive object when nothing's selected. Hit it when an interactive object is selected, and it will use that object. Hit it when a dialog box is up, and it will select the default choice. So if you hit Numpad 0 three times quickly near a magitek transporter or aetherial flow or whatever else in a dungeon—or, say, Praetorium—you just rocket through it. The first press selects it, second uses it, third picks 'yes' on the dialog that pops up.)

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Originally Posted by Ammokkx

When I see this image, I think of something ever so slightly different.

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Yeppers...

There's plenty of personal space to be had. You just need to move in a bit closer... wait

At least part of the problem is that player-characters remain in place while the player watches a cutscene, so they pile up.

There's a targeting filter (on PS4 at least) that lets you select which types of objects you can target, so I've got a filter set up that skips over PCs and lets me find the NPCs in the crowd - as well as finding the actual quest target, it means I can find the others and talk to them for extra dialogue before progressing. (It still targets chocobos, though. I guess they're programmed as NPCs.)

I generally try to stand back from the characters before talking to them. It would be a lot easier if people thought to give them some space.

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Originally Posted by Harmonea

I KNOW they're only doing canned emotes but I still want to be able to see them. Their expressions, their reactions. SE took time to think about how they should behave, and I want to see it.

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Yeah, I feel just the same. They still add a little to the story even if they are "canned emotes", so I also want to see them, plus of course, I like in general to see the person/npc who I'm talking to. x)

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Originally Posted by ElazulHP

Reminds me of this when trying to talk to an NPC and there are a billion people around.

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Hahaha! xD

Patch day reminded me of this thread.

https://i.imgur.com/bBmKXvD.jpg

I really hope they implement this some day! :)

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Originally Posted by Zwipp

What I would love is if there was a toggleable option to hide player, chocobos, mounts and pets within a small radius around myself and the NPC when I'm interacting/talking with them. This way I would actually be able to see the NPCs and better immerse myself in the story.

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If you use target filters (default key on keyboard is holding x) you'll click right through people and chocobos etc and only be able to select NPCs or objects.

While it won't make the physical bodies disappear, this is what you want to click through a crowd.

I even made a dumb video showcasing it when enough people were complaining during Ishgard Restoration. (An x is shown on screen every time I hold it ingame)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXZMSapjEZQ
It's been there since day 1 but I guess people never really caught on to it.

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Originally Posted by BiddyBatnana

People are just selfish.

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What does this have to do with anything? It's patch day, people have waited months for new story, off course everyone.. you included, will go do the story right away. Suddenly everyone else is selfish because they won't vacate the premise around a story NPC for you?

I remember reading something on polygon, about people making lines in WoW Classic, to start/finish quests, as not to overpopulate the "personal space" of the NPCs.
Of course, that's a bit too much hardcore, but it should be used as common sense, that other people need access to that NPC, and you should not deny them that. And not just the interaction with them, but the whole "ambience" they were set onto.
I agree with BiddyBatnana that SOME people might be selfish to that point, where they do not seem to worry at all, as how they are affecting other people experiences.
The range for interacting with NPCs is quite enough to leave sufficient area for they to actually appear in everyone's screens.

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Originally Posted by Canadane

If you use target filters (default key on keyboard is holding x) you'll click right through people and chocobos etc and only be able to select NPCs or objects.

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Using the X key to interact with NPC's is a good and wonderful tool indeed, but my point was more aimed towards being able to see the NPC's when talking to them. Not being able to see them really takes away from the immersion imo. >.<

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Originally Posted by HaseoSkeith

I agree with BiddyBatnana that SOME people might be selfish to that point, where they do not seem to worry at all, as how they are affecting other people experiences.

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Personally I can't really blame people for standing too close or literally facehugging the NPC's because most people just want to rush through the quests to unlock the new content. That's why I think it would be nice to have this option to hide other players around the NPC's you're talking to, because then people wouldn't need to be considerate nor would anyone really be bothered by it.

Felt like today was a good day to bring this topic back to life. Lots of excited players piling up on NPCs including myself. Would love to have the option to hide players around me when interacting with NPCs for a better game/story immersion.

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Originally Posted by BiddyBatnana

People are just selfish.

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Good luck with a cure for that. XD lol

Alphinaud savage confirmed??

So cluttered!

playing lalafell problem solved

Easiest solution on the dev side is an aura that hides player characters within its radius except for you. That way important quest NPCs never get swamped and rude individuals can't annoy people (Who arent aware or have not bound the hotkey for targetting interactibles/NPCs).