The case for Archaeology

So FF14 needs some more to keep us occupied at end game for people interested in the lore. There are almost CONSTANT references to the Alagan empire and events in the MSQ and everywhere else.

My suggestion is take a feature from WoW that is completely ignored by the development staff and make it so much better for FF14.

Archaeology!!!

Imagine a side job called Archaeologist with abilities to dig up not only click and point relics but rare articfacts or legendary items that can be used in some other crafting professions?

Imagine a job where you dig up the parts to build a mount! or where you dig up deep lore history of the Allagan empire?? We need a system where devs can just dump lore and not just in random books laying on the ground in dungeons.

Come on Square Enix I know you can do this!!!

I would have loved to have a Gathering job like this. Basically going to areas digging up clues, reading ancient texts etc, perhaps have it linked with the Sightseeing log as well.

Edit: you'd think with the Collection menu getting added this could be a great place to put lots of lore you discover around the game.

ESO just implemented this as well.

Imagine being able to go to the floating city in La Noscea or the Forgotten city in Thanalan, or even the plethora of ruins we see in places like North Shroud, which I assumed were going to be a dungeon at some point since there are doors but has been largely ignored. Not to mention all the neat things that are scattered around all the post ARR zones that get 0 attn or mention.

What I would love to be able to do is have some of these old dungeons open up after we clear them so we can gather or excavate in them. Imagine going into Copperbell Mines, or St Mocianne's to gather and Keeper of the Lake, Qarn, Amdapor Keep or lost city of Amdapor to excavate. Would be a-m-a-z-i-n-g

Archeology would be great.
Content for the open world is always nice to have.
It could have the same "special spot" like fisher.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by MicahZerrshia

ESO just implemented this as well.

Imagine being able to go to the floating city in La Noscea or the Forgotten city in Thanalan, or even the plethora of ruins we see in places like North Shroud, which I assumed were going to be a dungeon at some point since there are doors but has been largely ignored. Not to mention all the neat things that are scattered around all the post ARR zones that get 0 attn or mention.

---

This would be amazing. I think people hear Archaeology and automatically think the grindfest in WoW that is very unrewarding and extremely click this go here with very few updates. ESO systems sounds amazing and gives the lore devs a place to dump free content.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Puremallace

This would be amazing. I think people hear Archaeology and automatically think the grindfest in WoW that is very unrewarding and extremely click this go here with very few updates. ESO systems sounds amazing and gives the lore devs a place to dump free content.

---

ESO also gives you gear, housing items and various collectables. I would be all over this in XIV for the housing items alone, but add onto that glam items, minions, mounts, etc etc etc. You could even throw zone specific items in, like atma or special fate drops. All while giving us some delicious lore.

I feel like if FFXIV did arch it would be straight up better than in most other MMOs so yes, absolutely, I'd be all over this.

Good suggestion, I'd be all for it.

I think this would be quite fun.


I had originally suggested it have to do with chocobo content, like chocobo hot and cold- I think it has potential to be smoother since with WoW archeology you hoped on and off your mount but if you bound it to chocobos then you technically don't have that extra on off- just pure archeology. Also with archeology they could make some variations to the mini game and long term value.


Doesn't have to relate to chocobos, just think it would be a good opportunity for chocobo content and make it more FF related too.

+1. There is a lot of lore one can get from NPCs or on the wiki, but it’d be nice to have it all down in readable form.

+10 if it’s in the form of a museum with unlockable bits a la Animal Crossing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by kaynide

+1. There is a lot of lore one can get from NPCs or on the wiki, but it’d be nice to have it all down in readable form.

+10 if it’s in the form of a museum with unlockable bits a la Animal Crossing.

---

Why not give it the BLU treatment, where it gets a whole minigame in the form of a museum that has you go out searching for specific lore themes, like a request to investigate the ruins in Ul'dah. Completing it gives an almost housing esque reward where you can build your own museum displays for others to come see based on the stuff you've investigated/uncovered lol.

I'm interested in this.

Would love to have artefacts on my housing - and *I* found'em!

Also, lore, and few technical limitations.

I need this for lore reasons!!!!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Rofel

I'm interested in this.

Would love to have artefacts on my housing - and *I* found'em!

Also, lore, and few technical limitations.

---

Digging up the bones of the ancient Tyrannosaurus Lalafell where they ruled the world with their giant size and giant feet and keeping it in my apartment to scare away would he thieves/trespassers!

Just bumping this because I think it needs more attn

I would love something like this. I enjoy lore in the game and would really enjoy this.

I don't really gather but I do like the idea :)

Most of the ideas I see for a new gathering job aren't good. But this one absolutely is! There are so many dig sites already in Eorzea (I can think of three right off the top of my head with no effort.) There are so many zones they could reuse for this, like the PVP zones on the Cartenau Flats.

You get an updoot for this idea!

Yes, Very good idea.
Lots of stuff on those Encyclopedias that also should be in game!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Puremallace

So FF14 needs some more to keep us occupied at end game for people interested in the lore. There are almost CONSTANT references to the Alagan empire and events in the MSQ and everywhere else.

My suggestion is take a feature from WoW that is completely ignored by the development staff and make it so much better for FF14.

Archaeology!!!

Imagine a side job called Archaeologist with abilities to dig up not only click and point relics but rare articfacts or legendary items that can be used in some other crafting professions?

Imagine a job where you dig up the parts to build a mount! or where you dig up deep lore history of the Allagan empire?? We need a system where devs can just dump lore and not just in random books laying on the ground in dungeons.

Come on Square Enix I know you can do this!!!

---

Now this is what a limited job should be. Not taking up a potential to be included from an established job that was never excluded from playing the main game, but something new that fills a collect-em-up niche that has actual intrinsic motivations (sure, you want to complete your list, but you get useful information with this idea, and only some particle effects with blu)

My suggestion: Main hand is a brush, off hand is a dustpan. :>

The Sightseeing Log already delivers a massive ton of lore. Strangely enough, so does Triple Triad, if you read the cards. (Which is why I have almost every card in the game.) Beast tribes also cover a lot of the content you have in mind, delivering lore / mounts / minions while also presenting players with ways to level their Jobs.

Archaeology from WOW would be sorta redundant with the first two features, and less useful than having a new beast tribe.

Notably, Final Fantasy had "Chocobo's Hot and Cold" mini game before WOW even existed, and it's telling that this game doesn't have it yet. It's quit similar to WOW's Archaeology.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Floortank

The Sightseeing Log already delivers a massive ton of lore. Strangely enough, so does Triple Triad, if you read the cards. (Which is why I have almost every card in the game.) Beast tribes also cover a lot of the content you have in mind, delivering lore / mounts / minions while also presenting players with ways to level their Jobs.

Archaeology from WOW would be sorta redundant with the first two features, and less useful than having a new beast tribe.

Notably, Final Fantasy had "Chocobo's Hot and Cold" mini game before WOW even existed, and it's telling that this game doesn't have it yet. It's quit similar to WOW's Archaeology.

---

Well if it was chocobo hot and cold it could be part of a chocobo beast tribe so... with your rebuttal in place we could still get archaeology ;).

That said I also think they could make a Rowena museum or something for lore and have it be a home base for sightseeing log, books as someone asked in another thread (place to read what you've seen before, basically a codex), and archaeology. Marrying some of the exploration content together, can make some better rewards and other things too- like getting inspired from GW2's jumping puzzles or what ever have you. Perhaps also linking in treasure and hunt content, sort of a museum and open world content hub the player can be part of. Since the other hubs of the game will usually relate to MSQ / instanced content.

I think FFXIV's hot and cold has easy potential to be better that WoW's arch. simply due to setting, easy to expand and contract mechanics, and play process- so If anyone like WoW's I feel FFXIV is on the right track automatically to be better with that as a base concept. Also might see something cute like some archaeology sites opening up chocobo dungeons so you go straight from digging to zoning into an area and completing content with your boco, if they had it where you can mount for some of it inside the dungeon might add some cute puzzles and such related to chocobos as well (like add gliding and such, double pressure plate 'stay here' etc stuff).

So I guess I'm asking why you think it's telling, is there a reason or are you just suggesting there might be one that you don't know of why they haven't done it yet?

To me that you mention FF had it first and it's chocobo related makes it a stronger reason why it 'should' be in FFXIV over WoW since chocobos are a fairly large part of FF games but are easily rather unimportant to the FFXIV experience (particularly here since mounts are hyper diverse unlike in other FF games).

Of course just for OP's sake saying again doesn't have to relate to chocobos- clearly inserting my preferred bias here on how it's implemented lol but I think it could be neat no matter chocobo or not. I just think 'why not?' they can dig, scratch, clear dust, echo-kweh-location, it's a past FF specific concept (as you mentioned), chocobo's need content, the mechanics would make a lot of sense and visual theme would flow vs competing with miner's imagery (rather than having two ground digging jobs, with a lot of mechanical / visual tool overlap), etc. Also because it's related to a mini-game unlike say sightseeing logs which are finite archaeology (or the upgraded/expanded hot and cold FFXIV chocobo game) could continue to run past finishing the log, not only for treasures a bit like a unique spin on the chests we have now (chocobo dungeons portals maybe sometimes too?), someone mentioned being able to go through old dungeons for archaeology and I feel this could be a good example of a chocobo dungeon feature as they could act as backup, movement increase even, but also help keep the content smooth and focused on enjoying the world (good focus philosophy for the idea of archaeology as a job).

Also could have mini-game in the saucer next to chocobo racing (hot and cold MGP).

Which as an aside honestly, imo, is pretty fun (racing), but I feel started out way too sluggish and slow lol, kind of wish they collapsed the ranks down a bit and everything started a bit faster/turned better, first race felt like my chocobo had never ran in it's life and I don't really want to experience that part over and over :P.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Floortank

TArchaeology from WOW would be sorta redundant with the first two features, and less useful than having a new beast tribe.

---

You need to look beyond the narrow boundaries of defaulting to WoW my man and see the other games who have implemented similar systems well. None of us asked for a system like WoWs

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Puremallace

So FF14 needs some more to keep us occupied at end game for people interested in the lore. There are almost CONSTANT references to the Alagan empire and events in the MSQ and everywhere else.

My suggestion is take a feature from WoW that is completely ignored by the development staff and make it so much better for FF14.

Archaeology!!!

Imagine a side job called Archaeologist with abilities to dig up not only click and point relics but rare articfacts or legendary items that can be used in some other crafting professions?

Imagine a job where you dig up the parts to build a mount! or where you dig up deep lore history of the Allagan empire?? We need a system where devs can just dump lore and not just in random books laying on the ground in dungeons.

Come on Square Enix I know you can do this!!!

---

Sounds like a cool idea! I love excavation and would love to see it in FF14!