Gameplay idea: Camping

I created a post in Reddit a few weeks back but didn't gain much traction. I figure I can post in the forums too. Original post here.

ZeplaHQ released a video "How is FFXIV's OPEN WORLD?"

She talks about what we can do to liven up the open world & urged us to think of ideas. I had a small idea & it grew as I listened on. As stated in the title, it's Camping!

Inspired by Zepla & FFXV Noctis & the boys

CAMPING!

Activities

• Form a party
  
• Pick a scenic spot (points awarded)
  
• Set up camp, camp fire, seats, food.
  
• Gather, fish or hunt nearby for food (points awarded)
  
• Craft food & consume (points awarded)
  
• Take GPose photos (points awarded)
  
• Participate in FATES in the area (points awarded)
  
• Log off in the camp for small buffs the next time you log in
  
• Camp tent will be visible after you log off & will be gone after the camping trip ends. (Maybe have an FC flag at the side of the camp area because why not?)
  
• Buffs (below) will be awarded after certain hours logged out in camp

Rewards

• Extended hours of current best food buffs (good for raiders)
  
• Small additional tomestones earned from Roulette (good for casuals)
  
• Small additional gil earned for a period of time (good for everyone)
  
• Small additional exp earned for a period of time (good for alts or newbies)
  
• Whatever extra currencies, mounts, minions they might wanna throw in
  
• Clear a slot for Wondrous Tails or earn Second Chances
  
• Note that this is not meant to be a grind. Maybe something you can do once a week with friends for a little something extra
  
• For added complexity
  
• Certain weather conditions / locations / time of day may give more rewards.
  
• Preparation of camping gears may give extra points
  
• Have a theme each week like Fashion Report where we have to guess the best site to camp.
  
• Maybe certain FATES, Fish, gathering items can only spawn during camping trips.

Continue on next post

Possible Pros

• Fill the open world with activities
  
• Decent FC activity you can do with your FC mates or even strangers
  
• A meaningful way to appreciate and interact with the many breathtaking places in Eorzea (and the First!) which would otherwise be untouched after a quest or 2.

Issues to be resolved (Possible Cons)

• How the points are to be awarded? How do you award a GPose photo?
  
• Depending on how it's implemented, certain spots will be filled with tents while other spots are empty.
  
• Do everyone have to log off around the same time? How much log off hours will be ideal?
  
• Takes much effort and dev time, probably not a priority.

Do you think it's a good idea? Or do you think it will never work because _____? Or maybe you have points to add on to this? If you see anyone with better ideas than listed here, be sure to upvote them for awareness!

I dunno how far this will go. Will the devs see this & create something inspired from this? I have heard that they actually read feedbacks from Reddit as well. I dunno. But I figure it's not that much work to juz type this out, so here it is.

Not to be rude or anything, but you can camp out as it is, just find somewhere out in the open world and sit on the ground/mount for a couple hours, easy peasy.

That aside, and to be more constructive, this is basically impossible and relatively pointless for the devs to implement, it feels a lot like the kind of thing you could do in Final Fantasy XV and while it was a lot of fun in that game it's not really the kind of content that would do well in an MMO setting. Namely the vast majority of players want rewarding content, something fun and RP-ish while mellow and relaxing like this just won't cut it, not when there's so much more that can or should be added first, no offense again, but it's just not the kind of thing the dev team would invest time and effort towards.

Further with the incredibly limited engine functionality and the struggle the dev team has with even adding something simple like hair styles I doubt a fully fledged camping minigame/activity would be something they even could accomplish without MONTHS if not a full year of development.

I really doubt it'd serve any purpose as a feature like you mentioned, honestly.

But...If we were to ask for something simple? Maybe a placeable campfire that is visable for everyone so long as you're in the area, and dissapears when you leave? If server load is an issue, make it so that you cant have a minion out if you want to set up a campfire. No bonuses, just a campfire, maybe for RP or for screenshot purposes.

No offence taken! :)
I agree this might be a "waste of time" for some people. I definitely think this isn't a priority. Having said that, we have seen some "pointless" features added to the game over the years. One might argue that housing is pointless too. And I'm slowly realising that the devs spend significant effort catering to this part of the community. The latest being the "Fashion items" & GPose features. Some love them. Others, not so much.

Thanks for your feedback nonetheless! :)

I don't see an issue with the idea in itself. It sucks that tech limitations just seems to bar pretty much any good idea that's posted on the forums. I'll still hope for the best though and support it.

With regards to technical limitations; I feel that if it can handle Hunt trains (barely, I know), it can handle a few campers. XD
But what do I know? I'm not a game dev. If it is indeed an issue, it's a fair point.

If you want to gather or craft, you can already do it.

If you want to participate in FATEs, you can already do it.

If you want to use gpose, you can already do it.

If you want to find scenic spots, the sightseeing logs already exist.

Nothing about what you propose is really adding anything new to do to the game outside of giving trolls the ability to set up a tent over the location of known quest objectives or gathering nodes then walking away to watch players trying to do those quest objectives or gather get upset when they can't. Going into the open world to do the content that already exists there is going to be a lot more unpleasant when you're stuck looking at a bunch of abandoned tents.

It's a decent idea for a co-op game where there's only a handful of players present by invitation on a local client. It's a bad idea for a MMO with thousands online sharing the same game server.

There's already quite a bit of content in the open world zones. Some of it is one time - MSQ, side quests, sightseeing logs. Other is repeatable - hunts, FATEs, gathering, beast tribes. There's plenty already going on there for players to do if they're interested. It's okay for some players not to be interested in the content there.

What needs to kept in perspective is that the open world zones are primarily a vehicle for the MSQ and SE has to be cautious in the additional content that gets added to them. Add too much content so more players are in the zones at all times and congestion/latency becomes an issue. It's disruptive to the players working on the MSQ, not to mention the other content.

I'm not saying there isn't room for SE to add a bit more, but it has to be done with caution and for good reason. At least make it content that is different from what we already have instead of just reusing the content that already exists to give more rewards.

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Originally Posted by Yuki_Murasaki

With regards to technical limitations; I feel that if it can handle Hunt trains (barely, I know), it can handle a few campers. XD
But what do I know? I'm not a game dev. If it is indeed an issue, it's a fair point.

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I would imagine the players experience issues during the hunt trains would argue it's not handling them.

Having a bunch of tents in random locations being added into the list of things the servers need to communicate and local clients need to render won't help.

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Originally Posted by Jojoya

If you want to gather or craft, you can already do it...

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Hey there, thanx for the reply.
(Respectfully) Based on the statement made, I can also say if you wanna gather/craft, you can already do that. So you don't need Ishgard Restoration or Beast Tribe. I personally feel we can use existing systems to create new gameplay like they've been doing anyway. And make it different enough to make people interested in it? (Or at least I hope). But I guess it feels too same-old same-old to you. That's ok. :)

I've personally seen players mentioning they'd like to do meaningful things in the world. Not juz finish the MSQ & get done with it. Some felt that it's a pity since the world is so beautiful. Hence I thought this might satisfy that thought.

Not saying this idea is any good. So I can respect ur counter views. Thank you. :)

If it not being rewarding is an issue, what if after camping, you/your party "find" things once the camping section is over. Stuff you could find could be like small amounts of gil, gathering items you can get in the area, maybe some rarer, location specific items, some older gear and/or glamour pieces, ect. The more camping points you get, the bigger there reward.

While an interesting idea, tying tangible rewards/buffs is probably a bad idea, especially in the form that you're proposing with tents and campsites remaining in-world for extended amounts of time. As for RP purposes why not ask for a stationary campfire minion in the same vein as the wind-up sun/moon or cushion minions?

Many of the buffs you proposed already exist as FC buffs which anyone can join one if they choose, so if anything I'd agree with making a temporary sanctuary zone centered around the campfire for party members as it'd be an overall more balanced reward but one that makes the existing towns still relevant since you can log off in them and still get the bonus while campfires wouldn't. Others you suggested upset grind balance or would in fact become necessary and not a spontaneous sort of activity.

Overall not a terrible idea but needs more thought to balance.

FFXV style?

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Originally Posted by Mimilu

If it not being rewarding is an issue...

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Finding things feels like gathering to me. :p Though if it can be a new game system, maybe it can be interesting too.

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Originally Posted by SilverObi

While an interesting idea...

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I get you. But I was thinking of in incentivising people doing it. Hence the kind of buff that everyone can find useful. But at the same time, it shouldn't become a necessity in raiding that people would gind for it. Hence I suggested this to be once-a-week kind of thing.

Honestly, I thought of tents/flags on site merely for bragging rights. XD Also a kind of FC pride thingie if you're doing it with ur FC-mates. Imagine a fresh-player doing random things in the world & they see this camp site with their FC flag.

A temporary sanctuary zone is what I thought of too initially. Like what tymora said, FF15. But I thought it'll be better if the players can pick any spot they want. Whether or not it's feasible to implement though, that's another matter.

You're right to say that it needs more balance. I was merely throwing out ideas. And I feel your points are definately worth considering!

I’ll agree with the sentiment it probably won’t happen due to technical specifications. It’s a neat idea for some people for sure, and clever, but... whats the point?

Yes you have linked in a lot of things but nothing specific that would encourage camping. At all. Or at least nothing that has been well thought out, exp is a bad idea, tomes probably a bad idea, extending buffs, bad idea.

There’s absolutely nothing to gain from this content, interesting as it is but there’s nothing realistic enough to justify that kind of server load. But hey at least you threw it out here.

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Originally Posted by Mimilu

If it not being rewarding is an issue, what if after camping, you/your party "find" things once the camping section is over. Stuff you could find could be like small amounts of gil, gathering items you can get in the area, maybe some rarer, location specific items, some older gear and/or glamour pieces, ect. The more camping points you get, the bigger there reward.

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It could also be linked to random interactions with local beastmen / NPC's. Imagine, sitting somewhere in the world and a Goblin walks over and initiates an exchange of tongueflaps (conversation) or tries to chase you out by throwing a Gobbiebomb into the camp? After the encounter, you can get a reward (XP, Gil, Items, Tomes, etc). Or a patrol from the nearest hub, finding your camp out in the middle of nowhere and inquires about what you're doing out here.

That would make the world feel more alive.

The purpose of the Ishgard Restoration was to create an end game for crafting and gathering, not just give crafters and gatherers something else to do. The combat classes already have their end game in Savage raids and Extreme trials. You can't put combat end game into the open world zones when those accommodate players of all skill levels.

What about something more along the lines of a scavenger hunt to go with your camping? Party sets up campsite only visible to them (so it doesn't detract from the game play of others). This generates a series of interactive objects around the zone (just as they appear for certain quests). The party is given a time limit to find and interact with as many of the objects as possible. This may or may not create key items for the player's inventory. The player then has to return to the camp before time expires. If key items were created, they need to be "given" to related objects at the campsite (meat and vegetables would be placed in a cookpot, bedrolls located would be placed in the tent, handaxes and wood branches would be placed at the campfire).

The more objects located, the better the campsite looks and the greater the reward currency generated. The reward could be something like the bicolor gemstones that can be used to purchase vanity items (camping themed glamours, new minions, etc) at a vendor.

And I just realized I didn't mention treasure maps as another form of content we already have for the open world zones. There really is plenty to be doing as it is. I think the real problem is some players don't like the rewards for the content and it's different rewards that they want.

While I would love to see any effort by the Devs to make the world and all its zones more populated and lively, I agree that this would be more trouble for the devs than it'd be worth. It is absolutely a good idea to bring up with your own FC though. I wish more FC's thought of stuff like this.

I have no idea how to implement or improve the idea, but it would be cool to be able to put a tent up and let the chocobo drink some water.

We could even pick different styles of tent (like the Xaela's). Maybe make it a feature on the Steppes as a test? I dunno, I just like it.

Hi Yukiharu. I did also watch that video ZeplaHQ made. I very much appreciated it. I like the open world, I especially like to pick a good scenic spot to level my jobs from LV1-LV50. Yes, I do FATEs and mob grinding all on my own. The reward for me is that I enjoy it. People say to others, you do not have to rush, so levelling slower is fine for me. I just make sure I use my main Job to do everything else the way that the majority of others do.

I like some of your ideas of camping, it sounds like a good community builder. The best part of this game is when the community come together.

if camping was just cosmetic like parasols i'd be ok with that. no to tying any rewards to it though. no buffs or currency rewards. purely there for RP flavor.

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Originally Posted by Yuki_Murasaki

Issues to be resolved (Possible Cons)

• Takes much effort and dev time, probably not a priority.

Do you think it's a good idea? Or do you think it will never work because _____?

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Largest con: Folks looking for rewards will zerg this content much the same way you currently see hordes of high level characters swooping down on level 1-20 outdoor areas now for Yokai Watch FATE farming. Afterwards: crickets.

Smaller con: In order to get the content you'd like to see, independent instances for each 'camp site' would have to be created, which basically removes the players from the Overworld. 'Camping' in such an instance could be pretty fun, but defeats the purpose behind the proposal.

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Originally Posted by DPZ2

Smaller con: In order to get the content you'd like to see, independent instances for each 'camp site' would have to be created, which basically removes the players from the Overworld. 'Camping' in such an instance could be pretty fun, but defeats the purpose behind the proposal.

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What if you could camp with players and/or NPCs?
There could be a normal camping trip with a party of 4 and a big trip with 8 and any empty spots will be filled with random NPCs (the story could be that these are the NPCs you could get to come on such a short notice). As you go through the story and different questlines, you could gain NPCs in your NPC pool. Maybe certain NPCs could have like friendship meter that you can raise by interacting with them, which will make them more likely to come when you queue.
People have wanted a dating sim in the game and this could be close-enough. >w>

We could have a bonfire minion and have it not move. That could work!

My kingdom for a stationary campfire minion (A la the cushion, but light source like the sun things)

I would also like more place able accessories like tents. Doesn’t have to do anything but exist and I would love it.

Tent as fashion accessory, campfire as minion. Even have it be only visible to your party if need be.