Island Sanctuary suggestions and ideas

So far it seems that most people love this new piece of content. Its simplicity makes it attractive and fun to play on those few moments where we all want to relax for a bit.

But while I feel like the majority of people has positive thoughts about it, I'm also sure that we all think that some stuff could be improved, and that it would also be a shame if this was another content that gets abandoned once the next expansion comes. There's a lot of potential here. So I thought, what if we start a thread to post suggestions and ideas (not so much as just raw criticism and opinions about the current content, but things that we would like to see implemented) that we think that would make Island Sanctuary even better for the long run, and last beyond the current expansion?

I'll start with a couple of ideas that I've had while playing in the island:

ISLE SPRINT

Change the skill to a toggle. There's no reason to not have it so when it's an ability that can be activated all the time due to it's low CD, but that gets annoying to use when you want to keep it up for more than 20 seconds. Yes, this is my biggest current gripe, and it should be an easy fix.

WoL TOWN

The island has enough space in the fields to allow for a small town to be built, even with a couple of small farms, and without it getting in the way of the gathering resources. It would be cool if, in the future, we could recruit or accept normal folks looking for a change and that would like to settle on our island. It could be the next project for our island after the current one has ended, where after the WoL has already set up the bases for living there and is self-suficient, we start looking to build our own community. WoL town? I can see it being cool. On top of that, we could recycle our GC squadron to make them the island's official security force.

The gameplay would consist on starting and managing the new town, finding or accepting the new denizens of the isle (each with their own jobs, etc.), solving random issues that could arise, taking care of its economy (built on the current market minigame), etc. Basically the same as now, but with a small twist. It would still be relaxing and not overall complex.

ISLAND RUINS

Imagine that during one of their destruction sprees... I mean... construction sprees, our mammets uncover a cave that was hidden under the rocky terrain. A cave with some ancient ruins for us to explore, be it alone, or with our friends, or even with our squadron (if they're there due to the WoL town idea). More lore, more secrets, more story, more rewards, and especially more fun to be had.

ISLAND HOUSING

Yes, I know that many folks were hoping that this would already be there. And I'm also aware that maybe it was discarded due to the usual "server strain" stuff. But lets keep this suggestion up, with reasonable expectations.

For example, I think that it would be viable to start by allowing a small cottage with the same limits as apartment rooms have, thus not straining the servers more than they already are. Just put a limit to the number of housing rooms/apartments and island cottages that each player can have at the same time, which in turn would not rise the strain on the servers more that what it currently is. Let people choose if they want their small room to be on the housing wards or on the island.

Moreover, this would allow for further expansions in the future, thus enabling expansions to the island cottage so that more items can be added, etc., once there's the capacity to doing so. Housing lite for everyone, and it can be done (I already have a house, but I think that this idea would be nice and even a cool fix for the housing issues).

Those are some small ideas that I had. I'm sure that they can be improved and made better, but I also believe that those would be fun additions to an already fun game mode. Lets post more of those, and lets hope that the thread becomes big enough so that the devs are made aware of the great ideas that the community has to offer. While many of them might not be implemented, perhaps some will.

Hope they add a teleport function so we can just tele there or friends list tele to someones island like housing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jibs

Hope they add a teleport function so we can just tele there or friends list tele to someones island like housing.

---

they won't because it's an instanced location, like Bozja was.

Can we have a Mammet Skywatcher to track the forecast. several of the 'shiny' versions of the various animals on the island only spawn during specific weather phenomena (like yellow coblyns during Fog weather)

When u get the tool for a node increase the exp for that node to 20xp. Also scrap Islanders cowries and make it all seafarers cowries so we can trade in the items for them. Either that or add some leves that we can trade in the things that we can manually craft for seafarers.
Create an option so that we can have a window open to see what mats we need for upgrades etc.

I really like it but it could do with some tweaks.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jason_Ashford

they won't because it's an instanced location, like Bozja was.

---

To add to this, it's an instanced location tied specifically to the player; you cannot visit a friend's island if they are not online and in said island at the time, because it does not otherwise exist.

I admit, I'd been curious how they'd deal with the instancing. Things like inn rooms and GC barracks (and 'waiting room' areas for trials, stuff like the new zones for the MSQ, etc.) can be instanced endlessly because only you are ever present, meaning the 'instance' can take place entirely client-side; no one can visit your inn room or barracks, so they don't need to actually be 'real' in terms of how the server views them.

If you couldn't visit someone else's island sanctuary, they could do the same thing (and thus there'd be no 'due to heavy server load, you could not enter your island' errors). But the fact that they do let you visit means the island needs to be available on the server, so that you and the other person have a shared view of reality and can see each other moving around, etc.

Having it only allow you to visit islands which are already instanced -- e.g., where the island owner is online and on the island at that moment -- is an interesting way to try to artificially limit how many are in use at once. People can't just hop down a list previewing everyone's island at random (causing a lot of instances to be allocated and deallocated), etc.

It's actually rather an elegant solution, albeit one that may delay instance-related issues more than it actually really solves them.

But the teleportation system -- as noted -- does not allow you to teleport into "dynamically" instanced areas, and if they wanted to add aetherytes to the island they'd almost certainly have to rewrite a whooooole bunch of things under the hood. Including the actual "is there an instance already or do we need to create one" code that's associated with the NPCs that take you into Eureka, Bozja, or your island.

(Side note: this is also probably why you can't put a miniature aetheryte inside your house and thus teleport directly to the interior as opposed to teleporting to the yard. The wards are continuous instances -- they always exist, just like open world zones, and thus the teleportation system can target them. The interior of a house is -- like Eureka, Bozja, or your island -- spun up as an instance when needed, and subject to the same load considerations that the others are; so far as I can tell, the door to a house functions basically the same as the NPC that takes you to your island sanctuary. Hence why sometimes, if the housing servers are under heavy load, you can be prevented from entering a house or apartment/private chamber unless someone is already inside the thing you're trying to enter, thus meaning there already is an instance to join.)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Packetdancer

Snip

---

This is actually accurate. In fact, when housing was first released you could go to duties inside the houses and even log out there, and you weren't put out in the yard once you came back. That change was made later on, and it was most likely related to the need to free server resources to add more wards. It's something to keep in mind when making these suggestions, because as much as it sucks (and even if it could be actually improved), it is what it is right now.

I mean i wish we would get any personal house at all tbh, heck it can be a already designed house and we can only choose a slight change in style or something. But seven hells i don't want some mammets setting up a shop right beside my bed in an open "hut". Can't be really that hard to give us just a simple pre designed house people can call their own with the island...but hey maybe in the future...we can have hope at least...

1. I want to gather more than 1 target item at a time. Make the secondary currency allow for tool upgrades. Ex, Rank 2: +1 item per node. Rank 3: +2 bonus item (rng bonus. ) Rank 4: +2 item per node. etc... bounce back and forth a few ranks so we can get 3-4 items per node guaranteed and then bonus amounts that we have a chance at per node (similar to gathering crystals).

2. Crop yield needs to match the plants shown. I was displeased at 10 plants shown yielding 5 items. If you want double the seeds per crop, so be it, but I want things to match up.

3. The mammets feel overpriced. Maybe that feeling will change later, but my coin supply is dry. It's all gone toward island upgrades. Making full use of the mammets thus far costs 200 coins to feed a full pen of critters per day + 100 coins for crops per day + 100 coins to both granaries per day.

[edit to add in a few more]

4. An option in the supply & demand to hide items we do not have rare materials for (crops, granary-only retrievals and animal leavings). It's a pain hopping between all the windows to find out it requires an item you can't just go out and readily gather.

5. Mammet costumes (ex: jungle leaf costumes, dwarf costumes, lawn gnome costumes, golem costumes, etc...). They're part of the island for good I'd imagine so let's spruce them up so it doesn't look like there's constantly a construction crew running around.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dustytome

1. I want to gather more than 1 target item at a time. Make the secondary currency allow for tool upgrades. Ex, Rank 2: +1 item per node. Rank 3: +2 bonus item (rng bonus. ) Rank 4: +2 item per node. etc... bounce back and forth a few ranks so we can get 3-4 items per node guaranteed and then bonus amounts that we have a chance at per node (similar to gathering crystals).

2. Crop yield needs to match the plants shown. I was displeased at 10 plants shown yielding 5 items. If you want double the seeds per crop, so be it, but I want things to match up.

3. The mammets feel overpriced. Maybe that feeling will change later, but my coin supply is dry. It's all gone toward island upgrades. Making full use of the mammets thus far costs 200 coins to feed a full pen of critters per day + 100 coins for crops per day + 100 coins to both granaries per day.

---

I mean to be fair i am making over 2k cowries each day from my workshops and you get 2k each week for free through the challenge log. So i don't think it is really that overpriced.

Here are a few other QoL stuff they should consider:

Structure Construction
There should be a way to "pin" a construction like a "quest" so I know where I'm at material-wise as I gather, instead of having to add up 3 different structures worth of materials on a separate outside of game notepad to track everything.

Island's Cowrie
Really should be a few more things to buy with these, hell make it so you can convert like 1000 to 50 or 100 Seafarer's Cowrie or something. Or as one of the posters above mentioned, use it to improve existing tools in some fashion.

Landmarks
The in-game guide says that "The construction of landmarks has a variety of effects on your island experience" which is just untrue. All it does is increase your Mood cap by 5. If there are indeed other bonuses, please make them more apparent. If its only cosmetic, then change the description in the in-game guide as its confusing.

Edit: Each Landmarks seems to offer the same bonus upfront AND additional benefits per other structures. In the Guide in the Granary section it says that Landmarks will increase the yield of the expeditions. So in short, yes they are cosmetic only (in terms of choosing which to build) but the more you have built, the more benefits you get in the Granary (and most likely other structures as well)

More Minions
Having more minions roaming around would be fantastic, just saying :)

Orchestrion
Would be nice if it applied to the entire island, since realistically, we spend more time running around gathering than next to the cozy cabin.

Customization
I know its just the first batch of stuff released for it, but right now not much point in visiting friend's island. When maxed out, every island will essentially look the same with only building placement as its main difference. Would be a lot cooler if there was a multitude of customization options to make each island more unique.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by lydiah

Here are a few other QoL stuff they should consider:

Animal Moods
Yes I can guess what the progression is, but why isn't it listed in the in-game Guide like everything else is.

---

Guide > The Pasture > Feeding Animals > Scroll all the way down.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Ranaku

I mean to be fair i am making over 2k cowries each day from my workshops and you get 2k each week for free through the challenge log. So i don't think it is really that overpriced.

---

I'm making about half that. I think I just don't understand the marketing system. There's also the two days per week designated to not selling on the market to factor in. Still a profit being made, but it still feels like they're taking a bigger chunk than they should for how minor a task it is.

I love the idea of having my GC squad there. :D

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dustytome

Guide > The Pasture > Feeding Animals > Scroll all the way down.

---

OMG... now I feel super dumb. Thank you. How I missed this, I'll never know.

I think the size of the minions needs to be adjusted. They look SUPER small compared to the animals on the island. I wanted to fill my pasture with some minions to make it look more full but the minions look like they could easily get stepped on and flattened by the livestock lol.

The ability to dye the skin of the buildings would be nice as well.

I wouldn't be surprised if Isle Sprint isn't a toggle on/off because it can remain applied upon leaving the Island Sanctuary. Two nights ago I was queued in for a dungeon while working on my island, I had sprint on, and the sprint remained on when I loaded into the dungeon. If they can't change that, imagine how that might break savage raiding if you can just have permanent sprint for the entire encounter?

The island sanctuary is great but the part that’s supposed to be fun in farm sims is resource gathering. Getting me item for every click is not fun. This problem will cause people to bot gather.

I propose the developers to make gathering like combat. With each hit on the tree or rock is player controlled. We hit the hit box of a tree and see it shake and fall. Then resources fall around us. No point and click to gather.

If not that maybe increase special chance of more resources dropping and rare resources dropping.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by wereotter

I wouldn't be surprised if Isle Sprint isn't a toggle on/off because it can remain applied upon leaving the Island Sanctuary. Two nights ago I was queued in for a dungeon while working on my island, I had sprint on, and the sprint remained on when I loaded into the dungeon. If they can't change that, imagine how that might break savage raiding if you can just have permanent sprint for the entire encounter?

---

This makes sense. I didn't notice, or even expect, that a buff specific to the island would still be applied when the player is out of it. Kinda strange that they didn't make it only work while being in that area 🤔 Maybe they didn't notice, or maybe it's the usual "we can't make it work".

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Yshnal

This makes sense. I didn't notice, or even expect, that a buff specific to the island would still be applied when the player is out of it. Kinda strange that they didn't make it only work while being in that area ������ Maybe they didn't notice, or maybe it's the usual "we can't make it work".

---

I'm curious, do you get a specific IS version of sprint or something? (I haven't done it yet, so I don't know.) If it's just the regular sprint, then it's not a buff specific to the island, but rather a spell that always applies a certain buff to your character. Try activating sprint anywhere else in the world and then quickly changing zones. Sprint will still be active. It's not something that gets confined to a certain area.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Striker44

I'm curious, do you get a specific IS version of sprint or something? (I haven't done it yet, so I don't know.) If it's just the regular sprint, then it's not a buff specific to the island, but rather a spell that always applies a certain buff to your character. Try activating sprint anywhere else in the world and then quickly changing zones. Sprint will still be active. It's not something that gets confined to a certain area.

---

Yes, you get a 20s sprint with a 5 second cooldown. So you can keep it up indefinitely although it is on a special action button rather then your hotbar.

Would be nice to have a mender npc on the island that you could use after a duty. It's kind of neat you return to your island after doing them.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by LaylaTsarra

Would be nice to have a mender npc on the island that you could use after a duty. It's kind of neat you return to your island after doing them.

---

That was actually a pleasant surprise! And if you log out on your island, you'll log right back in on it as well.

I know all we can do is speculate, but that right there is already different than how they handle house/apartment interiors. Maybe we'll get an aetheryte down the road. I don't overly mind porting to moraby bay, but it would be handy.

Personally I think a wonderful idea would be to be give everyone a gathering chest for their island and when you have visitors they should be able to gather materials and it could be auto placed inside this chest for the island owners use. Basically your friends can help you gather. Could be a cute fun group activity.

It would be great if the UI was more controller-friendly- that is, please make modes and actions assignable to an island sanctuary-only hotbar (similar to PVP), since using select to cycle UI elements for the menu can be a bit disruptive.

It would also be good if there is no animation lock when gathering, as this is what we wind up doing most and the forced stop can be jarring and even dizzying unless event camera is turned off. Since farming is indeed about resource gathering, I feel like the gathering should be as smooth and hassle-free as possible, similar to other farm games where you can quickly gather and stack resources.

The landmarks are nice, but it really is extremely limited customization. if we could at least rotate their position so that we can enjoy a better view while inside, that would be a step forward I think. Additionally, since the landmark and facilities structures are very static and cookie cutter for everyone, it'd be nice to have more things to interact with inside the facilities- e.g. faucets and showers that we can turn on/off, drapes we can pull away, cosmetically feeding wood into the fireplace, etc. I think this would help make the hideaway feel more like a living space that we own.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Yshnal

This is actually accurate. In fact, when housing was first released you could go to duties inside the houses and even log out there, and you weren't put out in the yard once you came back. That change was made later on, and it was most likely related to the need to free server resources to add more wards. It's something to keep in mind when making these suggestions, because as much as it sucks (and even if it could be actually improved), it is what it is right now.

---

Yeah. I was actually shocked that you could go into a duty on your Island Sanctuary—or log out there—and still (potentially) be there when you logged back in. It seems to try to re-instance your island as you come out, and if it cannot do so in a timely manner it just dumps you back at the Moraby Drydocks.

I actually sort of wonder if that functionality might be the beginning of a path back to being able to log out (or queue into a duty) from inside a house and not be immediately guaranteed to be yeeted out into the yard upon your return.

(So, y'know, only potentially being yeeted out into the yard upon your return.)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Striker44

I'm curious, do you get a specific IS version of sprint or something? (I haven't done it yet, so I don't know.) If it's just the regular sprint, then it's not a buff specific to the island, but rather a spell that always applies a certain buff to your character. Try activating sprint anywhere else in the world and then quickly changing zones. Sprint will still be active. It's not something that gets confined to a certain area.

---

As others noted, the action is unique to the Island Sanctuary -- it's a duty action with a 5 second cooldown -- but what the action actually does is just apply the normal Sprint buff. This is almost certainly to avoid code duplication; there's already a ton of code in the game to do things like "Peloton and Sprint don't stack" and "if you get on a mount, the Sprint buff goes away" and so on, and if you made a new buff that was just "a clone of Sprint but not actually Sprint", you'd need to basically redo the code to work on both Sprint and your new "Diet Sprint Lite".

Anything else aside, a toggle would almost certainly require it to be a new buff, meaning that you have all that code duplication to deal with. (Even without factoring in the "someone would find a way to cheat and have permanent sprint outside of the Island" element.)

However, since the limit on how often you can reapply Sprint normally is the cooldown on the action, having a duty action that applies the same buff—but with a cooldown on the duty action shorter than the duration of the buff it applies—you make it so sprint can stay up 100% of the time (and not be abused by creating a permanent sprint buff in other content), even if the "I have to keep hitting this button" factor is a bit annoying in use.

To expand upon this idea, and I know not whether it has been mentioned yet, but.

Another way that could and would keep the Island Sanctuaries relevant could be a dock addition.

Allow for the construction of a dock, a shipwright, and a boat.

Starting off as a rowboat as we've seen at the beach. Expand it to a small, then medium, then large ship. Allow for actual player-driven expeditions to other islands, allowing us to expand further if we'd like. Or to discover further rare, and yet rarer materials off our main island. Maybe even throw in some references on those /other/ islands.

Lost References - THE HATCH, Castaway, could be funny. Add some more cheeky humor to the game.

Maybe sail to other biomes like we can during the Fishing Trips in Limsa Lominsa. See other islands, maybe sail to Kugane. Around Othard, and Illsabard.

I have a suggestion:

Give us more islands to go to & explore:
Snowcapped islands
Desert Islands (with an oasis for the encampment)

these different biomes can have new animals like unicorns, dragons, wild moogles, flying piggies and so forth

they would also have appropriate building structures- the snow island would have more insulated buildings & the desert one would have shaded tents

Allow players to make a habitat on those islands as well- that way, it atleast feels like we were given a choice Instead of being stuck on tatarus island.
I'd much rather run around snowcapped hills than the current set-up.

Currently, the island sanctuary is lackluster & just feels like another chore due to a lack of features- It's just a larger doman enclave with a labour option