A Return to Interactive Transportation - Airships & Ferry Rides

First time here. First post. :eek:

Something that I thought of lately that should return - I'd like to see interactive transportation back in the game as a scenic choice where you can sit, converse with others, role-play, fish, craft by riding a boat or airship. Perhaps a FATE where the ships are attacked and have to fight off the fiends and protect the gatherers/crafters from being attacked.

I understand that FFXIV is designed to respect the player's time but what if the player wants to respect the game's development and spend their time to enjoy the scenery? :)

Or am I the only one feeling this way? Thoughts?

Honestly, it's a cute idea.

I'm all for bringing back reasons to go to older cities and expansions again (other than gathering)

Yesterday I wanted to see if I could walk from one of the starting cities, and travel by boat and airship to Tural.
(spoiler it's not as easy and direct. Obviously the fastest way is just from limsa to Tuliyollal but that wasn't the idea)
But even when I walked through, most of the servers starting areas like east shroud ect were so empty. It's really sad!

I've always wanted this! There's something just so much more immersive, relaxing, and making the world feel more alive with having travel methods like this.

To add to the ideas, having a train or trolley making rounds on the railroads in some areas, or a chocobo-drawn cart leisurely strolling through, big ships for crossing seas, and small boats for smaller bodies of water.
Bonus points if you can play Triple Triad or Mahjong while traveling with other passengers.

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Originally Posted by Tahli

To add to the ideas, having a train or trolley making rounds on the railroads in some areas, or a chocobo-drawn cart leisurely strolling through, big ships for crossing seas, and small boats for smaller bodies of water.
Bonus points if you can play Triple Triad or Mahjong while traveling with other passengers.

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I've been thinking that ever since you first get to Black Brush Station in Central Thanalan.

Reminds me of the good times I had playing Maple Story way back when.
Waiting for the Air ship with people. The high level players would go on deck to fight monsters while low level players hide away in the cargo hold.

I suspect this has never been implemented because the cost outweighs the benefits. SE already has airship and boat travel cutscenes, and they have data on how many players disable them.

How many days or weeks of actual game time would players realistically tolerate to travel from Limsa Lominsa to Tuliyollal? The cutscene is about two minutes long, but the implied in‑universe travel time is 2–3 weeks. The Limsa to Kugane voyage is even longer, around 3–4 weeks in lore.

Even the train from Tuliyollal to northern Tura, which is one of the shortest “major” trips in Dawntrail, would take 6–12 hours in‑universe. The cutscene compresses that into 30–40 seconds.

A zone‑wide train or cart ride might be more feasible, but it would come with major limitations:

• occupancy would be low
  
• runs would need to be tightly scheduled
  
• the ride duration couldn’t exceed the time it takes a Chocobo to cross the zone
  
• and the odds of encountering other players on any given run would be extremely small

Given all that, it’s understandable why SE sticks to cinematic shorthand instead of real‑time interactive transit.

a cute idea but it would only work well if the game were more open world than it is, because you'd need a reason to take them and they'd have to be better than mounts for anyone to bother

I believe this feature was a thing in 1.0, similar to FFXI (I always enjoy the airship rides). Didn't take long to go from one area to the next within minutes, certainly not weeks (unlike raising your own Chocobo in XI which took about a month in real time). I think the way it worked was similar to an instance; you're on an airship but the world below was made smaller to make you believe you are well above the clouds. Same with ferry/boat rides. The possible reason I suspect they did away with that stating in 2.0 was "to respect or player's time" and not offer that as a choice as it would also save on resources required.

Now with Dawntrail closing, why not use Electrode to modify those transports to "speed up" travel? It's been a while since we have seen Cid and his crew go to work. Make it a questline to help them gather what they need to unlock that feature.

This is, after all, an MMO. We just got used to quick gratification of instant travel and queuing up, removing the immersion in the process.

I was there, Gandalf, but this is one of the reasons I never wanted to bring it back because I had no idea how much IRL time I wasted going to and from places using that airship along with it being outdated now we have mounts along with teleports since ARR.

Also, ppl are already annoyed that we can't immediately unlock all aether currents when we first arrive in the new zone and we can still like use said airships or walk to each place for RP reasons now in 2026 without wasting real life minutes on your own WoL if the idea of breaking immersion is a problem too.

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Originally Posted by Tatiana

a cute idea but it would only work well if the game were more open world than it is, because you'd need a reason to take them and they'd have to be better than mounts for anyone to bother

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The world is open and vast. We just don't see it anymore. We have gotten used to instant travel and quick duty roulettes to get anywhere and do anything. The "instant gratification" of getting what we want and need. Try this for sport: start from your city-state and traverse to Living Memory using your mount only. No flying. No teleportation. Just you, your mount, air ships, and ferry/boats. And just for kicks, only your Company Chocobo. :)

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Originally Posted by CCheshire

I was there, Gandalf, but this is one of the reasons I never wanted to bring it back because I had no idea how much IRL time I wasted going to and from places using that airship along with it being outdated now we have mounts along with teleports since ARR.

Also, ppl are already annoyed that we can't immediately unlock all aether currents when we first arrive in the new zone and we can still like use said airships or walk to each place for RP reasons now in 2026 without wasting real life minutes on your own WoL if the idea of breaking immersion is a problem too.

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I understand your point of you but it should be an option for those who want that in their MMO. You don't have to traverse that way. You can continue teleporting or whatever and wherever at your own leisure. There's no issue there. But for me, I don't mind investing my time in the game using interactive transports with airships and ferry boats as previously mentioned. I am sure there are plenty of other players who agree.

As far as the aether currents, that would defeat the purpose if they were instantly unlocked. The idea is for the player to explore the environment and traverse on foot/mount. The player can choose to go after them and unlock them to be able to fly and move faster as a reward for their efforts as part of the content. What you are asking for is instant gratification without putting in the work, which defeats the purpose of the game.

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Originally Posted by colonel_spyder

First time here. First post. :eek:

Something that I thought of lately that should return - I'd like to see interactive transportation back in the game as a scenic choice where you can sit, converse with others, role-play, fish, craft by riding a boat or airship. Perhaps a FATE where the ships are attacked and have to fight off the fiends and protect the gatherers/crafters from being attacked.

I understand that FFXIV is designed to respect the player's time but what if the player wants to respect the game's development and spend their time to enjoy the scenery? :)

Or am I the only one feeling this way? Thoughts?

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This reminds me of the balrog attacks in maplestory's airships
I'd love stuff like that in ff14

We had this in FF11 and I can't remember a single time I conversed with someone while riding a ferry or airship. It was just something you endured while you waited to get to your destination. Since we have instant teleportation the idea of socializing while enjoying a leisure ride could appeal to the RP crowd.

Seems like wasted development considering we can just teleport everywhere and very few people are going to stand around and wait for something slowly putter along. FF11 and vanilla WoW didn't allow you to teleport wherever you wanted so boats and airships were the way to travel places.

If you want a scenic boat ride then you're better off taking the fishing boat because at least people have a reason for using it.

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Originally Posted by Espon

If you want a scenic boat ride then you're better off taking the fishing boat because at least people have a reason for using it.

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The problem here is that the Ocean Fishing mechanics are purposefully and maliciously designed against people who just want to enjoy the sights and company. If you're not fishing, everyone else also suffers.

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Originally Posted by colonel_spyder

First time here. First post. :eek:

Something that I thought of lately that should return - I'd like to see interactive transportation back in the game as a scenic choice where you can sit, converse with others, role-play, fish, craft by riding a boat or airship. Perhaps a FATE where the ships are attacked and have to fight off the fiends and protect the gatherers/crafters from being attacked.

I understand that FFXIV is designed to respect the player's time but what if the player wants to respect the game's development and spend their time to enjoy the scenery? :)

Or am I the only one feeling this way? Thoughts?

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can we have like trains? I miss the little bit of waiting downtime of waiting at the booty Bay docks. Get to make like chatter...Or chaos.. Or just soak in the presence of a fellow adventurer

nevermind then

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Originally Posted by CCheshire

I mean, it's not a scenic boat ride since it's ocean fishing where everyone is there to be expected to fish the entire time? If you want to wander around the map and fish sometimes, you can do that on your own and do the Big Fishing side quest already.

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You do realise it was Espon who suggested it was a scenic boat ride, not me, right?

As long as there's a skip button

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Originally Posted by Alicie

As long as there's a skip button

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Of course. I am simply suggesting to have it as an available feature for those who would enjoy it such as myself. Not replace the current system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RUgeChLVgGA

It's kinda what I was hoping Ocean Fishing would be, but they made that very minigame-y.


FFXI had a repeatable quest for airship rides, presumably to give people something to do during the ride. It was essentially the "Skinchange We Can Believe In" GATE. You were given a dropped item and shown a randomly generated NPC to return it to, and there would be a bunch of similar looking NPCs on the airship. Maybe they could add airship rides to FFXIV as a way of bringing back a version of that GATE?

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Originally Posted by colonel_spyder

I believe this feature was a thing in 1.0, similar to FFXI (I always enjoy the airship rides). Didn't take long to go from one area to the next within minutes, certainly not weeks (unlike raising your own Chocobo in XI which took about a month in real time). I think the way it worked was similar to an instance; you're on an airship but the world below was made smaller to make you believe you are well above the clouds. Same with ferry/boat rides. The possible reason I suspect they did away with that stating in 2.0 was "to respect or player's time" and not offer that as a choice as it would also save on resources required.

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We had ferry journeys from Limsa to Vesper Bay in 1.0 where we had to be on the ship the whole time with no skipping cutscenes. Airships were instant, but we were told that the intention was for it to be like FFXI where you would spend the whole time on the airship and the airships even arrived to each city on a schedule and you could see them flying in and out and even overhead in the world zones according to the schedule. But the airship rides were never implemented for whatever reason and they even took the ferry away from us.

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Originally Posted by DPZ2

How many days or weeks of actual game time would players realistically tolerate to travel from Limsa Lominsa to Tuliyollal? The cutscene is about two minutes long, but the implied in‑universe travel time is 2–3 weeks. The Limsa to Kugane voyage is even longer, around 3–4 weeks in lore.

Even the train from Tuliyollal to northern Tura, which is one of the shortest “major” trips in Dawntrail, would take 6–12 hours in‑universe. The cutscene compresses that into 30–40 seconds.

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FFXI managed to have ferry rides to and from Aht Urghan, which was on a different continent just fine despite any lore problems.


Travel in 1.0 and in FFXI was tedious and FFXIV is a much faster-paced game and the lack of an anima system for teleportation or WHM-only teleports means that there's just not a reason for it, despite how neat it would be.

Only if it's optional and not on a forced schedule. I frequently utilized the airships in RO back in the day and the novelty wears off VERY quickly for some of us

I'd unironically would love a train line that takes you from place to place.

Trains are on a schedule, and rides take 10 IRL minutes. They take you through wonderful areas not normally seen, and you can sit on the car, or walk around, and of course there's other passengers!

I'd spend hours just riding that all over the place.

I'd get behind this. Puts me in mind of when in Everquest II there'd be a ship voyage to even get to another land for the first time, that were later removed (or made optional, I really can't remember). They were access quests. You still had to wait for a boat to arrive to take you places, until that was made optional too and you could just click a bell (again iirc, it's been a long time).

Maybe I'm just more chill when it comes to PvE, but I'm really not bothered by having to wait for transport to arrive and in real time. I also still use chocobo porters when the mood takes. It's my way of divorcing myself from the perpetual rush rush rush that seems to be so pervasive in real life (or most online stuff honestly...) and I don't want it to creep into an RPG. When on business (suchlike once in an instance and etc.) I tend to be full throttle so I need a balance. Those pauses to travel are nice for that. I'm quasi in-character for most of my playtime too so I appreciate the immersion.

Likely pipedream stuff though, this. Sadly. There does need to be more ways to engage with the world around asides from text-heavy stuff.

I think it would be awesome if you needed 5 to 10 minute rides towards various regions with airships or by ship or submarines and the likes...

But I wish the areas namely expansion in games would carry greater weight for the game play overall for the max level.. every single expansion offer next to no content for max level.. not even Dawn Trail.... you now more or less got all empty regions in the game, which is sad sad sad.

In 1.0 you could do this I have a lot of old screens on my very old pc gathering dust but I do need to dig them out.

I loved this in FFXI is was fun waiting or missing the air ship and the ferry from carpenters landing in FFXI where a NM might pop while you are travelling along. In 1.0 you could sit inside and out and enjoy the calm although sometimes there where storms and a lot of lightning. I loved it and I know a lot like the rush rush but for me I like to take my time. I am older and prefer the older more laid back gaming experience.

That is an adorable idea and I love it!

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Originally Posted by MikkoAkure

Airships were instant, but we were told that the intention was for it to be like FFXI where you would spend the whole time on the airship and the airships even arrived to each city on a schedule and you could see them flying in and out and even overhead in the world zones according to the schedule. But the airship rides were never implemented for whatever reason and they even took the ferry away from us.

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And we can find remnants of airship docks in the game like the one in South Shroud.

It's a nice idea even if in that game that would result in: place of origin > queue for a travel > loading screen > travel > loading screen > destination.
But since they didn't even bother to make cinematics for the few airship journeys already available (only the ARR zones have them, I was very disappointed when they dedicated a quest to restore the airship travels between Eulmore and Crystarium just to have a loading screen...), it's very unlikely that this will happen.

In the next MMO maybe, if it's a real open world with no loading screens. I would use it.

YES PLEASE !!!!

While I'd love to see something like an old-school MMO transportation system as someone who kinda enjoyed those trips to and from Orbis in Maplestory, I think this would only work if you were to advertise it more as a role-playing opportunity rather than any kind of meaningful addition to gameplay. Rather than a set time-table, you just have the option for skipping the ride or temporarily going into a 20 minute or so instance (with the first 5 minutes being a boarding period for other players to join) where you get to explore the deck of an airship/train/boat/whatever that other players can also be in. Add an NPC there to let you "sleep off the trip" so you can be on your merry way and I think that could work as a compromise system.

I think one of the big problems with real-time transportation in XIV is the simple fact that it's cut up into a bunch of smaller zones divided by loading screens.

Maybe that's just me but I think it defeats the entire purpose if the public transportation just puts you into a separate instance for the duration of the ride.
A big factor for me when it comes to old-school MMO transportation is that you can actually see it happen in real time, even if you're not using it yourself.
Let's say you're just questing in a zone and this big train with a bunch of players on it goes by. Or you see airships move through the sky in real time.

As the game is right now this just wouldn't work well.