[dev1030] Enemies should be distributed by rank according to distance from cities

One of the things that has confused me since the Final Fantasy XIV beta is the distribution of mid-high rank enemies very close to main city starting points. The enemies should be spread out by rank according to distance from the city/closer to paths that lead to higher rank areas.

For example, right around the corner from Limsa Lominsa and its relatively low rank enemies (dodos, rats, beetles, puks) are Gobbues and powerful red crabs. Another example are the strangely high rank Apkallu on the beach areas fairly close to town or the mid-high rank enemies in the Tam-Tara Deepcrofts, which is a dungeon thats really close to the starting area around Gridania (Black Shroud). Players at least Rank 10-15 should have no problem exploring a dungeon area that is really close to town. Should it be a challenge to parties venturing inside? Yes. But no way should you have to be rank 30+ to venture into a dungeon or any area thats fairly close to a main starting city.

I guess this would factor into the increased enemy distributions coming at a later date, or maybe its the really large region zones at fault, but enemies should always only get progressively harder as you venture further and further away from the city, or at least zone line areas that are far from or dont lead to any city.

This is one of my little pet peeves with the game and mob distribution. It's not a huge deal having mobs get more difficult further away from the cities for me but I find it extremely annoying that mob levels seem all over the place making grind spots more difficult than they should be to find.

What I would like is just all mobs in the area to be roughly around the same level so they would all be viable grinding options. So if I go to Camp Horizon all mobs in the camps surrounding area should be around rank 20/25. If I go to Broken Water they should all be around R40/45. If I go to grind Raptors and mobs near or around them should be around the same level so they provide more options of things to kill during a grind party so you don't have to solely focus on Raptors.

The most annoying thing about the distributions of level is there are low level mobs in the high level areas. They are nothing but a waste of a spawn point and ruin the possibility of grinding.

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Originally Posted by Kazimir

The most annoying thing about the distributions of level is there are low level mobs in the high level areas. They are nothing but a waste of a spawn point and ruin the possibility of grinding.

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Exactly ^^

Personally I don't have a problem with the level distribution. Mobs near a particular gate or camp have ranks corresponding to the rank of the camp. Putting higher-rank camps near lower-rank camps means that higher-rank players don't have to travel as far to do their leves or grind. This advantage is somewhat diminished since many camps and gates are not open for leves or behests yet, and several seem to be significantly above the current rank cap. It seems that the gates and camps were laid out so that each starting region, La Noscea, Thanalan, The Black Shroud, has two areas for each rank range: R1, R10, R20, ..., R70, which makes sense, but is partially wasted due to the rank cap.

I would also like to add that as far as level and mob distribution goes, there should be more mobs like beastmen and goobue in certain areas, of an appropriate level. Put things like "beastmen camps" with groups of beastmen around certain areas in the regions. And instead of having rank 50 orcs in a rank 20-30 area, make the orcs more level appropriate.

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Originally Posted by Kazimir

I would also like to add that as far as level and mob distribution goes, there should be more mobs like beastmen and goobue in certain areas, of an appropriate level. Put things like "beastmen camps" with groups of beastmen around certain areas in the regions. And instead of having rank 50 orcs in a rank 20-30 area, make the orcs more level appropriate.

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Hopefully stuff like that arrives with the Beast tribe population increase.

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Originally Posted by Teknoman

Hopefully stuff like that arrives with the Beast tribe population increase.

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Have they said they are increasing population? I haven't seen anything about it. Do you know where I could find whatever the information came from?

Sorry to derail from the topic.

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Originally Posted by Kazimir

Have they said they are increasing population? I haven't seen anything about it. Do you know where I could find whatever the information came from?

Sorry to derail from the topic.

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No problem. I remember reading something about that in one of the letters, i'll see if I can find it.

EDIT: Actually it was just something simple like this -

Addition of beast tribes - Release of beast tribe monsters as both roaming and quest-related enemies - Further implementation in line with new quests

http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com...bbc24abc29469f

Letter 3 back in February.

I like random mobs that are much higher than the rest of the mobs in the area that can one shot you. Makes things more interesting imo. Mobs too low are boring and lame though, and yeah I want more beastmen/agressive mobs ;_; I miss getting aggro and freaking out I was going to die while running around, the zones in this game are waaaay too peaceful. Need more danger, more aggro, more scaryness.

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Originally Posted by Shiyo

I like random mobs that are much higher than the rest of the mobs in the area that can one shot you. Makes things more interesting imo. Mobs too low are boring and lame though, and yeah I want more beastmen/agressive mobs ;_; I miss getting aggro and freaking out I was going to die while running around, the zones in this game are waaaay too peaceful. Need more danger, more aggro, more scaryness.

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Well yeah, that will occur when the add a larger variety of enemy types to the area. However, I shouldnt try to explore a cave right next to the city, and run dead into stuff I would have no hope of killing, even in a rank 25-30 party.

As things are now, its too much of a mix. Im not opposed to having one or two drakes roaming somewhat close to a path leading far from town, but at least be reasonable with the distribution as a whole. Besides it makes sense to have fairly docile enemies near the city gates, and harder/aggro enemies further out.

If you've played FFXI, think about how Gustaburg was laid out. Either way, long story short, areas far from town should be dangerous, areas close to town shouldnt.

The level distribution for monsters is kind of random. Though, I kind of find in laughable there is a Peist patrolling right outside of Ul'dah. It makes for some comedy and is easily avoidable (unless your the poor guy who runs infront of it, thats the comedy part). However, the moss horn spawn being RIGHT where some lowbie leves are and a botanist point. Not a very good idea. The whole point of high level monsters are to keep people out of areas or make it incredibly difficult to get there. High level NMs should be near, or close to those or in areas where it has monsters of similar or a little lower health. Not in a level 30 zone where it just makes a nuissance for people trying to get to the point where they can kill those.

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Originally Posted by Kazimir

The most annoying thing about the distributions of level is there are low level mobs in the high level areas. They are nothing but a waste of a spawn point and ruin the possibility of grinding.

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you mean botting right?

No it really kinda kills off grinding for those that want to do so, if you have to run over huge expanses(exaggerating but still) just to find another enemy that is a good level for your party.

I actually like having dungeons of varying difficulty across the map. It makes things feel less like a transparent, extremely-predictable game where "far from town" for some reason must always equate to "strong monsters."

I like having a reason to revisit an area; it's quite interesting, I think, to have some motivation not to stick my character in auto-run through any zone that isn't designated for my level bracket.

I think that more emphasis on exploration and less on predictability equates to more lifelike environments, more curious and unique places and, therefore, more immersion all around. d(^_~)

I think it's all part of the learning process. I just recently started playing again, so I started off by grinding marmots outside of Ul'dah, then moved a bit later on to right outside of Black Brush. While mindlessly grinding marmots and coblins, I saw an ant critter run by, so I figured I'd attack it, too, since the marmots hadn't respawned yet. You can imagine my surprise when the thing one-shotted me for 1.5k when I only had, like, 450 health. Taught me not to screw around with random critters that I had no knowledge about.

I'm with OP in this, it just makes better design sense to have enemies be a similar level in the same zone. This way you don't have to paradoxically be a high rank to get to a low rank area, and it keeps the high rank people in the high rank areas where they belong.

On another note, because of the way the engine loads enemies, sometimes higher level aggroing mobs will pop in right next to you if you're on a lower spec computer. It happens to me sometimes (before you ask, my computer exceeds the minimum requirements that SE posted, if it's inadequate SE should post higher ones) with that Peiste mentioned before as well as the ants that are inexplicably guarding the path from Black Brush to Drybone. I can kind of guess where they are now, but all it takes is that processing delay or a little server/comcast lag and bam! Oneshotted.

This isn't a problem if you're dealing with mobs around your level since you have time to respond when you're getting hit, but when you have mobs 20 levels above you roaming around the starting zones for no discernible reason, there's no chance. It's not "exciting", it's just annoying.

I am glad im not the only one bothered seeing that Sandskin Peiste less than 50 yards outside the Ul'dah gate, or antlings scattered about Rank 10 camps.

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Originally Posted by Shiyo

I like random mobs that are much higher than the rest of the mobs in the area that can one shot you. Makes things more interesting imo.

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yea, I dont have problem to avoid gobbue or ant while I am low rank. Actually its fun, when you are low rank and find gobbue for a first time. You will say - I will beat you one day. At least some goal x))

We just need more open - dungeons, large caves, ruins, abandonned castles - all around the maps. Not two but more, that would solve mob distribution. Which is quite fine, but Coerthas could be improved a bit.