Count me amoung the skeptics ...

[Preypacer]

I thought that the reason I couldn't get that feeling anymore was that I was getting more difficult to impress. Maybe. But there's definitely times when I still feel genuinely in awe of the situation, or when I feel that I've overcome something great... they're just too far and few between, and I have yet to really feel that more than maybe twice in FFXIV.

Nope, I don't think it's that you've become more difficult to impress at all. I've wondered the same thing.

Then I go and look at how much more carefully crafted everything is in XI, how much more detailed, how much more thought out and complex and how well some areas interplay with each other, and I realize - for me - SE set a a bar for themselves with XI and they simply haven't been able to meet it yet in XIV, much less exceed it.

Example... let's look at an early area dungeon from XI, compared to one from XIV.

Horutoto Ruins in XI, compared to, say, Cassiopeia Hollow. Both lower level dungeons, both pretty large.

Here's a link to the map for the Hollow

Now, here are links to the maps for Inner Horutoto Ruins (Click Here) and the Outer Ruins ( Click Here)

The first thing you notice is how differently they're set up.

The Hollow is pretty much one large area of rooms and corridors with nothing really going on. A generic, albeit pretty, dungeon.

The Ruins, however, are separated into sections and are riddled with interesting sights, weird contraptions and other various points of interest. Further, they tie directly into the game's lore which Windurst players are introduced to early on in the missions. There's tons of interplay between one map and another, as well as between Sarutabaruta and the Ruins, with all the entrances scattered about, accessing different parts of it (Eldiemme Necropolis has a very similar setup).

Beyond that, you have the Ruins connecting deeper still to the Toraimorai Canal - a high level area that exists right below Windurst itself, massive tree roots breaking through the walls and pouring into the area. And of course, the Canal connects to Full Moon Fountain, another area of significance in the story line.

And that's just one comparison. This same attention to detail pervades XI. Almost all dungeons have their own "theme" and their own set of puzzles to solve. There are secret rooms, strange contraptions, remote corners that are difficult, and often dangerous to get to... and on and on. Each dungeon has its own design style and "personality".

Another way to put it.. Dungeons in XI feel like Final Fantasy dungeons to me. Dungeons in XIV (and other aspects of it) so far have been more "put together" like you might find in any other generic MMORPG on the market.

Being someone who loves exploring new places, figuring things out and learning the history and secrets behind a location, my experience in trying to do so in XIV so far has been disappointing; there seems to be no secrets to reveal.