Make FFXIV more like FFXI and less like WoW

[Sixmp]

I was FFXIV playing yesterday and i spent some time roaming the land and as i travelled it occurred to me that while what i saw looked nice etc there was just something not quite right.
I stood and fished for a while trying to put my finger on it. Then it came to me. Things i see in the distance. Most of those things i cannot get to. Places close by i cannot get to, it made me realise i was not running around a living world.

I was running around a film set. I almost expected to be able to look behind a bush and find something holding it up. I continued looking about, i came across a cave. A large mouth which i could not enter.
The game world is basically a film set to me now and i cannot shake that feeling off. I almost expect to walk through doors and find normal city streets and views behind them.

The game lacks life, yes i know there are plenty of places with doors that you cannot enter and dead end caves etc in other games but in FFXIV it just feels more obvious.
Which is why i feel we need more over world things to do. Cave systems to explore etc.

I know people hate hearing about older games being drawn on for inspiration like FFXI, the reason people do it is because they experienced something they enjoyed. It may not have been the WHOLE thing but just the concept.
Like a ice cream milkshake just because one place does a bad tasting one shouldn't mean we should all stop drinking them. The concepts are there to be improved on.

There was one thing in FFXI i liked that would work well in FFXIV, i cannot remember the name. You would help NPC's defend a building from a large scale attack, a little bit like a fate, only it was challenging and you got rewarded points to spend.

[IzumiRaito]

Horizontal progresison gear yes!.
Open world xp grind? maybe, but dungeons should be primary way.
More effort put in getting AF gear? Sure, but it should have unique effects.
Evereything else? kinda outdated

[BoltNixter]

The main things I would like to see are: New zones that are locked out until you beat a challenging quest line (hopefully the first expansion will give us this), and some "oh shit!" mobs in certain zones and specific areas.

At 50 there is no sense of danger when running around the world, it would be so much more exciting if you needed a party or at least a few friends to reach certain things and areas. I used to love exploring and wondering "hmmm what's down here?" Only to be met with some crazy ass mobs that I had no chance of tackling solo and then that blind panic coming over me as I tried to make my escape.

{Excitement!} {Can I have it?}

!!! YES PLEASE, CAN I HAVE IT !?

This~ I'd rather have this then gear drop anyday of the year!
Rewarding gear is fine, but to unlock a special area where i can explore and unlock more content is what i want.
I understand that doing 30+ epic quest should reward with more then 1 ring, i think its possible to find balance and make it work.

Remember that awsome fight where we fought like heroes and unlocked that great new place to explore and discover?

[LiadansWhisper]

On a side note: Many of you probably don't know this, but BlueGartr, the FC that worked their butts off to get World First kill on Twintania have their roots in FFXI. They wouldn't have stayed for so long if XI was such a crappy game as most of you seem to think so.

Um. o_O I could swear that the bulk of them are former hardcore raiders from WoW. Could be wrong, of course.

I was FFXIV playing yesterday and i spent some time roaming the land and as i travelled it occurred to me that while what i saw looked nice etc there was just something not quite right.
I stood and fished for a while trying to put my finger on it. Then it came to me. Things i see in the distance. Most of those things i cannot get to. Places close by i cannot get to, it made me realise i was not running around a living world.

I am continually frustrated by my ability to see places across lakes and streams, but being unable to get to those places. :-\

[Evangela]

Making FFXIV more like other mainstream MMOs and less like FFXI.

that's their goal from the beginning. get over it or get out.

[Pandastirfry]

Remember that awsome fight where we fought like heroes and unlocked that great new place to explore and discover?

I remember having to take a break from the game for a month after CoP was released, and coming back and having to give up on ever seeing Tavnaszia, as no one was running Promy any more. (Quit a few years later and never did unlock it thanks to that requirement )

[KraggyKor]

The main things I would like to see are: New zones that are locked out until you beat a challenging quest line (hopefully the first expansion will give us this),

Not a chance, SE learned from COP's abject failure, content that only around 15% of the players have completed over two years after release (SE's own figures at the time) is clearly a fail, they won't repeat that mistake.

[Besbeset]

Not a chance, SE learned from COP's abject failure, content that only around 15% of the players have completed over two years after release (SE's own figures at the time) is clearly a fail, they won't repeat that mistake.

So a game's success is based on the % of people that finish the game and/or the story line? What about having fun by just playing it? Isn't that the main objective of a game?
Oh wait, I forgot that we are on the era of "please make games easier so 12 year old ppl can finish it, and then we can all complain about the lack of content on the forums".

[Ksenia]

Having just failed and died in two Mor Dhona FATE slaughters, if the population ever declines in this game it won't be like WoW or FF11. It will be like Saga of Ryzom. Never heard of it? Most haven't. It was a game designed around large populations that could zerg down content but never got the populations to do it. The few people who did try and play it failed at a core level and left. Not so much because they wanted to but because the game was never designed to be done without zerg.

If you think anything that requires forced grouping is anything but zerg, you are a fool.

[Reslin]

So a game's success is based on the % of people that finish the game and/or the story line? What about having fun by just playing it? Isn't that the main objective of a game?
Oh wait, I forgot that we are on the era of "please make games easier so 12 year old ppl can finish it, and then we can all complain about the lack of content on the forums".

People have fun by "Beating the game." and playing with friends. People don't like being left behind or excluded. Many people have stated that it makes them feel like they're not getting the complete game. WoW also learned from this. In vanilla WoW only 4% of their population got to see the end game raids. So what did they do? Dropped the raids to 20 man as opposed to 40 man. Still, the majority of the population weren't seeing them. Solution 3? Make an easier form that is 10 man and have the harder form that is 20 man. Each expansion (up to cataclysm) increased it's player base so obviously what they did was right. You want to allow the majority of the player base to complete content or they're not very happy players.