One to Fifty, One Zone - Long OP

[AuronYevon]

Liked as well for the French version. Hopefully we can get more to make it a hot topic over there as well.

Hope to hear soon from the Devs as well on the English Forums on this subject and compare

[Cyruance]

First thread I really felt like posting in, this is something that -really- needs to be addressed. Personally, I believe the intention was the often stated 'freedom' of play they originally wanted to achieve and while I appreciate the redundancy present in that at any point in the game you have the option of going to 1 of 3 different zones to level...Really? 1 of the same 3 for the entirety of the game? These 3 that barely change regardless of whether you're right outside the city-state or on the other side of the map; if you're at the level 40 camp or the level 20? What little variation exists within the sub-zones falls rather flat in my view since theres no significant lore or locations associated with them to give them their own atmosphere and feel.

It boggles the mind to have the game setup like this, no real sense of progression, of going to more dangerous and exotic lands - just all the same.

[Perrin_Aybarra]

I "liked" the french version as well to get it going and replied to it as well since I speak french. Just made some specifications to reflect what has been said here to say that it's not that we can go from 1 to 50 in the same region (Black Shroud, Thanalan, La Noscea) that is the big issue but that the feel of progression is non existant.

That this could be solved by making each sub-zones of the big regions different but still using the same eco-system theme like the drawing of the OP express http://seahorror.com/thoughts.jpg. So that each sub-zone would have it's own flavor and monster types and you would feel a progression by advancing to the next sub-zone.

Would be like combining Saruta, Taronhgi, Giddeus, Buburimu and the dungeons like the maze of shakrami and the towers un Saruta to be under a "seemless" region formed by all these different sub-zones with their own flavor but all with the same type of eco-system in the background.

No matter that all 3 starting area offer the same progressions and that we can go from 1-50 in either of these regions, it wouldn't feel boring if it was like that with different sub-zones. They could still reduce the starting regions to be from 1-35 and then Coertas and Mor Dhana to be 30-50.

[TL;DR] Anyways that's my input on it, I know it has been mentioned by others and I said pretty much the same thing in a earlier reply but I just want to stress the fact that it's not the fact that it's 1-50 in the same region (zone) but the fact that it's the same exact copy-pasted environment everywhere you go in the region. Making each sub-zone different but still under the same theme and distributing monsters accordingly would be the way to go.

[EdenArchangel]

1-96* in the same zone is part of the issue, as well as the identical areas all around the zone.
We have no reason to leave the starting areas, no sense of progression, no exploration, no adventure.

[kyuubi]

This IS the biggest fail of ffxiv by a long shot, 1-50 zones. You shouldn't be able to run everywhere at any level and not care. If you are a low level you should get annihilated by scary monsters for being in a higher level zone. This should be the natural order of things

[Munba]

Everything is been said, i think. Totally agree with the OP and the majority of the posts here as well.
/like

[Zanfire]

Pretty much agree with what most people are saying, it might actually be one of the big reason new players might be turned off, the over sized, lifeless and repetitive zones. Heck even the layout to me feels poorly thought out. FFXI did it great, everyone was a decent ways away from each other and from the major hub city and high end zones. Here its a jumbled mess making 1 city a hub because of its placement.

Will it change...for the most part no. Even if 90% of the people said it sucks, they dont have the time or clearly the manpower to change it. Would be great though, every time i play in this world it makes me miss how well FFXI was made.

Yah i wouldnt expect any response from SE.

[Richard]

Pretty much agree with what most people are saying, it might actually be one of the big reason new players might be turned off, the over sized, lifeless and repetitive zones. Heck even the layout to me feels poorly thought out. FFXI did it great, everyone was a decent ways away from each other and from the major hub city and high end zones. Here its a jumbled mess making 1 city a hub because of its placement.

Will it change...for the most part no. Even if 90% of the people said it sucks, they dont have the time or clearly the manpower to change it. Would be great though, every time i play in this world it makes me miss how well FFXI was made.

Yah i wouldnt expect any response from SE.

If you read 2 pages back you'd see a direct quote from Yoshida, through the JP forums, saying they have substantial redesigns planned for the regions. I wouldn't be so pessimistic.

[kurokawa]

Great post Op. Agree with you so much I'm about to buy ffxi collectors edition. I'd rather grind my way back up through the dunes, quifim, the jungle, the desert, the nests and god knows where else in fov for the next year, as it'll take that long before the Dev team comment on this thread.

[Perrin_Aybarra]

Great post Op. Agree with you so much I'm about to buy ffxi collectors edition. I'd rather grind my way back up through the dunes, quifim, the jungle, the desert, the nests and god knows where else in fov for the next year, as it'll take that long before the Dev team comment on this thread.

Well I was almost tempted to return to FFXI after 5 years of absence but from what I read it changed a lot and you can basically level up from 30-90 in the same zone which is sad really... I don't know where they got the idea to do that...