One to Fifty, One Zone - Long OP

[Sephr]

True. One of the main issues with FFXI was the grind-factor involved, no doubt. We're in agreement on that. But that was a flaw of the entire game, not a particular zone.

What were talking about is the visual design of zones themselves, the placement of the monsters in that zone, and what those monsters are ... not how many monsters we need to grind for us to move on to the next zone. That is a related subject, but that's not what we are talking about in this thread ... and not what we're talking about when we recount the sense of newness, inspiration, and fear when we arrived in a new area in FFXI.

Perfect example ... The Boyahda Tree. Saying that it's a giant tree that monsters live in that you grind simply doesn't do the amazing design of that area justice. It's a tree that's so big it has rivers, waterfalls and other trees growing inside it! And those waterfalls are not just eye-candy. There are no invisible walls protecting you from sliding down one and ending up someplace you have no business being.

That's a well-designed area. It's fun to play in, not boring to look at, and it's uncompromisingly lethal if you go looking for trouble. That's what we would like to see more of in FFXIV regions.

I know you love romanticising areas based on what you apparently VERY vaguely remember (I can't imagine you've visited that zone recently), but Boyahda isn't what I would describe as a well-designed zone at all. It's just a bunch of caves, the supposed context that you're in a giant tree makes no difference when it's just a bigger version of crawlers nest that's a bit less annoying to navigate. Nothing about that place suggests good design.
If you want to slide down...things, Ulegurand Range had that huge hill to do it with, if that's your idea of good design.

If you want to talk about good design, why not think about the gorgeous and consistently unique and interesting ToAU zones? The undersea ruins were pretty amazing. Or even the CoP zones? The promyvion zones were so creepy and had such character, Tu'Lia was just awesome.

But Boyahda? God I hated that place.

Edit: Or even the WoTG zones, Vunkerl Inlet was possibly the nicest outdoor zone added with that sort of meadow-y look to it.