Will we see changes to the environmental game world?

[Betelgeuzah]

And yes, while it's true that there were only a few different TYPES of environments within Oblivion, none of those environments felt ever like you were constantly seeing the exact same identically copy-pasted terrain over and over again.

Oooookay. The line between "exact same identically copy-pasted terrain over and over again" and "the exact same type of environment in a slightly different layout over and over again" is thin however, not to mention the changes in environments were not so drastic, which made the world feel even blander. It's quite the bad example no matter how you slice it. Not to mention SE has several regions ready to be implemented once enough content has been implemented and the story has progressed far enough, just like how they opened up regions in XI periodically. We are not really talking about the same magnitude of work here.

They've copy/pasted a lot more than any other game I've played, to the point where it's painfully obvious.

They haven't copy pasted any more than other developers, they just didn't do a good enough job at hiding it. Other games are usually more flat and bland and the copy paste consists of rocks, trees and other such objects. XIV's world is full, but larger parts of the environment have been copy pasted because of it, and thus are easier to notice.

It doesn't hide the fact that the work was poorly handled, but there isn't any more of it than in any other game out there. Had the areas been made more compact you wouldn't even notice it.

[Coyohma]

They haven't copy pasted any more than other developers, they just didn't do a good enough job at hiding it. Other games are usually more flat and bland and the copy paste consists of rocks, trees and other such objects. XIV's world is full, but larger parts of the environment have been copy pasted because of it, and thus are easier to notice.

That's what I mean by copy/pasting more... Where in other games you'll see trees or rocks used over and over.. Not only has XIV done that of course, but they've also copied entire sections and reused them shamelessly.

Even something smaller really has me shaking my head.. Have you seen the pools of water in Mor Dhona? I can't imagine it being any worse, how can anyone respect this?
http://images.wikia.com/ff14/images/..._Dhona_Map.jpg

[Kaboushi]

Totaly agree, please SE fix this, Black Shroud first, then the rest.

[Dyvid]

I feel the huge zones are rather boring and generic. They're all one design landscape with alot of copy and paste here and there. I think before a relaunch can happen, Devs needs to redesign the 5 regions to add different enviroment types.

The Black Shroud shouldn't just be a tunnel system with trees, it should open forest areas like Ronfaure or Caedarva Mire, swamping areas like Jugner Forest, overwhelming like Zi'tah.

Thanalan should have savannahs, deserts, and pertified forest.

The point I'm getting at is players should be in awe over the different enviroments in a Region instead of bored. FFXI did such a good job at region design and there is no reason why FFXIV shouldn't be held up to this standard.

[Dromox]

I feel the huge zones are rather boring and generic. They're all one design landscape with alot of copy and paste here and there. I think before a relaunch can happen, Devs needs to redesign the 5 regions to add different enviroment types.

The Black Shroud shouldn't just be a tunnel system with trees, it should open forest areas like Ronfaure or Caedarva Mire, swamping areas like Jugner Forest, overwhelming like Zi'tah.

Thanalan should have savannahs, deserts, and pertified forest.

The point I'm getting at is players should be in awe over the different enviroments in a Region instead of bored. FFXI did such a good job at region design and there is no reason why FFXIV shouldn't be held up to this standard.

Agreed. They really didn't put any love or imagination in these zones compaired to what was available in FFXI. For example, when you first leave the starting city in XI you are greeted with a forest/desert/plains then you move on then the whole world opens up, in FFXIV it never seems to open up ever and that leads to be tedious and boring. In S.Gustaberg they had things like Vomp Hill, a lighthouse, steampits. Where as Thanalan is pretty much the same, with hardly any distinguishing features, BrokenWater looks exactly like Horizon, terrible and lazy.

[Laughlyn]

Some ideas. (some might already been mentioned)

* Weather elements stay on surface until weather changes. (If it snows, make sure some snow stay on ground for awhile)
- Same goes with rain, some rain-puddles here & there that vanish after rain ends.
* Future "Snow" based areas, dont just want walk "Over" snow, more like: walk "Through" heavy snow.
* Ice covered areas, slippery to walk/run on. (makes the fighting abit more challenging)
* Underwater areas, cant be too difficult designing some simple helmet to make underwater breathing possible.
* More in-field house / civilizations. Somewhat like the cottages in Rolanberry fields in FFXI. (even though there's no one living there)
* Water streams are cool, but it lacks the obvious. the fish!, there's no visual fishes in there. (would be nice to see wich fish i could catch in those streams / ponds, not just some random fish for looks.)
* Ponds & lakes usually (atleast in reallife) have flies / birds flying around but the lakes etc looks & feels lifeless. (they look great but missing that little something extra. maybe a jumping fish now & then?)
* When raining in the fields, i cant remember seeing any lightning except in the Limsa Lominsa zones. (on boat yes but not in field) - Gridania has.
* Gridanias forest is pretty cool, but sometimes just an annoying maze. I miss the "Mysterious" forest of "Sactuary of Zi'tah" from FFXI, or the Meadows of Tavnazia. (with the breathtaking sunsets & glorious sunrises.)
* Graveyards are always mysterious and kinda scary, i'd love to see some kind of theme with this.
* Crystal caves? reflective crystals in brilliant rainbow lights, dark, gloomy... the ingame caves now are more less all the same & if you visited one, you basicly seen them all. (altough some varies)
* Desert ?... oki this one eludes me, Ul'dah is in the desert zone, but there's no sand dunes, if you go to the southern part outside of Ul'dah you can view in the distance some proper looking desert dunes, thats what i expected when i picked Ul'dah as starting city when the game was released. ; ;
* Snow area / zone - well its just a plain must, but no wimp-winter area, im talking frost / ice / whirling snowfall.
- I live in sweden & im no stranger to heavy / insane cold winters. (even though lately it's been crap winters).
SE are true masters of Art & animations, you shouldnt have a problem coming up with some awesome winter-themed areas. (or any other for that reason)

[Seif]

I agree that the zones in FFXIV are generally very bland, repetitive, and boring.

I also find it incredibly sad that SE tried to claim this was because the graphics are so intense. Really? The game has monotonous, repetitive environments because of the intense graphics? If that's true, and all graphically intense games have to have repetitive environments, then why is Square-Enix the only company that does this? Just look at companies like BioWare. Oblivion and Fallout 3 also have huge game worlds and intense, highly detailed graphics, yet they still manage to have environments with a great deal of variety and diversity. Never, at any point in either Oblivion or Fallout 3 did I ever feel like I was seeing copy-pasted terrain over and over again.

The fact that FFXIV has intense graphics is not an explanation, it's an excuse.

I see western developers making games with intense graphics AND environments with variety all the time. If SE can't manage to do so as well, then perhaps there is something wrong with their development process or technology.

I sort of agree and disagree.
It's not that the graphics are bad they're great, compared to Oblivion and Fallout spectacular even.
Where the trouble starts is the actual visual design of the encirclements. We've all seen forests and deserts there's NOTHING special about them.

Look at FFXI X or pretty much any FF after VII and there has been always something unique and never before seen in the enviroments. Landmarks that can only be seen in a videogame. The seashell near Aeris' pond. The tele-Hollas in XI and the Lifa tree in IX.

What does XIV have? A really big plain with grass on it?


uh yay.

You can vary the rock piles in any way possible but they'll still be boring piles of rock and grass. Put some FF imagination in XIV!

[Onidemon]

Not sure about this info but did they use the same team that designed FF XI to make FF XIV? It feels like they made the same mistakes they did in the beggining of FF XI instead of learning from them. Grinadia a series of tunnels is supposed to be a forest? That design sucked for the jungle in FF XI and they actually though it would work well this time?

[Rimmer]

Personally i'd like to see more wildlife and atmospheric touches to the game world. The only wildlife i've seen was 1 Toad sitting on a rock in a river in gridania, it was gone the next day though. Outside of Towns & Camps there are no NPC's at all really, it'd be nice to see some patrols out along the roads, people in distress and needing assistance "Help my trade caravan is under attack by bandits". How about some chocobo messengers running through the zone with urgent news from a far away outpost, just like the guy in XI West Ronfaure "All is clear on the road to La Theine!"

The other day i ventured out around La Noscea by one of the lighthouses to take a look at the ocean, it was lifeless, completely lifeless, considering that this was almost adjacent to Limsa Lomina its kind of pathetic i did not see any ships in the distance heading there, or whales or whatever playing around in the sea, its just dead. The world doesnt feel alive at all. Theres even a boat and a massive sea serpent on the La Noscea map where i was, but i did not sight anything even once.

Hopefully the game will have some splendid views when riding one of the zones airships however, i've seen one travel through the trees in The Black Shroud a few times, will be nice to be amongst them, how about some tree houses around the shroud with some tonberries in? ehehe

MMO's for me, are all about the journey, and im sure its not different for many people playing XIV currently. Right now its a pretty barren and tedious journey all over XIV, i have faith that Yoshi and his team are going to work on this once they have fixed the higher prioties in the game right now.

[SquirrelKing]

As a new player, I have to agree that the zones could use a little more spice. There's just nothing all that unique to separate one area from another. For example, I just arrived at Camp Dry Bones in Thanalan, and I was expecting a drier, sandier environment with dunes or something along those lines, especially because the map is more yellow for that region, but what do I find? The same shrubs with red flowers and orange rock that was back at Camp Black Rock. Also, where was the Black Rock, where were the Dry Bones? Those feature might make the camps more interesting as well.

I really appreciate the designers trying to make a somewhat more realistic world than the likes of World of Warcraft, but they need to fill it in with landmarks, wildlife, and plantlife that varies throughout the zones. I'm still having fun, mind you, but those are just my two cents.