Please do not make group quest open world areas.

[Gunspec]

Many posts in this thread are in accordance with this change of open world, and many of the dissenters seem to be misinterpreting the level of difficulty that is going to be presented.

Yeah, I agree we're misinterpreting the level of difficulty. I think SE knows what they are doing, and it will be fine. But there is definitely a vibe in this thread that "punishing is better", and I've seen too much of that in other games. Games where, after 200 hours of solo playtime, the questing zones suddenly become impossible to solo and I'm forced to look for friends to help. Except, since the game doesn't create a need for group play earlier (Secret World) or has mechanics that make group play almost impossible (Elder Scrolls Online) you can't find anyone to assist you with the final few zones of the game. People either don't play that far, or the content is no longer relevant and the zones are pretty much empty.

I've still never finished the last zone of Secret World, because "you have to fight one enemy at a time, and if you pull a second one by mistake you will be in trouble". After giving up on that game because I couldn't find anyone to assist me, those aren't words that I'm delighted to hear.

However, I'll restate, I think it will be fine in FFXIV. I can't imagine devs are talking about allowing some kind of solo dungeon while simultaneously forcing parties on quest zones. Maybe there will be hard world content, but then they will deliver on the npc accompaniment they've been mentioning. Or maybe my chocobo will finally become a man and start fighting like the hero I know he is. Yoshi-p won't let FFXIV become a wasteland of tough mobs and no players like other mmos have done.

Let the bodies hit the floor, for I have a wand and a book.

We're on a floating continent, fighting an army of dragons, I've got a bow and arrow, none of this makes sense.