Quote Originally Posted by User201109011315 View Post
I don't think FFXI achieved the right balance either.

But if FFXI had personal chocobos, and if the airship and boat rides weren't so excessive, I think FFXI would have been a lot more ideal than what FFXIV has managed to achieve.
ffxi did end up implementing personal chocobos a couple years in + you could essentially instaport to the cities if you got the outpost warps to the areas around them (was a 1min walk). That 1 min walk in effect let new players see rank 75s in epic gear run past and gave them an incentive to keep leveling. Airships were mainly for going to Kazahm or if you were in jeuno.

i think the reason i liked it so much is because when you started the game it meant something to be in your home region and you identified with your home nation and got used to it. Like going from San'doria to Windurst was a big deal and took time.