No sense of fear in this game.

[FoxyAreku]

It's an MMO, not a horror game. There shouldn't be a sense of 'fear'.

Needing groups to do petty overworld stuff is archaic design as well and it's just a needless pain in the butt more than anything scary.

[Lemuria]

It's an MMO, not a horror game. There shouldn't be a sense of 'fear'.

I think you're missing the point. The point is that there is little to no risk in overworld areas. This actually has a domino effect on the rest of the game. Without risk, there's less reward. Less of an incentive for people to explore maps or find new areas. To be fair the maps aren't really designed with exploration in mind for the most part either, but this is an issue that goes hand-in-hand with risks and rewards.

In FFXI you were often rewarded for your exploration. Whether it's finding a new rare notorious monster, or some unique mining/harvesting points there was always something to be seen. Getting past enemy lines wasn't just something you stormed through like a bull, you had to be sneaky which added to the risk and the enjoyment.

The problem is that the easier you make something, the more you can do it. The more you can do something, the more mundane and boring it becomes. Keeping things interesting, and challenging is the key to a games' longevity, because people will always want to experience the fun parts time and time again. When the task is its own reward, you've hit the nirvana of game design. No need for arbitrary trinkets or tokens when the feeling of accomplishment is so high.

Of course, that's not a tool which has been used to great effect in FFXIV so far. I can only hope that they give it some strong consideration for future progress.

[alimdia]

.

That risk came from the inability to solo a single enemy and the death penalty, both which would be considered archaic game designs if you were to apply it everywhere in the world. We're far too late to have an open world that cannot be walked without a party, and any change towards that direction would probably be the end of this game, just like any other game that still uses that archaic design.

The system proposed by WinterLuna is much better in that aspect, as it doesn't mess with the rest of the open world areas.

[FoxyAreku]

I think you're missing the point.

No, I got the point just fine, as indicated by the rest of my post.

Needing groups to do petty overworld stuff is archaic design as well and it's just a needless pain in the butt more than anything scary.

Calling it a 'sense of fear' though is just terrible wording.

I also want to address this part of your post.

Keeping things interesting, and challenging is the key to a games' longevity,

If this was true, World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy XIV wouldn't be currently blowing FFXI out of the water in every way shape and form, even if you take the high points of FFXI's life whenever it had the most subscribers, it STILL wouldn't compare.

People don't like to be challenged anymore, and games that you can play casually that don't feel the need to make EVERYTHING difficult and/or challenging will always be more successful. Especially for people that have jobs and real life priorities.

Don't get me wrong, I raid savage, I love challenging stuff. But the days where you need to commit yourself to get anything done are long gone, and honestly? I don't miss them one bit.

[Ibi]

In FFXI[, ...] Getting past enemy lines wasn't just something you stormed through like a bull, you had to be sneaky which added to the risk and the enjoyment.

Sneaky is the word, sure, but only because in 95%+ of areas, you'd just cast a spell or use an ability/item to gain the Sneak effect (and sometimes also the Invisible effect) and could then completely ignore all the mobs.

This is already a thing, just most people don't realize it. Most mobs won't aggro on you if you're out of their LoS, but there are exceptions. Walk past a Mudpuppy/Ninki Nanka sometime. Seriously, walk right in front of its face. They can't see you, so they only attack if they can hear you (i.e. you are running near them). I think Morbols and a few other things act the same way. Mobs in the Diadem aggro on you when you get in range whether they can see or hear you or not, so arguably they aggro to your smell.

Yeah, FFXIV definitely still has the sight/sound distinction. In addition to what's said here, you can walk right up behind something that's aggressive based on sight, all the way up to its hit box, and it'll ignore you. Try to do that with a morbol though and it'll attack right away.

[Lemuria]

Sneaky is the word, sure, but only because in 95%+ of areas, you'd just cast a spell or use an ability/item to gain the Sneak effect (and sometimes also the Invisible effect) and could then completely ignore all the mobs.

Well, sure. Except both of those abilities could wear off in short notice (they had a random duration), forcing you to seek cover to recast with little time to spare. Sneak and Invis was certainly not a panacea. That's before mentioning the magic aggro mobs. Remember those? Casting sneak or invis spells would net you aggro from some of the nastiest enemies in the game. Items were limited in the number you could carry, and being a consumable it would cost you gil to stay well stocked.

All that, before I even mention true sighted mobs who could see through your invisibility regardless, and those chigoes which weren't obvious until they were already beating down on you!

The point really is that in ARR even you're in the basic gear for your level, there's almost no risk of dying unless you're overwhelmed by sheer numbers and that only happens if you're careless or new to the mechanics. Heck, at least in early levels there were linking mobs (shown by the connecting lines when targeting). By the time you hit level 30 they're all but non-existent! I challenge you to name even five mobs in Heavensward zones that link with their fellows! Most don't care that you're beating up their friends.

The devs made the overworld boring. There's a handful of Fates that no one cares about and that's about it. The mobs that inhabit it are just window dressing, there to annoy you while you're travelling, and a handful used for quests or material drops. That's literally it. Once you're at a certain level you won't visit 90% of the areas in the game, because there's no reason to. These days there's more life in a mortuary than there is in the 2.0 areas.