Is Hydaelyn a spherical planet or flat? 4.0 seems to imply that it is flat.

[Jonnycbad]

Managing different time zones and day/night cycles would be difficult for the devs and be slightly inconveniencing to players, though I am unsure what gameplay mechanics (if any) are affected by time/day. I know in XI there were 7 days of the week (one for every element) and elemental attacks were boosted or reduced by 10% depending on the day. Also certain quests or enemy spawns only happened on certain days/times. This I'm sure is abolished in FFXIV for simplicity. That said, all the servers for every zone run off of the same game clock I believe. So to put the new regions on a different one is probably awkward from a dev standpoint?

[Driavna]

I can't remember if it was in one of the live letters or in an interview but Yoshi already explained why we only have one-time zone: gameplay. As a gatherer, I agree.

[raela]

Realistic timezones would be awful for gathering.

[KisaiTenshi]

Gameplay mechanics/lore segregation.

My own "flat-Eorzea" wonderings have been more tied to boggling over sailing east across Garlean-infested waters rather than sailing west and around the other side. xD

I think it's more of a scale thing.

In most RPG games, the world isn't round, I believe the term is manifold. Like the most logical shape of worlds like FF4-8 are actually doughnuts. But this is simply because you wrap around west-to-east, and north-to-south. In 3D games, you can actually do a sphere, so there is no need for these doughnut shaped manifold worlds.

However, there is also other logic (like the teleport costs) that suggests that the distance between Ala Mhigo and Gridania is half that of Kugane. Note how only half a day passes between leaving Eorzea and arriving at Kugane. So in terms of world-space, the distance between Kugane and Eorzea is probably the same distance as San Diego and San Francisco. Too far for airships to reach (given how small every one of them we've seen has been so far.)

One thing I miss from V1.0 Eorzea is that there was an actual Ferry movement cycle between Limsa Lominsa and Thanalan/Vesper Bay. It actually used to take several minutes and you had to be on the dock side of the ticket gates to be teleported to the ship when it arrived. V1.0 was far larger, but again, the copy-paste landscapes hurt it more than it helped it.

Based on the map that's in the game (nothing but clouds over the Garlean empire) there is still things around the land mass that we haven't seen.

[Black_Wing]

Managing different time zones and day/night cycles would be difficult for the devs and be slightly inconveniencing to players, though I am unsure what gameplay mechanics (if any) are affected by time/day. I know in XI there were 7 days of the week (one for every element) and elemental attacks were boosted or reduced by 10% depending on the day. Also certain quests or enemy spawns only happened on certain days/times. This I'm sure is abolished in FFXIV for simplicity. That said, all the servers for every zone run off of the same game clock I believe. So to put the new regions on a different one is probably awkward from a dev standpoint?

Ark Pentasphere item needed for the Divine Might fight (all 5 Ark Angels at once) required trading items to spring outside of the Hall of the Gods during a full moon on clear skies at night......lousy clouds >:| . While immersive as it was, missing the window due to weather or just not being able to make it online in time was a bit infuriating.

[Zarex]

Okay so what's the explanation for the time thing?

the same as not having to breathe underwater MAGIC

[Aeeninwen_Taldel]

My only thing is, I feel like day time doesn't last very long.

[Tyrn]

We have seen the whole planet at some point. Remember when Elidibus and the WoD were on the moon?



Yeah, we haven't seen the whole map. Meracydia is to the south of us and you can't even see it on the given map.

This thread has a "full" (as far as we know) map of the other non-far east areas with Meracydia and the new world

[Ferrasper]

What's the scale of Hydaelyn though? Doma seems pretty small for a country, so what size would it actually be in the real world? Same thing with Gridenia?

[Enkidoh]

As LordLucavi mentioned, Hydaelyn is a spherical planet, which is confirmed by numerous sources, starting with the very opening movie to the game (not the End of an Era trailer, the 'opening' scene after pressing start but not having yet created a character, where Hydaelyn is shown from space as a spherical world like Earth (it was also used in an ARR pre-release trailer, a still from which is shown below):



Additionally, Hydaelyn is also seen at the end of the initial Heavensward storyline, when

Elidibus is conversing with the Warrior of Darkness on the surface of Menphina (the primary moon), and it can be seen rising above the moon's surface, again as a round planet.

Finally, the Astrolabe weapon for THM/BLM features as it's 'orb' a model of Hydaelyn with tiny models of Dalamud and Menphina orbiting it. So all three of those prove beyond all doubt Hydaelyn is a spherical planet.