We Really Need To Talk About The State And Path Of FFXIV

[Ameela]

But in the end, there's still nothing in it besides the sightseeing log. :/

There's actually a couple of easy "fixes" for this that I've thought of.

Like you know how the Isles of Umbra in Western La Noscea had a hidden minion seller not marked on the map? What if every zone had one or two of those with different minions or other cosmetic items? It'd give you more of an incentive to explore.
Or hell they could even implement small hidden quests that don't show up on the map. The Wandering Minstrell in Kugane has something like this, where even though he has a quest marker above his head it won't show up on there, so the tech is definitely in the game already.

I know most people would probably just look up the locations online anyway, but it'd at least be something for people who care about that kind of thing.

[Theodric]

I like both zones. They're very aesthetically pleasing. I do agree that they need more content added to them, though that's a consequence of the game's aversion to meaningful open world content that isn't the FATE system.

There's a lot that could be done with large bodies of water. Submerged treasure chests could be strewn about containing gil, minions, glamour and so on. Some could spawn at random and replenish. Others could have a fixed spawn and only be accessible once by each player. There could also be floating crates fulfilling the same purpose.

[Claviusnex]

And when you think about that, if you remove all the water you get Azys La 2.0 but with islands instead floating ones. Big pieces of land with not much on them and a ton of other little pieces of land randomly placed that have no purpose.

Ruby Sea


Azys Lla

Or you get Diadem.

[Sigma-Astra]

I didn't always get the complaints about the Ruby Sea sometimes. It's an ocean. Oceans are vast areas with very little life or activity except under the water. It's why there's such a thing as people going stir-crazy when they've been shipwrecked for so long out in the middle of no where.

Now, one thing I will agree with and accept is the gripes that there's also barely anything to do under the water. I think that's the main problem with the Ruby Sea. Not what can't be done above sea level, but what can't be done under the water if they're going to make a water eccentric themed zone.

We should have been able to explore sunken chests, explore underwater ruins, interact and explode marine life that's trying to kill us like sharks, giant squids, eels, etc...and have housing underwater!

[Lunalepsy]

There is no open world. Eorzea is just a giant lobby with pretty cats.

[Magic-Mal]

There's actually a couple of easy "fixes" for this that I've thought of.

Like you know how the Isles of Umbra in Western La Noscea had a hidden minion seller not marked on the map? What if every zone had one or two of those with different minions or other cosmetic items? It'd give you more of an incentive to explore.
Or hell they could even implement small hidden quests that don't show up on the map. The Wandering Minstrell in Kugane has something like this, where even though he has a quest marker above his head it won't show up on there, so the tech is definitely in the game already.

I know most people would probably just look up the locations online anyway, but it'd at least be something for people who care about that kind of thing

Yeah I agree with that. The worlds should have way more secret vendors. It makes you WANT to explore so you can discover such a thing. And it kills the fun for me personally, to always have everything, including Aetherytes, showing on the map before actually exploring there. I know some people will probably look it up, but it's no doubt that many won't at the same time.

Exploration is probably my favorite thing ever, in general. In games and IRL! And one of the things that drive me to explore is discovery. And that's why I just don't like the maps in FFXIV especially with HW and SB. None of the maps have anything to actually discover that has any meaning or purpose. I've spent hours going through every nook and cranny in Azys Lla and I finished with a disappointed feeling. Of everything that's in the place, there's nothing in the place. The game truly is sightseeing, like an amusement tour. You just look at things and that's it. To me that's boring.

I think of MHW(which I took a break from this game for) and how I spent hours in one sitting just going around and exploring each map at a time. I was excited to explore because there were animals to find and catch(Then put in your house!), rare shiny mining points to find, plants to find, camps to find, tribes to find that actually gave your companion weapons and skills. I know that's not an MMO but basically the point is that the maps have stuff in them.

In DC Universe Online, I flew around in every single bit of both cities - which were quite big - and every instance to find all of the investigation and collectible nodes that gave unique glamour items. I went and did every single race that was available to find and complete.

In FFXIV, there is nothing. Nothing at all. I recall Alleo mentioning an idea to have all kinds of small animals roaming around the maps to make them more alive and it made me think.. if we had the Endemic Life system that MHW has where you would take a net and manually catch animals and stuff(some super rare) that would be the kicker for me. We could have all the minions in the game placed in the map as endemic life and we could catch them and keep them as pets. If we had a system like that? I'd never be able to leave the dang maps!

[Alleo]

I didn't always get the complaints about the Ruby Sea sometimes. It's an ocean. Oceans are vast areas with very little life or activity except under the water. It's why there's such a thing as people going stir-crazy when they've been shipwrecked for so long out in the middle of no where.

Now, one thing I will agree with and accept is the gripes that there's also barely anything to do under the water. I think that's the main problem with the Ruby Sea. Not what can't be done above sea level, but what can't be done under the water if they're going to make a water eccentric themed zone.

We should have been able to explore sunken chests, explore underwater ruins, interact and explode marine life that's trying to kill us like sharks, giant squids, eels, etc...and have housing underwater!

If we take real life oceans in this, then we could also argue that it would be fine if they released a whole desert zone without anything in it too. The problem for me was, that the benchmark showed a ruby sea full of life. A kraken breaking free and "chasing" the player with its arms, small crabs around the mining points that look curious. It just felt so alive and beautiful..and then you get into the game, see the shipwrecks, the corals and one (or two) lonely sharks. Sometimes a little swarm of fish but nothing more. I am not saying that they should have added more structure. But it just feels so liveless.

[HyoMinPark]

If we take real life oceans in this, then we could also argue that it would be fine if they released a whole desert zone without anything in it too. The problem for me was, that the benchmark showed a ruby sea full of life. A kraken breaking free and "chasing" the player with its arms, small crabs around the mining points that look curious. It just felt so alive and beautiful..and then you get into the game, see the shipwrecks, the corals and one (or two) lonely sharks. Sometimes a little swarm of fish but nothing more. I am not saying that they should have added more structure. But it just feels so liveless.

Basically this.

With regards to swimming, it feels very much like fluff content, and I almost wonder if that was the intention. What with Yoshida’s more recent interview about how they feel they have done most of what “modern MMOs” can do in terms of features, so they want to start working on more RP-like features to make the world feel more lived in. I don’t know, but that sounds almost like flying and swimming will never see any sort of engaging aspects added to them.

[Tsumdere]

I agree with most of the OPs points besides flying and the... raider stuff.

I don't think that the game's maps are suffering from flying but rather lack of things to do. Flying should be there for people who do want to get from point A to point B for their dailies as it is just obnoxious to force tedious modes of travel onto everyone all the time. However, there should be things that would encourage people to stay on the ground.

In FFXIV, there is nothing. Nothing at all. I recall Alleo mentioning an idea to have all kinds of small animals roaming around the maps to make them more alive and it made me think.. if we had the Endemic Life system that MHW has where you would take a net and manually catch animals and stuff(some super rare) that would be the kicker for me. We could have all the minions in the game placed in the map as endemic life and we could catch them and keep them as pets. If we had a system like that? I'd never be able to leave the dang maps!

Or even go a step further and allow certain mobs to be caught and used as companions. Allow companions to be leveled up via other methods than battle. Have races set up in certain maps and "feeding nodes" (like grass for herbivores or small passive wildlife) that you can ride your companion to and interact with. Tie it to a leve system if you must where you can go to a certain town and accept the timed quest and it locks you to the ground while you train and have fun with your new companion.

I do not even know why they don't utilize the Diadem mob AI to the open world to make it seem lively. The mobs fighting each other in Diadem was fun, albeit just fluff. Or why literally everything wants to kill you.

The possibilities are endless.

[TaiyoShikasu]

That was actually my point lol. In my OP, I talk about Azys Lla and how it has a bunch of little places and those bunker/storage-like buildings with opening doors that I liked. But in the end, there's still nothing in it besides the sightseeing log. :/

Azys Lla is the abandoned remnants of an ancient civilization. Not exactly surprising there wouldn't be a lot out there. Especially one as inaccessible as it.

snip

Vast oceans tend to not have much in the way of anything besides ocean and the odd island or in this case an archipelago. Even a real world globe would show that.