I want more reasons to be out in the world.

[Malmstrom]

FATES were a small part of what I used to level everything to 80. That was the only carrot I needed.

And now that everything is 80, you have no reason to do them anymore or go back to any of the zones for any considerable amount of time. Your carrot was small.

[BlitzAceRush]

And now that everything is 80, you have no reason to do them anymore or go back to any of the zones for any considerable amount of time. Your carrot was small.

A game can never give you enough reasons to do something, even ongoing games like MMO's we'll always progress faster than they can create unless they make progressing so slow most will deem it not worth the time and result in the same problem.
Sometimes it's on us to just do something because we enjoy it, I still boot up the original Prototype and play it even though I 100%'ed it years ago, simply because the gameplay it fun.
Carrots are nice but I'd trade them for simply enjoying doing something any day.
I'd not say no to more fun stuff to do but it's unrealistic to expect there always to be a carrot for you to chase all of the time.

[Shurrikhan]

And now that everything is 80, you have no reason to do them anymore or go back to any of the zones for any considerable amount of time. Your carrot was small.

Not everyone can benefit as much from extrinsic enjoyment. In my case, for instance, if I don't get a kick out of the progression itself in some way, I shelve the game indefinitely. If I'm going to spend 80+% of my time chasing a carrot, then the chase itself better be tasty, too.

Granted, that's a lot harder to fix than simply throwing more rewards at things, and a lot of time even intrinsically enjoyable activities can have difficulty attracting players if everything else is more thoroughly reward-saturated. So, I do get your point here, but if the rewards systems and their tasks aren't at least pushing towards or prototyping something more inherently enjoyable, that's quite a waste.

[Saidosha]

On a general level, I've been banging the drum that FATEs need to be more rewarding for a long time now. Making them actually viable for leveling is one part of the equation, but there are other aspects of character growth or customization/fluff that they don't really tap into enough. Some of the "boss" FATEs are also relatively overtuned for lacking local population, making them pretty much a waste of time to even look at. So, while I am certainly for "harder" or more zonewide sorts of FATEs, SE needs to find that balance on scaling so anyone not playing in server prime time isn't boned out of progress. For me, Hunts aren't really fun precisely because of their "hidden" nature.

For those who played XI, I personally look to something like Campaign from the WotG expansion as a starting point for "what to do" in an open world. XI, of course, fell short due to the tie to the weekly reset, only one point of interest per zone, and a paltry reward system tied to participation. Create a singular zone with multiple points of interests for players to fight monsters over, with resources available relative to holding status, and you can create a system that ebbs and flows in a more organic manner than sitting on daily/weekly timers. I'd even say FC squadrons and leveled combat retainers could be a factor in the content. Nonetheless, you can't just make it another source of tome stones, either, or be afraid to let it award top tier gear of its own. Some may even see elements of Rift or GW2 in this pitch, but like XI, they were too shy to let the content compete with common "endgame" activities.

[Lycieus]

Some of these zones are beautiful. The scenery? The music? The weather? Amazing.

The problem?

I have no reason to actively hang out in them at all, and it's a shame. It feels criminal to let some of these zones become nearly devoid of people.

Why go back once you're done somewhere? What's the draw?

Let's assume a few things for a moment, while keeping in mind that of course this doesn't apply to everyone:

You're done with MSQ.
You've done all the sidequests.
You've capped all of your shared FATEs.

So why spend any considerable amount of time in any of the zones?

I was excited when the shared FATE thing was announced and I started working on it. I saw it as a reason to be out in the world, playing the game, but it didn't last. Once I was done, that was it. I bought all the things, I got everything I wanted, and then there wasn't any value in continuing. The money made vs. time spent isn't worth it.

So why go out into the world? Why travel through the zones again? Why hang out in Lakeland? Il Mheg? Coerthas Western Highlands? The Lochs?

There's no draw, and it's a shame.

What are you talking about!? Everything in this game is perfect and flawless as is.

[Malmstrom]

I ran into this issue again earlier today.

I was in the Crystarium for a bit, and while I thoroughly enjoy it as a city, I started getting antsy. I always get antsy whenever I'm in town for too long. I start getting this feeling of "I should be out doing SOMETHING", so I start looking for a place to go.

I went to Il Mheg. I always enjoy the music and the wild scenery. The problem is I just stood there, because I had nothing to do there. I looked at the mountains. I looked at the castle. I even had a strange revelation that there was a place that I could stand where no shadows would render in the distance, but as soon as I stepped forward they would render everywhere.

And then I left. Because there was nothing to actually do there. It's such a shame to have such a vibrantly beautiful place sit abandoned.

[Jojoya]

I ran into this issue again earlier today.

I was in the Crystarium for a bit, and while I thoroughly enjoy it as a city, I started getting antsy. I always get antsy whenever I'm in town for too long. I start getting this feeling of "I should be out doing SOMETHING", so I start looking for a place to go.

I went to Il Mheg. I always enjoy the music and the wild scenery. The problem is I just stood there, because I had nothing to do there. I looked at the mountains. I looked at the castle. I even had a strange revelation that there was a place that I could stand where no shadows would render in the distance, but as soon as I stepped forward they would render everywhere.

And then I left. Because there was nothing to actually do there. It's such a shame to have such a vibrantly beautiful place sit abandoned.

There being nothing that you want to do there is not the same thing as there being nothing to do there.

Those zones are not abandoned; they are still getting used. There are players going through MSQ for the first time. There are players doing side quests. There are players doing hunts. There are players doing FATEs. There are players gathering. There are players working on their sightseeing log.

I've got a friend who gets "cabin fever" on occasion. He picks a zone at random and just rides around, listening to music or chatting with others. The lack of something specific to do doesn't keep him from enjoying the zone and its scenery.

There are things to be doing. SE can't help it if those things don't appeal to you.

[Malmstrom]

It's not that they don't appeal.

It's that they are already all done.

Once you're done in a zone, that's it. Game over. No reason to go back for longer than 5-10 minute spurts before leaving again.

[Mirassou]

After running some dungeons and dispatching some beasts, I decided to chill out in Shirogane with some friends

[IMG][/IMG]

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

It's not that they don't appeal.

It's that they are already all done.

Once you're done in a zone, that's it. Game over. No reason to go back for longer than 5-10 minute spurts before leaving again.

No game can provide an infinite amount of things to do in the overworld.