Would you want the Firmament to be a feature for future expansions?

[Shougun]

Personally I would like progression of areas to be mostly based around my own actions, but I think locking the maximum progress around the community would be neat (such that the community has to work together to improve the area, and those participating live would just be moving the area along as natural, but those coming in later could experience the area growing as is natural to their own story / journey). Like if the area progresses with the story it would feel better than if I first came into HW and Ishgard is in ruins but 'hah look at this spotless pretty area'.

Beyond that comment though yeah I think progression is cool. I do hope they continue and improve the Ishgard concept, and if they don't join the personal with the community then I do also hope they will do a Doma concept again sometime (and ideally bring it closer into the main content, maybe not 'required' but be more of a center and pushed piece).

I've this feeling that there could be an interesting and valuable restoration (/expansion of the area) project for that one final zone in ShB, where you're tasked with creating and maintaining a great museum / library. Perhaps linking it with Archelogy (/chocobo hot and cold) content. Someone in that final area following their 'previous' calling to catalog and record history, meanwhile you having to help maintain the stability of the area in general as well (else the area's strength may wane). Remembering us. May also be able to bind it to another loot and glamour system alternative I had suggested, the crystal library and forge, (sort of a functional compromise) where when you complete a catalog of a certain area you unlock the glamours of that area (turn in X essences of a specific dungeon unlocks the glamours of the whole dungeon, this means instead of storing ~20+ items per content SE only has to store 1 boolean variable).

Also going back to the first point if they combine the personal with the community aspect then they can combine resources for content like Doma Reconstruction into community efforts (meaning it can be even bigger scale, since it would be taking two concepts and empowering them together). Of course some people will prefer changes that go on without them, but my bias is not to that (not that I'll rage if it is the case, never raged about Ishgard- just stating my bias modification of it) and that I think it's more fun when "I" do something in the game world than if "you" did it (unless we're in a fight together, then shine one mate lol). Also means it can tie in with the story better, since it could take queues off the story (and of course they can always have both types of content separate, they don't need to be blended together).

[Fynlar]

Unless it is streamlined and made a lot clearer than it currently is, I wouldn't care.

I mean, clearly enough other people engage with it just fine so I wouldn't just want to say none of them should be allowed to have similar content in the future just because I don't get it, but it also means I'm just not going to bother with it, which is already what I do with multiple sorts of content in this game (current ex/savage, hunts, a lot of Gold Saucer stuff, etc...)

You know how one of the Firmament NPCs themselves, while explaining the system, basically lampshades how convoluted it is? When I heard that I was basically telling myself "yeah, no kidding" and knew I couldn't be bothered to try to figure it out.

Krile made a similar comment in Eureka with regard to its magicite system, which I know a lot of other players harped on.

Generally speaking, if the game/developers themselves feel like they have to throw in a dialog line about how overly and unnecessarily complex their system is, it's usually a good sign I won't find it enjoyable to engage with.

[Alleluia]

Personally I would like progression of areas to be mostly based around my own actions, but I think locking the maximum progress around the community would be neat (such that the community has to work together to improve the area, and those participating live would just be moving the area along as natural, but those coming in later could experience the area growing as is natural to their own story / journey). Like if the area progresses with the story it would feel better than if I first came into HW and Ishgard is in ruins but 'hah look at this spotless pretty area'.

This is a really good idea, imo. That way, people who come in to the game later on still get to do it, but you also have community involvement at the time.