Please bring back Exploratory Zones in Dawntrail

[TaleraRistain]

It wasn't long lasting, though. Those zones are ghosts of what they were at launch. And some content from them you can only do if you join certain Discords.

Unless they release exploratory zones that are truly long-lasting then they should consider another type of content. I think being instanced is probably one of the biggest issues. Players can't interact around their normal daily routine like with roulettes. Also the zones being nothing but FATE spamming turns off those who are tired of FATE spamming. The CEs in Bozja could be interesting but the way the raids were designed to work most efficiently with Lost Actions but those weren't provided along the way with the questline that unlocked them made for a difficult combination.

[Mainasu]

Adding another voice to the list of those who want Exploratory Zones to come back. Not having it in Endwalker has been a real bummer, for several reasons.

It's a type of content that's very easy to drop in and out of. You can spend 20-30 minutes in there, or you could go in for a couple hours, maybe more if you have the time to burn. This is because it fills a whole bunch of different niches, has a lot of smaller goals you can work towards in there, and it's one of the few places where they cut loose a bit on the game's relatively rigid combat structure thanks to Lost Actions, Haste gear, and the Suns of Fortitude/Succor/Valor in Bozja.

Even if you weren't working towards a relic, there were all kinds of things you could do in these zones. I made a bunch of gil during Shadowbringers selling off roughly half of my fragments that my friends and I farmed up, but still ended up with more than enough to use for myself. Critical Engagements really helped stave off some of the (sometimes valid) criticism that the zones were just FATE farms, because they were fully fledged boss battles.

Best of all? These pieces of content let you have access to your full skillset when they were released. With so much of the content that you do on the daily being below level 90 now, not having an Exploratory Zone feels like we lost a lot in that regard, cause I'm not very keen on queuing for Alliance Raids, or 50/60/70/80 on something like Reaper, where you're not going to even have most of your class-defining skills.

And Deep Dungeons just.. don't really cut it as a replacement, when you have to go up 10 floors to reach an enemy that will actually let you use your rotation. Not to mention, past floor 30 for Orthos, you have to go in with a premade group... so it lacks the drop-in-drop-out convenience that Eureka and Bozja had.

[Supersnow845]

It wasn't long lasting, though. Those zones are ghosts of what they were at launch. And some content from them you can only do if you join certain Discords.

Unless they release exploratory zones that are truly long-lasting then they should consider another type of content. I think being instanced is probably one of the biggest issues. Players can't interact around their normal daily routine like with roulettes. Also the zones being nothing but FATE spamming turns off those who are tired of FATE spamming. The CEs in Bozja could be interesting but the way the raids were designed to work most efficiently with Lost Actions but those weren't provided along the way with the questline that unlocked them made for a difficult combination.

If you couldn’t bring a basic list action like aetherweaver the game dropped into your lap like candy that's entirely on you

The game wasn’t stingy with basic actions

[KageTokage]

Checking the discords for the related instances, there's almost always some level of activity in there during patch downtime...which is certainly a lot more then can be said of the criterion dungeons which are exceedingly barren in PF even just a few days after release.

[Renathras]

In the keynote at the Las Vegas Fan Festival, Yoshi-P announced the different types of battle content coming to the game in the newest expansion, Dawntrail.

However, one type of content that was not mentioned in any shape or form in the slide was Exploratory Zones, the category that Eureka and Bozja belong to.

While they could still announce including it at a later date, its absence in Endwalker makes me worried that it will not return in the next expansion either.

Therefore, I am writing this thread to ask the developers of FFXIV to please include Exploratory Zones in 7.x alongside large-scale raids in the same vein that Bozja did.

This kind of content is engaging, fun and long-lasting. Features such as Lost Actions can bring new ways of playing jobs, which is personally one of the main appeals of it.

If you would like Exploratory Zones to return, please show your support by liking and commenting on this thread: do you want it back and why? What specific things do you think the content does well and which ones could be improved in future iterations?

100% agreed.

I don't know if they AREN'T adding them or not, but the game definitely needs casual/mid-core content like that where people can drop-in/drop-out, grind as much or as little as they want, solo, occasionally grouping, or 100% partied, as suits the individual.

Criterion and Deep Dungeon don't allow this, since you can't random que for the higher floors of Deep Dungeons, and it's not a casual grind, and you can't save your progress whenever you want, you either clear the boss or fail the run. Criterion Savage doesn't allow pick up groups in the content, only preformed parties, just like Deep Dungeons.

As long as there's not a random join, join and leave party, progress saved at all times where you can leave any time you want (outside of combat), DD/CD will never fill the void of Eureka/Bozja exploration content.

We REALLY needed one in EW where the content droughts have felt really bone dry with no Eureka/Bozja to chip away out and longer patch cycles. I'm hoping they don't make that same mistake a SECOND time. Not sure I could take that twice in a row.

EDIT:

I can only speak for myself, but I have arthritis and play with a controller because that's what gives me the least discomfort/pain. I manage to play pretty well because I've put a lot of effort into tailoring my UI, my crosshotbars, my settings, and my macros to my needs. Things like Lost Actions don't play nice with this, as they can't easily be remapped and there isn't enough macro memory to support all the different Lost Actions for every class. So it puts a player like me in a hard spot.

I'm absolutely fine with them providing features that give players interesting ways to play the game, but I don't want them to be entirely new actions that need additional button space. I'd rather see them do something along the lines of letting players modify their existing spells to add additional effects to them, that way less-skilled or less-able players don't have to manage increased button bloat on a per-content basis.

I understand you - though am shocked you play BLM given that.

A solution that you can use and that I like is to note there are often actions that don't require constant use or additional presses. For example, Shell/Protect you generally use between battles (the rank 2s; rank 1s or Eureka's versions last for 30 mins). Likewise, the Spirit of things like Aetherweaver, in Eureka, are buffs you use and then don't have to keep pressing or engaging with (Bozja traded those for potions, though), and you can have things like Raise or Cure 2/4/etc on a BLM for emergency use but that won't be part of your standard rotation. Those are all options for you to try since you don't really need extra keybinds and you use them holding down the trigger and clicking in the thumbstick.

1. So you want everything dumbed down to suit your personal needs?

That's not what dumbed down means, just so you know.

I say this in the most respectful way possible, that's a you problem, not something the game should be balanced or designed around.

It's not. Moreover, it's something good game design does factor in and balance around. If you look at the Talents in WoW, something they got RIGHT was having three types of talent per row, generally; one completely passive thing that was always active and didn't add any buttons or button presses, one modification to an existing ability to change how you used it or add additional functionality/benefit/perk in using it, and one completely new ability adding to your hotbars. They were GENERALLY at least somewhat well balanced against each other as well. That's what good design looks like.

[Eisi]

It wasn't long lasting, though. Those zones are ghosts of what they were at launch. And some content from them you can only do if you join certain Discords.

Unless they release exploratory zones that are truly long-lasting then they should consider another type of content. I think being instanced is probably one of the biggest issues. Players can't interact around their normal daily routine like with roulettes. Also the zones being nothing but FATE spamming turns off those who are tired of FATE spamming. The CEs in Bozja could be interesting but the way the raids were designed to work most efficiently with Lost Actions but those weren't provided along the way with the questline that unlocked them made for a difficult combination.

I love how popular Eureka still is, it's often flooded with players on my DC. I don't know about Bozja, but I really don't like Zadnor because of the z3 glitch that the whole community has decided is the one way to farm and that makes the whole thing extremely unfun and boring. But hey it's optimal and doesn't get fixed.

But last I checked Bozja was pretty popular still as well with Dal and CLL now being run since having been fixed to actually reward good exp. Also I frequently see DR listings in PF.

[Grimr]

something more along the lines of bozja but eureka hell no. It is unsoloable and unfuture proofed. It would be nice if it was diverse like 3.0 relic.

[Eisi]

something more along the lines of bozja but eureka hell no. It is unsoloable and unfuture proofed. It would be nice if it was diverse like 3.0 relic.

Eureka is literally one of the best examples of evergreen content in the game. It's nowadays actually better than it was on release. It's continuously popular as well. The fact that it isn't soloable actually makes it better.

The only problem it has is that players of different levels can't group up well, which sucks.

[vetch]

1. So you want everything dumbed down to suit your personal needs?

'Accessibility' means designing the content differently so it's accessible to disabled people. If you choose to think of it as 'dumbing down', that speaks more to general misuse of the term as a synonym for 'easy' and to your own lack of imagination.

2. That is a UI and UX problem. Not a game design problem.

"The UI and UX are not part of the game's design," says local deep thinker.

I say this in the most respectful way possible, that's a you problem, not something the game should be balanced or designed around.

Let me stop you right there. There is no respectful way to tell a disabled person asking for basic accommodation to take a hike.

Simple fixes like adding more macro memory do not impact game balance.

[VelKallor]

As long as there's not a random join, join and leave party, progress saved at all times where you can leave any time you want (outside of combat), DD/CD will never fill the void of Eureka/Bozja exploration content.

As has been said, one of the most critical points about developing this content is the one simple fact that after its relevance has passed it is a DEAD ZONE. Virtually no one uses it. A few discords and a few PF parties maybe, but to all intents and purposes it is empty.

Bozja is NOT future proofed, its FATE spamming yes, but you have NO ONE to help, you will be lucky to see maybe 20 people in a single day. Bozja is also a meat grinder, because it is and was designed as group content. Soloing those mobs right now ( and I have tried ) is an exercise in attack, die, run back, lose mettle, do it again and again and again. Note that last part: dying has a penalty which in the long run extends the time a solo player has to sacrifice in order to get anywhere.

I also fail to see why we "need' something to "keep us logged in and playing". Thats a WOW FOMO perspective, FF 14 isnt and never was intended as a "forever game". I get the desire, but in all truth the major issue is the fact that content has a limited shelf life.

The expense and time to create such a zone is wasted. So, no, I dont see a need for it at all.

I DO agree that Criterion and Variants need a lot of work, rewards again agreed.

But I do have to ask: and this is a serious question: whats with this push for content "to keep you playing all the time" ? Why? To what end? To my POV, putting that much time in every day is a good way to burn out.

Renathras: read my first comment: it isnt future proofed, there is no Echo and I am DAMNED if I will subject myself to that kind of masochism. GROUP content that is NOT designed or reset for solo difficulty as there IS no one to help you is an exercise in futility.

Eureka has specific gear that can and does help you with mobs..Bozja has none such. I have done some of Eureka, but again, unless there are parties ingame, ( which cannot be gauranteed so you cant say there are people there all the time, there isnt ) it is a hell of a lot harder as it is..again..designed as GROUP content.

Not solo. So no, we dont "need" another '"exploratory zone", not unless it is in some way adapted OR DELIBERATELY DESIGNED so that when the crowds leave, you dont have one or two players smashing their head against brick walls.

How to fix this?

Easy:

Allow unsync and add echo.

Let me stop you right there. There is no respectful way to tell a disabled person asking for basic accommodation to take a hike.

Vetch: he better get used to those accommodations, as the playerbase is ageing. Not to mention that a 10 year old can get arthritis. Can happen at any age.