Four expansions so far... what is your favorite capital city and why?

[Elissar]

I find myself in Limsa and Ulda’h (which one depends on which character I’m on because of the gc) way more often than Radz simply because they are the most complete and practical: in Limsa, the aetheryte is right by the market board and it’s quick to travel to other servers to buy less expensive items (Ulda’h isn’t bad as the Sapphire Avenue MB is just one click away: no need to run)

Radz is famous for the commerce of dyes...and we don't have a decent MB there. I will never get it.
I feel like sometimes they attach themselves too much into the aesthetics perfectionism, moving the MB away from where we would like to have it. In Crystarium for example, the MB stands at the center of a commercial area and makes perfect sense...but takes too much to get there from the central Aetheryte.

I think they see Limsa like more than just a city but as a "bridge between worlds" where everyone go to trade, see other people and sprouts can see how badass you can be at the endgame. So far, it's working more than the idea of housing neighborhood.

Similar stuff happened with Mu Online. In theory, LostTower was the main hub of trade but people spent more time in Lorencia or Noria because...it was more convenient and pretty.

[Alleluia]

Crystarium: Best inn room, by far. Favorite color scheme. Favorite expansion.

Ishgard is the most sentimental. Also, so much content touches it. You can't get away from Ishgard even if you want to (which I don't).

Radz-at-Han is beautiful, too. Still in awe about how they managed to mush that much color together and make it work.


In kind of a separate category, Limsa is my favorite starter city. Its both the look of it and also b/c its where I started. And its super convenient as a travel hub. Its been my home point since the start of the game.

[MikkoAkure]

2. Ul'dah I wish the Sapphire Avenue was more central to the Aetherythe because it really captures the vibes of a busy trade hub, because that's the feel I have when I get in Ul'dah. I wonder how better it would be if it was built with more recent tech without 2 zones.

In 1.0 Ul'dah was just 1 zone. All the cities were but it was split for ARR to balance lag. This was built in a time before they made multiple different instances for zones when they anticipated a lot of use.


As far as my favorites, I'd say:
1. Ishgard
I haven't had an expansion give me quite the same reaction to getting in the main city zone since then and probably won't again because that was a lot of hype. I was locked out of the city since 1.0, plus this was the very first expansion.

2. Crystarium
Especially the glass roofed part of it, it reminds me of when I saw Project Rapture tech demo and it was a nice touch to have it reference it. I just wish the rest of the city was closer together and the plaza in front of the tower feels too big. But having a giant crystal tower dominating the skyline feels super fantasy.

3. Limsa Lominsa
Held my heart since 1.0 beta. Til Sea Swallows All!


The Worst:
1. Kugane
Way too big. A lot of unused space. As mentioned already, it also has nothing to do with the story at large except as a speed bump and an excuse so that the developers could make "Fantasy Japan". The Far East felt like a distraction from Ala Mhigo, which is what all the lead-up and main part of the story was originally for and Kugane barely even has to do with the Far East part since all the action and attention is in Doma. Also, every other expansion immediately lets you into the expansion's city but Stormblood so overall it feels like an aberration.

2. Ul'Dah
Also a lot of unused space, visually uninteresting unless you really like beige bricks, filled with Lalafell. Almost everything bad that happens in the story pre-HW happens here and then we still have to go back in awkward cuts in the HW story to come back here and finish cleaning its mess.

3. Eulmore
The music and carnival/festival theme just really doesn't do it for me. Everything below the top floor feels superfluous and was purposefully made to be ugly.

[Destati]

Radz-at-Han is my favorite by far, I just wish the colors didn't look so desaturated (a gripe I have with the game in general) but hopefully the graphics upgrade will improve that. I also wish there were more buildings we could go into and they actually had a marketboard (it's one of the biggest trading posts after all so... wtf?).

Kugane is my second favorite though again, I wish we could actually explore inside most of the buildings in general.

[Renathras]

...

Gridania is my favorite.

It's the city I started with but I also like the climate and environment there (kind of woodlands/forest), it's peaceful and calm, doesn't have the hustle and bustle of some of the others nor the "interesting" climate of Limsa, everything's pretty easy to get to, and it's not too bad to get around. I like more rural, chill areas where people generally travel in "mosey" speed.

It's the most interesting and chill city to me, and I love that about it.

I do agree with you that they should have more buildings open in a lot of cities. There are often doors closed for no real reason. They don't even have to put things in them right away, they can just be spaces with some flavor background NPCs or whatnot (the ones you can't target or interact with).

[chimeralab]

Ishgard is my favorite I love how expansive and large it feels, the music is nice, and I love cold weather. I find myself hanging out there most. My least fave has got to be Kugane, just too colorful and gaudy looking to me.

[Zanarkand-Ronso]

Crystarium: Best inn room,

Actually, +1
Definitely agree

[kaynide]

#1 I like Crystarium’s look the most, but it does have a lot of empty dead space. Almost like it was built at 2x scale…

#2 is Ishgard for theme at atmosphere

#3 Gridania, but I do agree it should have had more treetop town vibes like we see with EverQuest/Ewoks. It is what it is, but it should have been a vertical city.

I do also really like Radz. The only city I don’t really like is Ul’dah, but that is entirely because the story left me with a “f this place, let’s burn it to the ground” vibe when they betrayed the scions.

[Monokhrom]

Probably Ishgard. The aesthetic is top notch! It also feels a lot more developed and alive compared to most of the other cities in the game cause of how prominent it was in Heavensward. Cities like Kugane or Gridania just didn’t get that same attention in the story.

[LinaAkayomi]

Old Sharlayan is my favorite BY FAR
Design, music, placement, etc. Only thing I dislike is the Leveilleur Estate being an aetheryte destination. It should be renamed to Journey's End instead, having the Leveilleurs have an entire aetheryte named after them just shatters my worldbuilding immersion.

My second favorite would be Limsa Lominsa, hands down the best one for buying stuff and quickly server hopping for deals in other servers.