After the big graphic update is done, the next big side project shoud be...

[RaideDuku]

...redoing ARR. A Realm Reborn: Reborn, as it were. A Realm...Reforged? Remade? Retempered? No...no, that...that would be bad. Well, whatever it'd be called it needs to happen. I've talked 9 friends over the last 10 years into trying FFXIV, and, aside from 2 of them, each one them quit during ARR. And despite my attempts to get them to try again, promising it gets better starting with Heavensward, even with what little improvements they've done, they have no interest, even on the free trial.

ARR is the biggest deterrent to getting new blood in the game, which every MMO needs to survive (despite what gatekeeping jagoffs would have you believe). They need to just go from top to bottom. Rewrite the whole thing to be much more streamlined, make at least the MSQs more interesting, and redo cutscenes to take advantage of the better cutscene tech they've got now.

Also can take the opportunity to get the writing to line up better with the lore that happens later in the game they just didn't have planned out at the time. Maybe re-write characters so they're more likable. (LOOKING AT YOU MINFILLIA. She's supposed to be our friend, and hard-working. Could do little things like instead of just standing by her desk when you come back to talk to her, she could be at her desk signing off on 2 foot high piles of paperwork...SOMETHING. And maybe at the part where Alphi says he'll sic "his" WoL on anybody that causes trouble, she can like, at least give him a dirty look or maybe even admonish him for it instead of just standing there smiling like an idiot. Some friend she is. Just like "They're not a weapon or some even some member of your Braves you know...that's our friend." Something!)

Condense and get rid of entire patches if you have to. Hell, take the opportunity to redo the voices with the current VAs for consistency. (One of my friends that made it asked why all the voices changed, and why are they so Bri-ish) I would stuff the originals in the inn book, for archival sake.

They can also make Story version of Coils. Yes, yes. I know people can just do it unsynch'd eventually, but you damn well know, or should know, it's really meant to be done at least before "that" scene in post-HW patches. I know that raise some gatekeepers hackles. Good.

I'm sure there's tons of mechanics and systems that could be redone as well. Main thing is, it really must be improved if they want to be able to keep bringing people into the game.

And yes, I know the current state of the game is...decisive...at best, that's why I said "side project". They can improve the current game and work on this in stages. There's about a half dozen threads on the first page of the forum alone that "talk" about the state of the current game. I wanna know what people think about this idea.

[sindriiisgaming]

Revamping the combat system tbh. Its so stale and stagnant

[Ath192]

Update the entire overworld zones and bring the world to a more cohesive experience along with more fun and social overworld activities. As an endgame player I have no idea why Northern Thanalan has Praetorium still standing and there are a bunch of Garlean bases around Eorzea. And no, the "pseudo explanations" as to why they're still there are not enough. That stuff should have been gone 8 years ago.

[Tsiron]

I... don't see them doing that, much as I would like Minfilia to get some better treatment (even if it wouldn't ultimately change her fate, unfortunately), but there was apparently talk of adding a new starting point in 6.1 and, although it was more hypothetical than anything, it seems the likelier solution to me

[GTK0HLK]

The only solution to that, would be them having zones act like time capsules.
(where players get placed automatically in the current era/time Zones. but can visit freely the zones as they were in the past.)
But kinda fits with how I'd like to be able to revert visuals or effects of zones back to how they were before.
Like the fog of Mheg, or the Moongates of Yanxia.
a toggle in other words.

We already know they'll upgrade the visuals.

But as for other locations, it's gonna be harder to press.

Many Garlean or remnant of other factions remain fractured and divided. (unlikely to act, but maintain their positions.)
So heavy doubt much other locations asides Meridianum, or where Rhytatyn was felled would changed. (coils was never truly under Eorzean Control. and there never was much push to clean out the remains of the Garleans after the Triad was dealt with.)

[Larirawiel]

They should fix the network stack. I see permanently people flying and standing with the running animation.




Cheers

[Jeeqbit]

redoing ARR.

That already happened. ARR was revamped in 5.3 to cut down on filler quests and flying was introduced into it to make the patch quests far less tedious. ARR dungeons were revamped throughout Endwalker, including some of them redone completely and their bosses redesigned to be more intuitive and teach new players better.

I've talked 9 friends over the last 10 years into trying FFXIV, and, aside from 2 of them, each one them quit during ARR.

If they can't handle ARR, they will probably quit anyway. The fact is, it is a story game, and if the huge amount of cutscenes, solo duties and streamlined dungeons put them off in ARR, then they would probably put them off later on as well, because all of these things happen at level 90 as well.

Now sure, they don't really get to try raids until level 90 unless they join the Minimum Item Level communities or hop into them in Party Finder, but there are a good number of sprouts doing that now, whereas they barely did it at all back in Stormblood. The synced communities slowly built up through Shadowbringers and became what they are now so you see it pretty regularly now.

Rewrite the whole thing to be much more streamlined, make at least the MSQs more interesting

ARR is pretty streamlined, but unlike the expansions, we aren't traveling through a new land in a linear way because it's our home, so we travel between city states a lot. That's just not gonna change because of the lore.

The MSQ for ARR is interesting and the story for ARR is great. If people don't agree then that's really just a them thing. The ARR story involves becoming an adventurer, meeting some friends along the way who see something in you, running into some paragons that are up to no good and learning more about them, taking on gods and defeating them as you become a Warrior of Light, allies being killed and kidnapped, coming back from it and meeting Cid, finding his lost airship, restoring his memories using powers you don't yet understand, carrying out Operation Archon all culminating in you defeating the paragon and other individuals involved in the gods appearing.

It doesn't even end there, because the paragons who we come to know as Ascians, follow you around, conveniently interfere with the Isle of Val, you form the Crystal Braves to cleanse the realm of chaos, leading to a massive betrayal, deaths and everyone splitting up and going into hiding. You land a great victory on the Steps of Faith and get to the bottom of the heretic problem by meeting Lady Iceheart.

If some people don't regard this as a good story, then again, this on them. It has all the elements and it is the story that drew me into the game, because Heavensward literally didn't exist when I started.

redo cutscenes to take advantage of the better cutscene tech they've got now.

That part is fair, but I don't think I'd want the voice acting redoing tbh. I think that is going a little too far. I prefer certain ARR voice actors, especially Alphinaud's.

Also can take the opportunity to get the writing to line up better with the lore that happens later in the game they just didn't have planned out at the time.

Slightly? It does add up pretty well really. They had more of the future in mind than they give themselves credit for. The statements by Lahabrea in Praetorium actually do line up with how everything turns out, because not only was he tempered by Zodiark during the sundering (leading to him referring to Zodiark as his god) but he was correct that a chaotic confluence of events must be brought about to commence a rejoining and restore his god.

Maybe re-write characters so they're more likable. (LOOKING AT YOU MINFILLIA.

I liked her a lot, so it is just a person's opinion if they liked her. To me, the connection was really good.

She's supposed to be our friend, and hard-working. Could do little things like instead of just standing by her desk when you come back to talk to her, she could be at her desk signing off on 2 foot high piles of paperwork...SOMETHING.

Sure, that would be fine, that's part of where their cutscene technology wasn't really so sophisticated then.

They can also make Story version of Coils.

I think they could do this. The question is if they see it as enough of a priority. I think they probably will someday, even if it's in 10 years time.

[OgruMogru]

It's insane to me that people want more dev time dedicated to removing content. If players aren't into the story, they aren't into it. They cannot just keep remaking and reiterating on ARR stuff forever. It's exhausting. The devs just spent a considerable amount of time remaking every ARR dungeon [and beyond] specifically for new or solo players. Forcing new players into a game they don't wanna be in, or changing the game completely for a nebulous group of people that might not *ever* be interested seems like a huge waste.

That said, some kind of alternative starting point for new players to begin in DT would be cool, I guess. Let them get hooked on a more digestible story with the option to then go through ARR trajectory "properly" But otherwise it just feels like throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

[Tahbitha]

I liked Minfillia a lot too although I kind of wished she'd gotten more to do in the ARR story. But I don't think the story should be redone. Let it stand as is.

[Atelier-Bagur]

I would say revamp the game engine to not only make the netcode smoother but also the combat to be just as snappy as WoW.