New Yoshi-P Interview: DT Bozja equivalent, MBs in all hubs, gil sinks, etc.

[DaveFishnomer]

I dont really understand why they are surprised that limsa is the de-facto main city, it has a market board and retainers right next to the main atherirte, has quick inn access, Grand company, you can travel from there to other worlds.

None of the new cities has that in any combination, they all frankly suck, if they dont design it better people are not going to use them.

[KisaiTenshi]

I dont really understand why they are surprised that limsa is the de-facto main city, it has a market board and retainers right next to the main atherirte, has quick inn access, Grand company, you can travel from there to other worlds.

None of the new cities has that in any combination, they all frankly suck, if they dont design it better people are not going to use them.

Well, the way to fix that is to, quite literately move the Aetheryte plaza to be in line with Ul'dah, Gridania and Ishgard where their Aetheryte plaza's are not near the market board.

Alternate option, disable all crafting within 15 yalms of any Aetheryte or Marketboard outside of housing. It's a minor nuisance to be in the Aetheryte plaza and constantly hear the bang-bang-bang sounds from crafting, but it creates the very situation where players basically just zone-in and start crafting right in front of the markeyboard/aetheryte because laziness.

It's just kind of baffling that they re-created the 1.0 market stalls problem with the introduction of cross-world servers.

[DaveFishnomer]

Well, the way to fix that is to, quite literately move the Aetheryte plaza to be in line with Ul'dah, Gridania and Ishgard where their Aetheryte plaza's are not near the market board.

Alternate option, disable all crafting within 15 yalms of any Aetheryte or Marketboard outside of housing. It's a minor nuisance to be in the Aetheryte plaza and constantly hear the bang-bang-bang sounds from crafting, but it creates the very situation where players basically just zone-in and start crafting right in front of the markeyboard/aetheryte because laziness.

It's just kind of baffling that they re-created the 1.0 market stalls problem with the introduction of cross-world servers.

Yes, lets take something good to make it fit in line with the other bad places, OR make the bad places fit inline with the good place

[Kaurhz]

Well, the way to fix that is to, quite literately move the Aetheryte plaza to be in line with Ul'dah, Gridania and Ishgard where their Aetheryte plaza's are not near the market board.

Alternate option, disable all crafting within 15 yalms of any Aetheryte or Marketboard outside of housing. It's a minor nuisance to be in the Aetheryte plaza and constantly hear the bang-bang-bang sounds from crafting, but it creates the very situation where players basically just zone-in and start crafting right in front of the markeyboard/aetheryte because laziness.

It's just kind of baffling that they re-created the 1.0 market stalls problem with the introduction of cross-world servers.

You're solving a minor nuisance by creating a significant nuisance by limiting where people can and cannot craft, and if I am honest 15 Yalms is not actually significant at all. It's, what? The equivalent of 2 stalls.

That said, they would honestly be better slightly expanding/reworking Ul'dah and Gridania to be more in-line with Limsa. They have done the same for housing in the past when they added swimming.

[Daralii]

You're solving a minor nuisance by creating a significant nuisance by limiting where people can and cannot craft, and if I am honest 15 Yalms is not actually significant at all. It's, what? The equivalent of 2 stalls.

That said, they would honestly be better slightly expanding/reworking Ul'dah and Gridania to be more in-line with Limsa. They have done the same for housing in the past when they added swimming.

Ul'dah's aetheryte plaza always felt kind of weird. The city's focus is almost entirely on commerce, but the plaza is tucked away in a side room away from the commercial areas.

[TheMightyMollusk]

Ul'dah's aetheryte plaza always felt kind of weird. The city's focus is almost entirely on commerce, but the plaza is tucked away in a side room away from the commercial areas.

It does make a bit more sense being right next to the Grand Company for defense, though. Gridania's is also adjacent to the Twin Adders. Limsa is the standout there.

[Daralii]

It does make a bit more sense being right next to the Grand Company for defense, though. Gridania's is also adjacent to the Twin Adders. Limsa is the standout there.

Haven't the Flames always been kind of an outlier compared to the other GCs? I vaguely remember them largely having their power suppressed in the city itself by the Syndicate so that the Brass Blades could operate unimpeded.

[TheMightyMollusk]

Haven't the Flames always been kind of an outlier compared to the other GCs? I vaguely remember them largely having their power suppressed in the city itself by the Syndicate so that the Brass Blades could operate unimpeded.

To my understanding, the Flames are the standing army and the Brass Blades are the police force. And there's a lot of tension between them, at least in part because the Blades are so openly corrupt that finding one officer that isn't on the take (Fufulupa) was a plot twist in the Ul'dah starting quests. There's also the Stone Torches, but they tend to be forgotten about. Far as I remember, they're more like private security for the mining guild.

In Limsa, the Maelstrom is the army and the Yellowjackets are the police, with the Rogues' Guild operating behind the scenes. In Gridania, the Gods' Quiver and Wood Wailers are the normal peacekeepers who work together as the Order of the Twin Adder. Ishgard has the Temple Knights filling both roles, although in the machinist quests in Stormblood they've begun employing the machinists as a home guard while the Knights are off with the rest of the Alliance. Ala Mhigo still relies on the Resistance, and while Doma has samurai and shinobi, I don't recall them being given an actual name as an armed force.

[KisaiTenshi]

Yes, lets take something good to make it fit in line with the other bad places, OR make the bad places fit inline with the good place

This problem is not exclusive to Limsa or FFXIV to begin with.

You're solving a minor nuisance by creating a significant nuisance by limiting where people can and cannot craft, and if I am honest 15 Yalms is not actually significant at all. It's, what? The equivalent of 2 stalls.

That said, they would honestly be better slightly expanding/reworking Ul'dah and Gridania to be more in-line with Limsa. They have done the same for housing in the past when they added swimming.

So you want every area to be a crowded noisey mess for botters to spam. No. That's definitely not what is needed.

Here's a better idea. Remove all the retainer bells and marketboards from all the cities present locations. Then add a "third floor" to all cities (including Ishgard, Gridania, Limsa, Ul'dah, Sharlayan, Ralgr's reach, Idyleshire, Eulmore, Crystarium, Solution 9, Kugane, Radz-at-Han) which contains marketboards arranged along the far walls in a way that there is a central "aetheryte" plaza flanked by marketboards. This area contains no NPC's.


(I'm expecting the image host to crush this)

Basically what I'm saying is literately design the map to be less claustrophobic. The aetheryte plaza or wherever the player zone-in's needs to be much farther away from the marketboard and retainer bell so people spread out. Ul'dah at least has the aetheryte plaza "off" the main road, so crowding in there is not encouraged as there is nothing immediately there to see. Limsa however you zone in and just see players popping in and out, and everyone sits there and crafts in front of the marketboard obstructing the entrance to the plaza.

Look at the version 1.0 map for Uldah


See that entire extra outer-hallway around the east side? The market boards should have been over there, not right beside the NPC's. In version 1.0 that was really part of the loading tunnel system, but that place logically should "still exist" in the game as the other side of where the sapphire avenue exchange is.

Now look at 1.0 Limsa

Guess where the Aetheryte isn't? There used to be a stone sculpture there. The 1.0 location was on the upper decks.

Asking to make Gridania and Uldah crowded and clastrophobic like Limsa's aetheryte plaza is just the wrong way to go. Ul'dah's Aetheryte plaza feels uninviting, which is why everyone basically hangs out in front of the entrance to it. Yet, Ishgard just doesnt' look inviting at all, so I can see why nobody is there.

In terms of probably the best-designed. Eulmore. Everything you need, visible light, inviting. Is right there and is far enough away from each other than it's not crowded and not claustrophobic.

The other thing that needs to happen is being able to see the marketboards on all servers in the DC. So that carrot can be had by making that available from this third floor, or the housing area.

[CamuiKushi]

The 1.0 location was on the upper decks.

Huh. That explains that big empty plaza up top near the exit to Lower La Noscea. I always wondered what the deal with that was.

But yeah... nah. I'd rather they just look at Limsa and ask themselves why people afk there. Part of it is inertia (Everyone thinks of Limsa as the place to idle/afk), part of it is the convenient layout.
But I think something a lot of people forget is that no matter where you are in the story, you can meet up in the starting cities. You can have a friend stuck in ARR, another on their way through Shadowbringers and be caught up with current content and all meet up in the starting cities to hang out and choose something to do together.
That isn't unique to Limsa, but it IS something that gives the starting cities an edge over the current expansion cities.

The starting cities are player hubs because they will always have this benefit no matter how many expansions are released. In fact the more expansions there are, the more it's a benefit.