Chocobos, Teleportation, Airships, and your feet. A Travel Thread

[Mr_Gyactus]

15 minutes is too short, it essentially removes the need for alternative transport and that just kills something that's been a major part FF games in the past. They want this to feel like a full MMO world, not a few camps that you zip between as and when you need to. Furthermore, it's an mmorpg, these things aren't known for their lack of preparation time and I think that's part of what people like about them in some ways.

I agree Anima should be there as a sort of quick method of meeting friends or something, but I think it needs to be kept away from being the best mode of transport. Perhaps once chocobos etc are implemented it should work on a 3-charge system, where you get 3 at the start of the day that can be used whenever. This would give casuals a way of getting to where they want quickly (they wouldnt care so much about using them within an hour or two period), whereas people wanting to do more would have to make use of alternative methods (assuming that the time it takes to get around is reasonable)?
3-charge might be too stingy, but you know, just speculating here.

If you have an aetherite, you have already traveled until that spot. 100 points of anima limit the gameplay.
Why do players prefer stay in Ul'dah and they don't move to Limsa and Gridania?
Because the time sink and the anima cost.

1. Ul'dah, take leves
2. Aetherite is at 15-20 mins walking. Ok teleport. (6 base) 3 anima
3 secondary node. Another anima.
4 do leves.
(4 anima points spent)
now what? I have secondary node saved. I can teleport back in Ul'dah for 2 points. tomorrow I'll return to (3.) for 1 anima point. OR

5. teleport to Gridania/Limsa 2 points
6. take levequests
7. teleport (6-3 anima points)
8. secondary node (1 point)
9. teleport to another aetherite 3 points
10. secondary node 1 point
11. do leves
12. teleport to limsa/gridania
(12+4= 16 anima points in 36 hours)
exit game

And I'm talking about all registered aetherite, without any local leve.
with 15 mins CD, I'm forced to walk/ride to reach the secondary aetherite, or wait 15 mins.
Did you have do the lev30 conj quest? the one in owl nest? try it without any teleport (as I have bravely done) and tell me if you really want that kind of time sink everyday for every quest.

I don't. Players can do mistakes, teleporting in wrong places, people can have only 30-40 minutes, people can simply hate to lose time, because they want be in the center of the action asap. If a player prefer walk or ride for hours, I'm no one to say you cannot do that, but at the same time I don't wanna limitations about how I prefer play. If I wanna ride, I'll ride, if I don't wanna ride, I don't.

[Zuellni]

I don't. Players can do mistakes, teleporting in wrong places, people can have only 30-40 minutes, people can simply hate to lose time, because they want be in the center of the action asap. If a player prefer walk or ride for hours, I'm no one to say you cannot do that, but at the same time I don't wanna limitations about how I prefer play. If I wanna ride, I'll ride, if I don't wanna ride, I don't.

I honestly don't think you're playing a genre of game that fits your lifestyle if all you have is 30-40 minutes of game time. Perhaps try a Facebook game, or different genre like FPS. I think you'll find them more gratifying since you tend to "level up" and make much more progress in a 30-40 minute time frame than in an MMORPG. If you really like RPGs try a single player RPG or perhaps something semi-online like Demons Souls since those kinds of games are more easily picked up, dropped and picked up again where you left off whenever your schedule opens up. Otherwise, the only other suggestion I can give you is to not feel compelled to complete every single leve you can get on every reset. It's okay if it takes you several days to get 16 leves done on your schedule. It's a game, no one is watching over your shoulder expecting you to get your tasks done before a deadline so play at your own pace.

Personally, I think the stock of 100 Anima should be changed. Instead, have Anima as a single use 30min cooldown to teleport to the party leader's homepoint. Aetheryte crystals and nodes should just be for a return point when you die. I think this allows for people to get quick transport to "where they need to be" and still give purpose to Chocobos and Airships in the world without having to get rid of the idea of Anima all together. With the way it is now, people have no incentive to run around and explore. I personally know several players with capped jobs that have never taken the ship to Limsa Lominsa or run to Gridania from Ul'dah.

[Seif]

I honestly don't think you're playing a genre of game that fits your lifestyle if all you have is 30-40 minutes of game time. Perhaps try a Facebook game, or different genre like FPS. I think you'll find them more gratifying since you tend to "level up" and make much more progress in a 30-40 minute time frame than in an MMORPG. If you really like RPGs try a single player RPG or perhaps something semi-online like Demons Souls since those kinds of games are more easily picked up, dropped and picked up again where you left off whenever your schedule opens up. Otherwise, the only other suggestion I can give you is to not feel compelled to complete every single leve you can get on every reset. It's okay if it takes you several days to get 16 leves done on your schedule. It's a game, no one is watching over your shoulder expecting you to get your tasks done before a deadline so play at your own pace.

Personally, I think the stock of 100 Anima should be changed. Instead, have Anima as a single use 30min cooldown to teleport to the party leader's homepoint. Aetheryte crystals and nodes should just be for a return point when you die. I think this allows for people to get quick transport to "where they need to be" and still give purpose to Chocobos and Airships in the world without having to get rid of the idea of Anima all together. With the way it is now, people have no incentive to run around and explore. I personally know several players with capped jobs that have never taken the ship to Limsa Lominsa or run to Gridania from Ul'dah.

I absolutely agree about MMOs not being for everyone. The players SE needs is the kind who will stick around for years. Facebook-style gameplay simply isn't enough to keep anyone compelled enough to play for more than few months.

At this point we have done the levequest thing and are bored of it. MMOs are about freedom and doing the things you like. At this point there's only one form of gameplay in XIV and that's leves. (yes I lump in sidequests there aswell)

[Betelgeuzah]

At this point we have done the levequest thing and are bored of it. MMOs are about freedom and doing the things you like. At this point there's only one form of gameplay in XIV and that's leves. (yes I lump in sidequests there aswell)

The more freedom you give the players, the worse the game is, because the less control the developers have over designing and balancing content and game features.

The more freedom you have, the worse the content is. Finding the balance to suit the developers vision of the game is most important. S-E already screwed up by trying to encourage both leves and monster grinding as a method for primary progression.

There's still room for alternative methods of gameplay, but leves are not going anywhere, and that's what you will do to progress.

[Mr_Gyactus]

I honestly don't think you're playing a genre of game that fits your lifestyle if all you have is 30-40 minutes of game time. Perhaps try a Facebook game, or different genre like FPS. I think you'll find them more gratifying since you tend to "level up" and make much more progress in a 30-40 minute time frame than in an MMORPG. If you really like RPGs try a single player RPG or perhaps something semi-online like Demons Souls since those kinds of games are more easily picked up, dropped and picked up again where you left off whenever your schedule opens up. Otherwise, the only other suggestion I can give you is to not feel compelled to complete every single leve you can get on every reset. It's okay if it takes you several days to get 16 leves done on your schedule. It's a game, no one is watching over your shoulder expecting you to get your tasks done before a deadline so play at your own pace.

Personally, I think the stock of 100 Anima should be changed. Instead, have Anima as a single use 30min cooldown to teleport to the party leader's homepoint. Aetheryte crystals and nodes should just be for a return point when you die. I think this allows for people to get quick transport to "where they need to be" and still give purpose to Chocobos and Airships in the world without having to get rid of the idea of Anima all together. With the way it is now, people have no incentive to run around and explore. I personally know several players with capped jobs that have never taken the ship to Limsa Lominsa or run to Gridania from Ul'dah.

I personally think you don't really play this game because if you did, you knew about the repetitive travel between a city and an aetherite. This means you cannot "save a position" and return there, it's simply stupid.
And I have 5 MMO (successful) in my pc, and this is the only one where players complain for fast travel options, freedom in actions, freedom in gameplay.

I mean, mr community (aka trolls), are you trying to see if SE is SO RETARD to remove anima and place huge and boring time sink?
Really, I'm ashamed to read this thread and others.

Frustrating =/= challenge
SLOW and boring =/= challenge.
Luck =/= challenge.

[Zuellni]

I personally think you don't really play this game because if you did, you knew about the repetitive travel between a city and an aetherite.

I regularly run from city to city and Aetheryte to Aetheryte. I only use Anima if I'm pressed on time or if people are waiting for me at a camp. I know that it takes some time to get places, but I factor that into my playtime and plan ahead. Just like how I wouldn't leave my house for work 5 minutes before I have to be there, knowing it's takes 30 minutes to drive there.

This means you cannot "save a position" and return there, it's simply stupid.

You can save a position and return there. Just don't interact with another Aetheryte Crystal or Node after you've interacted with the one you want to save. It's not as elegant as FFXI's homepoint system, but I find it get's the job done for now.

And I have 5 MMO (successful) in my pc

Perhaps this is the reason you're frustrated? I can't fathom why you'd need to play 5 different MMORPG as I find one MMORPG is enough to keep me busy.

On the matter of this game being too time consuming: Just what do you expect when you sign up for an MMORPG Mr_Gyactus? I believe it's a given that any MMORPG will consume a considerable amount of time. Perhaps you're the sort that drops a ball and expects it to fall up?

[Daremo]

So my idea for Chocobos is a little grand and complex...

So instead of just a means of transit imagine that chocobos acted as a mount that were an extension of your character. So just like a PC, a chocobo could go from active to passive mode and receive monster aggression. So even on a chocobo, you would not be safe. Imagine in addition to whatever personal chocobo system is in place there was a means to also level your chocobo up by engaging in battle and maybe even special chocobo based battle leves.

Now for means of transit, maybe the level of the chocobo would be decided by the location it is rented from or amount of gil payed. So from one of the starting cities let's say that maybe only level 10 chocobos are available to rent while at a camp like Bluefog they might offer up to level 40 chocobos for an increased amount of gil.

Traditionally chocobos have been a safe means of transit for Final Fantasy games. But I think the feeling of being like a chocobo knight or even leveling your own bird would be worth a little bit of danger while travelling.

[Mr_Gyactus]

I regularly run from city to city and Aetheryte to Aetheryte. I only use Anima if I'm pressed on time or if people are waiting for me at a camp. I know that it takes some time to get places, but I factor that into my playtime and plan ahead. Just like how I wouldn't leave my house for work 5 minutes before I have to be there, knowing it's takes 30 minutes to drive there.

You can save a position and return there. Just don't interact with another Aetheryte Crystal or Node after you've interacted with the one you want to save. It's not as elegant as FFXI's homepoint system, but I find it get's the job done for now.

Perhaps this is the reason you're frustrated? I can't fathom why you'd need to play 5 different MMORPG as I find one MMORPG is enough to keep me busy.

On the matter of this game being too time consuming: Just what do you expect when you sign up for an MMORPG Mr_Gyactus? I believe it's a given that any MMORPG will consume a considerable amount of time. Perhaps you're the sort that drops a ball and expects it to fall up?

If you prefer walk from Ul'dah to halatali for 3 quests and the return back, do it. Really, who cares? there is a road connecting Ul'dah and halatalii? Yes.
Do you want lose 45 minutes walking? Seems so, but I think you don't do that. Why if you love so much walking, do you use little and noobish tricks to preserve anima?

If you don't interact with an aetherite you cannot start levequest! So you go and return back with teleport to the same node for days. Do you think this is fun? the same node, the same group of quests? If you had more anima, did you continue to do quest in a node only?


I don't care about your opinion about me, this is a forum called "FF14 beta forum", read closely and avoid personal attacks. If tomorrow I wanna play ff14, I'll do. If I wanna play another videogame I'll do. And you are no one to say what I can or what I cannot do.

When I play an MMO I expect to find players. Players play. Players play what is fun.
There is not fun watching trees for 20 minutes, doing 30 minutes of quests and 20 minutes to return in city.

[Zuellni]

I don't care about your opinion about me, this is a forum called "FF14 beta forum", read closely and avoid personal attacks. If tomorrow I wanna play ff14, I'll do. If I wanna play another videogame I'll do. And you are no one to say what I can or what I cannot do.

I apologize if you feel my remarks were personal attacks, I only question you I don't understand your perspective very well and I was taught that inquiring about the unknown was valid part of discussion or friendly debate, but I suppose not everyone shares this opinion or perhaps I came off too bluntly. I also never intended to impose on your freedom to choose what you play. I merely asked why, since you make yourself out to be a busy person without a lot of play time, that you would have so many different MMORPG. In fact, I'm quite curious as to how you balance so many time consuming games on your schedule.

I do agree that a successful MMORPG should have a sizeable population and that a decent population is what helps garner interest and entertainment in large virtual worlds. This is something that FFXIV is currently lacking in, but I really don't believe that keeping teleportation as a main mode of transportation will help in enticing players to join the game. I also understand that 20-30 minutes to travel may be too tedious for some and for that reason, I am in favour of Chocobos and airships becoming a quicker and more easily available mode of transportation. Perhaps cutting down travel time for a distance such as the Thanalan Ferry Terminal to the entrance of the Black shroud to somewhere between 5-10 minutes would be reasonable.

Regarding how I play, I tend to have an idea of what I want to do or accomplish for my time, so I would usually plan my route before I set off. Making my way from Ul'dah to Nophica's Wells, then on to Halatali and Broken Water with all my battle leves and local leves for those areas in hand before running back to Ul'dah for example. But I suppose your question was a rhetorical one.

I have enjoyed, trading opinions and would have preferred to gain more insight on your views and ideas, Mr_Gyactus, but for fear of offending you further, I'll stop my banter here. If you still feel that I'm doing unto you some sort of injustice, then feel free to report my posts to the forum moderators. Perhaps one day we may have discussion again regardless of our differing perspectives and both enjoy ourselves. Until then, Mr_Gyactus.