Any plans to include vistas in ARR?

[Shougun]

It's not that I am resistant to change; I would say that I just don't understand the point in being rewarded for visiting an area in the game. It's odd; like giving your dog a treat for sitting on a specific tile in the kitchen or something.

Crafting 10000 times to get a special uber aparatus isn't weird? :P

More or less I think of these points of interest as more like "find me if you can" little scavenger hunts.

[Preypacer]

I believe what helps make the zones of FFXI and FFXIV initially impressive is that the developers don't directly tell you what is special about them. Just being in a zone (like Ru'Aun Gardens, for instance) can have an effect on a player due to the time it takes to get there and the story missions you have to complete to even be able to enter. It builds up the regions in the players' minds and can only be cheapened if they turn it into a game.

The dev teams for both games would do best to continue to stay out of making genuine player curiosity and interest something that can be numerated with achievements.

Absolutely brilliantly put.

If you're interested in exploring the world, you don't need to be "coaxed" or "bribed" into doing it. Just go out and explore. An explorer explores for the sheer enjoyment of it. There's no "reward" or "pay-off" needed for it. The "achievement" is the exploration and discovery itself.

I don't know where this whole trend started of people needing to have achievements or rewards attached to everything in order for it to be "worth doing", but it's pretty sad, in my opinion.

[Elexia]

I don't know where this whole trend started of people needing to have achievements or rewards attached to everything in order for it to be "worth doing", but it's pretty sad, in my opinion.

Oh it's obvious when this trend started MMO wise, since one can't really say the achievement/trophy system from 360/PS3 is likely the start, since people were perfectly ok with exploring worlds without achievement systems in MMOs for years xD.

[Myrhn]

We have vista allready, go to the desire location >> put the 3rd person view>> scroll back a bit >> and do a 360 with the camara. Great view if you do it right

[Shougun]

We have vista allready, go to the desire location >> put the 3rd person view>> scroll back a bit >> and do a 360 with the camara. Great view if you do it right

Allowing SE to do some would give much better camera shots. Hildibrand quest, you will get an awesome view of western thanalan that isnt normally possible.

But yeah there are some great shots obtainable normally.

[SirOleas]

Crafting 10000 times to get a special uber aparatus isn't weird? :P

More or less I think of these points of interest as more like "find me if you can" little scavenger hunts.

Fair enough. I can't really argue that other than the fact that I have not gone after luminary tools lol.

[Virtuso]

I don't know where this whole trend started of people needing to have achievements or rewards attached to everything in order for it to be "worth doing", but it's pretty sad, in my opinion.

Agree completely. This is how I still play all my games. Never understood this need to be congratulated repeatedly for every little thing.

[Duelle]

I think getting cutscenes as we enter dungeons and progressing through them is already suitable enough.

Except when most groups make you skip said cutscenes, they might as well not be there...

I was fond of holocrons due to the fact that they introduces you to the lore of TOR in a way. You could read up on it at your leisure and catch up, as it were.

I can get into vistas, though I would focus it more around historic/important places in each zone. XI would have benefited from a makeshift memorial outside Garliage Citadel to explain why it matters. Could also pull something Gameworks used to do for the Lunar games and have lore and history explained in a library, but with the MMO twist of it starting a sub-quest or objective to see that place so that everything is revealed to you or comes together. This is assuming we get some sort of codex, of course.

[NefarioCall]

I can get into vistas, though I would focus it more around historic/important places in each zone. XI would have benefited from a makeshift memorial outside Garliage Citadel to explain why it matters. Could also pull something Gameworks used to do for the Lunar games and have lore and history explained in a library, but with the MMO twist of it starting a sub-quest or objective to see that place so that everything is revealed to you or comes together. This is assuming we get some sort of codex, of course.

Although i'm not much into achievements, i recognise they are going to be a part of the game-play no matter what. From the achievement standpoint, lots of 'points of interest' can be added, but even without some kind of reward, i think the idea is still valid. A short CS broadens the viewing range of an area, or for those who like optional reading (eg Skyrims books), locations providing lore background would add a great deal to the area.

I think that having some kind of 'Codex' to save gathered information to / make a check list of need not be attributed to 'achievements' (although it will). It would simply be a good UI decision to help a player stay organised on this aspect of their adventure.

[Xeonerable]

When I think of that I think of Assassin's Creed and getting viewpoints and it rotating the camera around to view the surrounding area. I always found that to be neat and it would a neat little miscellaneous feature for ARR.

Of course it could be a clickable option so these babies that dislike cutscenes won't be "forced" to watch it.

I can't imagine it would be terribly hard to do anyway.