The world feels too small.

[ElHeggunte]

Oh, you mean just like what they did with the mythology tome cap~

I think the tome cap is padding too, but that's not what this topic is about. Leveling is fine, questing is fine, etc. Even traveling and exploration are in and of themselves fine. However, being forced to do unnecessary amounts of travel through unnecessarily large zones so that I can go level or quest is not. When I say "unnecessarily large" I mean zones that are enormous, but otherwise don't serve any purpose to the game other than to be a hub between other areas and make me take longer to go from point A to point B.

NMs, HNMS, leveling spots, quests, bcnms, etc. There were plenty of reasons to explore the beautiful world of Vana diel!

Yes, but those were still centralized to certain zones and you didn't exactly "explore", you took the shortest route you could to get there. Outside of those areas most of the other zones were still largely empty and unused unless you had to pass through them to reach a place you did care about meaning their size was irrelevant save for the larger zones taking longer for you to traverse. The same thing applies here. Even if the zones were bigger, it's still unlikely that they would be used enough to justify the size and the amount of time it would take you to get across them.

I'm only speaking for myself here, but...

That's fine, but once you've fully explored a zone, what then? That's my point. SE could make the zones five times as big as they are now and it largely would make no difference since once you've explored a zone one time there's no reason to go back and do it all over again. I enjoy exploration myself, but I want to do it on my own terms. Being forced to take the scenic route every single time you step outside would grow old very fast and would just be a timesink. After I'm satisfied that I've explored a zone enough, I enjoy the option to skip to the "good parts" as it were.

[Maqaqa]

In those 10 years, the technology and game engines have gotten marginally better and the playerbase has increased to match.

And the number of servers increased to match the number of players.
Also... "marginally better"? Come on technology and game engines have gotten MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH better during the last 10 years.
I used to play MMOs with a 56k, of course i lagged a lot, but i cant believe 10 years later with a cable connection im STILL lagging (or even worse people around me disappears = culling).
I dont see the number of players as an issue honestly its just more income for the devs.

[Baneus]

And the number of servers increased to match the number of players.
Also... "marginally better"? Come on technology and game engines have gotten MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH better during the last 10 years.
I used to play MMOs with a 56k, of course i lagged a lot, but i cant believe 10 years later with a cable connection im STILL lagging (or even worse people around me disappears = culling).
I dont see the number of players as an issue honestly its just more income for the devs.

The actual back bone of the Internet and the protocols that run on it haven't had a major overhaul in years. Because of the somewhat haphazard nature in the way the infrastructure was built, there seems to be the possibility of it breaking completely if someone tries to overhaul it (if you want an example on what happens to things that are offered to the lowest cost tender, have a read about the US Healthcare.gov saga).

[Kohta]

That was one thing i adored about FFXI- The size of the world. The desert was massive and anyone under level 60 give or take spent most of their time being afraid of what was on the other side of the hills, and with no radar like FFXIV has, it was a thrill when you heard the grunt or anger of a mob that just sighted your head popping over that hill as you scramble to find the zone and no time to look at your map.

[Doo]

That was one thing i adored about FFXI- The size of the world.

Reminds me of this transworld project from ffxi.

http://www.kachosen.com/FFXI/transworld.htm

[Kohta]

Reminds me of this transworld project from ffxi.

http://www.kachosen.com/FFXI/transworld.htm

I remember those! They were hot stuff several years back. The neat thing is FFXIV really isn't very far from it graphically. Photo realism isn't a standard but a mod ability in some engines and that's only a step away in my opinion.

[Dreamer]

That's fine, but once you've fully explored a zone, what then? That's my point. SE could make the zones five times as big as they are now and it largely would make no difference since once you've explored a zone one time there's no reason to go back and do it all over again. I enjoy exploration myself, but I want to do it on my own terms. Being forced to take the scenic route every single time you step outside would grow old very fast and would just be a timesink. After I'm satisfied that I've explored a zone enough, I enjoy the option to skip to the "good parts" as it were.

Here's an example. A few nights ago, my FC wanted to spend some downtime before heading off for adventure time some time later in the evening. We gathered at a place called Hermit's Hovel, in outer La Noscea, iirc. There's nothing there - no quest givers, no NPCs, no quests, nothing. It's just a wooden shack, next to some hot springs that sit on a cliff with a view of the La Noscea volcano. Yet we spent more than five hours there, basically....because it was there. It was a Place. A tucked away corner of Eorzea that, at least for a time, was ours. In the grand scheme of things, there's no point to it or places like it. But when you're playing with people who enjoy being a part of the world, you can never have too many of places like this.

For a counter example, let's look at Lord of the Rings Online. Back when I was actively playing the game, I was in a fellowship called the Lonely Mountain Band. Every week, they hosted an event called Ale & Tales, which, as you can probably glean from the name, involved a lot of drinking, talespinning, and music played by the guild using LotRO's wonderful in-game music system. And the entire time I was playing, I don't think we ever had the event at the same location more than once, which the exception of the fellowship house/neighborhood. Sometimes in small hamlets, sometimes in inns in the cities, sometimes at random locations like the party grounds near Bag End or that little fishing pier outside Archet.

The point is that size = potential (no innuendo intended); even though you may have explored a zone thoroughly, it's still a part of the gameworld, and doesn't need to have a purpose to have a place as a small part of the big picture.

[Three]

Here's an example. A few nights ago, my FC wanted to spend some downtime before heading off for adventure time some time later in the evening. We gathered at a place called Hermit's Hovel, in outer La Noscea, iirc. There's nothing there - no quest givers, no NPCs, no quests, nothing. It's just a wooden shack, next to some hot springs that sit on a cliff with a view of the La Noscea volcano.

Actually you get a quest, I believe class one, that sends you to that location. I understand people wanting that sense of immersion and getting lost and etc etc...but like this and many other posts. What happens when you explore everything? It's only a matter of time people get tired of running place to place and begin using ports again. The way things are it is more convenient for everyone.

You guys really wanna get lost in your own world or the world of Eorzea. Remake a charcter or don't BUT turn off your map and go exploring you wont know where you are and you'll most definitely get lost. Have a notepad nearby so you can mark down landmarks so you can remember certain areas. Do that for as long as you possibly can because at one point you're probably going to think to yourself this is dumb or get over it and chances are that's exactly what will/would of happened if the world was as big as some of you people want it to be.

[Dyvid]

That was one thing i adored about FFXI- The size of the world. The desert was massive and anyone under level 60 give or take spent most of their time being afraid of what was on the other side of the hills, and with no radar like FFXIV has, it was a thrill when you heard the grunt or anger of a mob that just sighted your head popping over that hill as you scramble to find the zone and no time to look at your map.

Only problem is this screenshot is an illusion. I may look like it went on for miles but reality was it had invisible walls too. The world isn't small but transportation makes it feel that way. Think about Earth, it hasn't changed but from 100 years to now it has it feels smaller due to airplane travel.

[waycool]

The world will gradually get larger and larger.
I admit it sometimes feels a little bit small, but on the other hand, for example in GW2 the world is HUGE but most of the zones are just dead empty of players. I don't think that's really a good thing either. Actually, I think it's worse.