One to Fifty, One Zone - Long OP

[Siobu]

I have a concern and would like to hear the opinions of others on this forum. Please forgive me if I missed this topic before. This is not about the copy-paste, the tunnels, environmental transitioning, or the lack of landmarks.

As adventurers, we look forward to traveling and taking our first steps into a new domain. We defeat the monsters and beastmen prowling the landscape, meet companions along the way, rest in the local town or city, and in the morning, we take our experiences and achievements, and move on.

In FFXI, we stepped into Sarutabaruta for the first time. We fought the Yagudo menace. We desperately limped towards the outpost, poisoned by crawlers. We watched in awe as veterans sped by, Chocobo's feet pounding the sand. We knew they were going somewhere. Somewhere far away. Somewhere dangerous.

One day, we looked down at ourselves and to the landscape, realizing that we did it. We conquered Sarutabaruta. We knew these lands like the back of our hand. Our predators no longer saw us as prey. It was time. Time to move forward.

And we did. With every land behind us, we moved forward. To beaches and frozen wastes. To deserts and swamplands. When we reached Valkurm Dunes, we knew that we had to conquer it. We had to get through it. Qufim was waiting! A new journey. To Kazham? To Crawler's Nest? And while these places were brutal, painful, and unforgiving, they were important.

They were milestones. Stepping into these places meant that we've grown. We met a goal. We felt proud of what we've accomplished.

And after a day, or a week, of sweat and blood, we move forward.

We cross the zone line.

New environment. New paths. Bigger stakes. Stronger foes. New songs were to be sung. And we would gather our companions and start again, just like that morning in Sarutabaruta.

In our world at present, we do not have to leave. We do not have these milestones. This adventure. This sense of achievement. And I am so, so worried. I'm worried because these areas we have right now contain enemies from 1 to 50. Our strength doesn't bring us to new lands. Seasoned soldiers fight right beside new recruits, against similar foes of different ranks.

I'm worried. Are you?

[TL;DR = One zone with mobs 1-50 means we don't have to go anywhere. The game doesn't HAVE to expand beyond the 4 zones we have. So will it? Are dungeons the future until a level cap? Will we ever have a true adventure from 1-50? I'm willing to sacrifice my experience from 1-50 for a new player to be able experience something world's better.]

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Happy Parade Invitation, you're invited!

Official English SE Reponse: Courtesy of Bayohne

German Thread: Click Here
Official German SE Response: Courtesy of Sasunaich

Japanese Thread: Click Here
Official Japanese SE Response: Courtesy of Triairy

French Thread: Click Here
Official French SE Response: Courtesy of Youmukon

Courtesy of Meph, Chinook and Reinheart. Thank you.
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Click here for map sample by Griffin.
Click here for map sample by Richard.
Map samples by Zantetsuken: La Noscea - Thanalan - The Black Shroud

Click here to view some thumbnails.
View more of my earlier samples below. Thanks, Eden!
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Thank you very much!
Danke schön!
Merci beaucoup!
どうもありがとうございました！

[EdenArchangel]

**EDIT** Adding supplementary images created by Siobu ^^

I threw together some random scenery thumbnails for every one to pick apart if desired, randomly choosing sections of the map that seemed different than the others immediately surrounding it: http://seahorror.com/thumbs.jpg

With unique areas connecting our regions together, unique dungeons, and each zone serving a purpose in our characters lives (a level range, a milestone), I believe the world of Eorzea will flourish thereafter.

If I may continue to use a reference:

What if we never had to leave the city walls in 11?

What if this was all we knew?

http://seahorror.com/sample.jpg

I wholeheartedly support multiple areas with similar range, similar stages of progression. But right now, we have none. No progression. Adventure.

What's the right thing to do in this situation?

To anyone joining late, I'd like to re-post this image which demonstrates how I view the imbalance in our current world:

http://seahorror.com/thoughts.jpg

It is unnatural.

Traveling from one corner of our maps to another does not provide any sense of adventure, progression, or new experiences.

This thread has only gotten to where it is due to unanimous agreement. No, or little, debate has driven us this far.
We need a world. I need a world. I need to know what the future holds for us. For all of us.
Square, won't you please tell us?

**Original Post**

Not to add to your anxiety, but each of the three "main zones" currently have 1-96-ish rank mobs. xD

I'll admit that I don't like going to a virtually identical area every time I upgrade leve-quest ranks, though. =/

The main issue for me is the lack of the "Final Fantasy" feeling, just dirt and grass and more dirt. (Mor Dhona being the exception)

I believe XI tackled the combination of real world and fantasy areas quite well.
Sanctuary of Zi'tah, Ifrit's Cauldron, Temple of Uggalepih.... anywhere, really.

Summary --- I just want what makes Final Fantasy to show up, lol, and of course the reconstruction of existing zones for more variety.

[Seif]

Not to add to your anxiety, but each of the three "main zones" currently have 1-96-ish rank mobs. xD

I'll admit that I don't like going to a virtually identical area every time I upgrade leve-quest ranks, though. =/

The main issue for me is the lack of the "Final Fantasy" feeling, just dirt and grass and more dirt. (Mor Dhona being the exception)

I believe XI tackled the combination of real world and fantasy areas quite well.
Sanctuary of Zi'tah, Ifrit's Cauldron, Temple of Uggalepih.... anywhere, really.

Summary --- I just want what makes Final Fantasy to show up, lol

Amen. The fields look like a blank sheet of paper to put something interesting on.

I definitely want them to make THESE areas interesting first before even thinking about adding new areas. If they add more fields before fixing this mess then I bet the main areas of XIV will never get a proper overhaul they desperately need.

Honestly I'm looking maps at every 30 seconds just because judging by the visuals I could be in 40 places of the same area.

[SniperRifle]

Amen. The fields look like a blank sheet of paper to put something interesting on.

I definitely want them to make THESE areas interesting first before even thinking about adding new areas. If they add more fields before fixing this mess then I bet the main areas of XIV will never get a proper overhaul they desperately need.

Honestly I'm looking maps at every 30 seconds just because judging by the visuals I could be in 40 places of the same area.

Holy cow! So true. I never understood why I always have to look at my damn map in FFXIV. I never did it in FFXI and I always just figured it was because I started w/ the map in FFXIV therefore I was being too lazy to memorize the zone. However, looking at the map every 10 seconds is the opposite of lazy. It's actually quite annoying; and a chore. Why would I do it? Well you just answered my question! Thank you, haha.

[Rowyne]

I'm worried. Are you?

I am. There is a distinct lack of the feeling of progression, exploration, or adventure. And part of that is due to the handful of extremely large zones, instead of smaller different zones. It's also caused by lack of transportation methods, quest progression, and overall structure of the game.

Here's another thing we can add to the list of what doesn't work in an MMO. I wonder how SE will eventually handle this.

[Warlyx]

i miss a zone like xarcabard....the music was amazing for a "dangerous zone"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPK4rOmtlTY

[Rowyne]

OMG I remember how scared I was the first time I ran through Xarcabard! The music reminded me of evil Siberian Russia. Good times.

[Achilles]

I think most of those areas you mentioning came in later expansions, I could be wrong but pre-zilart there wasn't much to explore. I'm assuming you started the game a year or so later and got those fond memories.

[Mack]

I think most of those areas you mentioning came in later expansions, I could be wrong but pre-zilart there wasn't much to explore. I'm assuming you started the game a year or so later and got those fond memories.

A year after Japanese release or NA release? I started the game when it was released in NA and the game kept pushing me to new zones non stop...its not about "new areas" its about the way the game was built. FFXIV is built so you can rank up to 50 in one zone and this isn't going to change.

[Swev]

A year after Japanese release or NA release? I started the game when it was released in NA and the game kept pushing me to new zones non stop...its not about "new areas" its about the way the game was built. FFXIV is built so you can rank up to 50 in one zone and this isn't going to change.

Their are no zones? why do people keep saying zones. the whole world is the zone now. MMo's are trying to get away from zone loading to different areas and i like that and I hope it never changes. This is not just quoting your post its also quoting anyone who still thinks "zones" in every post.