One to Fifty, One Zone - Long OP

[Ogun_Riastradh]

I honestly think the OP is a little bit silly. Zoning was not some exciting, grand experience. It was just "fade to loading screen, fade to new area." But it's not clear what his position is. Does he want more zone lines? does he want the whole world to be one area?

The former sucks, the latter is impractical.

Yes you are missing the point. It's not about zoning. It's about diversity and different experiences and environments in each area. The zoning aspect just emphasized the fact that you were going somewhere new. I'd take diversity and variety over seamlessness any day of the week.

[EdenArchangel]

Yes you are missing the point. It's not about zoning. It's about diversity and different experiences and environments in each area. The zoning aspect just emphasized the fact that you were going somewhere new. I'd take diversity and variety over seamlessness any day of the week.

Exactly. Some people are arguing that future exploration is the 50+ zones with no camps and rank 60-90 mobs.

I will be EXTREMELY displeased if the trend of gigantic, single-themed copy-pastad zones with 1,000 of the same mob per grid space and no variety continues.

The starting zones all need an overhaul, and as it seems we're starting with the black shroud, the others could follow suit, one at a time if need be.


(and just to note, I've been here since the starting week and I see the potential ahead --- constructive criticism

[Davorok]

I gave several "Thumbs Up" in this thread. A Dev Tag would help but the Reps do pay attention to posts with alot of "LIkes". The "Hot Topics" section helps too so add this to the ever growing list of "SE, Please fix this".

Their attempt at "seamless transitions" was half-baked at best anyway because there are many, many times when we get "fade to black load screens" anyway. They are mostly due to Story Quests and instance loading but seeing as how our "immersion" is broken when we are halted in our tracks and a menu pops up asking if we want to continue, what is the point of "seamless zones"?

I also would gladly sacrifice "Seamless & Boring" for "Loadscreens & Variety".

[EdenArchangel]

Their attempt at "seamless transitions" was half-baked at best anyway because there are many, many times when we get "fade to black load screens" anyway. They are mostly due to Story Quests and instance loading but seeing as how our "immersion" is broken when we are halted in our tracks and a menu pops up asking if we want to continue, what is the point of "seamless zones"?

I also would gladly sacrifice "Seamless & Boring" for "Loadscreens & Variety".

Good points.
The only thing I liked about open world was seeing the cities in the distance or the ocean, and even that be done with a pretty wallpaper.

It's just not a sacrifice, it's a complete necessity to change.

Oh, and like for you. ^^

[CrstyCaptin]

I for one miss the zones. Seamless zones, while making the world feel 'bigger', actually does the opposite as we have three large zones that look the same. Not to mention the annoying 'invisible zone lines' that will screw the person that has you on AF, or simply kick you if you're trying to look at your ls list as you run through it. While I don't think they can do anything with it now, hopefully with expansions they'll add 'smaller' more diverse zones. I enjoyed my first few months in XI as I crossed from gustaberg to the high lands and saw more green and tall mountains with sheep and that huge ass ram roaming around. Then getting my first party and entering into the dunes and went "Holy beach!". Just seemed way more diverse than what we have now and that's only counting the zones from each city to jeuno, not even taking into thought the 'dungeons' like CN, gustav, etc.

[Delmontyb]

I currently see the existing zones more as regions in XI, however with the current zones they are just massive. The real zone when looking back at XI are the camps, Black Brush, Dry bone, Horizon, Broken Water, etc... But those zones all look the same. What I would have liked to see, or would like to see is having horizon exist as a marsh (or any camp for that matter) have some waterfalls and caves behind those water falls. Have areas that are seen, but out of reach that will make us want to explore...

I remember in XI, a bridge over a canyon, below I could see a cave, and a river but I had no idea how to get to that cave and it wasn't until years later that I found that connection, and was thrilled.

It would be excellent to see locations (a cave on top of a mountain) and have to find a way to get up to that cave, even if the path isn't obvious.

[Ogun_Riastradh]

I remember in XI, a bridge over a canyon, below I could see a cave, and a river but I had no idea how to get to that cave and it wasn't until years later that I found that connection, and was thrilled.

Exactly, like in La Theine Plateau. You had to explore and find all these cool little tunnels and paths to find the way to get into a canyon down below, or find a way through Ordelle. And there was quite the variety in mobs and scenery.

[Wynn]

We really do move on to different places as we progress in level, via the leve/camp system. The real problem is that it is all too similar. A 40 camp isn't much different than a 20 camp. There are a few differences here and there but, when it is all said and done, Broken water and Horizon don't stand apart from one another. I think that is why we don't have a sense of progression.

They say the reason the world is so uniform because of the size of the textures. I'm not a game maker. I can't argue with that because I don't know anything about it to question the validity of that statement. I have no real reason to not believe that is the truth of it. But the superior question we should be bringing to the table is if SE knew that they had to create these boring, repetitive landscapes due to how highly detailed and large their textures were, why then did they opt to go with these giant zones at all? They should have just gone back to smaller, but more numerous, zones in order to capitalize on the power and beauty of their game engine by creating a strikingly gorgeous, diverse, living world. Why settle for mediocre and bland?

To be fair, I think they are aware of how homogenized everything is, along with the general discontent felt by the player base, and are taking steps to make the different areas stand out a bit more.

In the following producer letter we see designs for more unique camps designed to be quest hubs and that is a start:

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/9220

If they can just somehow make each camp "zone" stand out from the rest then that will provide that sense of new and exciting places. At least somewhat.

I do hope that in the future we will see more varied terrains. Snowy mountains. Maybe a jungle. But there sure is a lot of unused camps in the current regions now. I fear we may be destined to more of the same if things don't change.

[Zhyrios]

Farcry 2 had a a huge seamless 50km squared map, with much higher graphic quality and diversity than any of FFXIV's zones. So what's their excuse?

[Siobu]

Thanks so much for all of your continued ideas and opinions!

I'd like to touch upon some things. I apologize for using FF11 so much as a dramatic example. Also, I don't mean to put FF14 down as a whole. but I believe that the world is something that FF14 didn't do right at all. I'm sorry, especially if its a world some of you have grown to love. I don't mean to put any one down. I just felt that using examples would be more clear for readers to understand my points.

As for zones and lines, I already see the game as being divided into zones. When I run from the Shroud to Thanalan, I am leaving a zone as indicated by the loading screen. It's all there already, the system. Because of this loading screen, one unifying name for the entire area ("The Black Shroud"), one theme/design, I do see the areas as one zone. One zone, with monsters from 1 to 50 to monsters we can never touch.

Say Gustaberg (Or Durotar, or...) had a North, South, West, East, Northwest, Southwest. All connected to each other seamlessly, and all seamlessly connected to Bastok's open doors, while looking very similar.. Each partition combined contains foes from one to fifty. We do not need the Highlands. We do not need the Barrens.

But when we leave Gustaberg to visit Ronfaure, we receive a loading screen. Was the rest of our world sacrificed for the sake of multiple instances of Gustaberg? I do not know, but I do know that we don't need Valkurm Dunes.

Just as well, we don't 'need' anything outside of FF14's world as we play today. And this worries me. What does the future hold for us all?

These large zones/areas we have currently, I feel, are only massive in order to make up for the lack of progression otherwise. There needed to be a way to take us to 50, and so the camps were added to the map. While I absolutely understand what some of you are saying in regards to each camp serving its own purpose, I hope you might be able to understand how I see that they are still connected to each other on one map, ONE zone.

In Azeroth, a seamless world, when you enter a new land to explore and to level, you have a new map. New range of foes. A countdown. You cannot stay in Durotar forever. It forces you to leave. The Barrens forces you to leave.

In Vana'diel, if we imagine it was a seamless world all along, you are forced to leave Ronfaure. You cannot level from 1 to 50 in Ronfaure. It is built exactly as Azeroth and other worlds in this regard.

You LEAVE things behind you as you move forward. You leave the level range. We never have to leave behind Thanalan.

In Eorzea, when you reach your next stepping stone, and you open the map, you are still there. You are still in the Black Shroud. You are still in La Noscea. Thanalan. Whether you are in Camp Tranquil or Bentbranch. Horizon or Drybone. Skull Valley or Bloodshore. The map, the scenery, the mob diversity tells us that we have not left. And we'd never have to leave.

Something is wrong.

It should be made clear to us when we reach the milestone. We should be forced to go to new places. We should be given a NEW map. The area itself should not serve to keep us there for too long. We should have to leave. We are adventurers, after all.

I would wish for a solution where we can all get what we want. I do not mind if the areas are large. I love to travel!

But, will we ever receive a new 'areas'? I'm not sure, because right now, we do not need them. La Noscea can take us to the end.

We don't need a world. But I want one.

(Edit: By a 'new map', I meant to refer to pressing 'M' and a paper map appears.)