One to Fifty, One Zone - Long OP

[Sephr]

Honestly, it ain't that great. Lots of people have rose-tinted glasses here and like to make up crazy and long-winded stories about how AMAZING it was, but mostly it was just poor design and frustration back in the day. I'm sure people here would write about the sun hitting the GLORIOUS DUNES OF VALKURM and how BEAUTIFUL it was, and how MAGNIFICENT the fish were that 1-shotted people on a regular basis.

I have fond memories, don't get me wrong. But as far as zones go, Qufim was pretty balls.

Why do you need a Dev response to tell you SE will never change the zones.

Not even witty anymore, you're pretty boring now Gift.

[giftforce]

Honestly, it ain't that great. Lots of people have rose-tinted glasses here and like to make up crazy and long-winded stories about how AMAZING it was, but mostly it was just poor design and frustration back in the day. I'm sure people here would write about the sun hitting the GLORIOUS DUNES OF VALKURM and how BEAUTIFUL it was, and how MAGNIFICENT the fish were that 1-shotted people on a regular basis.

I have fond memories, don't get me wrong. But as far as zones go, Qufim was pretty balls.

It's definitely a case of blind nostalgia. It's easy to look back in retrospect and say FFXI was so grand and amazing. And sure the game retained a lot of players, but for as many people that liked being funnelled into grinding places, one after the other ad nauseum, there was probably as many or more who disliked the approach entirely. After all, a sense of adventure is not created by the game telling you where to go.

FFXIV has many a fault, and I am prone to pointing them out, but the last thing the game needs is another Dunes (I mean, we already have a DunesFOLK). Nor does it need another quifim.

The reason I say this is because grinding is boring!

Not even witty anymore, you're pretty boring now Gift.

You would know if I was trying to be witty.

I was merely curious as to why these "revolutionaries" need a Dev to validate the implausibility of their fanciful notions that SE will somehow redesign the entire game around a linear-tunnel approach just because some people on the forum cried foul over the soon-to-be-remedied lack of zones.

[Sephr]

I was merely curious as to why these "revolutionaries" need a Dev to validate the implausibility of their fanciful notions that SE will somehow redesign the entire game around a linear-tunnel approach just because some people on the forum cried foul over the soon-to-be-remedied lack of zones.

Yeesh, try and say that quickly!

But yeah, whilst it might be quite pointless (If people really are expecting area re-designs, they're being totally unrealistic), it would be nice to see some plans (as I'm sure they have) of how to deal with it going forward.

Honestly, what I expect to happen is that future zones added will be more interesting, and the current zones might be adjusted in level to funnel people up through them quickly, rather than have everyone use the same area permenantly.

There are some huge open spaces not being used that could be in the future, maybe for things like hamlet defense or even (/shieldsup) player-company buildings? They could easily add towns/HNMs/danger to the areas further in.

[Sorel]

IFFXIV has many a fault, and I am prone to pointing them out, but the last thing the game needs is another Dunes (I mean, we already have a DunesFOLK). Nor does it need another quifim.

The reason I say this is because grinding is boring!

True. One of the main issues with FFXI was the grind-factor involved, no doubt. We're in agreement on that. But that was a flaw of the entire game, not a particular zone.

What were talking about is the visual design of zones themselves, the placement of the monsters in that zone, and what those monsters are ... not how many monsters we need to grind for us to move on to the next zone. That is a related subject, but that's not what we are talking about in this thread ... and not what we're talking about when we recount the sense of newness, inspiration, and fear when we arrived in a new area in FFXI.

Perfect example ... The Boyahda Tree. Saying that it's a giant tree that monsters live in that you grind simply doesn't do the amazing design of that area justice. It's a tree that's so big it has rivers, waterfalls and other trees growing inside it! And those waterfalls are not just eye-candy. There are no invisible walls protecting you from sliding down one and ending up someplace you have no business being.

That's a well-designed area. It's fun to play in, not boring to look at, and it's uncompromisingly lethal if you go looking for trouble. That's what we would like to see more of in FFXIV regions.

[Jobeto-Rin]

Honestly, it ain't that great. Lots of people have rose-tinted glasses here and like to make up crazy and long-winded stories about how AMAZING it was, but mostly it was just poor design and frustration back in the day. I'm sure people here would write about the sun hitting the GLORIOUS DUNES OF VALKURM and how BEAUTIFUL it was, and how MAGNIFICENT the fish were that 1-shotted people on a regular basis.

I have fond memories, don't get me wrong. But as far as zones go, Qufim was pretty balls.

How another person remembers it doesn't validate it as being enjoyable to me.
Hearing of it, gives me nostalgic feelings from leveling there.

[kurokawa]

Honestly, it ain't that great. Lots of people have rose-tinted glasses here and like to make up crazy and long-winded stories about how AMAZING it was, but mostly it was just poor design and frustration back in the day. I'm sure people here would write about the sun hitting the GLORIOUS DUNES OF VALKURM and how BEAUTIFUL it was, and how MAGNIFICENT the fish were that 1-shotted people on a regular basis.

I have fond memories, don't get me wrong. But as far as zones go, Qufim was pretty balls.

Not a case of rose tinted glasses son. You miss my point.

10 years ago someone designed an area that was a barren wasteland of ice and snow that folks grinded the day away in. Still to this day people are there banging away at books, killing crabs, smashing the crap out of Giants.

10 years ago. 10.

FFxi is a grind fest. It is. I'm not arguing that.

My point is that back in the day Quifim and others like it made by SE were diverse - in quifim's case, it even had a changing weather condition that meant death to under 25s if you didn't get your ass sorted. Nearly every area in 11 has its own distinct feel and potential for getting bummed by a mob - grindfest or not.

Game mechanics are a separate issue. 11 was balls in general because of the grind and the leveling curve to 75. Not because of the areas.

[Eekiki]

mechanics are a separate issue. 11 was balls in general because of the grind and the leveling curve to 75. Not because of the areas.

And look at it now. Abyssea fixed the leveling curve but wrecked the area variety and party mechanics. Sad. BUT, they are trying to balance it out by tweaking exp gains in pre-zilart zones.

The end result is you can solo in normal zones if you don't feel like the CF grindfest that is Abyssea.

Still, there's no reason why we can't have a leveling curve that is challenging without being tedious, and area design that is immersible and varied.

[Miliant]

Today I asked a friend of mine who's been playing WoW for over 4 years: "What would you do if WoW only had the Barrens, Ashenvale, and Elwynn, only twenty times their current size?"
He instantly said "I wouldn't play."

He didn't even know I meant FFXIV. I don't think he even considered it possible for a game to be designed that way.

[kurokawa]

And look at it now. Abyssea fixed the leveling curve but wrecked the area variety and party mechanics. Sad. BUT, they are trying to balance it out by tweaking exp gains in pre-zilart zones.

The end result is you can solo in normal zones if you don't feel like the CF grindfest that is Abyssea.

Still, there's no reason why we can't have a leveling curve that is challenging without being tedious, and area design that is immersible and varied.

Agree mate, well said

[Zanfire]

another morning, another few pages with no dev response.