What is the appeal of open world content?

[WellFooled]

We already have NPCs that do transition between areas from time to time, especially in Limsa Lominsa.

:x I think we're having different conversations about different things. Don't mind me, carry on!

[Colt47]

Personally, I think open world works best in a game that focuses more on construction then destruction. Community projects like building up funds for a guild house and having people take part in building it is a great way to bring people together: much more so than banding together to bash some brainless peon HP bag into the ground that MMO makers seem to think is exciting. The monsters involved in the hunts don't even do anything but stand there walking in circles! I don't even see how it is threatening to any of the locations in the area to warrant the currency we are obtaining. At the very least there is a little bit of NPC interaction with fates...

[Alex_Lenderson]

So let me try to categorize what people like about open world content.

1. I meet people.

2. I am more immersed in the world. I lump Role Playing into this as well.

3. I can go at my own pace.

One thing I didn't hear at all was "I enjoy the mechanics of open world content." Would you say that's true?

Ever since the olden days of EQ and the fights for spawn point and the drama of monks feign deathing to train rival groups I've not been a fan of open world content. I've yet to play a game where it has EVER enticed me. FATEs can be a nice change of pace, something to do every once in a while but over and over again? Bleh.

I think I would like open world content if it did a few things -

1. Made open world content difficulty scale up with the # of people. Maybe having 80 people lag fests causes the monster to actually win the fight for once. Requiring people to actually play skillfully or organize into effective groups on the fly would be great for socializing. Right now for examples hunts are just "invite please" and "thanks for group."

2. Have unique interactions. Partially aligned with #1 but make the fight interesting. Maybe each person has a half HP doppleganger that spawns. Perhaps once the monster is killed the first time its esence is spread throughout the entire zone and everyone has 5 minutes to collect all of it before it reforms to fight again. Maybe require the monster to be led somewhere. Maybe require crafting/harvesting classes to do something.

3. Make random interesting things happen in the open world. Things that aren't fully scripted.

In terms of immersion - I love well made story and cut scenes but I'll never think I'm my character. I don't understand RPers, which is fine variety is cool and all but I always remember I am playing a game. And I prefer my games to be challenging!

[Jynx]

One thing I didn't hear at all was "I enjoy the mechanics of open world content." Would you say that's true?

I guess I have to say it for anyone who enjoyed open world content.

I enjoy the mechanics of open world conent.

One of your largest issues seems to be with overcrowding, that while an issue in games fully fleshed out this is not usually a huge issue. With stuff like HNM aside most the games content was spread out far enough that you couldn't be anywhere at the drop of a hat so you were invested in whatever activity you were doing and didn't just lolwarp to the nearest hunt that spawned to zerg the zone.

People are more spread out doing multiple kinds of content.

Farming, leveling, fighting, hunting, gathering. Each task was a activity itself requiring you to focus on it. XIV is a jack of all trades in this aspect you can do pretty much anything whenever you want. XIV has overall went overboard on the streamlining of game mechanics.

[Fendred]

Oh yeah, forgot to add the most important thing to the list of reasons why well designed open world content would be good for this game: Building a community around a common goal locally on a server so people can actually create a network of people to draw upon to do stuff with.

Edit: Oh wait, several other people already mentioned that. Well, here it is again! Huzzah!

[Jynx]

Building a community around a common goal locally on a server

Sadly the duty finder flies in the face of community building. The game bases itself on pretty much the antithesis of community building tools.

[BlackHaloJT]

:x I think we're having different conversations about different things. Don't mind me, carry on!

Its silly to say the developers should take responsibility for a mistake you perceive in their video game. Video games are a luxury item. If you don't like it, don't spend your money on it. Or if you want to help it be a better game, be polite and constructive. How are those paintings going for you in that museum? How is your reply helping to be a better game?

[WellFooled]

Its silly to say the developers should take responsibility for a mistake you perceive in their video game. Video games are a luxury item. If you don't like it, don't spend your money on it. Or if you want to help it be a better game, be polite and constructive. How are those paintings going for you in that museum? How is your reply helping to be a better game?

You have a good memory. Sorry if I came off as impolite, its hard to convey emotions via text.