[suggestions] About new MAPS in 3.0 and beyond

[Munba]

I'd like to add.. give the sea some damn effects! Seriously, no matter what weather is up, be it fair, windy, or a thunderstorm, the sea is always as flat as pool of olive oil. Even in cutscenes with ships, the sea is yet still and unmoving, with only a "rippling water" effect at the edges of the ship happening. I want to see big raging waves during storms, and maybe even some random animations like the whales and dolphins on the FFXI ferry/manaclipper rides!

So true... i hope with directx11 they'll have the possibility to add some 'physic' waves on the ocean and change the water surface in a 'dynamic' one.


- They should add more natural caves (also small) around as well.

[HeroSamson]

What I want them to do is some how mix Final Fantasy XI world with FFXIV world.

like a Instance where we work together just like when they enter a burn circle for a big fight, we enter the same type of burn circle in FFXIV and we end up together.

Not on FFXI server or FFXIV server just something inbetween where we could go exist and fight a few battles together.

That would be something to see.

[MuzakFan]

I too would like to see expansive areas with fewer aetheryte crystals, to help make Eorzea feel bigger in some cases and give the open world more atmosphere and a sense of danger. Here's how I think it could work:

SE could do it by making these areas limited to certain parts of the world - as in, the entire game map is not designed with large, wide-open exploration in mind, but select maps, maybe 1-2 for each "region" at most. So I guess it’s sort of like a big, outdoor, open-world dungeon in a sense. Because these maps are only part of a few areas in the overall world, they are optional to the majority of the player base when clearing casual content like simple traveling or main scenario missions.

When exploring these areas, the lore behind it could be something like a persistent, heavy mist/aether (a la FFXII) prevents players from using teleport while traveling within. This is also the reason why there would be few aetheryte crystals scattered through these zones. To make it easier on players, Return could still be used (it's a stronger form of magic than Teleport blah blah lore reasons etc., which is also why it can only be used every 20 real life minutes). This way it is still possible to get out of these more dangerous areas quickly if need be, though the drawback is that you are taken out from wherever in the zone you were and it could take some time to get back to that spot later if you warp out. If some players are still hesitant about that, the zones could be designed such that sticking to the main path or trail in each zone stays relatively safe (no high level mobs, little chance of getting lost, etc.) should the player simply wish to get from A --> B quickly. Only by exploring off the beaten path does it actually start to get dangerous, and the further away you are the more danger you risk.

Mobs in these areas are a notch or two stronger than most other open world mobs (again because of the Mist/aether exposure), so it is beneficial and recommended to travel in groups. It would also be nice if there were ways to prevent or at least make it more difficult to simply skip them while mounted. The heavy effect when mounted doesn't really go far enough and is more annoying than a real hindrance. If anything, being attacked by one should knock you off your bird completely, forcing players to either be smart about avoiding mobs or being prepared to fight.

Of course, none of this will actually matter if the actual process of exploring is not worthwhile. I admit I don't know what would be appropriate reward-wise to actually include in these zones so players want to traverse through them, but I do think this is a decent way of putting "dangerous" open-world areas in Eorzea that could fit into the preexisting lore.

TL;DR:

- 1-2 open-world areas in each region designed to be more dangerous than the typical maps we have now
- Players traveling through these areas cannot use Teleport but may use Return; very few set camps or aetheryte crystals to hop to while exploring
- More dangerous mobs that can knock you off your mount; need groups to defeat
- Implement rewards for exploring these zones appropriate to the risk:reward ratio

[Nalien]

SE could do it by making these areas limited to certain parts of the world - as in, the entire game map is not designed with large, wide-open exploration in mind, but select maps

This is why I think Dungeons should have been turned into open world zones upon their completion. There are lots of places in dungeons where I think "Where does that go?", and it would have been nice to actually explore them. Instead they just give them a light reskin and open up a few paths while blocking off others and called it a Hard Mode Dungeon; would have been so much better if you could explore (and mine) in Copperbell Mines after beating it, then at 50 you get a quests, go into the zone, and access a whole new Dungeon sized area for the "Hard Mode".

They could have just turned some of them into open world Dungeons. I don't know why they don't want to have such a thing; 1.xs open world ones could have been adapted for ARR fairly easily, FATE bosses for keys, Treasure Map style fights at the coffer. I guess they worry it would take people out the Dungeons? But the Duty Roulette is there for that, and open worlds could just lack Tomestones.