In an almost perfect FFXIV, Eorzea would be...

[Nakiamiie]

This is a simple suggestion post. It is disorganized because some suggestions fit in many categories, so I decided to put it all here. I tried to make the presentation simple and easy to read for the community reps. I know some suggestions have been confirmed to be coming in the game, but I left them there to give more ideas for them.

Example:

Title of the feature
Now: description of the present feature in FFXIV.
Improved: suggestion to improve the said feature.

===========================
Flying monsters
Now: Flying monsters (birds, for example) are hovering over the ground rather than soaring into the sky.
Improved: Flying monsters (with some exceptions, like swarm of midges) can rest and walk on the ground, soar into the sky far above players' heads if it wants to (** For combat: flying monsters could be reached with ranged attacks and come down for battles or swoop down repeatedly on the characters).

Seamless 1
Now: Whole regions are seamless with the same terrain/scenery everywhere.
Improved: Whole regions are seamless with terrain/scenery variations, especially near the paths that leads to entirely different regions.

Seamless 2
Now: There is no transition in terrain/scenery from regions to regions.
Improved: New "sub-regions" between regions that allow data maps to be swapped while experiencing a transition between regions.

Loading screen
Now: Black loading screen.
Improved: Loading animated pictures related with the place being loaded, with random fun facts.

City NPCs 1
Now: Almost everyone stands still, all the time.
Improved: NPCs walk around town and engage in different activities, some go to sleep at night while others are active then.

City NPCs 2
Now: All NPCs are static and permanent.
Improved: Randomly generated NPCs walk around cities with low player population. As more players come into town, these random purposeless NPCs progressively disappear.

Guard NPCs
Now: They are static and give directions to adventurers.
Improved: Actively protect the city gates/camp from monsters (enter active mode when monsters are nearby, attack them if they come too near), come to the aid of nearby players in difficulty (players in passive mode only attacked by monsters).

Reputation system
Now: no reputation system present.
Improved: Introduce new factions opposed to each others. Earning reputation with a faction decrease your reputation with another. Players would received privileges if they are liked by a faction and alternatively, they would be denied trading and could even be attacked by other hated factions. (example of possible factions: merchant caravans, bandit groups, individual freelancers, sentient monsters, etc.)

Class affinity
Now: Class affinity with other classes is not displayed and can barely be improved.
Improved: Class affinity is displayed in numeric values and starts at zero. Players can earn affinity points to spend to improve class affinities (each class having it's own affinity). Affinity points can be earned through level up, quests, purchased with guild marks, etc.

Gathering points
Now: All gathering activities, with the exception of fishing, have to be performed at glowing points.
Improved: Gathering activities can be performed at any visible resources, like fishing. Gathering points now also display a visible resource in addition to the glow. Each resource displayed shows the type of resource that can be earned at this gathering point. Performing gathering activities at non gathering points result in few and random items earned. Performing gathering activities at gathering points result in earning the displayed resource and in greater amount. (For example, mining on a random cliff side could earn the player a few random rocks and ores, while mining at a gathering points that shows iron ore would earn the player with a moderate amount of iron ores and a few other iron related items [dust, etc.])

Discipline of the Hand and Land attacks
Now: Throw stones.
Improved: Attack with their bare fists and throw stones.

Inter-discipline bonuses
Now: Very limited.
Improved: Almost all traits, skills and actions could be used by other Disciplines with the right affinity. For example, Beast/Wave/Seedkin Eluder actions from the discipline of the Land could be used by Discipline of War and Magic as well. Twelves' ward skills (Byregot's Ward, Nophica's Ward, etc.) could be used for Discipline of War and Magic with monsters' drops. Other Discipline of the Land skills as well, like Brunt Force, Ageless Words, etc. could be used with Discipline of War and Magic (only the trigger needs to be different). The same applies with the other Disciplines, traits, skills and actions can be added that gives a small bonuses to other Disciplines: Discipline of the Hand traits that reduces the rate at which clothes, armours and weapons degrade (weaver's trait would allow a reduction on clothes degradation, leatherworker's trait on leather armours, etc.), for example.

New random activities for Discipline of the Land that involves multiple characters at once
Now: none.
Improved: Random events occurs in the world, sometimes forcing players to make detours until the job is completed. For the Discipline of the Land, it could include clearing a landslide that blocks the road (requires miners), fallen trees on the road or camps (requires botanists), plant new trees and herbs in a plantation (requires botanist), clear a cave-in that blocks a tunnel (requires miners), take care of a large wavekin being transported (requires fishers), fish with large nets (requires fishers), etc. Also, obviously, each new activities would have it's own new mini-game and animations.

New random activities for Discipline of the Hand that involves multiple characters at once
Now: none.
Improved: Random events occurs in the world, sometimes denying players access to something until the job is completed. For the Discipline of the Hand, it could include clearing a wreckage, repairing buildings in cities and tents in camps, cooking big feasts during events for other players to eat, building or repairing a bridge, etc. Also, obviously, each new activities would have it's own new mini-game and animations.

[Nakiamiie]

Events that have a real impact on Eorzea
Now: Almost none.
Improved: Many failed behests could see the camps becoming truly damaged, shops at camps would sell less items and facilities would give a lesser bonus to Discipline of the Hand. Guild leves could be given according to real needs of the cities and camp (guild leves to repair camp when multiple behest have been failed, guild leves to craft guards promotion items when a guard dies from a monster and is replaced by another, guild leves to kill pests after visible damage is done to settlements, guild leves to recover a truly missing NPC in settlements, cities or camps, etc.). Pirate attacks on the ferry boat that slows it down until players fend off the threat (or get thrown into the water for failing and washed ashore). And more, just be creative in making the world more dynamic and less static with future patches.

Swimming, climbing and jumping
Now: none.
Improved: Able to swim both on the surface and underwater to reach new areas or simply perform new tasks. Able to jump to explore more areas on the map, reach hidden places in dungeons and perform jumping attacks (attacks available only when jumping instead of auto-jumping to perform them). Able to climb certain walls, cliffs or ladders to reach new areas.

Improved market wards
Now: identical areas with retainers standing in the middle, the large stands that serves no real purpose and everyone tries to gather in a single city to sell their things. Each city's markets is independent.
Improved: Larger identical areas with retainers forced behind small stands (places are limited), larger stands available with longer lease time. Small and large stands can be customized. The search item function now searches all markets from all three cities, players can purchase goods from a retainer at another city's market at a special counter in the middle of each market area. Purchasing goods from retainers in another city incurs additional delivery cost to be paid, with the exception of retainers located in larger stands (they can sell to other cities without having their clients to pay for the delivery).

Linkshell options and housing
Now: Custom linkshell name and limited emblem choices (both colour patterns and design).
Improved: Custom linkshell name and description on a public billboard in each cities, custom emblem with greater design choices and independent colours choice for the design, custom linkshell housing with a public hall for linkshell applicants and private rooms for members. Linkshell applicants can submit their application in the linkshell guild hall (the linkshell officers can review the pending applications at any time in the linkshell guild hall, without being limited by time zones or meeting the character face-to-face). Linkshell bank where players can deposit items available to other linkshell members.

Chocobos, airships and carriages
Now: Not available yet.
Improved: In addition to personal chocobos (renting, being able to customize them, walk side-by-side, raise one from egg to adult, fight alongside, etc.), having chocobo carriages available to do transportation of many characters at a time. Chocobo carriages could come in two kinds: linkshell owned chocobo carriage and city owned chocobo carriages. Each linkshell could have access to a special player controlled chocobo carriage that could transport linkshell members off-road to dungeons or other places of interest. Each cities would also have chocobo carriages, these carriages would be NPC controlled and follow roads to camps and settlements (they could transport multiple players for a lower fee than renting a personal chocobo). Also, city owned chocobo carriages could also transport NPCs and need protection from attacks from time to time (much like behest, but defend a carriage from waves of attacks rather than going out and hunt the monsters like behest).
Airships could be used for aerial battles (catching truly flying monsters, as opposed to the hovering monsters on the ground) and transportation.

[Ganvire]

I feel like, at some point, most of your suggestions can become reality in XIV. Crystal Tools is a very powerful engine.

[Rimmer]

Basically, i love all of those ideas you have Nakiamiie! After reading it all it gave me a few ideas of my own to add ontop of yours.

Linkshells
I would love to see equipment that displays your linkshells crest, much like they did in aion, shields would have the guild logo on it.

Linkshell levels/Progression, rewarding linkshells that work together and complete various goals via a Linkshell specific store, the higher the level the more things availiable for purchase, be it Tabards/Tunics/Aketons/Capes themed on the linkshells crest & colours.

As well as equipment for your character i would like to see linkshell themed gear for personal chocobos, much like feudal knights would wear different colours on their horses. Example: http://www.napolun.com/mirror/napole...t_standing.jpg
It would be nice to see something like that for our custom chocobos to make linkshells stand out from each other.

Chocobos
When/if chocobo raising & breeding comes into the picture it would be nice to have a personal chocobo stable to visit, view, customise and intitiate training & tasks in.

Loading Screen
I especially love the idea of the loading black screen to have artwork/themes on the zone you are entering, with little facts/lore about the relevant area displaying. However i myself would find a bit of a problem with this as i use an SSD in my comp and those loading screens are very quick indeed for me. That being said, i still love the idea for others who have to wait alot longer.

[Thawed]

Wow, I love your ideas. All these players have so many great ideas and I love to see the devs responding to players on the forums. I also believe, like others, that these ideas could and will become reality in the near future.

[Nakiamiie]

Thanks everyone!
Feel free to add to this as well.

[elreed]

really good ideas, i hope they implement something like that soon

[Nakiamiie]

As posted elsewhere, by other players:

Hamlets defence
Now: none.
Improved: Introduce Hamlet defence as promised many months ago. Hamlets defence would require players to defend Hamlets from waves of beastmen attacks or bandits. Reports from growing enemy forces would flow throw Eorzea through NPCs in cities and camps as rumours, hinting toward the time and which hamlet is going to be attacked next. Failure in defending the hamlet could result in NPC being missing and need to be rescued at the enemy camps, as well as damages done to the hamlet (giving repair tasks for Discipline of the Hand and tasks to clear the mess to Discipline of the Land).

Hamlets provisioning
Now: none.
Improved: Introduce task boards for hamlets too. Players doing the tasks reinforce the hamlets' economy, defence and more. Hamlets with lots of tasks completed would offer more items for sale, Discipline of the Hand guilds would be available to players (we can see alchemist guild icon, etc. over some doors in hamlets), there would mercenaries to help protect the hamlet during hamlet defence if the number of players enlisted is too low (helping to prevent a failure in hamlet defence). And more, giving more purpose to hamlets.

Character customization
Now: limited with character creation
Improved: Introduction of a greater ranger of colours customization, facial traits, hairstyles, voices and more during character creation. Once the character is created, hairstyle, some colours, some special features, etc. can be changed, added or removed at stylist shop distributed across Eorzea. Also, some customization features could become available through achieving certain requirements (from serious achievements to trival things to unlock new customization.)

[Thawed]

[SIZE="5"]From another post, decided to move it over to this thread to condense the 2[/SIZE]

-Greater variation in the look of mobs to add a sense that the player is not fighting the same thing over and over again, a simple color and size change for several different kinds of mobs would even do the job

-More armor options so that players don't all look the same and to add a variety of stat combinations to allow for more strategic gear choices

-Although the mega-zones are nice, I feel like there is a great lack of variety in leveling places. Level in Thanalan, La Noscea, or Black Shroud till about 35 then go to Coerthas till 50, then mess around in Mor Dhona a little, just doesn't seem like enough to me. I think a greater variety of choices in places to level and rank up would be a great addition to the game

-An even greater variety of music to the sound track, adding music for zones that don't currently have any music like Cassiopeia Hollow, Nanawa Mines, and Tam-Tara Croft

-More dungeon options while leveling and adding an epic mode option for each dungeon so that R50s can go through lower level dungeons with higher ranked mobs, it would make it more beneficial

-Subzones in the middle of the massive zones, as well as utilization of town areas like the Gold and Silver Bazaar, I also feel like small quest hubs scattered throughout would be greatly beneficial--which means more settlements than we currently have

-Unique outdoor areas that require group partying and would have a chain of quests to go along with them that would take the players through a story for each area

-Add more quests with substantially more exp for a reward and maybe even have quest scaling system to where all quests gathered scale to the players level and rank, or to the average rank of a player party

-More player aesthetic options in the character creation system, and allow players who currently have characters to redo the look of the character once more looks are implemented

-Give us Ishgard ^_^

-Chocobo raising, racing, and riding

-More things to do other than level or craft, sort of like Pankration, mog houses, etc. It makes the world seem more fleshed and real

-A story line that flows together more fluidly, at the moment I can hardly remember what has happened in the previous story quest because there is too long of a break before I can reach it

[Nakiamiie]

Thawed, I read your post in the other thread just after making this one, haha! Glad to see you copied it here too, your ideas are awesome!