I miss the old Anima system

[Onizuka]

Good evening.

I found this Topic I wrote last year, but forgot to post it.
I remember when in the old forums of 1.0 there were many discussions about abolishing Anima, the “energy” needed to Teleport from Aetheryte to Aetheryte.
I also remember that Yoshida said it will not be abolished.

I was one of the adventurers who really liked the Anima system: it didn't cost anything, you just had to use it occasionally and not simply spam it (in that case, of course the 100 points of Anima were going down fast).
Personally speaking, I never went below the 70 Anima points.

In A Realm Reborn those requests to abolish Anima were heard and now we get to Teleport using gil... And I've to say I really miss the old system.
Also considering now, due to the timed gathering nodes (and now Hunts, too), teleporting happens more frequently, and it comes at a great gil cost in the long run.

And even the previous lore explanation about Anima was far better than the current one “Leave a fee behind to repay the great cost needed to rebuild the Aetheryte camps after the Calamity”. ...Eh...? Surely I'm not the one paying to rebuild Revenant's Toll, since that's my Free Destination!

The Anima system was good, it didn't cost anything, and required only the patience to have the points replenish. In A Realm Reborn there could have been other ways to replenish Anima points, but instead we got to spend gil to travel from camp to camp, thanks to those complaining that Anima was a bad system.

I just wanted to say that I really miss the old system and would love to have it back, although, aware of the gil sink (is that how it's called?) direction we're going, I know that's hardly ever going to happen.
I miss you, Anima! Maybe I'll see you again... as a primal.

Thanks for reading.

[Zaiken]

I agree, it make everything so easy and the world so small and mount useless when you can Teleport freely with gils. Back then in 1.0, we have to actually plant ahead and preserved our teleport and not waste it all. It also make traveling fun and the world bigger.

[Nandalowell]

I was always out of anima; I could probably buy a large housing plot with the gil I've spent teleporting alone in ARR. I teleport too much.

But, when I was out of anima it was either run (which honestly, I quite enjoyed) or just don't go. When I run out of gil (which happens) I can very quickly and easily get enough to get where I'm going.. No hamlet required.

Though the world is just so tiny now if we still had the anima system it wouldn't be any thing to run.. But at least I have the option.

[WeiShan]

I miss Tanaka

[Kaethra]

Whenever a change is suggested to a fast travel system, I have to ask the following question:

Does it make the game more fun?

The point of traveling is quite simply to get from Point A to Point B. I'm at Point A, my destination is at B. I need to get to B somehow. Right now that is accomplished by Aetheryte Crystals and Gil costs. Take that away and we have to run from zone to zone. Make it a manageable resource cost, and sometimes I can teleport, and sometimes run zone to zone. Those are facts, that's how it would be, as the OP has suggested.

Now.. I have to ask this. Is running Zone to Zone fun? If the answer is no, then DO NOT Implement! We're here to play a game, not be bored.

Lets be honest with ourselves. Lets not make the game look bigger by making it boring. Sorry, if the world looks small, that's because it IS small. The fix isn't to make it artificially bigger by limiting travel. The fix is simply to make it BIGGER.

Now.. I am one of those old school players who actually dislikes fast travel. I like for travel to be lengthy, meaningful, and challenging. I used to play Everquest in my earlier days of MMOing. Take it from me, the Karanas were huge. The Karanas are still HUGE by today's standards. Even with mounts or movement buffs it still takes the better part of 30-35 (20 if Bard) minutes to traverse them (and assuming fast load times, take 2-5 minutes off if using SSD or RAM drive). You don't see that in new games.

You know why? Because unless there is meaningful content inbetween, what's the point? Getting across the Karanas in the above example is down through fast travel. Even EQ utilizes fast travel. Because lets be honest, traveling 30-45 minutes to a destination is boring. You think a DPS queue in the duty finder is bad? Try 45 minutes of getting to where you want to be, THEN looking for a group. For a DPS player with 3 hours to play on a given night. Half of it is traveling and getting into a group. Then you got an hour of fighting and then the last half hour is trekking back to a city if you don't wish to relog into a dangerous area the next day.

Now when I was a low level back in those days. There used to be a meaning behind the travel. It was challenging. Even low level areas had high level mobs that had to be avoided. But the problem there was it wasn't a challenge forever. And we don't want to introduce arbitrary challenges either.

Now if there was stuff to do along the way. If the journey was the destination, then we might have something. But the world that requires that sort of interactivity and content is not Eorzea. For someone like me, who has 6 DoH/DoM classes to 50, I have literally no quest content left. Its been completed. Why should someone like me, have to sit on my Chocobo for more than 5-10 minutes between Point A and Point B? How would that time be spent having fun for me? I don't need Grand Company Seals, so the FATEs along the way aren't an option.

Yeah I get it, the Anima would regenerate. But what if its been used up? I just have to be bored for 5-10 minutes before the fun parts? Remember, traveling on foot in this game involves holding down W for a couple of minutes, occasionally right clicking and holding and/or hitting A or D once in a while. There's no challenge, there's no excitement, there's no fun in it.

Taking in the sights are great when I first did the story quests and the side quests. I got to see all of Eorzea when I did that content. I don't need to see it again, and again, and again. Not without new challenges and content to experience. Heck I've even done the exploring thing already, so its not like I don't like looking around and taking in the sights and appreciating the beauty of the game, I've done it already. Again I don't need to keep doing it for the sake of making the world larger.

I just need to get to Point B. That's my goal. That's where the content is that I either haven't done yet, or I am working on progressing through. Fast Travel as it works now, helps me get there. Taking that away or limiting it means I have to wait for the fun. I don't want to wait for the fun. I want to be having fun. I'm not an impatient person either. I'm just here to play a game. I want to spend my time playing. Not traveling for the sake of traveling.

[Onizuka]

Remember, traveling on foot in this game involves holding down W for a couple of minutes, occasionally right clicking and holding and/or hitting A or D once in a while. There's no challenge, there's no excitement, there's no fun in it.

Well, speaking for me, when I travel by foot, I'm fully relaxing in my armchain using the left analog stick of my gamepad to move and the right one to turn the camera around. That, of course, because I'm an explorer and I never grow tired of watching the beauty of the Eorzean landscapes. I liked it even more in the old Eorzea, since there was actually music in the background, while now music happens sporadically.
I agree that now there's no challenge in travels, the dangers and thrill of the old Eorzea, sneaking past level 70+ monsters, are long gone.

Yet, even without music and danger, I still like to travel by foot, and sometimes just walk. But with the gathering nodes, it's not always possible to do so, and same goes for Hunts. Adventurers these days have become impatient, while with the old Anima system you had to be parsimonious.
There could have been new ways to replenish those points rather than just waste gil and forget about that lore explanation... but I understand times from the old Eorzea have changed.

[skaterger]

Remember, traveling on foot in this game involves holding down W for a couple of minutes, occasionally right clicking and holding and/or hitting A or D once in a while. There's no challenge, there's no excitement, there's no fun in it.

You know you can just hold down the auto run key or the third mouse button right? Those that leveled up DOH by teleporting to coerthas and turning in levequests at whitebrim should know what I'm talking about

[Amused]

Seriously though, if you want to walk from zone to zone, do it. Nobody is stopping you. Why do you feel as though everyone should be forced to abide by that when you have the option of doing so without impacting other players? If it's so great, why don't you do it now instead of using teleports?

[Magis]

Seriously though, if you want to walk from zone to zone, do it. Nobody is stopping you. Why do you feel as though everyone should be forced to abide by that when you have the option of doing so without impacting other players? If it's so great, why don't you do it now instead of using teleports?

Cause like everything in an MMO, it's not down to just "one person". Giving instant access to locations broke a few things like hunts.

[Amused]

Cause like everything in an MMO, it's not down to just "one person". Giving instant access to locations broke a few things like hunts.

Hunts were going to be broken anyway. It's no different than NMs in FFXI. There will always be people who are devoted and dedicated to making sure they're where they need to be when NMs pop.