Please let us *really* ride airships

[Kiote]

I believe what people are actually saying is they want immersion and having a way around immersion effectively kills immersion.

The fact is between Mounts and Airships for the times when you are not in a rush there will be no excuse for having 0 anima. The only people who I know of that run out of anima are people teleport absolutely everywhere. Anima is in the game to stop them from doing that. What then would be the point of putting in another way to instantly move what equates to hundreds of miles instantly. Its not like they can just pretend you didn't get there instantly by forcing the game time forward. It kills immersion just by being in the game and it kills any sense of realism in the world.

[AlphaDragoon]

I believe what people are actually saying is they want immersion and having a way around immersion effectively kills immersion.

The fact is between Mounts and Airships for the times when you are not in a rush there will be no excuse for having 0 anima. The only people who I know of that run out of anima are people teleport absolutely everywhere. Anima is in the game to stop them from doing that. What then would be the point of putting in another way to instantly move what equates to hundreds of miles instantly. Its not like they can just pretend you didn't get there instantly by forcing the game time forward. It kills immersion just by being in the game and it kills any sense of realism in the world.

You're missing something important. People who use Anima use it to get somewhere quickly. Key word being "quickly". Now say they add no instant option for Airships and keep Ferry as it is. You couldn't go anywhere on either option "quickly" it would take at least 10 minutes for the Ferry as that's how long the ride itself takes, not counting the walk there.

Because they're not going to want to wait 10 minutes or more to get somewhere, they use Anima. Right? So when they run out of Anima, what are they gonna do? They AREN'T going to suck it up all of a sudden and use the long option. Most people are going to get a teleport from someone else at the cost of Gil, typically. What does that sound like? An instant travel option on the airship. And not even, because the airship will likely be limited to main towns and a few other areas.

Having options that don't offer the same or even close to the convenience as the method currently being used means the people will keep using the old method. So then airships become useless for a good deal of people, because the number of folks using Anima who don't care about immersion is likely not small.

Once again, I go back to what I said earlier; people who are against freedom of choice seem more like they just want to have their way, and their way only, the other people be damned. Or rather, like they want it their way with "full immersion" and WANT the other guys who want instant travel to be screwed over, like they get their jollies out of it. That type of thinking is honestly quite petty.

[Choyi]

You're missing something important. People who use Anima use it to get somewhere quickly. Key word being "quickly". Now say they add no instant option for Airships and keep Ferry as it is. You couldn't go anywhere on either option "quickly" it would take at least 10 minutes for the Ferry as that's how long the ride itself takes, not counting the walk there.

Because they're not going to want to wait 10 minutes or more to get somewhere, they use Anima. Right? So when they run out of Anima, what are they gonna do? They AREN'T going to suck it up all of a sudden and use the long option. Most people are going to get a teleport from someone else at the cost of Gil, typically. What does that sound like? An instant travel option on the airship. And not even, because the airship will likely be limited to main towns and a few other areas.

Having options that don't offer the same or even close to the convenience as the method currently being used means the people will keep using the old method. So then airships become useless for a good deal of people, because the number of folks using Anima who don't care about immersion is likely not small.

Once again, I go back to what I said earlier; people who are against freedom of choice seem more like they just want to have their way, and their way only, the other people be damned. Or rather, like they want it their way with "full immersion" and WANT the other guys who want instant travel to be screwed over, like they get their jollies out of it. That type of thinking is honestly quite petty.

So again I ask, why invest dev time in making a airship no one will use? I say scrap airships and make a warp NPC avaliable between cities and put the same devs on making actual content that people want to experience.

Cause judging from this thread all the majority of players seems to want just that, an instant warp, while we're at it, scrap chocobos as well and just make anima unlimited, this is what you all want isn't it?

Hosestly if this is whats coming of all the waiting for airships etc, its a huge waste of time, like this I would have been much happier with the above suggestion and a bunch of new NMs, dungeons and whatnot instead.

[Rhomagus]

So again I ask, why invest dev time in making a airship no one will use?Because people like you will use it. I will too, when I want to. I say scrap airshipsFinal Fantasy thematic heresy. That's why their being implemented as is in the first place. and make a warp NPC avaliable between citiesWhich takes more resources than the already implemented "skip cutscene" mechanism. and put the same devs on making actual content that people want to experience.Different teams, and people do want to experience the airship. People like you and me, when I have time.

Cause judging from this thread all the majority of players seems to want just that, an instant warpYes! I don't mind having a risk reward mechanic added onto it either. That's gameplay., while we're at it, scrap chocobosAgain, Final Fantasy heresy and you're completely forgetting why people are calling for these things in the first place. When they implement the "My Little Chocobo" feature should they also do away with chocobo rentals? as well and just make anima unlimited, this is what you all want isn't it?Nope. I've seen people suggest they pull out the anima costs but I don't agree with it. I also don't see anyone here claiming that either. This is the most egregious slippery slope I've seen.

Hosestly if this is whats coming of all the waiting for airships etc, its a huge waste of time,Nope, this is just the beginning. Hold on to your chocobos. The devs have more planned for airships. Let people have their options. like this I would have been much happier with the above suggestion and a bunch of new NMs, dungeons and whatnot insteadDifferent teams man. Just because you say it a lot doesn't make it true..

I have yet to see a convincing argument that abolishes the option to choose whether or not to view/experience the airship ride.

[Kiote]

You're missing something important. People who use Anima use it to get somewhere quickly. Key word being "quickly". Now say they add no instant option for Airships and keep Ferry as it is. You couldn't go anywhere on either option "quickly" it would take at least 10 minutes for the Ferry as that's how long the ride itself takes, not counting the walk there.

Because they're not going to want to wait 10 minutes or more to get somewhere, they use Anima. Right? So when they run out of Anima, what are they gonna do? They AREN'T going to suck it up all of a sudden and use the long option. Most people are going to get a teleport from someone else at the cost of Gil, typically. What does that sound like? An instant travel option on the airship. And not even, because the airship will likely be limited to main towns and a few other areas.

Having options that don't offer the same or even close to the convenience as the method currently being used means the people will keep using the old method. So then airships become useless for a good deal of people, because the number of folks using Anima who don't care about immersion is likely not small.

Once again, I go back to what I said earlier; people who are against freedom of choice seem more like they just want to have their way, and their way only, the other people be damned. Or rather, like they want it their way with "full immersion" and WANT the other guys who want instant travel to be screwed over, like they get their jollies out of it. That type of thinking is honestly quite petty.

The argument that instant is necessarily because walking takes too much time is not really valid. Walking takes 20 mins a normal airship ride would take 3-5 mins. That is already a massive short cut. There is not need to bring it down to instant because you already have anima for that.

Chocobos will reduce anima use by eliminating the need to port to any camp level 30 and under.
A regular airship would reduce anima use by eliminating the need to port from town to town.
Return already allows you to get to the place you use most without using anima

Those three things alone will cut your anima use in half. There is no need to make airships instant because you will have the anima to spare from now on if you desperately need to get to a town instantly.

I would also like to add that the airships in FFXI only took so long because you actually had to wait for them to arrive and take off. That problem is eliminated by simply making airship constantly run rather than once every 12 minutes.

/10characters

[Rhomagus]

You're missing something important. People who use Anima use it to get somewhere quickly. Key word being "quickly". Now say they add no instant option for Airships and keep Ferry as it is. You couldn't go anywhere on either option "quickly" it would take at least 10 minutes for the Ferry as that's how long the ride itself takes, not counting the walk there.

Because they're not going to want to wait 10 minutes or more to get somewhere, they use Anima. Right? So when they run out of Anima, what are they gonna do? They AREN'T going to suck it up all of a sudden and use the long option. Most people are going to get a teleport from someone else at the cost of Gil, typically. What does that sound like? An instant travel option on the airship. And not even, because the airship will likely be limited to main towns and a few other areas.

Having options that don't offer the same or even close to the convenience as the method currently being used means the people will keep using the old method. So then airships become useless for a good deal of people, because the number of folks using Anima who don't care about immersion is likely not small.

Once again, I go back to what I said earlier; people who are against freedom of choice seem more like they just want to have their way, and their way only, the other people be damned. Or rather, like they want it their way with "full immersion" and WANT the other guys who want instant travel to be screwed over, like they get their jollies out of it. That type of thinking is honestly quite petty.

Not to mention that opens a market for RMT.

[Choyi]

I do wan't to ride the airship, and this being a MMO I do expect and apreciate seing other players now and then in game, having an empty airship with only me on it isnt going to be worth the ride, thus everyone will skip the ride and it might as well be a teleport NPC instead of an airship alltogheter.

Actualy that gives me an idea:
Just add a NPC in each major city who can teleport to any city for a cost (lets say airship cost is 1k per ride, then make the instant warp 10k for example), that way the "want it now!" crowd get their way for a somewhat larger fee and the people who don't mind a 5-10min trip and/or wants to save some gil will go for the airship flight.

If not then I don't see the reason why we should have a 1h timer dungeon, just have people enter right at each boss, or better yet, enter right at the treasure chests! Why level a class to 50 even? Just pick up a weapon and be at cap right away!

In an MMO the journey should be what matters most, not reaching the goal as fast as you can.

[Reika]

Stupid idea, really stupid. Just another way to make you feel like you're not in an actual world and everything is right next door. What is Eorzia, 200 SQft or something?

SE, if you're going to stupidly make and insta and a non-insta travel option for airship, then make the insta option cost anima and more gil than the non-insta version, or no one will ever take the time for the other option, just like no one will ever use chocobo's if they have the anima. Better yet, just dont have an insta-travel option at all for airships.

[Kailea_Nagisa]

I still dont see why.... 5 min airship ride, if you want to get around that, use anima did not end this conversation...... -.-

[BlaiseLallaise]

I believe Kiote summed up the best arguments for and against instant air travel. We, as a community, need to all take a step back and examine the topic from a neutral bias. Put aside the desire for immersion. Cast away the desire to get there now. What is functionally best for the game? Which argument quoted above holds more water when all other biases are eliminated? Then, with personal biases in place, is there a compromise that a majority of the community would be ok with?

Personally, I hated it when I missed an airship in FFXI, then had to sit waiting for 10 minutes for the next one. In fact, I think what bothered me the most about FFXI airships was not the time in the air, but the time standing on the dock waiting for another one to arrive. So, instant-travel was initially an attractive option.

But, thinking about it longer, I decided that I would be fine if air travel didn't take any longer than 3-5 minutes port-to-port, including dock time. (Limsa -> Gridania would obviously take a little longer than Ul'dah -> Gridania) Having multiple airships in service would cut the wait time even further. For example, if Limsa -> Gridania took 5 minutes one-way, a single airship would take 10 minutes to complete a round trip. Having 2 airships running opposite each other would cut wait time down to 5 minutes, since once one leaves, another is headed back at the same time. Up that to 4 airships (2 pairs running staggered schedules) and now the wait time for another boat drops to 2 1/2 minutes. Something to think about.