Zone Aesthetics

[Rydin]

Purely a discussion for gamers...

We talk a lot about zones that are bland and repetitive.
So not talking about polygons or graphics engines....
Its not even a matter of right and wrong... just your personal choice?

Should every region be splendid and gorgeous and expansive and beautiful?

or

Having boring regions feels more natural... AS LONG AS beautiful regions exist also?


For example:
Instead of a zone redesign... what if SE had said,
"The current zones will stay the way they are (in regards to visuals, not MOB placement) and instead, we will just release 5 new zones that look and feel incredible.. that are diverse, with new MOBs and varied terrain and landmarks"

In a way, having bland areas that lead into incredibly diverse areas could be cool...
Perhaps a desert is supposed to be monotonous?

Sometimes a dramatic contrast is used to make the incredible parts stand out.
A dead zone may be ugly but add to the overall dynamic feel of Eorzea...
I don't know... what do you guys think?

[Perrin_Aybarra]

I would rather a complete redesign.

The maps are way too big to just call them bland. I would not mind if let's say a sub-zone of the region is bland and monotonous if it serves the game. Like maybe the drybone area in Thanalan could be bland and monotonous, but then since the other sub-zones of Thanalan wouldn't be bland and monotonous, Drybone would feel unique as well in this regard so it would not feel bland after all.

The problem is you can walk 30min in the same zone and yet you feel like you are in the same place you started, this is even more noticable in the Black Shroud.

With the redesign, not everything has to be over the top unique and gorgeous, some zones or new zones could be more or less depending of the design, but have 2-3 different themes per regions like Yoshi-P confirmed will be more than welcomed.

[Platinumstorm]

I don't think people are complaining about the feeling of the zones, but the similarity within each zone. They didn't build enough assets for the size of the zones, so it's just constant copy/paste.

For example:
Instead of a zone redesign... what if SE had said,
"The current zones will stay the way they are (in regards to visuals, not MOB placement) and instead, we will just release 5 new zones that look and feel incredible.. that are diverse, with new MOBs and varied terrain and landmarks"

This means all the new players would hate what they experience when they see it - because it's what we went through as well.

Perhaps a desert is supposed to be monotonous?

I wouldn't really call Thanalan a desert, but yeah a desert is supposed to be monotonous; but that doesn't mean everything looks the same. Everything in the FFXIV zones do look the same, because they are the same. The placement of the environment in the Black Forest, for example goes XLOXLOXLOXLOXLOXLO over and over, and that's what pisses people off; not the sort of subdued aspects of it. When you also consider that there aren't any destinations to go to within the zones, and that there aren't visual sites worth considering within the zones - and that nothing within the zones has meaning - that's where they real problem lies.

The zone redesigns will be a beneficial thing for us, and the base zones do need to be redesigned; particularily Shroud and La Noscea.

[Rydin]

Also, this is as good a place as any to say I LOVE the MOB detail in this game.
Yea, a lot of them are cute and far from menacing... but that fits in well with the theme of this thread
the fact that we only fight baby dragons means when we see an actual dragon... we could possibly be blown away, maybe???

It's another contrast... Whats your opinion? would you rather all the MOBs look more ferocious and tough?
I mean.. many do.. Mongrels look mean... Ogre's are very unfriendly...
But there is a lot of cuteness to Eorzea.... Would that be ok if you knew for sure that the big bad mean ones were coming later in new zones?

[Perrin_Aybarra]

to answer the mob thing, I think they are fine for now and fits the world we are in. There are meaner looking monsters when you go further and I am positive there will be other models and unique looking monsters in the future.

Close to cities and established encampment, I find it normal that there is not many ferocious/menacing monsters.

[Rydin]

I would rather a complete redesign.

The maps are way too big to just call them bland. I would not mind if let's say a sub-zone of the region is bland and monotonous if it serves the game. Like maybe the drybone area in Thanalan could be bland and monotonous, but then since the other sub-zones of Thanalan wouldn't be bland and monotonous, Drybone would feel unique as well in this regard so it would not feel bland after all.

The problem is you can walk 30min in the same zone and yet you feel like you are in the same place you started, this is even more noticable in the Black Shroud.

With the redesign, not everything has to be over the top unique and gorgeous, some zones or new zones could be more or less depending of the design, but have 2-3 different themes per regions like Yoshi-P confirmed will be more than welcomed.

Thats a good point... a zone as big as Ul'dah being bland is a bit much
And yea, I saw the thing about 3 themes... I'm looking forward to it...
But you're saying you are ok with one of the 3 themes to match the current feel?
I think I'd like that

I don't think people are complaining about the feeling of the zones, but the similarity within each zone. They didn't build enough assets for the size of the zones, so it's just constant copy/paste.

Yea.. I can see that...
So you'd like the feel of each zone as long as they didn't have the exact same ridge repeated over and over?
I think I've seen a few people say they prefer the "over-the-top" fantasy aesthetic to the more subdued beauty of FFXIV....

This means all the new players would hate what they experience when they see it - because it's what we went through as well.

thats funny cause it's true

[Rydin]

to answer the mob thing, I think they are fine for now and fits the world we are in. There are meaner looking monsters when you go further and I am positive there will be other models and unique looking monsters in the future.

Close to cities and established encampment, I find it normal that there is not many ferocious/menacing monsters.

I think the Beast tribes and Morbols look incredible... some of the best MOBs I've seen... they make you wanna play on the high settings more so than the environments even....

To any Devs reading this... please get word to whomever put all the detail into the actual MOBs.... tell them I said "WOW" (As an exclamation, not as an acronym for another game...haha)
I don't know if they really that is their biggest graphical feat right now.... I hope they continue with that and play it up even more in the future....
Even Marmots are breathtakingly well done

[Perrin_Aybarra]

Thats a good point... a zone as big as Ul'dah being bland is a bit much
And yea, I saw the thing about 3 themes... I'm looking forward to it...
But you're saying you are ok with one of the 3 themes to match the current feel?
I think I'd like that

For sure I'd be ok with that, the zones aren't ugly by far, they are just too repetitive for too long. Yes there are some variations but they are too rare and not enough noticable to be called variations, plus the abusive use of copy/pasted huge blocks.

Black Shroud for exemple, sure they can keep an area with the overpasses and all, but them maybe the central shroud it could be more of an open forest, the east shroud more like a clearing. The western part could be those overpasses/mazes thing. Just so we don't feel like we are always in the same place regardless what level you are.

[odintius]

I think they should included same changes to area's during all these patches and beyond not an overhaul all at once but small increments gradually adding uniqueness to each area over time. If one thing they learn from ffxi imo is the copy/paste technique and using it way to much and need to move away from that approach when possible. There were time's when I would see something that caught my eye and said hey what that and head over to be disappointed. There's a sense of no lifeness in my opinion to the areas they need to gradually give npc's/mob some kind of pattern to counter that. But thats my two cent on the supject.

[Wolfie]

Complete redesign is pretty much required anyways, because the current zones already take you all the way to the cap and beyond. We have level 80 and 90-something monsters in the current zones.