Please do not make group quest open world areas.

[Nektulos-Tuor]

You are talking about one of the most Hardcore MMOs, and how they should fit those systems PRECISELY into what is in all honesty a pretty casual MMO. It's probably not going to work. And for a game like FFXIV, which has been adding tons of amazing dungeons and boss fights in the past two years, I wouldn't want them to waste too much time on random bosses on the world map that end up unbeatable or only something elite raiders can handle.

However, you've reminded me of my only beloved "dangerous world" moment in an mmo. The Fel Reaver, in Burning Crusade of Wow, was a giant world boss that stomped around the first zone, and pretty much instantly murdered anyone he stepped on. He didn't drop loot, didn't have a reward for killing him, and pretty much existed just to step on people who were too tunnelvisioned to notice a building sized robot slowly stomping toward them.

Are you even reading what i'm saying? I am asking for a few bosses like that and a lot of normal ones spread around with semi-random spawn places that wander around, deep inside territory so you can't just "know" when they are up less you fight to them! That is what i'm asking for, a few of them that can only be killed by the best players, whilst 90% of the rest can be killed by players.

5% Total Hardcore. (2x group encounters, to 4x group, locked.)
27% Hard, challenging, hard to kill. (1 group encounters, to 2 group encounters, locked.)
33% Easier, camped probably, but still random. (1 full group, locked)
33% Very easy, soloable even by good players! (1-3 people, locked.)

Wandering Bosses, they spawn in random (semi) locations and wander around the zone, they spawn mostly where no players are.

[Gunspec]

5% Total Hardcore. (2x group encounters, to 4x group, locked.)
27% Hard, challenging, hard to kill. (1 group encounters, to 2 group encounters, locked.)
33% Easier, camped probably, but still random. (1 full group, locked)
33% Very easy, soloable even by good players! (1-3 people, locked.)

hehe, 98% eh?
Well, I know devs have already spoken about why hunt mobs don't wander around too much, but spawn locations and spawn timers are already variable. No one knows exactly when an S rank can spawn, and A ranks have an hour spawn window so people know when to start looking. The main difference between that, and what you would like, is enemies can't currently walk around that much, and that enemy territory is currently too small for them to be hidden well. Larger maps and flying mounts will probably negate each other in Heavensward.

As for rewards and locking the fights to a limited number of players... gear rewards would quickly become outdated. And if you haven't caught on yet, the player basis REALLY hates when they get locked out of credit for a kill.

[KamikazeMan]

Not to be rude, but I'm glad SE are ignoring casuals for once and (hopefully) breathing life into the open world. As things are now, there are no real dangers in the open world and any sense of exploration...well...it just doesn't exist. There is nothing to explore and I feel that part of exploration involves some form of risk.

[Gunspec]

Not to be rude, but I'm glad SE are ignoring casuals for once and (hopefully) breathing life into the open world. As things are now, there are no real dangers in the open world and any sense of exploration...well...it just doesn't exist. There is nothing to explore and I feel that part of exploration involves some form of risk.

Since when did "exploration" mean getting your head kicked in because you fought two chocobos instead of one? I mean, Erik the Red could probably have handled two. Not sure about Magellan though, he did die in mid-voyage.

[Hayward]

One only has to look at Seekers of Adoulin to know the potential disaster this could be if done wrong. Getting anywhere in those areas was one of the major reasons I decided to let XI go. These self-styled Nth-degree Black Belt gamers are blowing a lot of smoke where this is concerned. Overworld enemies that are nigh-on unkillable without 3-7 people is a recipe for areas going unused. Any non-endgame content that requires voice chat really needs to be reconsidered or dropped entirely.

[Barimu]

One only has to look at Seekers of Adoulin to know the potential disaster this could be if done wrong. Getting anywhere in those areas was one of the major reasons I decided to let XI go. These self-styled Nth-degree Black Belt gamers are blowing a lot of smoke where this is concerned. Overworld enemies that are nigh-on unkillable without 3-7 people is a recipe for areas going unused. Any non-endgame content that requires voice chat really needs to be reconsidered or dropped entirely.

Didn't play seekers but how does it differ than pre-abyssea?

[Hayward]

The difference is your natural levels and merits would eventually bridge the gaps in pre-Seekers areas. Seekers areas required iLv 106+ gear (BST pets included) to even have a chance at even fighting the enemies there. Of course, that gear only came from Bayld vendors or Delve drops.

[lvlagmarink]

If you plan on stepping in areas such as the beastmen camps, and other dangerous areas, you’ll probably want to talk with nearby players to get through them."

I'll walk alone slowly using rogue's hide ability, thank you... No thank you...

[FallenArisen0990]

Finally, some sense of danger. Tired of running past enemies that were more of annoyance then dangerous. As a vet of running throught areas I'm not supposed to run in, I welcome this. People complaining about dying to two mobs but eventually we'll right back to where we started and you're tanking 5 mobs like it's nothing.

[Lemuria]

Not to be rude, but I'm glad SE are ignoring casuals for once and (hopefully) breathing life into the open world. As things are now, there are no real dangers in the open world and any sense of exploration...well...it just doesn't exist. There is nothing to explore and I feel that part of exploration involves some form of risk.

Since when did challenging overworld content become the sole foray of the veteran players? Did I miss that memo?

Let's help clear that up a bit. A casual player is one who doesn't generally have a lot of time to dedicate to gameplay. They set smaller goals for themselves, but otherwise they enjoy the same content as everyone else just at a slower pace. Content which requires a huge time investment in one sitting is generally the only content skipped over, for obvious reasons. Some casual players can even do coil runs, because the raid itself takes less than an hour.

A challenging overworld is actually a really GOOD thing for casual players. The goals they set themselves becomes like like 'let's get to this aetheryte here' or 'I want to explore these caves', which can be wonderfully fulfilling. It gives them lots more of these smaller goals to achieve and a vibrant world for them to get their teeth into little by little. Each bit of exploration seeds their next goal, and leads them gently into the more obvious goals like getting that new piece of equipment or crushing that nasty Ascian.

So, lest you believe that casual players shy away from all challenges. Many players embrace them, just at a slower pace.