A scenic queue: An experiment

[Atlaworks]

I've been trying to farm chunks of Odin's DoW armor for October- I have a costume idea and don't want to keep wearing the bedsheet(the Wailing Spirit). But, I queue DPS. For an old trial that was optional like that, Urth's Fount doesn't get a lot of traffic. Now, my queues tend to show up at a 7m estimated time often... and end up being over 30 minutes each time, with my highest queue in the last week going up to 219 minutes total. I am not bemoaning queue times, mind you- I could with relative ease queue as a tank or healer for much shorter queues, and know that nothing can really be done to shorten them- influencing supply and demand is difficult... even if 219 minutes from a 7 minute estimated queue is a little absurd.

So, in light of these long queue times, I normally tab out and do something else, maybe craft, something to pass the time. Today though, I decided to plan some statistics. I put on some nice, good-looking clothes(tantalus breeches and an extreme survival shirt, very nice), put my movement mode on walking instead of running, and decided to just queue for Odin and take a stroll... from Idyllshire, to Limsa Lominsa, seeing how long it would take me. Part of me thought I'd get there before one queue even popped, but it turns out that... walking is pretty slow. Who would have thought?

As transparency, I made this walk starting at about 10:30 AM in Idyllshire. Only walking- no sprinting, no mounts, no chocobo taxis, only staying on roads and pathways unless one wasn't available. I did, however, allow myself to walk with Fist of Wind on for a 5% bonus to move speed. With my for-looks clothes on and only a few bits of real armor, this was all done at 116 average item level. I allowed myself to stop for breaks at points of civilization and the occasional fight with wildlife incredibly angry about how good I look in jeans. I briefly changed into an alpine coat in Coerthas, but after a bit decided the brisk air would be fine in a t-shirt(I kill deific figures for a living, I can handle a little nippy weather!).

The first queue was an estimated 7m, 52:03 actual time before the queue popped- I asked party members I was paired with to see how long their queues were. One healer had an instant queue, but one of the tanks waited a full 12 minutes even himself- Urth's Fount doesn't get much traffic from anyone. I made it north of the bridge in Coerthas Western Highlands on foot in that time. Only sticking to roads, I didn't get into too many fights- I noticed that not many enemy patrols cross walkways, and think that's a nice and hopefully intentional touch by the devs. Met a few players wondering why I was actually walking anywhere, and told them I was "Just taking a stroll".

There was actually a full pathway from Idyllshire to Coerthas Western Highlands, save one bit near the end of the Dravanian Hinterlands, where you need to walk off the road to head to the forelands- but the path starts again in the forelands and doesn't end until you get to Coerthas proper. Coerthas itself is a nightmare to navigate on a "follow the road" method like I did, as half of it is cliffsides, and for the life of me the place has no darn roads. I ended up walking along the frozen rivers and creeks, being the closest thing to a path I could see in all the snow- and indeed, they take you right to the doorstep of Falcon's Nest.

I think Ishgard makes roads out of ice. Crazy nobles. I took a rest in Ishgard, with my queue at 25:30 and one tank, no healer, and 3 DPS found. I figured that'd be a good time to make lunch- it was 12:15 by that point. I decided I'd stop in to the Forgotten Knight... and then realized that there are no chairs at The Forgotten Knight. Crazy nobles. I just went to the gates and took a seat for a while there- by the time I found a place to sit it was 30:37, and the tank dropped from the queue. I was back by 45 minutes passed, then exited Ishgard proper. You actually need to talk to a guard to leave on foot, funny enough.

Coerthas Central Highlands has proper roads, at least- even if they're a little snow-covered, you can get the gist of where you're going. I figure at this point, I was in the area, so I'd head a little north and visit the grave of a friend. By the time I made it there it was 55:47- we had four DPS and two healers in the queue! And there was even a semi-clear road there. Not some weird ice-road, either.

After I made it to the Observatorium, I began to notice more clearly that snow was crunching under my feet- more if I went off the road of course, but I very seldom heard a solid footstep the entire time I was in Coerthas. Of course, this ended soon as I exited to the north Shroud, but it was nice to think of. By the point I reached Fallgourd Float 66:45 had elapsed. We had everything but one tank by now! I took a seat on a bench there(They HAVE benches, Ishgard), and took a screenshot- then found that the tank in the queue left. Oh well.

It was around now that I came to a realization- Limsa Lominsa is on the Vylbrand. The Vylbrand is an island. You can't walk to an island. I figured I could just take an airship in Gridania, but that would be far too simple... and not walking. I'd have to take a boat. I decided to go take the one in Vesper Bay, since that was the one I took when the story made me go to The Waking Sands again(hi, 3.4), despite it being a chore each time. That meant I'd leg it through the Black Shroud and a most of Thanalan on the way. I could also stop in all three major city-states, but the only one that was mandatory was Limsa Lominsa proper. Naturally, as this is an exercise in both spectacle and tedium, I'd do all three.

Granted, I cheated a bit with Gridania- I wanted to walk down The Matron's Lethe proper, so I decided to head to Gridania through the Blue Badger Gate as opposed to the Yellow Serpent Gate. I still decided to take a rest at the Carline Canopy for a drink before heading south. By now we're up to 86:31- DPS have fallen in and out, but still no tanks.

On the way through central Shroud, I stopped to punch out some anoles and got a little lost, but eventually got back on the proper road. It was quiet. Very scenic- actually saw there are some little caves in the cliffs south of Bentbranch Meadows full of tree roots you can't access. I stopped by the druthers when I got to south Shroud, of course, chatted up Buscarron, who like me, believes that Laurentius is a total horse's arse. Also got some roasted nopales and a honey muffin to go. Nice place! By the time I left it, I was up to a 103 minute queue. Still no tanks.

Upon getting to Thanalan proper, it was... raining sheets. Like, all of a sudden, given it was clear in the southern Shroud. Somehow, I find it raining far more in Drybone than anywhere else. I often questioned why it's not just called Wetbone instead with all the precipitation, but then realized how awful of a name that is. I took a brief stop at a building beside Thal's Respite before moving on to Highbridge. 113 minutes in- we got a tank! And at about 115 minutes, the queue actually popped!

Second Odin fight lasted 45 minutes. Lots of wipes- two scholars on healing who were new. Painful, but eventually we squeaked through. The helmet dropped, someone else got it- which is fine, that's the one part I don't need anyway. At least for the third queue, the estimated time started at 30m+!

Back to the Highbridge, I waited a moment to take in the sights... and a queue popped again. It was like... 6 minutes. I was thoroughly astounded. That clear came more quickly too- I was out of that bout of Odin fighting in 15 minutes or so. A feldr dropped though, so no progress still.

I went through Eastern Thanalan with little fanfare after that, and moved to Central Thanalan proper. I came during a dust storm, so it wasn't terribly pleasant to look at, or be in. I decided that while I could walk to Western Thanalan proper, I'd stop in at Ul'Dah, rest a spell in The Quicksand, and then head to The Eighty Sins of Sasamo. Thanalan is actually a pretty nice looking place once you get out of the dust and into the more lush desert areas.

Rather than leg it through Horizon, I decided to head to the Silver Bazaar instead and take the ferry to the cove across the way. It rained again, too- no idea why Thanalan is so full of rain. I really like the Hammerlea area, myself- I as a player grew up in Texas, and there are a lot of oil wells out there. The hammers are very reminiscent of those, especially with the environment of Thanaln being so similar to Texas countryside. Queue popped again about 30 minutes in once I got to the other side. the Odin run went smoothly too, with only one wipe! But then the mage pants dropped, and that meant four runs during the journey with loot I couldn't use.

Back in Thanalan, I realized that I often forget Crescent Cove is even there, and took the time to talk to some of the NPCs. Then I went to the Footfalls, punched a large crab to death that was terrorizing the populace, and was hailed by a fellow player as "Regular Man, our hero". I am fine with this. If the Warrior of Light can be a regular man, then the inverse can probably be true. Or something.

Then of course, I had to go to Vesper Bay. Pretty to look at, but I don't like being there at all on account of The Waking Sands still existing. I took a ferry to Limsa Lominsa the moment I could. That was my goal, and all. I figured though, having come as far as I did, I'd be remiss to end it in Limsa without walking through La Noscea proper. So I decided to take a rest there, go grab a snack, and head on the road again- intent to go to Outer La Noscea to end this little stroll.

Stopping in Limsa, I realize I don't get to do so much. That was the town I stepped off the boat in back in 2.0 and realize that I don't stop to smell the roses nowadays. So I did! I figured if I was resting there, I could go stop at the Bismark. It turns out, even if people forget it(Or at least, I do since I'm 60 all DoH classes), Limsa Lominsa has the best damn food in Eorzea. Of course, my queue popped right when I was eating... about half an hour here, too. The fight also took a good half an hour, due to a rather belligerent healer... and the DoW gloves dropped, which was the one piece I had. Again. Back on the road, as it were, once I finished my food and headed out of Limsa.

By now, with the oddly short queues- even for midday it was going oddly well- the estimated queue time was down to 12 minutes. I decided to go through middle La Noscea and to the east on my way to Outer La Noscea. I will say, La Noscea is probably my favorite environment in the game. It's not got as much scenery in the way as Gridania, and is prettier than Thanalan to me personally. I stopped along the way to fistfight some raiders with some newer players- it was fun. Then just enjoyed the scenery a bit.

there was a quick jaunt through Eastern La Noscea- just walked through Wineport. Did much the same in Upper La Noscea, just walking through the ruins near The Wanderer's Palace and passing by Camp Bronze Lake. I'd have stayed for a dip, but didn't want to change clothes. A quick amble through Zelma's Run and I was in Outer La Noscea. All the kobold tech kind of marred the landscape a little, but where it didn't it really was nice to stop and check it out.

I spent a lot of time in Outer La Noscea, just checking out scenery and taking screenshots. The western end of that zone is like my favorite place in the game, and I used to hang out there a lot when I was newer. By this point, 35:23 had elapsed since the last Odin run, and we were only missing a tank. The queues were picking up. By the time I got to the destination I was going for, I got one more Odin run in. Actual good item dropped, but I didn't get it. Still! It was only a few more minutes to reach where I considered this experiment complete: The Hermit's Hovel.

For statistics...
I started the walk at 10:30 AM, and it ended at 6:07 PM. While accounting for Odin time and time spent screwing around on breaks, the entire journey took 7 hours, 37 minutes. During this time I got to do 6 Odin runs, so the average there is about once every 76 minutes. This is inaccurate due to the time spent fighting Odin, which while I expected to be relatively negligible, ended up being pretty substantial due to how often the pugs I ended up in wiped. I'd wager about... 2 hours were spent in Odin trials. I'd also say I spent maybe half an hour over the course of the trip resting in various locales to make food for myself or check on things. So, as a rough estimate otherwise...

It takes roughly 5 hours to walk from Idyllshire to Outer La Noscea entirely on foot.

Mind you, my path was Idyllshire > Dravanian Hinterlands > Dravanian Forelands > Coerthas Western Highlands > Ishgard(Foundation) > Coerthas Central Highlands > North Shroud > Gridania(Optional) Central Shroud > South Shroud > Eastern Thanalan > Central Thanalan > Ul'Dah(Optional) > Western Thanalan > Limsa Lominsa > Middle La Noscea > Eastern La Noscea > Upper La Noscea > Outer La Noscea.

My god I am never doing that again. That said, it was nice to just take in the scenery for a change, and definitely made waiting on a queue fun for the first and probably last time! I will say, while it certainly began to drag on in parts, I got 6 Odin fights out of it, and if I just sat around during that time that'd be 5 and a half hours of time spent idle. Does it mean the queues are too long? Hell yes they are, but no one can fix that. Otherwise, what did I learn?

1: I have entirely too much free time on my hands, even if it is a day off.
2: People still can't run Odin without wiping at least once.
3: Be SO glad we have aetherytes. If you want to know how Eorzea can defeat the Garlean Empire, it's in sheer mobility and logistics, since we have fast travel crystals and it'd take them ages to get anywhere.
4: Eorzea is freakin' beautiful.

Wanna know how to wait out a long queue for duty? Welcome to Eorzea.

[Khanscott]

Spending your time BSing and accomplishing little. That is the day off do. And yes, I read all of that. :P

[MilesSaintboroguh]

Now walk in every dungeon and tell us about that

[Atlaworks]

Now walk in every dungeon and tell us about that

I would, but people I party with get mad when I do that.

[Melorie]

Interesting read and experiment!

[ADVSS]

RP walked the entire way to limsa from the 'shire' how are you not on balmung?

[Atlaworks]

RP walked the entire way to limsa from the 'shire' how are you not on balmung?

I have friends on Malboro. All like 7 people who actually play on it.

...People tell me to go to Balmung pretty often.

[Rawrz]

I have never been so wounded by gentlemanly words. It's like... It's like everything you said poured in from my ears and throat, settling in the lower right side of my ribcage, where it decided to slice it's way out, by grinding against themselves in circles.

._.

I'll never read again.

[ADVSS]

I have friends on Malboro. All like 7 people who actually play on it.

...People tell me to go to Balmung pretty often.

They arent lying lol

[Dualgunner]

I did something similar just before servers went down for 3.0 to be implemented. RP walked all the way from Limsa to Camp Dragonhead, the area where we left off the end of 2.57.

It's quite a fun way to view Eorzea every once in a while ^w^