Shops in hamlets.

[Silma]

This is a CON post.

While i like many of ideas exposed here, i cant help thinking this has nothing to do in a FF game. And i would hate my FFXIV to turn into some kind 4X building kind of game. I personnaly play FF to get that sense of adventure, long and hard story lines and quests, NOT to defend my poor little hamlet lost somewhere in Thanalan, and all this for what ? a shop ? are you guys kidding me ?

The idea of players defined environment has already been explored in a lot of MMOs. Age of Conan, Whahammer online or Ryzom to name a few. Everytime the idea sounds great on the paper ; everytime its far from a blast in terms of gameplay.

The one main black point is that for this idea to flourish, SE needs a community in FFXIV. Players would need to work together (omg!) to achieve a mid or long-term goal. As of today, there is not enough players in FFXIV, people leave everyday and come back for a few days after each patch just to leave again. With such a fragile community, how can you "grow your hamlet" (civ4 anyone?) to max power if that takes like, say, 2 months ?

One workaround would be to tie the Hamlets to Linkshells, forcing LS to grow and get organised, maybe with the help of instanced housing facilities, just like in LOTRO, but to a much higher extend. Game is not ready for this, period.

If SE wants to bring new and exciting things with the idea of hamlets, they have to keep it SIMPLE. Best ideas are always the simplest. Bring in PvP. Bring in PvPvM. Have people from the Maelstrom beat on The Immortals to control that one shop in Thanalan and get access to the products required to craft anything 45+. Sounds quite easy to do after class revamp and balancing which is coming. PvP is much waited by players, and would bring in new fresh blood. More moniez SE, more moniez for less hassle, think about it.

tl;dr stop dreaming about what sounds like a totally different game. Continue bringing FFXIV to a standard MMO and bring in wanted features : instanced PvP / PvPvM.

[quantumsaint]

Yeah, I don't think incorporating balanced PVP is much more simple than opening a NPC shop after a successful hamlet defense. It sounds nice, but I don't think it's likely to happen. PVP is coming in 2.0. It's funny that you say these ideas have nothing to do with a FF game, yet your alternative is to incorporate something that has been in only one previous FF (FFXI). Your suggestion is at odds with your ideals.

[Endemerrin]

FFXI's Campaign and Besieged had fortifications and NPC soldiers that were influenced by various player driven aspects. Even the campaign-esque system that came with Abyssea (I forgot it's exact name) had those systems, and even allowed you to set up traps to slow down and damage enemy forces before they arrived at the base you were defending.

So these ideas actually do have some merit with FFXIV, as they were a part of another FF title in the past.

All people here are suggesting is that we tie in crafters and gatherers this time around so they can be a part of the cause as well.

[Tman]

what if the battle portion of the hamlet could be like fort condor reactor off FFVII? have wave apon wave of mobs coming at our hamlet while we can place catapults and stuff at certain points, join the fray if we like or have npc's help/do it for us, and at the end a HNM comes.

[Kio]

Nearby aetheryte nodes and chocobos aren't enough?

Nope, not nearly "near by" enough. Port to camp > port to node > chocobo for several minutes, my laziness kicks in and I'd rather just not bother going at all. I've not finished quests that have to go to hamlets for months because I'm too lazy and bored to trek out to them haha.

I do like your ideas though of the hamlets having their own node. Maybe make ease of travel rewards for players continuing to do the defense content. The only downside of that is, if not enough people play it, you run the risk of even less wanting to try due to the inconvenience.
Something like a chocobo carriage route that you can rent to take you there via an instant cutscene such as the airships do, that only feel "safe" about going if people do caravan and hamlet defense. Maybe wave the fee for a while for players who have succeeded in the activities to dissuade moochers but not hurt low level players who simply can't participate yet.
Something along those lines would make me happy to try the upcoming content more frequently while still maintaining my comfortable life of Garfield-esque laziness.
(At least until new maps are released in 2.0, then I won't mind traveling around and exploring again like I did in XI)

[Veltaine]

This! A couple of exploring adventurers happen upon this tiny hamlet in the wilderness , when suddenly a raiding party attcks the people looting and pilaging<sp?>. the adventurers look at thier comrades and take up arms to repel the Bandits.
And Thats how a new city was born.

ok.. so what do a botanist, gladiator, and carpenter have in common?

they walk into a forest so the area can be cut down and expand this lil hamlet town. the botanist spots a wolf! beastmen are nearby. so the gladiator runs in and tackles the wolf down, giving it its final seconds on earth fearing his newly edged moogle blade, with the wild wings of a deity flying across the base of his helmet. The archer knocks his Trident arrow into the silky strings of his bow to bring down the nearby lizard who has yet to discover the death of its pet. The botanist, now comes out and cuts down the first oak where the new "opobrothel" can be set up, ~

the possibilities are endless

[Tetsaru]

Nope, not nearly "near by" enough. Port to camp > port to node > chocobo for several minutes, my laziness kicks in and I'd rather just not bother going at all. I've not finished quests that have to go to hamlets for months because I'm too lazy and bored to trek out to them haha.

Lol, that's too bad. I consider myself pretty lazy too, but a lot of people don't realize that chocobos are often times more efficient than constantly using Anima to warp everywhere. Keep in mind: for every 1 Anima you use, you have to wait 4 hours to get it back, so if you warp from one area to a specific camp in another area (say, from Ul'dah to Bloodshore) and spend 6 Anima, that's a whole day's worth you've already used up. When I do my Blacksmith and Armorer leves in Limsa and have to turn them in at all the different camps in La Noscea, I'll usually just warp once to Bald Knoll (which I have favorited so it costs less Anima, of course), then chocobo out to Skull Valley, then Iron Lake, then Bloodshore, and loop around clockwise all the way back down to Limsa again. Unless I have other leves to do at those camps, or end up getting mauled by random Kobolds or Raptors, I can usually do a complete run around the entire area in about half an hour or so, give or take several minutes. That, and setting your home point in strategic locations can also help. Just a thought.

I do like your ideas though of the hamlets having their own node. Maybe make ease of travel rewards for players continuing to do the defense content. The only downside of that is, if not enough people play it, you run the risk of even less wanting to try due to the inconvenience.
Something like a chocobo carriage route that you can rent to take you there via an instant cutscene such as the airships do, that only feel "safe" about going if people do caravan and hamlet defense. Maybe wave the fee for a while for players who have succeeded in the activities to dissuade moochers but not hurt low level players who simply can't participate yet.
Something along those lines would make me happy to try the upcoming content more frequently while still maintaining my comfortable life of Garfield-esque laziness.
(At least until new maps are released in 2.0, then I won't mind traveling around and exploring again like I did in XI)

And once again, I'm glad someone likes my ideas. ^^ This has been an awesome thread so far, filled with wonderful suggestions from almost everyone; I really hope SE uses them!

[Tetsaru]

This is a CON post.

While i like many of ideas exposed here, i cant help thinking this has nothing to do in a FF game. And i would hate my FFXIV to turn into some kind 4X building kind of game. I personnaly play FF to get that sense of adventure, long and hard story lines and quests, NOT to defend my poor little hamlet lost somewhere in Thanalan, and all this for what ? a shop ? are you guys kidding me ?

The idea of players defined environment has already been explored in a lot of MMOs. Age of Conan, Whahammer online or Ryzom to name a few. Everytime the idea sounds great on the paper ; everytime its far from a blast in terms of gameplay.

The one main black point is that for this idea to flourish, SE needs a community in FFXIV. Players would need to work together (omg!) to achieve a mid or long-term goal. As of today, there is not enough players in FFXIV, people leave everyday and come back for a few days after each patch just to leave again. With such a fragile community, how can you "grow your hamlet" (civ4 anyone?) to max power if that takes like, say, 2 months ?

One workaround would be to tie the Hamlets to Linkshells, forcing LS to grow and get organised, maybe with the help of instanced housing facilities, just like in LOTRO, but to a much higher extend. Game is not ready for this, period.

If SE wants to bring new and exciting things with the idea of hamlets, they have to keep it SIMPLE. Best ideas are always the simplest. Bring in PvP. Bring in PvPvM. Have people from the Maelstrom beat on The Immortals to control that one shop in Thanalan and get access to the products required to craft anything 45+. Sounds quite easy to do after class revamp and balancing which is coming. PvP is much waited by players, and would bring in new fresh blood. More moniez SE, more moniez for less hassle, think about it.

tl;dr stop dreaming about what sounds like a totally different game. Continue bringing FFXIV to a standard MMO and bring in wanted features : instanced PvP / PvPvM.

Eh, I dunno... I see a lot of people on the forums complaining that there isn't enough content in the game to keep them busy and interested lately. "I've done Ifrit a gajillion times and he still hasn't dropped the weapons I want, so I'm tired of doing it," "Dzaemel Darkhold isn't worth doing cuz of Ifrit and beastmen strongholds," "Crafting is so boring," etc. I think having something more dynamic than just "go here, kill this, get item" would hold players' interests more if done properly, and give them something to work towards, as well as a greater sense of accomplishment and cooperation.

And besides, player-made content has been used in a wide variety of games and genres: LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers, Minecraft, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series, Saint's Row: the Third, Soul Calibur series, Animal Crossing series, White Knight Chronicles... tons of stuff. In fact, having that kind of freedom and customization is often why such games are so successful, because there's no limit to what you can do. Much can be said about a game that has near infinite replay value.

I do like the idea of involving Grand Companies, linkshells, and possibly free companies(?) in with hamlet defenses. Certain LS's could claim certain areas as their own, make their own guild halls, housing, etc., and possibly even compete or cooperate with other LS's to prosper. Just imagine: two different hamlets/LS's could exchange goods and services between each other, or even build up armies of airships, Magitek armor, and various mounts to take siege of the other's areas for total domination. Then, some other force, such as the Garlean Empire and/or beastmen tribes show up and take it for themselves, and then everyone has to cooperate together to drive them back out... I dunno about you, but Final Fantasy or not, that sounds pretty damn fun to me.

It keeps players working towards a common goal, allows for cooperation or competition, makes crafting and gathering jobs more viable, AND it always keeps everyone in suspense because you never know what's going to happen next. And if that doesn't appeal to you... well, you can still do leves, quests, and all the other stuff that's still in the game. I see nothing wrong with it, other than the fact that it's not in the game yet.

Sorry for the double post. ><

[normalforce]

I do like the idea of involving Grand Companies, linkshells, and possibly free companies(?) in with hamlet defenses. Certain LS's could claim certain areas as their own, make their own guild halls, housing, etc., and possibly even compete or cooperate with other LS's to prosper. Just imagine: two different hamlets/LS's could exchange goods and services between each other, or even build up armies of airships, Magitek armor, and various mounts to take siege of the other's areas for total domination. Then, some other force, such as the Garlean Empire and/or beastmen tribes show up and take it for themselves, and then everyone has to cooperate together to drive them back out... I dunno about you, but Final Fantasy or not, that sounds pretty damn fun to me.

It keeps players working towards a common goal, allows for cooperation or competition, makes crafting and gathering jobs more viable, AND it always keeps everyone in suspense because you never know what's going to happen next. And if that doesn't appeal to you... well, you can still do leves, quests, and all the other stuff that's still in the game. I see nothing wrong with it, other than the fact that it's not in the game yet.

I agree. Hamlet Defense and PvP could both co-exist without hurting each other. Giving that PvP is tentatively going to occur on a floating Colosseum in Limsa, it'll have nothing to do with the Hamlet defenses occurring outside the cities.


I was just imagining that the player housing and maybe Free Company housing could all be instances right next to the Hamlets. The front porch of your home has a nice, idyllic view of the hamlet, reflecting the current state of its buildings on structures. After a few minutes of enjoying the scenery, you head inside your house and start rearranging your latest trophies when you hear a shout go out, "Enemies approaching! Help defend Hyrstmill!" And everyone in all the housing instances comes pouring out to protect their homes.

[drivendawn]

Don't know if this was already suggested, but how about link the chocobo escort and hamlet defense. If they're destroying ramparts, have chocobo escort bring materials so crafters can use them to rebuild ramparts. This would make the chocobo escort more meaningful/vital to game play.