Missing zone types... Maybe?

[MinosAmorino]

TL;DR -- Why are there no Tunnel, Cave or Crypt like zones in the game yet? (Not dungeons!)

First of all I really like the zones in Stormblood. The difference in how the landscape looks and changes in the Fringes as well as Azim Steppes is really nice -- that not the whole zone looks the same, that is. So I am not picking on existing content; just to be clear. :3

So, the FF games have always been there at some point in my life. Especially so with FFXI and how it blew my mind with such vast and different areas to explore, which I have many fond memories of. There are however some zones I'd like to highlight a little extra in this post. -- Now the examples might not mean much for those that have not played FFXI but I'll elaborate further down.
Gustav Tunnel which connected Altepa Desert (it was Altepa, wasn't it? hehe) and Valkurm Dunes. All the nasty skellies down there just asking to be hit with some blunt weapons. :D

[MinosAmorino]

There was the parties in Korroloka tunnel and the quest I did there to unlock the Sam job.
Then there's the many hours spent in the Eldieme Necropolis, farming some item; which I can't remember any more.
And let's not forget the Gusgen Mines and the evil dice giving everyone but you the magicked skull. hehe

Open areas are nice with the pretty vistas and they are easy to find things in. Then, once you've unlocked the aetherial currents, they're easy to get around in for fast travel.
However, they are not the same as the closed, sometimes cramped, spaces of a tunnel or some long forgotten tomb; which probably had better been left unopened.
The atmosphere is different and the pacing becomes different as well. There is the risk of getting lost and not being able to find your way around the many rights, lefts, ups and downs.

[MinosAmorino]

Personally, I would really like an area with lots of tunnels, deep uncharted levels and perhaps even monsters tough enough to fit in a dungeon of their own. However it is not a dungeon because it's a normal zone like Yanxia, Western Thanalan or the Sea of Clouds.

Up until now the only zone types have been the open world ones -- so it does feel like there is room for the closed type of zones too, right?
Anyone else that's misses some temples, tunnels, mines, tombs or ancient crypts to explore? Want to (not) get lost trying to find our way down there?
Did you turn left, right, right and then up? If you did, then why are you facing a dead end right now instead of the great hall you were looking for? Time to backtrack and... Ok, that was a trap door and now you better have that Sprint button off the cooldown because those undead look hungry! :3

So, what do you guys think?
Am I alone on this one?

[Paladinleeds]

So, what do you guys think?
Am I alone on this one?

Given the way zones are being designed these days and are meant to be open and easy to navigate, I'd say yes you are alone. Also, you can edit your original post to bypass the character limit.

[MinosAmorino]

Given the way zones are being designed these days and are meant to be open and easy to navigate, I'd say yes you are alone. Also, you can edit your original post to bypass the character limit.

Well that some disagree is obvious but I think it's still to early to say I am alone with this. hehe
Thanks for the editing tip though, I'll try and remember that!

[Critical-Limit]

Given the way zones are being designed these days and are meant to be open and easy to navigate, I'd say yes you are alone. Also, you can edit your original post to bypass the character limit.

OP is not alone, I agree and like OPs sentiment in trying to navigat my way through some corridors for once. Can't even get them in dungeons why at least in ththe easy peasy over world

[Claire_Pendragon]

Zones are no longer being designed as "Thematic" as they are trying to impliment as many differing types of things in 1 zone, within the limitation of graphic assets they can have.

For example, you'll see caves in almost every zone.
The "Tree tops" of shroud zones only cover 50% of the zone or less.
The swamps are only 10% of one zone, and the sprawling open desert of south thanalan is only 5% or less of the zone, with the rest being in the distant view, u cant actually traverse.
etc.
No zone is purely one thing, except Sea of Clouds which does have a variety of things, but it doesnt "feel" like it.
(The rocky bits to the north which just feel liek textures are missing, the underside of the floating isle tops which dont utilize this concept very well, the "watery" bit which is just weird, not really something that feels like a different location. Then lastly the tree house of ishgard, and the beastmen camps.)

[Zhamkyong]

Oh, you are not alone. There are some zones with some caves or little dungeons here and there, but definitely it's not the same as exploring a maze, ruins, caves as big as an open world area. I would welcome this kind of idea a lot.

[Sekkei]

Even though it's a tiny area, I rather like the Comet Tail in The Fringes. It's pretty

[bass9020]

The way Yoshi explained zones when he was doing interviews and Q&A's during 1.0 while creating 2.0 was that the way people play games is much different. People would rather skip the climb to reach the "substance" at the top if climbing a mountain. That was one way he described it anyway. So having all these little nooks and crannies with things doesn't really "fit" in with there current formula. Hence why everything is so easy to get to or why nothing is in the open world and and thrown into instances.