I wish ALL zones were Exploratory Missions/Zones

[NyneSwordz]

I haven't done much of Eureka, but there's two things I really like about it. One, the tougher monsters make combat fun to me because they let me use all of my abilities. I just wish they gave more XP.

Two, I love the verticality of the zone's design with its cliffs and high walls. I wish more zones were like this because it gives me a sense of scale, makes me feel small, which in turn, increases my sense of wonder. It just makes the entire zone more interesting. The Azim Steppe is the opposite, yes I realize it's supposed to be the mongol plains, but it felt really visually boring to me. Ruby Sea had the same feel, and swimming didn't alleviate that feeling of boredom when the whole zone feels literally flat.

I really wish SE would do something to make the overworld zones more alive. More interesting chained fates, jumping puzzles, tougher monsters, zones with more verticality designs, more hunts or hunts integrated into Fates somehow, etc.

Oh and the multilevel aspect of Diadem was one of the things I really loved about it. Couldn't that somehow be integrated into the world zones as well?

I wish I could go outside and have fun once in a while instead of always being in a tiny dungeon, raid, or trial.

I don't play GW2 anymore, but the overworld map designs were always my favorite thing about it. I loved discovering fake walls, conquering jumping puzzles, and chaining quests in order to trigger gigantic-raid sized boss battles. And I loved how the terrain just WASN'T flat. Swimming was fun and underwater combat was fun (except when monsters spawn wayyyy too fast underwater). Each zone had it's own personality and I really loved that. Also, even in zones that were more spread out, I felt the design allowed for quite a bit of terrain differences even within the same map, which in turn, makes the map/zone FEEL larger than it really is. There were also sometimes zone specific features like teleporters which you had to figure out to get into certain places so that you could claim a skill point or vista.

Oh and vistas... could we get like a small camera pan or like 3 or 5 second cutscene like in GW2 to make the vista, really a vista?

If FFXIV could do something like this, I'd die of happiness. From what I heard, FFXI was sorta like this? So please, could improving overworld design be a major goal for the next expansion? = D

[Blanchimont]

You might like it, but I can guarantee you that a lot of people do not. Exploratory Missions and Zones are highly reflective of what people disliked about them in the first place. The only reason Eureka works is because people are forced to grind there for their relic gear. If that was not the case, the numbers would be pathetic. Just take a look at things like the Aquapolis and Diadem. The concepts are interesting, but in practice, most people couldn't care less. I would not have touched Eureka at all if the relic gear were not tied to it.

[CyrilLucifer]

Just take a look at things like the Aquapolis and Diadem. The concepts are interesting, but in practice, most people couldn't care less. I would not have touched Eureka at all if the relic gear were not tied to it.

I'm sorry, what?

Treasure Maps (Aquapolis, Canals) are completely alive and well on my server and have been since Aquapolis has been released. You're really speaking only for yourself in this one.

[Shouko]

You might like it, but I can guarantee you that a lot of people do not. Exploratory Missions and Zones are highly reflective of what people disliked about them in the first place. The only reason Eureka works is because people are forced to grind there for their relic gear. If that was not the case, the numbers would be pathetic. Just take a look at things like the Aquapolis and Diadem. The concepts are interesting, but in practice, most people couldn't care less. I would not have touched Eureka at all if the relic gear were not tied to it.

A lot of people have been asking for harder and more stuff to do in overworld, also a lot of people at least somewhat like Eureka to really liking it.. so not sure what you're talking about. Aquapolis isn't really overworld content, it's a mini dungeon so to speak so even if it was completely dead it doesn't matter because it doesn't apply to what OP was talking about.

[Blanchimont]

A lot of people have been asking for harder and more stuff to do in overworld, also a lot of people at least somewhat like Eureka to really liking it.. so not sure what you're talking about. Aquapolis isn't really overworld content, it's a mini dungeon so to speak so even if it was completely dead it doesn't matter because it doesn't apply to what OP was talking about.

That's why I was talking specifically about Exploratory Missions and Zones. They're largely dead because of the barriers to entry. Eureka works for now because many people are working on relics, but the FATE trains are probably something the developers never intended on.

[Ayirez]

Harder monsters are nice sure, but not in the way these mobs are. Simply put they aren't hard but rather just have a huge hp pool with a single (or rarely two) ability. They are not fun to fight. No "trash" mob ever has been, thus why they're called trash.

What could work however is if mobs were given more abilities and mechanics to use as a combo, three to four abilities, even if reused, would give mobs the viability to off a player and up the difficulty, while still keeping roughly the same HP pool and/or increasing their exp yield while upping the hp slightly. Adding a proper chain to overworld mobs could make them viable sources of exp as well. However, the difficulty with making them viable is that FATE's and Dungeons, along with other such "features", would become less utilized and thus create longer queues. Perhaps if culling Overworld mobs was linked to spawning regular NM's for the hunt it would work a bit better.

[Wintersandman]

Simply put they aren't hard but rather just have a huge hp pool with a single (or rarely two) ability. They are not fun to fight. No "trash" mob ever has been, thus why they're called trash.

Trash mobs are called trash because they don't drop anything of value. It has nothing to do with how many abilities they have. The overall bosses in this game are not fun as they are the same thing. Dodge AoE, Learn Unique Mechanic, and then heal the raid damage. The Active Time Maneuvers introduced in HW were fun things to do when they occured (who didn't enjoy jumping on a cruise chaser). Now in SB we are getting additional mechanics like O7 and Lakshmi where we have the R3 button (PS4) and it becomes a resource to manage. But other than that it is playing whack-a-mole.

[Ayirez]

...

Ah, I see I see. Well, if you don't have fun with any mob, boss, or ability pattern learning might I suggest another game? While I'm well aware of how lacking FFXIV's AI is that doesn't mean they can't make enemies slightly harder to fight. Plus, adding a chain could also increase drop rewards from mobs, not just exp. Getting 10HQ Gazelle hides at once for instance would be nice, but also more unique drops perhaps for a high chain (Could even make it a better system where you wouldn't have to buy all these random items with tomestones to craft). If that's your definition of trash then they wouldn't be trash mobs anymore right? Just because things are how they are doesn't mean they should be and can't be changed to something more fun and engaging.

[Shouko]

That's why I was talking specifically about Exploratory Missions and Zones. They're largely dead because of the barriers to entry. Eureka works for now because many people are working on relics, but the FATE trains are probably something the developers never intended on.

That's because they haven't done them right, this game really needs more open world content that's not abandoned in a week or month. So far they haven't gotten it right. Put some sort of reason for people to go there, make it so it's actually soloable and no time limits and people will go to them.

[Blanchimont]

That's because they haven't done them right, this game really needs more open world content that's not abandoned in a week or month. So far they haven't gotten it right. Put some sort of reason for people to go there, make it so it's actually soloable and no time limits and people will go to them.

That won't happen unless you completely change the game's cyclic design. If you want content that isn't abandoned, you need relic items that incorporate all content and not just the latest. That is why tomestone grind was kind of accepted by many because it incorporated much of the game, including some of the other content. Eureka is the furthest from it by far, even further than ARR's because that at least attempted to make you travel around to do different things in order to make older content relevant. Eureka literally threw out everything and said "here's a new area to grind all over again."