Ok, lets do it, WHAT is wrong with this game?

[SamRF]

Uh, I'm not sure which WoW you're referring to, but over the dozen years or so that I played it, the vast majority of quests there boiled down to "kill X number of Y mobs," "kill X mobs until you get Y number of Z item," "pick up X number of Y items off the ground," "go to X location and use Y item," or (more rarely) "escort X npc from point Y to Z." FF14 has pretty much all the same quest types (granted, the last one you see more often in fates than actual quests.) The one thing that WoW did have less of than FF14 was the number of back-and-forth "talk to this npc, then that one, then the first one again" quests. But SE seem to be cutting down on those here, so that's actually kinda nice.

That's what it seems, but you'll really notice a difference if you jump into WoW right now, I'll give some examples.

For example, there could be a quest in which you have to collect 10 items by killing mobs, then combine the items to perform a ritual for example, then after you do the ritual a huge demon spawns. This all as 1 objective which you can all do without interacting with anything specific which makes it much more immersive.

Another example is a quest you sometimes get on your own without the involvement of an npc, you might have to investigate a crime scene or something and you keep going further on the investigation (which you accept an complete on the go).

Quests in which you have to talk to npc's in which you can choose dialogue which can turn the NPC against you.

Small bits of parkour, converting mobs and making them follow you and help you with ongoing fights. Having to escort NPC's, going to fight some kind of boss together with your questgiver.

Having to steal a key from guards to open the locks of prison crates to free your allies (and in return they help you fighting for example).

There's also some really impressive stuff from excort missions on vehicles, to litteraly turning into a flying elemantal and killing a giant boss on top of a huge volcano, these are likely impossible in ffxiv maps though and is probably a worthy sacrifice for the map details and graphics.

There's likely more scenario's I haven't mentioned that you will never see in current ffxiv, and I get that there's limit to what you can do with the size and graphics of the maps, but it doesn't change the fact that the objectives are very very repetitive. Variety is very rare, and the objectives are very linear. It just feels like there isn't much possible in ffxiv as far as open world content goes.

[ko_]

That's what it seems, but you'll really notice a difference if you jump into WoW right now, I'll give some examples.

For example, there could be a quest in which you have to collect 10 items by killing mobs, then combine the items to perform a ritual for example, then after you do the ritual a huge demon spawns. This all as 1 objective which you can all do without interacting with anything specific which makes it much more immersive.

Another example is a quest you sometimes get on your own without the involvement of an npc, you might have to investigate a crime scene or something and you keep going further on the investigation (which you accept an complete on the go).

Quests in which you have to talk to npc's in which you can choose dialogue which can turn the NPC against you.

Small bits of parkour, converting mobs and making them follow you and help you with ongoing fights. Having to escort NPC's, going to fight some kind of boss together with your questgiver.

Having to steal a key from guards to open the locks of prison crates to free your allies (and in return they help you fighting for example).

There's also some really impressive stuff from excort missions on vehicles, to litteraly turning into a flying elemantal and killing a giant boss on top of a huge volcano, these are likely impossible in ffxiv maps though and is probably a worthy sacrifice for the map details and graphics.

There's likely more scenario's I haven't mentioned that you will never see in current ffxiv, and I get that there's limit to what you can do with the size and graphics of the maps, but it doesn't change the fact that the objectives are very very repetitive. Variety is very rare, and the objectives are very linear. It just feels like there isn't much possible in ffxiv as far as open world content goes.

To be extremely fair. Every ff game is linear tho so SE isnt doing anything they don't do.

[SamRF]

To be extremely fair. Every ff game is linear tho so SE isnt doing anything they don't do.

Does it have to be like that though? I don't really see much advantage. Not being too linear doesn't automatically mean it's harder or more complex, you can make a quest more immersive yet simple. Give the player some more immersion in the quest instead of literally having this 1 simple objective every time. I think the objectives will be much more interesting this way.

[ko_]

Does it have to be like that though? I don't really see much advantage. Not being too linear doesn't automatically mean it's harder or more complex, you can make a quest more immersive yet simple. Give the player some more immersion in the quest instead of literally having this 1 simple objective every time. I think the objectives will be much more interesting this way.

Oh ofcourse it doesn't have to be like that, not at all. :O But sadly they aren't at a point to change that design. And I don't see them changing it just cause wow does sadly. SE may have changed from when 1.0, but like sega they are still VERY stuck in their ways.

[Rymm]

That's what it seems, but you'll really notice a difference if you jump into WoW right now, I'll give some examples.

I was playing WoW up until about 3 months ago.

But this is getting wildly off-topic, unless you are suggesting that FF14 should just do all the exact same things as WoW. People already accuse it of being a "WoW clone," usually as a detraction, so I'm not sure that's the best idea.

I can agree that FF14 would benefit more from more open-world content. The thing is, rather than the world quest formula that WoW uses, FF14's open world content is Hunts, FATEs, and Diadem/Eureka. The FATE system, much as I like it, really needs an overhaul to make it more relevant past leveling; it needs some sort of reward system. Unless they add more items from GC seals, there is really no reason to do them. The Hunt system has it's flaws too (very repetitive/in-fighting between players over kills,) but at least there are rewards worth going after from it. Diadem/Eureka is a mixed bag. They tried to give it more of an open-world feel but a large, vocal portion of the playerbase is dissatisfied with it, to put it mildly.

I can agree that the dynamic world quest system on WoW was a great idea and works well, but I still think that FF14 should do it's own thing; either overhauling its current open world content or coming up with something other than a ripoff of another game.