Summoner Trials

[Avraym]

Biggest thing i'm looking forward to in FFXIV is summoner feature, hands down.

Acquiring summons varies in difficulty in the previous final fantasies.

FFVI was quite easy, gaining most summons as the storyline progressed.

FFX also incorporated summons as one of the main aspects of the storyline, requiring you to endure puzzle solving temples, where the spirit awaited you in the end.

FFXI seemed to be more of a solo route. Individual strength, if you will. I really admired the difficulty in obtaining the summons. The summons felt more than earnt, they certainly weren't just handed over. Even carbuncle, the first summon, required some degree of difficulty towards obtaining at the time. A lot of players I encountered didn't even have Diablos or Fenrir.

I would love to see them combine the FFX temple route, with the difficulty of obtaining summons in FFXI. (Puzzle Solving Temples/Dungeons with spirits awaiting you at the end of your trials)

With the jump feature being implemented in an MMORPG, I personally feel that they could make earning summons a rich and rewarding experience, in both group and solo trials.

As an example, one of the temples might require your party to split up, taking different routes to hit switches or clear mobs. The combinations could be endless.

Regardless, I hope they don't take the FFXI/current route of making the trial aether based as they have been doing with Ifrit + Mog. (Clear Prequest + Keyitems, enter aether, confront them in a small circular field). Whilst i think doing a couple this way, making all summons obtainable this way is both repititious and dry.

To me, theres a greater deal of potential to make obtaining summons both a rewarding and enriched experience, utilizing ones strength both individually and co-operatively in groups.