So... In Duty Fantasy XIV, it's a pretty established fact that the overworld areas in the game are a little lacklustre.

We have, the occasional MSQ that involves traversing the overworld (But a lot of its content then uses solo duties...), we have some side quests/Beast Tribe quests, FATEs (Which are a topic of discussion these days due to how... Well, pants they are) and finally we have Hunts.

Though, all this doesn't feel like enough to actually get people to spend much time in zones as opposed to just spamming duties, which are often more efficient usages of time.

So I wonder, can we think of any ideas for what could be implemented into future overworld areas that might be interesting ways to get people interacting with overworlds again?

Personally, I have a few of ideas:

1) Jump Puzzles.

Jump puzzles are cool. You can also try and get around the whole "Just fly to the end lol" aspect by have them be activated via a usable switch which prevents mounting (Like some of the side quests that auto-fail on mounting)

If they are re-doable every so often to allow for rewards multiple times it could get people into zones while they come to jump about the place for loot.

2) Shinies (EQ2, also similar to Archaeology in WoW)

Randomly spawning "Shinies" that upon looting gives a random collection item from a pool that is based on zone and area (For example, shinies near a river or lake might give pebbles, fish fossils, aquatic plants etc. While shinies in a forest area might give butterflies, bugs, moss etc)

Upon finishing a set of a particular type of item, they can be turned in to give a snippet of lore and some reward(s) such as a unique glamour item, minions, mounts, housing items.

Of course, this would only last a temporary amount of time due to eventually people completing all the collections... But depending on how many sets there are and the rarity of some shinies, it could last a while.

3) Zone Events

Essentially, zone-wide FATE type events, whereby something major happens (Like maybe bandits are being aggressive in the Shroud, maybe Imperials are making an attack on a zone that has one of their bases in, maybe Sin Eaters have come to attack a ShB zone) and players need to participate in zone activities to help defend.

Activities such as:

* Gathering exclusive items to aid NPC's in the defence.

* Crafting exclusive arms and armour using unique materials provided by different outposts.

* Participating in FATEs and combat activities alongside NPC's.

With the reward being a zone specific currency with the amount being dependent on your contribution. This currency could then be spent on zone themed glamour items, minions and other fun items.