Open world changes?

[Roda]

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This one is kind of a very wide group that's not just open world but:

Think role play and immersive thoughts. What? Lots of things FFXIV does well but this one I feel, in comparison to other MMOs especially, FFXIV does not. Too busy following formula and consistent rules. So like.. monsters that don't aggro you because they're not there just to be road blocks for gamepaly, they exist to fill the world as well. Not all monsters needing to even be enemies (critters for example).
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I pretty much agree with everything in this post but I need to highligh tthis because well it's one of the constant things that stick out to me about XIV's take on the open worldl where ONLY RELEVANT THINGS TO YOUR EXP BAR IS DISPLAYED.
Where the hell are the normal bits of wildlife??! Why is everything that moves giant and out to kill me? Why do they roam in designated splotches on the map like someone took a DIREWOLF paintbrush and dabbed it down on one specific section? Is literally EVERY BUG on hydaelyn a 200+ pound goliath? Every non-crotch-censoring squirrel the size of a small mastiff? Even in far more developed areas in the real world, where animals try to stay as far away from humanity as possible, there's more harmless movement in the trees and bushes. The only time I can think that I saw a non-hostile animal in the game is when I can gather a frog jpg out of a bush.

The oceans do an alright job with non-hostile wildlife clutter, but I find being able to target, and kill/interact with these critters to be a very important part of their implementation. If you can't interact with something in a game, it really might as well not even be there. (what with interaction being the main way we experience videogames and all that). SE, seriously. Put a dog npc in the game that isn't a part of a quest. Have it targettable and friendly and let it roam around an area. Let us /pet the dog. This LITTLE thing will bring so much joy. (Hell, have a hidden achievement to /pet the dog X amount of times with a title/minion/glamor item it'll be great. Make X like some stupid high number too. Island sanctuary seems cool, and I really appreciate it. But if you could take this kind of approach to the entirety of the already existing game world, I would appreciate THAT kind of casual content a lot more.)

And another thing to complement the whole of the quoted post. I really wish that the XIV dev team would take the courage of implementing systems like they did with Eureka and Bozja (not talking about the leveling or the actions, but the mechanics encouraging exploration, navigation, narrative, and discovery) and put them to the whole of the open world zones. I'm really tired of the majority of gameplay being locked behind a menu and a queue and the fact that they've taken two expansions to lock map-based content behind a queue and an instance timer really has put a sour taste in my mouth.