Option to hide other players completely

[EnigmaticDodo]

...................

[SilverObi]

...it'll just hide NPCs to try and accommodate players as priority. This is in particular annoying at the moment where NPCs will just be invisible unless I somehow find them by trial and error.

I know exactly what you're talking about but I haven't found it to be a hindrance as the NPCs with extra dialogue are generally right next to one that'll progress the quest. Just shuffle yourself to the left or right and they pop right in and are prioritized when hitting the confirm button (at least on controller).

You could always turn down the amount of models rendered in settings and see if that helps but honestly this complaint pops up every patch day and goes away within a day or two at most.

[Jojoya]

In the past they would instance the zones they expect to have the highest traffic when the new MSQ content was released to reduce the load. Considering the congestion and the amount of lag I had in The Lochs and Azys Lla, I wish they had done it again. My system usually handles congested zones (from large hunt trains) fairly well but I was feeling it today.

Maybe they're using the patch as a stress test to see how much load the zone servers can handle as they prepare for next expansion? They've been using 3 instances but if Endwalker has another burst in player population like Shadowbringers did, they may decide to increase that number.

[Azhra]

It is annoying, but there is a simpler method than moving the camera around until the NPC's pop in. Holding X on your keyboard will prioritize the NPC icons (sorry I don't know what it would be for gamepad if there is an option there). Ground icons are a bit... harder since people cover them. If for some reason you changed the keybind for Target Filters, you can find it under Keybind - System.

It'd be wonderful if we could limit the player characters manually, but I doubt we'll ever get that, at least not any time soon

I know this doesn't solve the annoying issue caused by SE's coding, but it might help a bit in the long run.

[Vahlnir]

In the past they would instance the zones they expect to have the highest traffic when the new MSQ content was released to reduce the load. Considering the congestion and the amount of lag I had in The Lochs and Azys Lla, I wish they had done it again. My system usually handles congested zones (from large hunt trains) fairly well but I was feeling it today.

Maybe they're using the patch as a stress test to see how much load the zone servers can handle as they prepare for next expansion? They've been using 3 instances but if Endwalker has another burst in player population like Shadowbringers did, they may decide to increase that number.

It's kinda weird that they used 3 separate instances for the Rising Stones of all places, but left Azys La and The Lochs as a free-for-all. Rising Stones was the start and finish, but I would guess that most of the traffic would be through those 2 zones. But I'm not a tech guy at SE, so...I guess I'm just not meant to understand it.

[Valkyrie_Lenneth]

The X key on PC does something along those lines. It makes PC's non-targetable and shows NPC names.

[Jeeqbit]

Open System Configuration, click Other, then reduce Character and Object Quantity to Minimum. This will make most players disappear so that you can see the quest events easier on patch day.

[Pintsized]

Blizzard solved the problem in WOW of NPCs being impossible to interact with when a mass of PCs are hiding them ..sometimes as yesterday deliberately by placing their stupidly-huge mounts on top of the NPCs .. without everyone having to poke through obscure corners of the game settings .. perhaps SE should look at what Blizzard did in the WoD expansion, before FFXIV 2.0 was even a thing!

And no, this wasn't instancing/layering/phasing, they simply made the area around the NPC a no-go area for PCs .. so simple!

[Avatre]

I think they should give quest related points/NPCs priority over ANYTHING else. Then we wouldn't have issues like this popping up every patch week.

[Avatre]

I would figure that this is possible, since they have it working for player characters. It'd solve the same issue that pops up in hunts if the hunt monsters had the same treatment.

I know they increased the priority of some of the A ranks(at least in Il Mheg they did...I almost never lose sight of Mudman or Pauly since they addressed the issue)