FFXIV needs a reason to use classes outside of roulette.. ie better open world

[MrPresident]

Other MMO's shake things up

They’re not going to shake things up. I’m not even saying you’re wrong in your view that open world is a bit dead. But I don’t understand why anyone thinks they’re going to try and reinvent the wheel at this point. They’ve been following the exact same formula since ARR, as you yourself pointed out. We might get a new bit of side content here and there per expansion, but in terms of the game, this is it. It’s not going to change.

[Wasselin]

I've played GW2 a while ago and don't see how it's really that different from FATEs. I think FFXIV does an okay job at open world. I'm grinding FATEs right now to finish the SharedFATEs and I see people doing that with me. When I'm out gathering I see people also gathering alongside me. And of course there are hunts, which I assume people are doing since I see the messages about the ranked monsters.

I think they've got the right mix right now. Open World content is fun, but it's always kind of superficial. You see other people but the ways you interact with them isn't as deep as in an instance dungeon, trial or raid.

[Raskbuck]

I've played GW2 a while ago and don't see how it's really that different from FATEs. I think FFXIV does an okay job at open world. I'm grinding FATEs right now to finish the SharedFATEs and I see people doing that with me. When I'm out gathering I see people also gathering alongside me. And of course there are hunts, which I assume people are doing since I see the messages about the ranked monsters.

I think they've got the right mix right now. Open World content is fun, but it's always kind of superficial. You see other people but the ways you interact with them isn't as deep as in an instance dungeon, trial or raid.

I think the appeal of GW2 is the whole collect-a-thon aspect, more than the "FATEs" themselves. In that game, the UI conveys clearly all the small tasks that have to be done before completing a map, and it extends beyond just doing mindless events. It also helps that the game rewards you for exploration, finding chests and jumping puzzles if you check every corner of the world.

FFXIV, on the other hand, has more obscure side activities that are not displayed very clearly in the game. Just to name an example, all the vistas in the game are obfuscated with small hints, and the average player will likely just find the answer from a third party. It makes the whole process more cumbersome, as opposed to just showing you where the vistas are on the map.

Ultimately, I think my biggest gripe with XIV's open world content is how laughably easy it is. There's no danger or challenges to overcome, and there's no incentive to grind or get better gear; unless you are min-maxing hunts for some bizarre reason (and even then, they mostly boil down to a mindless zerg).

[Melorie]

I think the appeal of GW2 is the whole collect-a-thon aspect, more than the "FATEs" themselves. In that game, the UI conveys clearly all the small tasks that have to be done before completing a map, and it extends beyond just doing mindless events. It also helps that the game rewards you for exploration, finding chests and jumping puzzles if you check every corner of the world.

True, also if you've played part of the endgame or the expansions, you have meta events that you really need all the players to go and do in order to succeed, and these events are a way of getting better gear/working towards relics/collectibles/farm money. The world bosses are also more varied and visually impacting imo.
Really, if you're playing GW2 chances are you're somewhere in some map doing something. You're also rewarded for exploring the whole map and some maps are not easy to do so... It's really a great open-world design, one of if not the best in the industry.

That being said, I don't think that FFXIV should try to be GW2, but since it got so much inspiration from WoW themeparkish style, I wish it could get inspired by other games as well... Bozja was a step in the right direction but still, it's an instanced content.

You see other people but the ways you interact with them isn't as deep as in an instance dungeon, trial or raid.

I can count on my fingers how many times I interact with people while doing roulettes. If you're trying extremes and recent content then yes, but otherwise... Still on the GW2 example, there had to be a good deal of communication in certain meta events there. If it's challenging and bring a lot of people together, you'll get people interacting. You have an entire community built around hunts and hunt trains, even though it's not a well-elaborated content.
Open-world content wouldn't really make the current content stop existing anyway.

[Roda]

I've played GW2 a while ago and don't see how it's really that different from FATEs. I think FFXIV does an okay job at open world. I'm grinding FATEs right now to finish the SharedFATEs and I see people doing that with me. When I'm out gathering I see people also gathering alongside me. And of course there are hunts, which I assume people are doing since I see the messages about the ranked monsters.

I think they've got the right mix right now. Open World content is fun, but it's always kind of superficial. You see other people but the ways you interact with them isn't as deep as in an instance dungeon, trial or raid.

Just compare bozja to Drizzlewood coast.
Both pieces of content meant to evoke the feeling of being in a warzone, pushing into enemy territory and sieging their main base at the end of it.
One is a rewarding experience filled with narrative and map-wide cooperation, where even just getting around feels like you could trip over a skirmish at any step. The other has you running around waiting for circles to appear on the mostly featureless map with no tactical reasoning and hoping you'll get there in time, or grinding on a mob spawn cluster for drops to make other parts more engaging/possible. (Bozja, it's bozja that has you whack-a-moling events that just pop up out of nowhere in a featureless patch of dirt)

[Jin-]

I want to see "META" system from GW2. Makes nearly every zone alive and played. In FFXIV there is nearly zero point to return to any of the areas after you finish story there and few flying aethers. Why there can't be map wide multi chain event? As much as i love hanging around Limsa i would love more to see open world used and not empty "waste of developer time" area

For this reason i'm super hyped to return to Cantha in EoD, not just because of childhood nostalgia but to see what the open world offers in those beautiful locations.
Endwalker, yes obviously will be my main focus but i'm interested only for Reaper and Anima. Other than that meh? I already know the drill what we get. I'm not expecting anything

Final map on their last expansion was fully intended just for the few hour event (max time it fails if over). And its pretty hard to navigate without the event going since enemy forces control the map fully.
And the final part of it is to fight gigantic snakelike elder dragon. Together with dozens of people

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RCtg-m2ono

[Theodric]

They’re not going to shake things up. I’m not even saying you’re wrong in your view that open world is a bit dead. But I don’t understand why anyone thinks they’re going to try and reinvent the wheel at this point. They’ve been following the exact same formula since ARR, as you yourself pointed out. We might get a new bit of side content here and there per expansion, but in terms of the game, this is it. It’s not going to change.

I'm inclined to think that if there's a big enough demand for something, then if people push for it respectfully and vocally then there's a high chance of getting it.

Just look at male viera, for instance. It's no secret that the game is focusing a lot of 'fluff' content such as explorer mode, group pose and so on. Yet a large part of that is due to people banding together and asking for it rather than claiming that it'll never happen.

[Callinon]

People that think that FFXIV open world has good/engaging content clearly never played something with a different vision.

So people who like what FFXIV offers are only doing so because they haven't played other games?

Did that even make sense in your head? Yeah FFXIV isn't a different game. I don't think that comes as a major revelation to anyone.

[Melorie]

So people who like what FFXIV offers are only doing so because they haven't played other games?

Did that even make sense in your head? Yeah FFXIV isn't a different game. I don't think that comes as a major revelation to anyone.

Honestly? Yes. You don't have to dislike/hate FFXIV open world content... I enjoy doing hunt trains for example, but if you think that FFXIV has ANY meaningful, elaborated open world content that tries to keep the game zones alive... You probably never played something with good open world. Which in my experience is not uncommon, most of the people I've played with aren't very experienced with other MMOs and can't think of other possibilities for FFXIV's current systems.

I want to see "META" system from GW2. Makes nearly every zone alive and played. In FFXIV there is nearly zero point to return to any of the areas after you finish story there and few flying aethers. Why there can't be map wide multi chain event? As much as i love hanging around Limsa i would love more to see open world used and not empty "waste of developer time" area

I feel the same. Which is sad because I find the art-direction of FFXIV zones beautiful, it's a waste that in the end they're basically only a background for the MSQ. Also, despite everything I would enjoy seeing Square Enix take on something like this tbh. Just out of curiosity, because I believe they could pull off something with a really high-quality. Sadly, I don't really see they breaking the current mold to experience with this.

[FoxyAreku]

Agree very much. This game has so little to do if you don't want to do instanced things or craft.