Ghosttown's and stupid mobs

[Evergrey]

FATES are supposed to be what brings life to the otherwise static overworld. So you will see NPCs traveling, or groups of unusual mobs descending from elsewhere, etc. FATE chains especially are little mini storylines unique to the zone that are told through big scale battles. As for why you don't see tons and tons of NPCs doing stuff like tilling the fields or traveling, outside of the FATES, the lore reason is that the monsters make it dangerous to travel or farm in many places, so it only happens in well guarded (read: low level) areas.

Could they have done it better? In 2021 with modern technology, absolutely. I've seen some amazing procedurally generated landscapes in modern game engines that look amazing and the same stuff could be applied to anything - monsters, NPCs, beast tribes, other adventurers. For 2013 tech, the FATE system (itself any evolution of a proto system from FF9 if I remember right) was an elegant solution that immediately displays "something different is here" on the overworld map.

Thing with FATEs to me that doesn't make it feel like it brings life to the overword is that it's still staged.
They spawn on the same locations and are more or less a small temporary quest where you gotta do something to complete it.

In ESO there are random encounters that aren't quest or relevant at all.
Like you can walk on a road and come across 2 NPCs arguing and when talking to them you gotta decide which one you agree with to solve that argument.
It's only a small conversation but adds life to the overworld where NPCs are living their own lives.
And then we simply got random things one can find.
Like I found a skeleton in a chair once with an arrow in his head and a letter next to it saying something like "no one screws me other and gets away with it".
there are a lot of random things in the overworld that adds life that tells a tale.

FFXIV overworld is extremely scripted with little small things to find that isn't tied to a quest in a way or another.
And it's this scripted feeling that makes the FFXIV world so lifeless to me.
Not much is put in FFXIV unless it has a direct connection to something.

Side Note, I know I bring out ESO for a comparison a lot.
But that is simply that it's an MMO I've played for years lately so my memory and impression of that game is still fresh.

[kaynide]

FATES are supposed to be what brings life to the otherwise static overworld. So you will see NPCs traveling, or groups of unusual mobs descending from elsewhere, etc. FATE chains especially are little mini storylines unique to the zone that are told through big scale battles. As for why you don't see tons and tons of NPCs doing stuff like tilling the fields or traveling, outside of the FATES, the lore reason is that the monsters make it dangerous to travel or farm in many places, so it only happens in well guarded (read: low level) areas.

Could they have done it better? In 2021 with modern technology, absolutely. I've seen some amazing procedurally generated landscapes in modern game engines that look amazing and the same stuff could be applied to anything - monsters, NPCs, beast tribes, other adventurers. For 2013 tech, the FATE system (itself any evolution of a proto system from FF9 if I remember right) was an elegant solution that immediately displays "something different is here" on the overworld map.

This is another general failure of the FATE system I feel. The chains are really lackluster outside of a very few specific examples. I mean it's a good idea on paper. But in game...?

I mean, yeah I wanna help people... but it's kinda hard to want to help when there's no one there. Why am I killing random mobs in the middle of the desert where nobody is anyway?

The FATE system itself I always felt was a good attempt at something Guildwars' had an entire year prior.

I've said this more or less in other posts, so apologies if it looks familiar!

The big differences are:
1) In GW2, they are generally more fun to do, or more interactive.
2) You never have to sync level, which honestly is 1/2 the reason I just don't fates. I have to stop everything I'm doing, push a button, then get into it..and god forbid I step outside the blue area. (GW's entire zones are level sync'd with several different level ranges in different parts of the same zone)
3) There's at least 3 ways to complete a GW2 event, so if I don't wanna fight the bad guys, I don't have to. I can instead, I dunno, put out fires.
4) There is also just more variety in general.

[Catwho]

I suspect the reason that entire overworld zones aren't synced down is because people are doing other things there, and getting forced to drop to level 60 just because you're there to kill a mob for a level 80 quest would get massively annoying. It means the monsters would become aggressive again.

I set Level Sync to a macro and just mash it when I start up, so I barely even notice it.

[kaynide]

Oh yeah, it's really apples and oranges to be honest.

The world of Guild Wars is always dangerous, and even a big giant monster boss in a level 1-10 zone is just gonna be level 10. There simply aren't creatures outside the range. But it does mean that as long as I'm in a certain zone, and I'm leveled over it, I can still do things and get meaningful gains and/or engage in everything the zone has to offer.

In GW2 having a higher level doesn't really mean anything other than "Has access to more zones/activities".