Suggestion [remove Aether Currents as a catch up mechanic]

[Artemiz]

I personally don't see the need for aether currents at all to be honest. The MSQ is more than capable of exploring all the zones. If we unlocked flying by default after completing the x.0 story I wouldn't exactly complain.

[DBriggs304]

perhaps you prefer the system in WoW?

While I personally liked Pathfinder in WoW (cause of the account wide trade off for flying afterwards) you still a gated by when THEY say you can fly (usually at least a year after launch). Here, you play the game, get the currents, and have flying (usually when done with zone story) but it's already there for the hunts, fates, and btribe quests.

I prefer our system over wow's as well.

[Neoyoshi]

Just think, you only have to do them all once. Unless you have a bunch of alts.

Unlocking flying could be much MUCH worse if one looks at... ehem; another example of it.

[TheMightyMollusk]

The only field aether current I really hate going for is one in the Lochs that requires going halfway across the zone, through the crypts, across another plateau, and then jumping across a wall to reach it. That one can go straight to the lowest of the nine hells.

I don't mind the current system (as has been mentioned before, there are much worse alternatives), but I wouldn't object to seeing the field aether currents reduced or removed for past expansions. The quest currents work well enough as a broken bridge to keep people from going to the wrong parts of zones too early where that's important (the Sea of Clouds, Azys Lla, the Fringes, the Peaks, Ahm Areng, and Kholusia).

[Holystyle]

the aether currents where added with heavensward as a way to slow down the player to force them to quest at slower pace

HOW is that even possible with portals everywhere?
It takes more time TO TALK WITH NPC and read dialogue/watch some non voiced cutscene then actually travelling or even doing combat in quest .

#limit flying. with portals everywehre it is joke lol.

[Myrany]

Another option is to make friends with someone that has a 2 person mount. Find them a list of where all the exploration currents are. Get flown to all of them. Done in nothing flat.

Me I actually LIKE hunting down the aether currents and really would not like to see it changed. Its one of the things I look forward to when questing in a new zone. Keeping my eyes open for the currents as I quest through and then going back to find the ones I missed has become a game in itself for me. Can I do this zone without missing any?

[TaleraRistain]

I don't really see much point in an adjustment. When they first came out in HW and they were way off the beaten path, I understood the feedback about that. But they almost universally follow the path the MSQ takes you on now with just one or two small deviations and a handful of blue quests. It also doesn't cripple you to move around a zone on foot. The paths are clearly laid out and take very little time to traverse on a mount and then there are multiple port spots for zones. It's all very convenient.

[Almagnus1]

- regarding path finding in WoW, it’s not intrusive. Mounts in WoW are much faster then the mounts in FF14. Here the mounts in new areas are almost same speed as sprinting, which makes them virtually useless. This psychological harms the player every time, because the moment you gain a mount speed increase, your gone from zone in ff14 and back to snails pace.

Likewise, paths are always in useful spots, in FF14, they never are. What is the point of a porter when it’s 20 feet from the crystal that I can teleport too? In FF14 they are always a hinderance as they are not where I need them.

By the time you unlock flight through in the region, it’s over, if the side quests where unlocked the moment one entered the maps, and the msq one was very early into the map, then it would be useful. This system punishes you for trying, and punishes you if you don’t. The result is burn out.

Having unlocked everything as it came out... it's not that big of an issue, especially if you can take time to learn to use the aether compass. Be thankful the flight point unlocks aren't at the end of massive quest chains like they were in Heavensward.

- mounts / flight cost a lot in WoW… not true. Even in cata you could go to goldshire inn, and role play for like a day and get enough gold to fly, it really was a not issue. Once you unlocked, it would last you for the entire expansion, not 1 hour while your getting burdened psychologically by moving at -300%. [feels]

Again, it's not this massive grind, you're just mad because you can't ERP your way to a mount.

It takes FAR less time for me to complete the MSQ in a zone and (assuming we're not looking at a zone we come back to later on), do the quests for the flight points and find the aether currents.

Flight in WoW, was also rewarding. I greatly prefer the divide of land/ flight mounts, and find it weird and awkward how it is in FF14. The larger mounts make you feel like your moving at -1000% speed. [eg: Behumut].

In WoW, you've got to grind for EVERYTHING. There's a lot of design decisions for WoW that should... **gasp** STAY IN WOW.

Don't advocate for bringing WoW to FFXIV as WoW is so thoroughly screwed up that we've gotten a huge population surge because the current state of WoW is objectively a bad game ran by an even worse company. Very few of the retail design decisions should be brought into FFXIV because most of those systems are basically crimes against humanity.

TLDR

No WoW did not burden you the player more, it felt a lot less annoying to deal with.

If that's true, why did the WoW subscriber count crater?

[Shougun]

Only commented on the catch up part before, but I guess worth to say I think this (current system) is one of the better ways to gate flying. Pure flying right away just seems like a great way to kill the world's ability to communicate with players.

I wonder if stamina based flying could be another interesting solution but it's not something I'd suggest randomly changed on players (maybe could work in a Eureka, or a new game obviously). In such a way you can fly but you also couldn't simply cover the entire map without any thought (looking to some of GW2's ideas on mounted travel as some ideas in actual practice).

Anyway, seems like a nice system as it promotes exploration and isn't exceptionally painful either. I suppose if they put a flying current atop the Kugane Tower I'd be more on the side of "oh wow, yeah plz nerf" lol but it seems like a nice system as is. . . I suggested tomestone reward to currents as a catch up mechanic (so not added right away, but perhaps after an expansion previous currents auto get a boost)- then when you side track slightly out of your way for flying you didn't really sidetrack since you then worked on gear that would comfortably carry you to the next expansion (if anything then the reward helps you stay on track even if it slightly appears off the rail).

[TheMightyMollusk]

They wanted the game to become an even worse time sink so people would stay subscribed longer. So they made it a job.