Can it even be done? 2.0 capabilities..

[Akujin]

An ever shifting world..

This sort of goes back to the weather dynamic that occured in XII. When it rained, in some areas, new areas would become accessible and others would be blocked completely, new monsters would appear while others disappear completely.

Could this happen come 2.0? Could volcanoes erupt, allowing rivers of magma to flow along paths that are made then inaccessible, while new one's become open, creatures that are more inclined to the heat are drawn out of the rock to prowl, while others hide away while these creatures and the environment shifts on them?

Could caves and dungeons be made to shift on you while you were within exploring, labryniths that dont set to a specific map at all times, but alter themselves on certain timed intervals, or when different conditions are met (Nyzul did something like that didnt it? I cant remember). Thinking Wrath of the Titans on that one, going down into Tartarus, how it shifted around them. Causing parties to sometimes split into different teams to handle things (I know CC did this, it requires teamwork to make things work, which can be a little frustrating, but I also find refreshing in that it makes people work together better)

The reason the idea came up, is while playing tonight, which I dont log in as consistently as I'd like, I'm staring up at Dalamud thinking.. I wish it could move, gradually. I know its position shifts with the patches and that's cool..but I'd like to see it shift more than that. And with that, there is only a limited window anyways, so they cant really do much. But other things could be done.

The sea level could rise and fall, when the waves pull back certain caves are opened to be explored, when sea level rises those caves go back to being underwater until the next cycle. Just something to make the world appear more 'alive'.

[Laughlyn]

i dont see why not, if FFXI could have Lightning elementals
pop in Jugner forest when it rained why cant FFXIV?

Same thing for Kreutzet, popped when double Wind weather.
(or atleast had high chance of popping, cant remember if it was 100% or not)

I think this is one of the things i miss in FFXIV, the camping of NM's.
NM pop timers / requirements etc.

[KiriA500]

Yes, it's possible.

The devs just need to put in the effort to add it.

[Madrox]

Dodore pops with mor dhona purple weather in xiv

I think the landscape idea is great

[faris]

Possible. Even XI gave us things like Miasmas and fire blocking the way at certain points of the game.
Question is, how/if it'd be implemented without being too much of a pain in the ass. Annoying; just not super annoying.

[Xaimera]

i dunno i'd like it to be annoying and challenging around even the world map, lol better than being boring xD.

[faris]

i dunno i'd like it to be annoying and challenging around even the world map, lol better than being boring xD.

Annoying is good!
Not like, annoying where you have to wait a real-life hour to progress past a certain point.

[Xaimera]

Annoying is good!
Not like, annoying where you have to wait a real-life hour to progress past a certain point.

OK ya haha that i agree is too much XD

[Hulan]

Annoying is good!
Not like, annoying where you have to wait a real-life hour to progress past a certain point.

There's an easy way to get around this. Or rather, these types of zone access restrictions can be grouped into two categories: Long, predictable cycle, and short, random cycle.

Long cycle events (things that can take anywhere from half an hour to a year earth time) must be predictable, or they are nothing more than a nuisance. The first things that pop to mind are a strange crystalline substance that is liquid in it's natural state, but when exposed to enough moonlight (>75% Waxing && >75% Waning) hardens into a clear, crystal bridge. Another possibility (given free reign of our imagination, since this level of zone craftsmanship would be prohibitively expensive to make) would be seasons that stretch for months real time. During the summer, a certain lake dries up, exposing a small cave, at the base of which lays the slumbering Ruby Weapon, tasked with guarding the ancient technologies hidden within. Killing Ruby Weapon would be a server-wide en devour.

While very different in scope, these two examples share something fundamental. They are regular and predictable. Anyone who knows the pattern can plan ahead to accomplish things at the right time. Similarly, the scale of the content is proportional to the duration of the wait. If you are asking the server to wait days to accomplish something, the reward (tangible or emotional) has to be worth the wait).

On the other hand, short cycle events (those that last for minutes at a time) are better off left to promote choice. Do you wait for the impediment to pass, or take a longer, potentially more dangerous route. For myself, I personally think these types of dynamic content are better suited for eye candy. Keep dungeons and terrain interesting, but momentary impediments are just going to be that, impediments. For myself, I would much rather have static, but interesting, environments than constantly changing, but unpredictable environments. The best example I can think of is Pso'Xja, which had some of the most bizarre and wonderful dungeons I've ever seen (walk-through walls, invisible holes in the ground, vertical dungeon that you constantly have to go up and down holes and ladders to get around in).

[Doho]

with this as well, NPC's with daily life schedules, can we have it? game time of course. maybe an NPC might go for a stroll outside around 3:00 PM game time, and you have to track them down.