What is the point of Overworld in the game?

[Padudu]

There's a reason most people sit in the hubs. I know it might hurt you. Maybe after you play few other games like ESO or GW2 from the same game genre you can see how lifeless and empty our zones are

Let me introduce you to PSO2, the MMO that is a chatroom with a game attached to it...

Jokes aside, would like it if there was a little more to do than fates/gather, tbh. A lot of the overworld feels unexplored, and even then if you gather, you're mostly flying the same 2-3 nodes anyways.

BTW, I've played ESO before and never felt the exploration vibe either, but I also never got too far into it (maybe like level 30 at most), it just kinda felt like I was just doing side quest/main story with very little else to do other than the crafting, but this was back in 2019 so my POV is probably wrong and dated lol. At most the exploration was just finding books/those crystal things I can't remember the name of

[Jin-]

Let me introduce you to PSO2, the MMO that is a chatroom with a game attached to it...

Jokes aside, would like it if there was a little more to do than fates/gather, tbh. A lot of the overworld feels unexplored, and even then if you gather, you're mostly flying the same 2-3 nodes anyways.

BTW, I've played ESO before and never felt the exploration vibe either, but I also never got too far into it (maybe like level 30 at most), it just kinda felt like I was just doing side quest/main story with very little else to do other than the crafting, but this was back in 2019 so my POV is probably wrong and dated lol. At most the exploration was just finding books/those crystal things I can't remember the name of

So you never found caves and quest started from there? Never found a person who had a letter which started quest or pushed you in to another journey making you forget about the main quest? Never saw something strange on the horizon and going to see what is there and find weird things between or accidentally coming across a tiny village which is under attack?

This is what I'm missing about ffxiv open world. The reason to explore. Bare minimum what makes open world such an awesome playground when done right .

[Padudu]

So you never found caves and quest started from there? Never found a person who had a letter which started quest or pushed you in to another journey making you forget about the main quest? Never saw something strange on the horizon and going to see what is there and find weird things between or accidentally coming across a tiny village which is under attack?

This is what I'm missing about ffxiv open world. The reason to explore. Bare minimum what makes open world such an awesome playground when done right .

Ngl, I don't remember much haha. But I think I just found myself overwhelmed at the amount of side quests and they compounded together, it didn't really feel like exploring to me, just kinda felt like I was being pushed into one sidequest into the next and it kinda burned me out fast considering how much of them there were. Ofc this is just my experience with it, never really got immersed into it so maybe that's part of it too.

[Ronduwil]

After you finish the story, what is the point of the overworld?

You're talking as if this question is specific to this game, but it applies to every single one. Once you've played through any game, what is the point of it? The answer is specific to each player. For some, it's nostalgia, for others it's hunt trains, for others it's gathering, for other it's FATEs/gemstones, and for some it's simply pointless. Different strokes for different folks. I don't understand players who complain about players enjoying an aspect of the game that they just don't get. It's OK to go play something else for a while until SE releases more of the content that you specifically enjoy. They don't need to start throwing obstacles in everyone else's way so that you can find meaning in the overworld. That line of thought has destroyed WoW. They've made the overworld in that game an absolute misery to navigate: mobs that scale to your level and item level, no flying in the latest "relevant" zone, and maze-like paths everywhere. All that was done in the service of making the overworld feel "alive" and "dangerous." No, thank you. I'll keep the overworld in this game the way it is: pleasant and relaxing.

[Izar_Chillen]

No point really. Apparently it's too hard for Square to design interesting and living openworld

The crummy engine couldn't handle it anyways

They had to move the Dwarven Beast Tribe quest hub to Lakeside due to memory limitations as it couldn't handle having it in Kholusia where their home is and the map is hardly bathed is massive detail.

[Doc_Seraph]

To ride the chocobo kupo <3 it needs exercise

[Lunalepsy]

After you finish the story, what is the point of the overworld?


Gathering? Maps? Hunts?

To look pretty. Didn't you know? It's empty!

[Jojoya]

The crummy engine couldn't handle it anyways

They had to move the Dwarven Beast Tribe quest hub to Lakeside due to memory limitations as it couldn't handle having it in Kholusia where their home is and the map is hardly bathed is massive detail.

Actually, they did bathe it in massive detail for YoRHa. That's what caused them to hit the memory limits. Those areas you explore for the YoRHa quests are included in the Kholusia map memory. There's also the "hidden" detailed backdrop visible from the top of the skybox over Komra if you completed Puppet's Bunker (or at least I don't think it's visible until after you complete it - it's not visible to my alt that never got past unlocking Copied Factory).

[Jkap_Goat]

FFXI open world is fun, and very dangerous, I love it

[Guilty_Mithra]

Gathering? Maps? Hunts?

Pretty much that, yes.

Honestly now that they've concluded the first big arc of XIV's life (unless you want to count 1.0), I'm hoping they do a lot more with open world stuff. As fun as instanced content is, I'd really like to see some more compelling content. It seems like a bit of a waste, putting all of these hours into art assets that - unless you do x y z activities - a lot of players won't ever see again outside of a hub city unless they just feel like it.

Not asking for a sudden turn from themepark into sandbox (although...) because that's just not what FFXIV is about, but as gorgeous as the overworld is in XIV, it's just weird that it doesn't get used more. They do so much work and then...