so why the devs never use 90% of the content for end game?

[Y2K21]

Role-play.
Parties at the beach.
Screenshots.

I am questionable about counting these things -- as they dont really interact with the open world but more use them as a prop for their own drive (especially since three of these are more server dependent than anything else). I think what Theodoric is asking for is more open World content or more meaningful content with FATEs and Hunts than just what they are now.

EDIT: Also parties at beaches and RP are mostly also the same thing.

[Y2K21]

I don't know ... exploration in the MMOs you've mentioned is pretty, um, down on the list of things to do. And if it has some rewards to make it worth doing, there are add-ons (WoW/ESO) to tell you exactly where to go, or you can look it up on wowhead or the ESO/Lost Ark equivalents, so it's not really "exploration". It's making a list and checking it twice.

I'm assuming Theodric finished the sightseeing log without consulting one of the many websites that list every one of them.

This is like saying SE should stop making Savage Raids because you can find guide videos on Youtube. Or stop making Sightseeing logs, hunts, etc. because people will more than likely use third-party tools to aid them in doing them.

[Kleeya]

They would do well to look at how the likes of WoW, ESO and Lost Ark make use of their open worlds. Encouraging players to explore and uncover hidden secrets isn't a bad thing and helps make FFXIV's zones have more relevance beyond occasional MSQ quests and gathering nodes.

Yes, like the blue mage. With this job every player did thoroughly rediscover every little details of the overworld, going from some mobs to another, thinking with excitement "how come i did never see this place even existed ?" and "i wonder what this mob attacks are, maybe i will learn a good skill ?".

Just joking, everyone did watch at some guide to get rid of "exploration" and "hidden secrets" as fast as possible.

[Lauront]

Yes, like the blue mage. With this job every player did thoroughly rediscover every little details of the overworld, going from some mobs to another, thinking with excitement "how come i did never see this place even existed ?" and "i wonder what this mob attacks are, maybe i will learn a good skill ?".

Just joking, everyone did watch at some guide to get rid of "exploration" and "hidden secrets" as fast as possible.

Like they do with raids? What's your point? Everything in this game can be boiled down to just following a guide. May as well turn it into a visual novel, in that case, and strip out all gameplay elements, because you can use a guide.

[Misplaced_Marbles]

They would do well to look at how the likes of WoW, ESO and Lost Ark make use of their open worlds. Encouraging players to explore and uncover hidden secrets isn't a bad thing and helps make FFXIV's zones have more relevance beyond occasional MSQ quests and gathering nodes.

Then again, it's hard to uncover secrets when they don't exist. All areas I've find in open world that didn't have a quest or FATE in them were empty. There is no discovery unless there's something telling you to go and do a thing, and then it's just crossing that thing off a list.

There aren't even any secret FATEs anywhere, since they all just randomly appear on the map.

[Y2K21]

Then again, it's hard to uncover secrets when they don't exist. All areas I've find in open world that didn't have a quest or FATE in them were empty. There is no discovery unless there's something telling you to go and do a thing, and then it's just crossing that thing off a list.

There aren't even any secret FATEs anywhere, since they all just randomly appear on the map.

Why should they do that when someone will post about it on a third-party website like Discord or Reddit ruining the secret? Obviously its better to have nothing than something because of the dreaded third-party sites.

[SamsaraTrickstar]

Why should they do that when someone will post about it on a third-party website like Discord or Reddit ruining the secret? Obviously its better to have nothing than something because of the dreaded third-party sites.

just don't look it up then??

[Jojoya]

Then again, it's hard to uncover secrets when they don't exist. All areas I've find in open world that didn't have a quest or FATE in them were empty. There is no discovery unless there's something telling you to go and do a thing, and then it's just crossing that thing off a list.

There aren't even any secret FATEs anywhere, since they all just randomly appear on the map.

Can't speak for other games but WoW really wasn't any better when it came to discovery because spawn locations for treasure chests and the like were data mined and botted (why Blizzard ended up removing a lot of them over the years - there was no point when the bots would get them). There were the treasures phased at the character level that could only be collected once - and most players just looked them up on WoWhead to save time. Even if a player collected them via random encounter, the need to explore stopped once they were collected.

And actually there are "secret" FATEs in this game. They have spawn conditions that must be met. They will never appear on the world map when active, only the mini-map when you are in close range. It's not a huge number (only 2-3 per expansion) but they do exist.

[Kyrj]

Idk I just wish there was more of a reason to get people out in the open world rather than sitting around Sharlaya or Limsa. It's kind of sad when you go to a zone and there's three people there, maybe if you're lucky you'll see a map group, or a hunt train will come by.

[LeonKeyh]

Idk I just wish there was more of a reason to get people out in the open world rather than sitting around Sharlaya or Limsa. It's kind of sad when you go to a zone and there's three people there, maybe if you're lucky you'll see a map group, or a hunt train will come by.

They TRY to do this with the FATE Gemstones, Hunts, and Treasure Maps, but that ends up only helping a little. I agree with you and would love if they figured something out to make FATEs more attractive.