Island Reflections

[sagacious]

That's totally unrelated to what I'm saying.

Every time I log out from the lighthouse I come back at the same point. Sorry I didn't add this true finding.

[Rufalus]

Now I'm seeing crowds of people waiting at the island ferry npc when a rare animal is about to spawn. Everyone's following a weather tracker app and loading into their instance at the correct times the same way we would gather on schedule at unspoiled nodes or big fish.

When I see crowds like that it gives me the sinking feeling of being sheep, going through the motions exactly when the game tells you, just like everyone else. It's another factor that takes away from this being a personal getaway experience that we can make our own.

[Jojoya]

Now I'm seeing crowds of people waiting at the island ferry npc when a rare animal is about to spawn. Everyone's following a weather tracker app and loading into their instance at the correct times the same way we would gather on schedule at unspoiled nodes or big fish.

When I see crowds like that it gives me the sinking feeling of being sheep, going through the motions exactly when the game tells you, just like everyone else. It's another factor that takes away from this being a personal getaway experience that we can make our own.

Because people choose to go through the motions of what they think they're expected to do instead of asking "is this really what I want for myself?". It's bizarre how often I see people go "I must have it because I'm a collector" at the same time they're complaining about the required grind is for something they'll never actually use once collected. If you're not going to use it, wouldn't it be better to spend your time doing things you actually enjoy?

It's also something we wouldn't be witnessing if it weren't for the bug that keeps the ultra rare creatures from spawning correctly. You would have no idea who is trying to capture those rares because they'd be able to stay in their instance.

[Iscah]

Because people choose to go through the motions of what they think they're expected to do instead of asking "is this really what I want for myself?"

It's a hard mindset to break when it's a thing that's put in front of you as part of the content, and I think it can be about not wanting to do it wrong and waste effort. I slipped into thinking I needed to be chasing the rare creatures after reading a list of the "best setup" for your farm to get a balance of materials out of it, and it took a few days of chasing bugged spawns to realise that actually it doesn't matter at all and I don't even want to own most of the creatures on offer, or have plans for the items beyond "sell for cowries", making the exact variety of items irrelevant.

[Freeflare]

Hey everyone - thanks for your replies, nice to get other viewpoints. Also, I will say that I had to cull 1700 characters from the original post so some of the extra nuance was probably lost. Oh well.

Anyways, regarding the 'the devs said not to expect Animal Crossing!' I can't say that I did, nor can I say that I expected much of anything beyond 'an island you get to personalize '. So even that rather modest expectation was not delivered upon. I was also unaware that the Animal Crossing comparison was specifically mentioned - I only read the liveletters sporadically - but if you announce something like this the instant visual and mental comparison is Animal Crossing. So I appreciate that they tried to get in front of it, but that was something of a doomed effort.

Ultimately the problem isn't that it's not Animal Crossing or improved/accessible player housing, but that it's just not fun. If I had at least gotten a charming story out of my pointless and expansive collecting of mats that do absolutely nothing, I still wouldn't have been impressed with the content but I wouldn't have bothered writing up a full sheet of issues about it. Beyond that, it's almost directly opposed to the general gameplay design of FFXIV. Most of the features of this game that fall under this category promote player interaction in some aspect - zone population if nothing else. This removes players from the general world to do a long, storyless grind. And I know they've said they want people to be able to play this game as a solo experience, but things like tribal quests can absolutely do that while providing other benefits as well. There's no charm here, just mindless grinding and a tedious goods market.

This in of itself isn't a problem, and I'm sure there are some people who like this sort of gameplay so by all means enjoy, but development resources are very much a zero sum game. This could have been so many things, but it's Sim Industrial Park. And I do not understand why this was deemed a good way to spend development time.

[OgruMogru]

I feel really guilty saying it but the island just depresses me. Like I try not to read into it too much but I actually feel like I've ruined the island by being there. The crafting workshops and the little schedule is cute in theory but it feel too disconnected. I've just ruined an island rampaged around it ripping branches off trees on the way past, crammed a bunch of disparate wild animals into an open pen so they can get hoofrot in the endless rain as they just stand in their own leavings until their absentee captor finally returns.

Pointless mechanised production.

A bathtub for robots??

Who's eating all that tomato relish I made?

Implement a rewilding option. Let me bleed the island enough for the blue cowries and then let me give it back.

[Iscah]

I feel really guilty saying it but the island just depresses me. Like I try not to read into it too much but I actually feel like I've ruined the island by being there.

I get that feeling too. I started up the sanctuary on a second character that may want the motorbike mount (Twelve save me) and there's this lovely wild tangle of jungle plants directly opposite the hideaway that gets erased while you're off gathering your first lot of materials and turned into the blank space for building your workshops. And every step of the way is "you should delight in tearing out these trees" (which apparently go to waste because we get zero logs out of it and are then obliged to go cut down even more trees elsewhere).

I was also disappointed to find that "completing" the animal enclosure meant tearing out the thicker of trees that was providing shelter for them and leaving a great empty paddock of nothing.

[OgruMogru]

I get that feeling too. I started up the sanctuary on a second character that may want the motorbike mount (Twelve save me) and there's this lovely wild tangle of jungle plants directly opposite the hideaway that gets erased while you're off gathering your first lot of materials and turned into the blank space for building your workshops. And every step of the way is "you should delight in tearing out these trees" (which apparently go to waste because we get zero logs out of it and are then obliged to go cut down even more trees elsewhere).

I was also disappointed to find that "completing" the animal enclosure meant tearing out the thicker of trees that was providing shelter for them and leaving a great empty paddock of nothing.

Ahaha turns out the animals clipping into the locked pasture zone was just them desperately seeking shelter under some sparse leaves. It's stressing me out more than it should though and I think I'm just going to end up turning all my animals loose because I can't stand the little UI actively tracking how unhappy they are. :C

[TheSuperior]

I get that feeling too. I started up the sanctuary on a second character that may want the motorbike mount (Twelve save me) and there's this lovely wild tangle of jungle plants directly opposite the hideaway that gets erased while you're off gathering your first lot of materials and turned into the blank space for building your workshops. And every step of the way is "you should delight in tearing out these trees" (which apparently go to waste because we get zero logs out of it and are then obliged to go cut down even more trees elsewhere).

I was also disappointed to find that "completing" the animal enclosure meant tearing out the thicker of trees that was providing shelter for them and leaving a great empty paddock of nothing.

Huuh? But this is the island of your dreams! You don't want to build stables or any sort of shelter for yourself or animals. It's your dream island, you obviously want buildings for mammets and to go absolute Dead Ends with deforestation and improvements for Tataru's business.

[sagacious]

I get that feeling too. I started up the sanctuary on a second character that may want the motorbike mount (Twelve save me) and there's this lovely wild tangle of jungle plants directly opposite the hideaway that gets erased while you're off gathering your first lot of materials and turned into the blank space for building your workshops. And every step of the way is "you should delight in tearing out these trees" (which apparently go to waste because we get zero logs out of it and are then obliged to go cut down even more trees elsewhere).

I was also disappointed to find that "completing" the animal enclosure meant tearing out the thicker of trees that was providing shelter for them and leaving a great empty paddock of nothing.

I don't see it that way. Aethereal regeneration happens every 11 nodes, so the trees grow back quickly, same goes for animals we catch they are replaced quickly don't over think it have fun, I do. I am there 8hrs a day.