Please bring back Exploratory Zones in Dawntrail

[Aco505]

In the keynote at the Las Vegas Fan Festival, Yoshi-P announced the different types of battle content coming to the game in the newest expansion, Dawntrail.

However, one type of content that was not mentioned in any shape or form in the slide was Exploratory Zones, the category that Eureka and Bozja belong to.

While they could still announce including it at a later date, its absence in Endwalker makes me worried that it will not return in the next expansion either.

Therefore, I am writing this thread to ask the developers of FFXIV to please include Exploratory Zones in 7.x alongside large-scale raids in the same vein that Bozja did.

This kind of content is engaging, fun and long-lasting. Features such as Lost Actions can bring new ways of playing jobs, which is personally one of the main appeals of it.

If you would like Exploratory Zones to return, please show your support by liking and commenting on this thread: do you want it back and why? What specific things do you think the content does well and which ones could be improved in future iterations?


EDIT: According to Reddit (see here), Exploratory Zones could still be on the table for Dawntrail.

That gives me some hope but we should not stop having our voices heard so that the devs understand loud and clear that this content is good for the game and that there's plenty of players that want it.

So feel free to keep liking and commenting on the thread for visibility!

EDIT 2 (21/10/2023): No mention of the possible inclusion of Exploratory Zones in the London Fan Festival Keynote.

EDIT 3 (07/01/2024): A slide in the JP fan festival keynote showed that Field Operations are coming back for Dawntrail!

[Eisi]

I love Eureka and Bozja, so sure!

But what I especially liked was when Yoshi-P said they were thinking about completely different content as well while talking about new Deep Dungeon content.

As a side note I really want some experiments being done with Deep Dungeons, they offer so much in the realm of possibilities! They should have a look at roguelike games and get inspired for what they could do with that type of content for FFXIV. Eureka Orthos was too conservative.

[CStrife912]

Like I commented in another thread they didn't announce exploration zones in the fanfest keynote for shadowbringers either...we will just have to see about the next 2 and if nothing is mentioned well yeah buckle up it ain't happening I guess. I will then just hope they use variant dungeons and deep dungeon as a means to flesh out relics and maybe tie the crafter/gatherer ones to the lifestyle content in some way.

[Damnhedge]

I'll accept no Exploratory Content again if the Relic at the very least isn't just an expanded Tome Weapon this time around. I'm begging you dev team, a sliver of content and story that deals with more then "Godbert Sweats on your Leather". But man, Corvos really would've been a killer zone to explore.

[Bacent]

If it's like Eureka? I'll force myself to do it once then act like it doesn't exist.

If it's like Bozja? I'll actually stick around for it.

[Sir_Tonberry]

I'd love to know if they analysed Eureka and Bozja participation rates and decided it wasn't worth it. This is ultimately a product being sold by a company beholden to shareholders so I would imagine that if they believed this kind of content was a profitable addition that would keep peopled subbed they'd do more of it.

[Zarkovitch]

Nope the wheel of content is already started you cannot change it. 8.0 will have it

[Kaurhz]

It'll need to amount to just more than a reskin of a previous iteration. e.g., more than just FATEs, Critical Engagements, and large-scale raids in a different skin, for me personally.

IMO, if they were to do another iteration, at the very least I think it should incorporate more than just combat elements, e.g., incorporate actual crafting and gathering or something.

[TheOperator3712]

I'd love to know if they analysed Eureka and Bozja participation rates and decided it wasn't worth it. This is ultimately a product being sold by a company beholden to shareholders so I would imagine that if they believed this kind of content was a profitable addition that would keep peopled subbed they'd do more of it.

"there are other metrics that are better indicators of the overall Blizzard Square Enix business performance."

Reminder that SE has sold 439,736 Lunar Whales which equates to $18,468,912

[Rufalus]

At a minimum they should make small updates to Eureka and Bozja to encourage participation. Drop in some new rewards there like once a year is all they have to do to make it less dead.