What would it take for you to like field content it you don’t currently like it?

[Shurrikhan]

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I'm sure there are pros and cons that others can think of. It's a bit difficult to come up with ideas for a zone that would be truly evergreen.

I feel like this is hardly "Field Content" as could apply to what exists in XIV thus far, but I'd dig it. Sounds pretty fun.

Tangent:
I'm reminded of an old idea that sparked by Sandpark's Frontiers idea (if I recall the name correctly). I called it... "Ascent", I think? It was basically what you'd imagine from a combination of XIV-style job-switching/skill-accretion and the Rise trailer for League of Legends, with a bit of Rogue-like twists atop all that. Get to the top, surmounting the challenges on the way.

As you climb, you accrue strength and options to use against challenges of increasing absolute and even relative difficulty. Bonuses for not wiping; further bonuses for not dying at all. (In the PvEvP mode, a wipe means your out altogether.) You start with a relatively minimalistic but decently satisfying set of skills, per your chosen starting class, and gradually add new skills as part of your class or others', job options unlocked, or special ability/trait-granting gear, or party-wide special modifiers (some increasing challenge in certain ways for further reward).

Three options: Forray (1-8-player content, scaled; randomly dropped positions in a gigantic map with some horizontal progression possible, but mostly just moving straight up if quite skilled; less than 2 hours to fully complete), Expedition (Up to 40 players, made up of any number of parties that are conditionally pseudo-shared away from each other before being able to meet up to approach far greater challenges collectively), and Tournament (PvEvP. 1-4 people per party. Smaller parties means those party rewards all go towards one person, allowing a soloist to be surprisingly competitive even if far from optimal).

[Jojoya]

I feel like this is hardly "Field Content" as could apply to what exists in XIV thus far, but I'd dig it. Sounds pretty fun.

Tangent:
I'm reminded of an old idea that one of sparked by Sandpark's Frontiers (if I recall the name correctly) idea. Called it "Ascent" and it was basically what you'd imagine from a combination of XIV-style job-switching/skill-accretion and the Rise trailer for League of Legends, with a bit of Rogue-like twists atop all that. Get to the top, surmounting the challenges on the way.

As you climb, you accrue strength and options to use against challenges of increasing absolute and even relative difficulty. Bonuses for not wiping; further bonuses for not dying at all. (In the PvEvP mode, a wipe means your out altogether.) You start with a relatively minimalistic but decently satisfying set of skills, per your chosen starting class, and gradually add new skills as part of your class or others', job options unlocked, or special ability/trait-granting gear, or party-wide special modifiers (some increasing challenge in certain ways for further reward).

Three options: Forray (1-8-player content, scaled; randomly dropped positions in a gigantic map with some horizontal progression possible, but mostly just moving straight up if quite skilled; less than 2 hours to fully complete), Expedition (Up to 40 players, made up of any number of parties that are conditionally pseudo-shared away from each other before being able to meet up to approach far greater challenges collectively), and Tournament (PvEvP. 1-4 people per party. Smaller parties means those party rewards all go towards one person, allowing a soloist to be surprisingly competitive even if far from optimal).

Was any sort of reward structure announced for the content? While there are the references to reward, there's no hint what was intended.

Rewards seem to be a sticking point here when it comes to content longevity. There's also nothing that says a reward has to be an item. Achievements and rank on a leaderboard (or even just going for a new personal best) could also be a reward. I've wondered if Criterion would have had more staying power in the community if there was a leaderboard for speed runs.

[Shurrikhan]

Was any sort of reward structure announced for the content? While there are the references to reward, there's no hint what was intended.

Literally anything. Extrinsic rewards are arbitrary. There's nothing to say that Field Content must progress Relics or Relics must be progressed through Field Content, etc. Stick onto it whatever rewards provides breadth enough to see casual/passing and longterm/invested interest.

Give it some tomes, exp, and gil, for instance. Heck, you could automatically convert the rewards if/when they'd overcap (exp -> weekly tomes -> 2k tomes -> poetics -> gil). Or even have it drop a form of unique currency that can be turned into any of the above. It does not matter.

As for the more intrinsic, sure, give it a Leaderboard. Maybe even give it tiers.

What matters most to me, though, is just that the content is fun and at least doesn't feel like a significant reward-loss (relative to other content).