Rhalgrs Reach should never have existed

[RitsukoSonoda]

Rhalgrs Reach is like universally everyone's favorite hub because you could show off your mount in town.

You could do that in Idyllshire too

[Elissar]

You could do that in Idyllshire too

Mor Dhona in 10 words

[Nezerius]

Rhalgrs Reach is like universally everyone's favorite hub because you could show off your mount in town.

In what world was Rhalgr's Reach "everyone's favorite hub"? It was a mostly bland hub, without much of a center gathering point that people would pass on their way from the aetheryte to the retainer bell/tomestone vendors/scrips vendors.
Idyllshire did this way better, especially with how the hub was expanded on with the major patch updates. The stairs/rock being a center gathering point where players often showed off their mounts, after they enabled the use of mounts in 3.1.

[Atelier-Bagur]

In what world was Rhalgr's Reach "everyone's favorite hub"? It was a mostly bland hub, without much of a center gathering point that people would pass on their way from the aetheryte to the retainer bell/tomestone vendors/scrips vendors.
Idyllshire did this way better, especially with how the hub was expanded on with the major patch updates. The stairs/rock being a center gathering point where players often showed off their mounts, after they enabled the use of mounts in 3.1.

Idyllshire is trash. Only reason its still populated is because they decided to dump WT and Faux Pas or whatever so there's always people hanging around. Wish they spread standard content features across each hub zone so that those areas doesnt feel as barren. Rhalgr's Reach doesnt have much going besides the Custom Delivery and thats sad. Its a cool looking area.

[Nezerius]

Idyllshire is trash. Only reason its still populated is because they decided to dump WT and Faux Pas or whatever so there's always people hanging around. Wish they spread standard content features across each hub zone so that those areas doesnt feel as barren. Rhalgr's Reach doesnt have much going besides the Custom Delivery and thats sad. Its a cool looking area.

I think you've entirely missed the point here. No one's talking about how populated these hubs are right now. This is about the design of each of the two hubs when their respective expansions were current content. What Rhalgr's Reach had going on during Stormblood was way too spread out, with not much of a center point that players would regularly pass. Compared to Idyllshire during Heavensward, where players would often end up running past the stairs in the center.

[Atelier-Bagur]

I think you've entirely missed the point here. No one's talking about how populated these hubs are right now. This is about the design of each of the two hubs when their respective expansions were current content. What Rhalgr's Reach had going on during Stormblood was way too spread out, with not much of a center point that players would regularly pass. Compared to Idyllshire during Heavensward, where players would often end up running past the stairs in the center.

Yeah because Idyllshire lacks aethernets and they placed the aetheryte into the center (which was smart). That along with having pseudo endgame activity features like WT and Faux Pas along with 2 Custom Delivery NPCs and parts of Relic chains, Idyllshire has a lot going for it compared to Rhalgr's Reach.

My problem though its how ugly and compact it is; alongside its music. I much prefer Rhalgr's Reach for its beauty but the fact that they didnt bother keeping relevant features like in Idyllshire its why theres a lack of players.

[Yuella]

We needed to liberate Ala Mhigo in order to explore it. Since it's the last dungeon, it doesn't make sense if the secondary hub is only accessible after the game ends.

[DamianFatale]

We needed to liberate Ala Mhigo in order to explore it. Since it's the last dungeon, it doesn't make sense if the secondary hub is only accessible after the game ends.

Tell Eulmore and Thavnair that Lmao.

[TheMightyMollusk]

Tell Eulmore and Thavnair that Lmao.

Ah yes, the places where we were a neutral party upon first arrival, as opposed to Imperial territory where we're public enemy number one.

Yes, Endwalker makes it a point that the average citizen in Garlemald doesn't know what we look like, but Ala Mhigo is a lot closer, and we were pretty visible in the war there.

[fulminating]

The problem with rhalgr’s reach is pacing, it’s Kugane and generally othard that should never have been added. If resources hadn’t been burnt on a shallow holiday to zenos’s second house, we could have had an ala mhigo hub with marketboards, an undercover in the empire section and more in depth exploration of the empire not seen until bozja. Instead we got a two bit despot who’s only interesting as a contrast to another character half a world away and some lizards living in a giant teacup. Unfortunately this would remove the namazu from the story, but that’s just the cost. Given how advanced garlemald was portrayed with the medicine and cars, it would have been a way to introduce non-violent technology and further set up the cerulean fuel plot points dawntrail is likely to explore.

Keeping it in ala mhigo would also have allowed further parallel to be drawn between zenos and the warrior of light through npc conversation. Is he viewed as a walking weapon or admired by the population? No one knows because by the time it’s explored he’s destroyed their empire which probably has reduced the general opinion of him. There’s no accusation of hypocrisy over the scion puppet states and cia-style regime replacement when compared with imperial towns, just that air current quest in Ala banana.

The ruby sea is a whole lot of nothing, same as azim steppe, the former relying too hard on the diving mechanic to have room for much interesting zone design and the latter just a medium size field that doesn’t even achieve the oppressive agoraphobia they seemed to be aiming for. Since it’s inaccessible without diving, why not have underwater tunnels or caves there too, rather than just splashing around in the saucer?