A Lived in World?

[Ath192]

They did stop splitting new city states. For example, Rhalgr's Reach, Kugane, The Crystarium, Eulmore, Old Sharlayan and Radz are each one zone.

We also have a clear contrast in how they design zones now compared to ARR. Amh Araeng is one area instead of Western Thanalan, Northern Thanalan, Central Thanalan, Eastern Thanalan and Southern Thanalan. Kholusia is one area instead of Outer La Noscea, Upper La Noscea, Western La Noscea, Middle La Noscea, Eastern La Noscea and Lower La Noscea.

But yes, they have not got to a point where they would make all 6 of the areas in 1. Considering that was one of the perceived problems with 1.0 that was changed, they will most likely be very careful about going back to something like that and I don't know if the 2.0 engine was really designed for it like the 1.0 one was.

Talking about this:



At one point in ARR, Mor Dhona was super packed with people like 2013, and yeah... there was some lag and stuff although it wasnt that bad imo, but honestly that was funner and more livelier to look at than these instanced zones with 10 people each on them.

[Ardeth]

Talking about this:



At one point in ARR, Mor Dhona was super packed with people like 2013, and yeah... there was some lag and stuff although it wasnt that bad imo, but honestly that was funner and more livelier to look at than these instanced zones with 10 people each on them.

I miss back then. Everyone running around doing fates for their relics, etc. The 2.0 world felt alive.

[Ath192]

I miss back then. Everyone running around doing fates for their relics, etc. The 2.0 world felt alive.

Yeah I don't why they decided on this approach. It seems really lazy, if the number of people on a single zone was stressing some limits out then optimizing how many characters appear on screen or making other types of optimizations would've been preferable to splitting them like this.

And maybe, this was an emergency the first time, and that would've been okay, but after the first time they should have planned on a long term solution the doesnt split the zones like this instead of making this the norm. It's been going on for years.

It's almost like they want the zones to feel lonely, but the objective should be the opposite.

[caffe_macchiato]

Is this intentional by design?

Yes. The whole point of FFXIV is that, once you finish it, you can go back to playing other games. The MSQ has been streamlined so you can speedrun the Hydaelyn saga as fast as possible without talking to anyone or going anywhere that isn't necessary. That's the entire brand of FFXIV. That's why people play this game. The devs don't want you to spend time here like it's a "lived-in" game. You know what game has that? World of Warcraft. Yikes!

[Jeeqbit]

Oh, well each zone is its own server program and in a case like this they would be likely to be on separate machines as well. I think it's because although it may not have many in on most worlds, it could on at least 1 world in the game due to new MSQ or beast tribes (maybe in Japan) and that means they apply it to everywhere.

I think that the only time I see anything like 100 people in each instance is after an expansion launch, and that is only for 2-4 weeks.

I've also seen it exceed 150 due to hunt trains or the Chi FATE, but in that case nobody is wanting to be in separate zones because it takes place in a specific instance.

[Kaurhz]

By design.

They've traded a more lively and active 'world' for higher convenience.

[Absurdity]

By design.

They've traded a more lively and active 'world' for higher convenience.

Pretty much this. You could see a more gradual progression of it in WoW from 2004 to 2011, the more quality of life (which is basically just convenience) features they implemented the emptier the world became.

But it's also how activities are set up, outside of hunt trains, fate groups and treasure maps every group activity is instanced and you can easily queue up for it from anywhere in the world which usually ends up being from the comfort and convenience of a major city/player hub.

[Shougun]

Not sure I buy the whole QoL thing since GW2 is the counter example and is also quite high on QoL. Particularly if you include the teleports you can get from the cash shop. Id normally say it's unfair to include them BUT GW2 is a one time purchase unlike the sub to play FFXIV.

Which we already have those teleports in a way, and goes back around to my point that I don't buy that you can either have QoL or an interesting living world BECAUSE GW2 did both

[Absurdity]

Not sure I buy the whole QoL thing since GW2 is the counter example and is also quite high on QoL. Particularly if you include the teleports you can get from the cash shop. Id normally say it's unfair to include them BUT GW2 is a one time purchase unlike the sub to play FFXIV.

Which we already have those teleports in a way, and goes back around to my point that I don't buy that you can either have QoL or an interesting living world BECAUSE GW2 did both

Yes and no. GW2 has quality of life, in certain areas more than XIV does, but in other areas, mostly those affecting the content and gameplay, it basically tells you to suck it up.
Want a piece of ascended gear with some of the more rare affixes like Minstrel's (Toughness+Healing Power+Vitality+Concentration)? You better go out and do whatever obscure objective the game wants you to do.

It tells you to go out, explore the maps, and then rewards you for it.

But it doesn't just let you do everything while standing in Divinity's Reach all day.

XIV's quality of life features on the other hand often invalidate it's own content. Moogle tomes being the best example, they allow you to buy primal mounts, orchestrion rolls from treasure maps, minions, even gear, without ever touching the content these originally came from. Why would I bother farming ShB extremes when I'll just be able to buy the mounts next year by spamming Praetorium a few times?

[Boblawblah]

GW2's entire shtick is the open world. The vast majority of players spend most of their time in the open world, and the game is designed to facilitate that. Have you ever seen the dungeons GW2 has? They're dead. Like, completely dead. Getting into instanced group content in GW2 is so inconvenient, you'd almost think they did it on purpose. So people spend their time in the OW, and the game rewards them for that. And by reward, I mean it gives them a bunch of trash that people sell to make gold, to do what they actually want to do.

So you have an open world that is always populated, but let's not pretend it doesn't come at the cost of other things.