[dev1008] About Jumping

[Focant]

I think I understand what you're trying to say, but your whole point rests on your own interpretation of what FFXIV is as a game. And... to be honest, whether it's true or not, the fact remains that maybe nobody but a select few want to even play that game. The focus for combat in FFXIV is more centered on tactics and teamwork, which i agree with, but that has nothing to do with the mechanics of exploration, which is why I think jump should be implemented.

If your only resistance to jumping, which would add depth to exploration, is because it "wouldn't mesh with the game", then I have to ask why we would want to play a game that thinks exploration and linearity are compatible concepts?

They just aren't compatible. You can't expect to strike out on your own when the path only leads one way.

If you are placed on a flat, narrow, tunnel, with only one axis of movement, then how is that exploration? If you then add jumping which is automated and only in specific places, then that is also linear and limiting.

A fantasy MMO is supposed to be about adventure. Having the game dictate as to where you should explore defeats the purpose of exploration. Automatic jumping adds nothing and shouldn't even be implemented.

If the only reason it is to be implemented is to clear certain obstacles, then climbing would be more aesthetically pleasing anyway.

Well that post was focused more on how XIV would benefit from other features being implemented in place of jump. It's not a platformer style game just in how it handles. It's a bit of an opinion yes but the basis for it is tangible. The game is just a lot slower paced. Rather then implement jump, implement strategy, tactics, cross-class combos, variety in combat, etc. Jumping wouldn't add near as much depth to a game like XIV as it would other mmos like WoW, just on the basis of how it handles and plays.

Now about exploration, this definitely harkens back to my first post. XIV is, relative to other mmos, closed. High cliffs that aren't scalable and are bordered by invisible walls, narrow paths, etc. are all aspects of the game. The world is, in the very way it was designed, confined. I used this analogy earlier but it'd be like jumping in a box. What good is the ability to jump if jumping takes you nowhere new? Nowhere you couldn't get without jumping? At best it provides shortcuts but that's not exactly exploring. I mean the only reason you can call jumping, in my mind anyways, a form of exploration in other games is because the only movement barrier is gravity, there are no "real" invisible walls holding you in. If you want to cliff dive into the ocean you can. In XIV, you can't and to allow that would require some hefty reworking of the game's zones.

I'm not saying jumping wouldn't mesh with the game because of my own idea of how the game "should" be, but on the basis of how it feels and maintaining consistency with the apparent design philosophy behind it all. The game was clearly built without jumping in mind. I know people don't like the argument "It wasn't meant to have jump," but it's entirely true and shows up a lot in the way the game is designed. To have it mean anything at all in the game the game would need to be redesigned so that jumping meant something. If they're going to have to create more content to justify a new mechanic why not just skip that mechanic and instead create new ones that compliment what's already there?

The style of dress for this party is formal, you can't show up in jeans and expect to fit in. D: