I wish this game relied more on exploration and traveling

a year ago by memo to c/finalfantasyxiv

I know this is not something themepark MMOs really do; but FFXIV relies so heavily on teleports, it rarely incentivizes exploring zones after visiting them once for the main storyline. In turn, this gives devs no reason to put interesting points of interest.

I know GW2, ESO and FFXI do a better job. It just seems like such a wasted opportunity when it comes to deliver a better immersive experience.

MagnyusG 5 points a year ago

I wish there was more impact to the world, I get that it's an mmo and the terrain needs to accommodate for players that aren't at the same point of progression in the MSQ, but it's incredibly stupid that even after a decade, it feels like we haven't done anything because the world is still the same as it's always been. Oh, half the city was destroyed because of the ensuing battle during the end times? Don't worry about, we restored it just like how it was before! The dragonsong war is over? Ishgard restoration is completed? Nah, the entrance to the city still has the same debris since the moment you walked in for the first time.

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memo 3 points a year ago

100% agree. We've gone back and forth between dimensions and worlds, fought the strongest gods conceivable, yet the starting world itself feels mummified. I know solutions can't be easy (as suggested by @Kronusdark on another comment) but imagine how immersive it'd actually feel.

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Kronusdark 2 points a year ago

I was gonna say World of Warcraft handled this with phasing (areas having different versions based on quest progress) but as I thought more, it’s still not great. Questing with friends can be confusing, and 100 points for you if you can tell me exactly how to get to each version of Dalaran. Navigation in general is a mess.

I kinda wish there were more MMOs that weren’t afraid to break their world for story progression.

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arjache 3 points a year ago

Whenever I see people saying there’s nothing to do in the overworld, I wonder to what extent they’re engaging with other parts of the game. I am constantly doing overworld content — gathering, hunting, fishing. There is so much to learn about zones from optional content that you might not learn otherwise.

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memo 2 points a year ago

You do have a point, there are things to do. But they've been the same four/five activities since ARR. Those activities don't really require you to actually explore either, you only need to drop inside of the map (thanks to teleporting) and go straight to point xy. That's it! The only thing requiring you to explore is the sightseeing log - an activity which very few players partake in without looking up a wiki.

It's still my favorite mmo, don't get me wrong! I just wish there was more unique content to each map in order to make worlds feel more alive in general, force more player to hop around instead of lingering around Limsa's crystal while waiting for queue to pop.

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klymilark 2 points 9 months ago

Yeah, I tend to agree. I fairly intentionally only really use the airships for fast travel, and it's not even that bad of a game to walk around in under that restriction. Getting from Gridania to Limsa is pretty bad, but that's specifically why I allowed myself the airships. Did it once, never again xD I'm sure once I get a chocobo it'll be better.

I'm debating starting a challenge character eventually where I do minimal aetherite crystal atunement, so on death I'd go back to whatever starter city I picked. Probably some other restrictions too, but that's the idea for now

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