Comments from the Devs

[Gulkeeva]

http://www.neko-sentai.com/images9ru...tedCrystal.jpg

[Katlan]

I hope they redesign gridiana to make it like a fallen city / surrounding area. Not just redo the zone. I know that vague.. I mean like pathways destroyed and opened up.. some areas completely devasted and just wide open... stuff like that

[Vuitton]

I'd rather see Thanalan destroyed, but it already looks like it has been. But, to be honest all three zones are "boring" according to the logic I've seen used so far. La Noscea is just boring monotanous coastal rocky grasslands. Thanalan is just boring monotanous rocky brown rocks with weeds. Black Shroud is just boring monotanous forest and winding pathways.

To be fair though, Black Shroud has more geographic diversity than the other two zones, since it also has large areas with lakes, rivers, marshes, abysses, sylph towns and sylph housing, and floating rocks. Actually, it has more geographic diversity than any other zone in the game now that I've thought about what is in each zone.

People just hate it because it takes forever to run anywhere.

Edit:

Those deaspected crystals have already been used in the game for some of the later missions. In fact, we're sent to distribute them for various reasons. And who sends us to distribute them? Gridania! Well, an NPC faction associated with Gridania. And we not only distribute them, we make them ourselves!

I have photos of some of Gridania's diversity here:

http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/989...=1#post4418270

There are a few shots of Thanalan in there as well, though.

[Katlan]

I wouldn't even call Gridania's area a forest. It has its moments, but it looks more like windy rocky pathways w/ a few shrubs here and here.

[Corrderio]

Honestly, all outdoor zones are crap.

[Hyan]

There is indeed in-game dialogue concerning the shady figures that was added in 1.17a.

Too bad I can't copy paste it.

[Vuitton]

Where can it be found?

The shady figures are actually moogles covered in bedsheets.

[Hyan]

I used an app called ffxivtool, can't remember where I found it aaaages ago. Anyway, there's a submenu called scenario (in katakana) and the last dialogue is for this.

It's not that interesting but hints that we should see the npc(s) appear at some point or the other.

[miokomioko]

I wouldn't even call Gridania's area a forest. It has its moments, but it looks more like windy rocky pathways w/ a few shrubs here and here.

Huh? Did you notice that you can rarely see the sky because of the tree canopy? Yeah you're not bumping elbows on little trees left and right as they are more massive and spread out because of it, but it's no less of a forest than Zi'tah.

[xopher]

Huh? Did you notice that you can rarely see the sky because of the tree canopy? Yeah you're not bumping elbows on little trees left and right as they are more massive and spread out because of it, but it's no less of a forest than Zi'tah.

More accurately, Jugner.

[Katlan]

Huh? Did you notice that you can rarely see the sky because of the tree canopy? Yeah you're not bumping elbows on little trees left and right as they are more massive and spread out because of it, but it's no less of a forest than Zi'tah.

Thats true. but they aren't on the ground. It may be a forest from 20 feet above ground. but on ground its a windy rock passage w/some shubs and trees here and there. Forest above your PoV doesn't mean much too me. It can be all that lush forest and can be the most amazing thing ever seen in a MMO.. but if we can't see / run around in it then its not jungle by my means. Jugner / Zitah were a lot closer to a real jungle / wilderness.. You felt like you were running around a forest. not some rock passageways.

i don't see how you can draw a comparison of Gridania's surrounding area to that of Zi'tah or Jugner. They aren't even close

[Lucavi]

^ Correct. The Black Shroud is a bunch of dirt paths with trees in the "background". The trees are out of your way; an afterthought as you make your way around. You know they're around somewhere, but it doesn't feel like wading through the woods either.

[XalienLevi]

Now that you clarified that, I really hope they blow it up.

[Cichy]

Would be super cool if Gridania just got fucked up and part of the forest burn down

[Vuitton]

I dunno most of those passageways have huge trees all along them. They also form parts of the walls and corners that keep you confined to the passage. While it is true there are not a ton of trees you can run a full circle around (all of them are in the open glade areas, including the light pink/bright white weeping willows). I both feel I am in a forest and not in a forest. Winding passageways have their place, but not to this extent. Maybe make 1 of the areas confined passageways, but they should have made the other areas more unique (less natural hallways, more openness to run in any direction).

I wonder if the distances between the different camps in the Black Shroud are comparable to those of the other regions. I feel like they're way farther apart, and that could be because they are or that the current geography makes them feel much further than they are.

[Vuitton]

Would be super cool if Gridania just got fucked up and part of the forest burn down

Only if they fuck up half of La Noscea and Thanalan in the process. I'll settle for the entire removal of Ul'dah though.

[Cichy]

I like Uldah, the city, nothing else though

[solracht]

I don't think there's anything wrong with La Noscea except for the northern area.

Seeing Limsa, the volcano and the sea from many different angles while traveling actually makes it feel like an area and not like copy-pasted terrain. It sure could use more assets, models and buildings, or things like small forest/rock areas and less grass in some parts, but there's nothing fundamentally wrong with the area design or layout like with Thanalan and The Black Shroud that would require scrapping or remodeling. You seriously can't tell where you are in Thanalan or the Black Shroud without looking at the map.

Then again maybe I'm just biased because it was the area I played in during the alpha/beta back when you could believe the game had potential, idk.

[kisada]

Would be super cool if Gridania just got fucked up and part of the forest burn down

i actually wouldn't mind if they periodically makeover zones by adding some kind of epic destruction. you know, to go with whatever "danger to eorzea" plotlines they're thinking of. kinda like the way the present time windurst/past windurst after wings came out.

[miokomioko]

Don't get me wrong, I find the Black Shroud's design to be some of the worst out of the entire game. The sheer nature of something so chaotic and organic as a forest deserves a lot more attention and detail than something wide-open and bland like a desert... and I feel like it got even less attention because they thought they could hide its redundancy behind narrow corridors and tunnels. It's pretty much a bunch of Yuhtungas/Yhoators put together, almost to the tee. A pre-designed mess of paths that had massive tree trunks placed between in the un-traversable areas and around the corners of trails, topped off with a tree canopy texture that hides the sky to make it feel shady. However, I was really expecting a clearing here and there like the jungles had to make it feel real... but the best parts are the fact that when the areas differ from the standard paths, as mentioned before, they are significantly different. The Verdant Drop's huge abyss with massive roots extending down looks so rad along with the the rivers and creeks running through areas like Murmur Rills are much more interesting/varied than Thanalan's canyons, and La Noscea's boring beaches.

P.S. The Black Shroud's music is the worrrrst. I really want to swap the music out for something with a bit more personality like FF6's Phantom Forest.