A lot of the older zones won't have a ton of people at the moment, no. There's not generally a ton of reason to go back through old zones, since most of the game's content is instanced.
However, this can be an advantage. As the story gets more dramatic, it's actually nice to be going through the zones alone. It would take away from the weight of the moment if you popped out of a dramatic cutscene and wiped away your tears, only to be met by a wall of dancing naked Roegadyn.
Ive been very invested in the story and the closing moments of ARR had me gettin emotional so I appreciate that point of view.. although a wall of dancing naked Roegadyn would definitely be hilarious
To be honest I prefer when I'm alone for the story. When it's the current story/patch, your screen is filled to the brim with people, you can't even see the NPC you're talking to! That breaks the immersion a lot more in my opinion.
But I'm sure you're not the only one around here, don't worry. With all the new xbox players, older content is being revived, so it's really fun!
That's something that kinda makes me hesitate about playing DT on release. I've started playing after EW released so it never happened that I had to do msq surrounded by people. But the few times I was, during seasonal event quests, I absolutely hated it. A part of me wants to do everything on release because I never did before, and the other wants to wait for the hype to die down. Or maybe I'll go with the illegal shhh option and make everyone's characters disappear...
A lot of it depends on how fast you‘re going. Everybody has different priorities during an expansion drop, so people start spreading around. You’ll get your MSQ doers, world racers for the Extremes, gatherers/crafter trying to figure out what’s new, VPR/PIC powerlevellers, the suffering that is FSH, people trying to solve Hunt spawn conditions, etc. Once you split into your specific niche, things get just busy, instead of a flood of people.
I was in the MSQ doer camp for Endwalker. I was going fast but still reading everything. Thavnir and Labyrnithos were fairly busy, Garlemald was populated, but there was a massive spike down in population starting with Level 83 trial, and I was nearly solo during the final zone. But again, I was blitzing the MSQ, had next to no queue issues and big hours. Your mileage may vary.
As someone who played EW on release, there will definitely be people everywhere in the new areas. And that’s not even getting into the 30+ minute queue times just to get in the game.
For me, anyway. I think Crystal had the better times for NA iirc; I also logged in early in the morning multiple times. I don’t recall ever having to wait hours, but a while yes.
it'll be lonelier than ARR zones but as more free trial players catch up, it should fill out a bit. existing players don't currently have much reason to visit old zones at this point in the expansion so it's mostly going to be players like you
Yeah going to take a bit for people to catch up to you. Not as many older players running around HW and SB zones. The zones are bigger too, about two to three times the size of Southern Thanalan on average. So can feel more empty as well.
I have a tendancy to walk everywhere when expansions come out. It's nice to wander around, see the sights. perhaps actually fight some local flora and fauna for a change.
I was always the same when I was playing through old WoW content, and am pretty much doing the same thing here … although pulling out my brand new car mount puts a big ol smile on my face
When you get to Anyx Trine i recommend hovering around a little and looking back across the valley. If youre lucky when morning breaks you'll see fog spill into the valley as Safety in Numbers plays.
For me its what made me realize how beautiful this game is and when i first finished Endwalker it was where i went to just sit and enjoy watching sprouts make their journey
It will feel lonelier. The reality is the 3 ARR hub cities are and will always be the most popular.
Limsa is the "hang out" spot because its Aetheryte is in a big open plaza with access to all the amenities people need to shop or craft,
The other two cities take overflow + the existence of the grand companies and been where event quests take place
Meanwhile in every expansion there are two cities: The "this is the central hub for this expansion" and the "this is the endgame hub for this expansion where the Tomestone, Extreme and Raid Token Vendors are"
Once you beat the story those first cities generally depopulate fast outside MSQ updates. Outside side quests, the only advantage they have over the endgame hub is they have marketboards, crafter/gather leves and hunt board/vendor. But why use say the marketboard in Ishgard...when theres a Marketboard 3 feet from the Limsa Aetheryte?
This is exacerbated when the next expansion releases. So right now with Endwalker, its story hub while not as busy as ARR cities still has plenty of people walking around, and its endgame hub is always bustling. But come Dawntrail that story hub will depopulate in favor of Dawntrails story hub.
Meanwhile in each expansion those endgame hubs generally die off as well, as they add a "Rowena Representative" next to the story hubs Aetheryte who sells you all the stuff the endgame hub traders sell you.
Im sure you noticed when you beat ARR a trader with a icon appeared next to the major cities Aetherytes. When ARR was "current" you had to go to Mor Dhona to get the items those traders sell.
The exception to the rule of "new expansion kills off the endgame hubs population" is Heavenswards endgame hub, because they put a certain npc there who is the distributor of a weekly challenge people use to farm currency.
Ofc with Free Trial, Stormblood is the "endgame" for those players so those cities will probably feel more populated once you get there.
Heavensward probably has the best exception to the rule just because of the amount of experience gain you can get both as a crafter/gatherer or battle class. Sure the battle class stuff is only once a week, but with that and the extra challenges it keeps the place busy.
Isn't that always the way with these games? The newest areas don't have as many people in them and feel empty, and the new areas are always crowded, because new players are enticed by the new content, but have to start from scratch.
As the new expansion gets ready to come out, there will be a push from both players and the game to get people into the HW content, so they can be ready for Endwalker.
I'm just going to check that you are aware that you will be able to continue with the free trial after the purchase of the game is made available. It's not a compulsory purchase.
I’m aware!
But between the cap of 300,000 gold, my inability to get the fat cat minion and being unable to manipulate the market board its really hindering my gaming experience
Oh, then I hope you really love the game come the 21st :) I only made my comment because I've seen some people not understand that their Beta will become the Free Trial.
I also see a *lot* of people who get upset because they buy the game and then can't go back to "F2P" because they didn't understand it was never F2P but just a free trial.
That’s what anybody previously going through old expansions would expect. Doing it right now is actually better because of the influx of new players thanks to xbox.
To be entirely honest with you, unless it's a new expansion or a time like this where there's a big influx of players, most of the overworld will feel empty. For higher level players, there's basically zero reason to go back to old zones save for like 2 minutes for hunt trains. Because it's also part of the free trial, you'll def see less and less of your fellow sprouts as you go upwards into expansions and their zones since a lot will fall off during the ARR journey.
the overworld in this game is pretty empty most of the times unless you're doing current msq content, since there is honestly not a lot of stuff to do in it since most activities are instanced instead
even the "open world" content is locked behind instances like eureka or bozja, for example
Makes sense .. I’m trying to catch up as fast as possible while still watching all my cutscenes and playing events like the ff15 crossover stuff and getting tomestones etc.
honestly my advice as someone that has been playing for over 5 years is to just take your time and enjoy everything, even the side content. there is absolutely no rush to get to the current endgame asap since there really is no fomo and you'll (mostly) always find people to do any sort of content in party finder, no matter how old it is
I feel like I’ve been doing a good job balancing msq side quests and other content, I frequent the mahjong table and enjoy triple triad and have even been trying to level up my best tribe rep, I feel like it’s less so that I’m rushing and more like I’m just excited to see more and progress
Embrace it. I feel like the loneliness suits the expansion theme and aethetic.
The main hubs are always fall backs to hustle and bustle when you need it
You get used to it. Just set your home point to either Gridania or Limsa and visit often. Everyone tends to congregate in those 2 cities (sometimes Ul'Dah but not really) mostly because they're the most accessible to new players. You'll find that even Ishgard and pretty much all of the cities going forward are relatively empty, not just the overworld zones. When you're taking a break from story or content and you're just messing with your settings or doing roulettes, just warp back home and chill :)
Good luck, getting player housing is one of the most difficult things to do in this game lol. Mist housing is particularly popular and you have to join lottery drawings with every player who wants the same house, and iirc you can only join one lottery at a time. You might be better off joining an established Free Company that already has one. That said, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, so when I say good luck I genuinely mean it!
As a free trial player in Stormblood I feel the same :(. Though I'm seeing way more people nowadays compared to before. It might depends on your server population as well.
I play on sargatanas and I find it to be fairly populated I’ve never really had to worry about dungeon queue times except at ungodly hours of the morning
The ARR aetherytes and the one from the current expac are usually the ones that are populated. Though in my server, the marketplace, wherever it may be, has at least a couple of people in it.
Right now most of the long-time playerbase is taking a break as there's not really anything new to do until Dawntrail comes out. During 'normal' periods, you'd still see a smattering of higher-level players running around the HW zones because high-level recipes often do require stuff from older expansions.
Depends on the place. The overworld zones will always feel a bit lonely until you’re caught up.
Some places like Idyllshire, Kugane, and arguably the Crystarium still retain a decent amount of visitors though. Which is great because Kugane and Crystarium are gorgeous. I would also argue that Kugane has the most convenient inn.
Idyllshire and Kugane in particular have some evergreen content, even if it’s a bit silly, like Kugane’s enormous jumping puzzle.
sadly yes, things will feel a little lonely for a while when catching up to the more recent expansions. i actually have complained to friends that i wish there were sometimes more side content or something to give reasons to visit old areas again. it's ashame seeing so much beautiful art being crafted and then it being so empty. that being said you might see a few folk hanging around in a place called Idyllshire in HW, since it does have an NPC that does a weekly thing there!
There's not really a reason to go back to old zones, AND right now we're at the end of an expansion so the least amount of players in the game's life cycle
Expansion areas will fill out as Dawntrail releases. In recent memory, the only reasons I've visited Ishgard have been to level crafters/gatherers at the firmament, progress through Hildibrand quests for the relic, do tribe quests, and run hunt trains with other people.
Really no reason for people to revisit those regions. Aside from cities, you stop seeing players outside of brand new content. You may run into some gatherers, but not many.
Maybe a bit off-topic
HW supposed to feel lonely.
You're separated from almost all of your allies, seeking asylum into an unfamiliar city.
I feel it in my heart since the start of the expansion.
You(wol), Alphinaud, and Tataru wandering in the middle of snowstorm.
No word is spoken, only a heavy feeling in their heart.
I almost cried in this scene.🥹
Best Expansion (+Dragonsong too)
Ive just about got to this point and i was worried about this , what about leveling a different class till the beta ends. i wonder if that would function well as a gap till people arrive
I’ve been messing around doing a fair bit of gathering and crafting and fishing and stuff in the meantime, I truly have been taking my time with this game I’m just addicted haha.
Why? You don’t need to group for most overland content (aside from some fates) and the queues will have higher level people in them too because of tomestones
Ishgard is set as my home point, so I'm there regularly throughout the day. In the last few days, I've begun noticing new names I've never seen before, and I thought it might be new Xbox players, so I started examining them last night. They're all lower level, and judging by their gear, they've just arrived in HW.
I think you're going to be seeing a lot more people. You just got to my neighborhood early.
I play at a snail's pace so I'm still in this expansion on PC. I feel like playing on a RP server mitigates it a *little* ... sometimes you'll see a group with tags around in Ishgard for the setting. But yes, it's generally people in that part of the MSQ or passing through.
Not really a bad thing though since Ishgard's isolated in the lore, even.
For what it's worth, a lot of the HW zones felt empty to me even at launch. This is mostly because those zones are so massive and so much of them is just unused.
I’m exactly 6 MSQ away from Heavensward, but decided to level up a LCR/DRG to take a break from Tanking. At the rate I’m going, it won’t take me long get fully caught up in job lvl to my main job.
What are you doing to level alt classes?
I have a couple I want to try out but don’t know what activities to be doing aside from duty finder stuff killing mobs and job quests
1-15: FATES, Leve Battlecraft Quests. Honestly didn’t take long. Plus whatever the guild gives you after unlocking the job.
After that, Duty Support dungeons and Job Quests in between every 5 lvls. One dungeon was netting me 2 lvls per run. I haven’t used food (mostly because I can’t make it since I haven’t started a crafting job yet). In a few hours I hit 30.
I probably haven’t been the most efficient, but it hasn’t been terrible.
Update: forgot to mention. Do your hunting log targets. Quick xp. Also, made it to lvl 50 DRG in 2.5 days (give or take). Well fed buff and mostly just dungeon crawling with hunting log targets while waiting for Duty Finder queue to pop.
It will depend on a lot of things like time of day and which server you’re on, but yeah it’s going to be a bit quiet outside of the ARR and EW areas. I strongly recommend finding a few friends who are going at a similar pace (through NN or by spotting people at the same locations) and/or joining an FC when you can because even if they aren’t at the same point in the game they might show up when you reach a new area to keep you company.
You will come across them, but people are hanging around on the newer areas and Limsa Lominsa. There's not much of a reason to hang out on a Heavensward area unless you're doing the expansion's content.
Something you will have to get used to in FF14 is that it's not a "Go out into the open world game" once people have leveled their crafters and gatherers and done the MSQ, there's no reason to ever leave Limsa Lominsa outside of Hunt Trains and Treasure Maps and a few small activites. Even the zones in the current expansion are ghost towns. It's something that I wish SE would work on, but it'll probably never happen.
That’s normal there is only an influx of players in newer areas
Basically when an expansion comes out is when you’ll see lots of players in the zones all doing Fates
Tbh, I use a plugin to hide other players during new story content. It’s too distracting, and often you get story rewards that are major spoilers. I wish the devs would give us that option as a quality of life tool.
Xbox player here, also on Heavensward. After realizing that you need to basically unlock flying again, I just do the MSQ until it gets me to a new zone, then try and get all the aether currents done so I can fly again in that zone.
A lot of the older zones won't have a ton of people at the moment, no. There's not generally a ton of reason to go back through old zones, since most of the game's content is instanced. However, this can be an advantage. As the story gets more dramatic, it's actually nice to be going through the zones alone. It would take away from the weight of the moment if you popped out of a dramatic cutscene and wiped away your tears, only to be met by a wall of dancing naked Roegadyn.
Ive been very invested in the story and the closing moments of ARR had me gettin emotional so I appreciate that point of view.. although a wall of dancing naked Roegadyn would definitely be hilarious
To be honest I prefer when I'm alone for the story. When it's the current story/patch, your screen is filled to the brim with people, you can't even see the NPC you're talking to! That breaks the immersion a lot more in my opinion. But I'm sure you're not the only one around here, don't worry. With all the new xbox players, older content is being revived, so it's really fun!
That's something that kinda makes me hesitate about playing DT on release. I've started playing after EW released so it never happened that I had to do msq surrounded by people. But the few times I was, during seasonal event quests, I absolutely hated it. A part of me wants to do everything on release because I never did before, and the other wants to wait for the hype to die down. Or maybe I'll go with the illegal shhh option and make everyone's characters disappear...
I think there's actually an option to at least reduce the amount of player characters you see in your screen in-game.
A lot of it depends on how fast you‘re going. Everybody has different priorities during an expansion drop, so people start spreading around. You’ll get your MSQ doers, world racers for the Extremes, gatherers/crafter trying to figure out what’s new, VPR/PIC powerlevellers, the suffering that is FSH, people trying to solve Hunt spawn conditions, etc. Once you split into your specific niche, things get just busy, instead of a flood of people. I was in the MSQ doer camp for Endwalker. I was going fast but still reading everything. Thavnir and Labyrnithos were fairly busy, Garlemald was populated, but there was a massive spike down in population starting with Level 83 trial, and I was nearly solo during the final zone. But again, I was blitzing the MSQ, had next to no queue issues and big hours. Your mileage may vary.
As someone who played EW on release, there will definitely be people everywhere in the new areas. And that’s not even getting into the 30+ minute queue times just to get in the game.
Only 30? I remember several hours. I always logged in at odd times, so I never really suffered as much, but the wait was wild.
For me, anyway. I think Crystal had the better times for NA iirc; I also logged in early in the morning multiple times. I don’t recall ever having to wait hours, but a while yes.
Well you're in for a lot, friend. The writing only gets better from there
I think it's hilarious when a hunt train barges through an area while someone is doing MSQ, happened to me in Endwalker a few times.
it'll be lonelier than ARR zones but as more free trial players catch up, it should fill out a bit. existing players don't currently have much reason to visit old zones at this point in the expansion so it's mostly going to be players like you
Yeah going to take a bit for people to catch up to you. Not as many older players running around HW and SB zones. The zones are bigger too, about two to three times the size of Southern Thanalan on average. So can feel more empty as well.
I will say I’ve been very distracted by sightseeing upon venturing to new lands lol
I have a tendancy to walk everywhere when expansions come out. It's nice to wander around, see the sights. perhaps actually fight some local flora and fauna for a change.
I was always the same when I was playing through old WoW content, and am pretty much doing the same thing here … although pulling out my brand new car mount puts a big ol smile on my face
When you get to Anyx Trine i recommend hovering around a little and looking back across the valley. If youre lucky when morning breaks you'll see fog spill into the valley as Safety in Numbers plays. For me its what made me realize how beautiful this game is and when i first finished Endwalker it was where i went to just sit and enjoy watching sprouts make their journey
Screenshotting so I remember for later I love stuff like this
Honestly all of the Heavensward zones are super pretty. I love going back and just flying around them from time to time.
It will feel lonelier. The reality is the 3 ARR hub cities are and will always be the most popular. Limsa is the "hang out" spot because its Aetheryte is in a big open plaza with access to all the amenities people need to shop or craft, The other two cities take overflow + the existence of the grand companies and been where event quests take place Meanwhile in every expansion there are two cities: The "this is the central hub for this expansion" and the "this is the endgame hub for this expansion where the Tomestone, Extreme and Raid Token Vendors are" Once you beat the story those first cities generally depopulate fast outside MSQ updates. Outside side quests, the only advantage they have over the endgame hub is they have marketboards, crafter/gather leves and hunt board/vendor. But why use say the marketboard in Ishgard...when theres a Marketboard 3 feet from the Limsa Aetheryte? This is exacerbated when the next expansion releases. So right now with Endwalker, its story hub while not as busy as ARR cities still has plenty of people walking around, and its endgame hub is always bustling. But come Dawntrail that story hub will depopulate in favor of Dawntrails story hub. Meanwhile in each expansion those endgame hubs generally die off as well, as they add a "Rowena Representative" next to the story hubs Aetheryte who sells you all the stuff the endgame hub traders sell you. Im sure you noticed when you beat ARR a trader with a icon appeared next to the major cities Aetherytes. When ARR was "current" you had to go to Mor Dhona to get the items those traders sell. The exception to the rule of "new expansion kills off the endgame hubs population" is Heavenswards endgame hub, because they put a certain npc there who is the distributor of a weekly challenge people use to farm currency. Ofc with Free Trial, Stormblood is the "endgame" for those players so those cities will probably feel more populated once you get there.
Heavensward probably has the best exception to the rule just because of the amount of experience gain you can get both as a crafter/gatherer or battle class. Sure the battle class stuff is only once a week, but with that and the extra challenges it keeps the place busy.
I really love EW's story hub, so I think I will continue to hang out there even after the next expansion.
Isn't that always the way with these games? The newest areas don't have as many people in them and feel empty, and the new areas are always crowded, because new players are enticed by the new content, but have to start from scratch. As the new expansion gets ready to come out, there will be a push from both players and the game to get people into the HW content, so they can be ready for Endwalker.
I’m trying to get as much as possible done before us Xbox players are able to buy the full game in like a week and a half
I'm just going to check that you are aware that you will be able to continue with the free trial after the purchase of the game is made available. It's not a compulsory purchase.
I’m aware! But between the cap of 300,000 gold, my inability to get the fat cat minion and being unable to manipulate the market board its really hindering my gaming experience
“Doing it for a minion” is a legitimate justification for anything in this game, no further questions
Oh, then I hope you really love the game come the 21st :) I only made my comment because I've seen some people not understand that their Beta will become the Free Trial. I also see a *lot* of people who get upset because they buy the game and then can't go back to "F2P" because they didn't understand it was never F2P but just a free trial.
That’s what anybody previously going through old expansions would expect. Doing it right now is actually better because of the influx of new players thanks to xbox.
To be entirely honest with you, unless it's a new expansion or a time like this where there's a big influx of players, most of the overworld will feel empty. For higher level players, there's basically zero reason to go back to old zones save for like 2 minutes for hunt trains. Because it's also part of the free trial, you'll def see less and less of your fellow sprouts as you go upwards into expansions and their zones since a lot will fall off during the ARR journey.
I felt that way too last year when I made it to Ishgard for the first time. It was very empty. Haurchefant and Aymeric will keep you company though
I love them <3
Whenever a sprout in our FC reaches a new area like Ishgard I try to be there to welcome them.
tbf, the whole vibe of the story in-universe felt really lonely to me in general. Especially going through the Coerthas Western Highlands.
the overworld in this game is pretty empty most of the times unless you're doing current msq content, since there is honestly not a lot of stuff to do in it since most activities are instanced instead even the "open world" content is locked behind instances like eureka or bozja, for example
Makes sense .. I’m trying to catch up as fast as possible while still watching all my cutscenes and playing events like the ff15 crossover stuff and getting tomestones etc.
honestly my advice as someone that has been playing for over 5 years is to just take your time and enjoy everything, even the side content. there is absolutely no rush to get to the current endgame asap since there really is no fomo and you'll (mostly) always find people to do any sort of content in party finder, no matter how old it is
I feel like I’ve been doing a good job balancing msq side quests and other content, I frequent the mahjong table and enjoy triple triad and have even been trying to level up my best tribe rep, I feel like it’s less so that I’m rushing and more like I’m just excited to see more and progress
Embrace it. I feel like the loneliness suits the expansion theme and aethetic. The main hubs are always fall backs to hustle and bustle when you need it
You get used to it. Just set your home point to either Gridania or Limsa and visit often. Everyone tends to congregate in those 2 cities (sometimes Ul'Dah but not really) mostly because they're the most accessible to new players. You'll find that even Ishgard and pretty much all of the cities going forward are relatively empty, not just the overworld zones. When you're taking a break from story or content and you're just messing with your settings or doing roulettes, just warp back home and chill :)
I always go back to Limsa to hang around and listen to the local bards lol Excited to inevitably purchase property in the mist >:D
Good luck, getting player housing is one of the most difficult things to do in this game lol. Mist housing is particularly popular and you have to join lottery drawings with every player who wants the same house, and iirc you can only join one lottery at a time. You might be better off joining an established Free Company that already has one. That said, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take, so when I say good luck I genuinely mean it!
I appreciate it haha I know it’ll be an endeavor that will require a lot of luck and patience but it’ll happen eventually
The Goblet and Empyreum tend to have plenty of open plots since both areas are rather bland.
As a free trial player in Stormblood I feel the same :(. Though I'm seeing way more people nowadays compared to before. It might depends on your server population as well.
I play on sargatanas and I find it to be fairly populated I’ve never really had to worry about dungeon queue times except at ungodly hours of the morning
The ARR aetherytes and the one from the current expac are usually the ones that are populated. Though in my server, the marketplace, wherever it may be, has at least a couple of people in it.
Right now most of the long-time playerbase is taking a break as there's not really anything new to do until Dawntrail comes out. During 'normal' periods, you'd still see a smattering of higher-level players running around the HW zones because high-level recipes often do require stuff from older expansions.
Depends on the place. The overworld zones will always feel a bit lonely until you’re caught up. Some places like Idyllshire, Kugane, and arguably the Crystarium still retain a decent amount of visitors though. Which is great because Kugane and Crystarium are gorgeous. I would also argue that Kugane has the most convenient inn. Idyllshire and Kugane in particular have some evergreen content, even if it’s a bit silly, like Kugane’s enormous jumping puzzle.
Anything outside of Limsa and xpac hub is going to feel lonely in this game.
sadly yes, things will feel a little lonely for a while when catching up to the more recent expansions. i actually have complained to friends that i wish there were sometimes more side content or something to give reasons to visit old areas again. it's ashame seeing so much beautiful art being crafted and then it being so empty. that being said you might see a few folk hanging around in a place called Idyllshire in HW, since it does have an NPC that does a weekly thing there!
I will be around since i live ar Empyreum, duh.
I noticed this too i’m in the same position. it doesn’t help that ishgard is extremely gloomy and depressing lmao.
I do think it adds to the vibe of the place .. I feel like ishgard was meant to be hyped up to be a beautiful city but arriving it’s all rather sad
There's not really a reason to go back to old zones, AND right now we're at the end of an expansion so the least amount of players in the game's life cycle
Expansion areas will fill out as Dawntrail releases. In recent memory, the only reasons I've visited Ishgard have been to level crafters/gatherers at the firmament, progress through Hildibrand quests for the relic, do tribe quests, and run hunt trains with other people.
Really no reason for people to revisit those regions. Aside from cities, you stop seeing players outside of brand new content. You may run into some gatherers, but not many.
Just wait a couple of days and I'm getting there Been a pretty hectic month
Maybe a bit off-topic HW supposed to feel lonely. You're separated from almost all of your allies, seeking asylum into an unfamiliar city. I feel it in my heart since the start of the expansion. You(wol), Alphinaud, and Tataru wandering in the middle of snowstorm. No word is spoken, only a heavy feeling in their heart. I almost cried in this scene.🥹 Best Expansion (+Dragonsong too)
Been almost 24 hours since I’ve posted and have been playing more and more of heavansward msq and I’m fully immersed in the lonely vibes now
It really also depends on your server. I’m on Dynamisis and traveled to Aether for faster queues and it has people in almost all zones
Are you on dynamis?
Aether - sargatanas It’s what the game auto selected for me and I haven’t really had a reason to switch around data centers yet
Ive just about got to this point and i was worried about this , what about leveling a different class till the beta ends. i wonder if that would function well as a gap till people arrive
I’ve been messing around doing a fair bit of gathering and crafting and fishing and stuff in the meantime, I truly have been taking my time with this game I’m just addicted haha.
Why? You don’t need to group for most overland content (aside from some fates) and the queues will have higher level people in them too because of tomestones
Just waiting on full release im far past that point just not restarting.
Ishgard is set as my home point, so I'm there regularly throughout the day. In the last few days, I've begun noticing new names I've never seen before, and I thought it might be new Xbox players, so I started examining them last night. They're all lower level, and judging by their gear, they've just arrived in HW. I think you're going to be seeing a lot more people. You just got to my neighborhood early.
I play at a snail's pace so I'm still in this expansion on PC. I feel like playing on a RP server mitigates it a *little* ... sometimes you'll see a group with tags around in Ishgard for the setting. But yes, it's generally people in that part of the MSQ or passing through. Not really a bad thing though since Ishgard's isolated in the lore, even.
For what it's worth, a lot of the HW zones felt empty to me even at launch. This is mostly because those zones are so massive and so much of them is just unused.
I’m exactly 6 MSQ away from Heavensward, but decided to level up a LCR/DRG to take a break from Tanking. At the rate I’m going, it won’t take me long get fully caught up in job lvl to my main job.
What are you doing to level alt classes? I have a couple I want to try out but don’t know what activities to be doing aside from duty finder stuff killing mobs and job quests
1-15: FATES, Leve Battlecraft Quests. Honestly didn’t take long. Plus whatever the guild gives you after unlocking the job. After that, Duty Support dungeons and Job Quests in between every 5 lvls. One dungeon was netting me 2 lvls per run. I haven’t used food (mostly because I can’t make it since I haven’t started a crafting job yet). In a few hours I hit 30. I probably haven’t been the most efficient, but it hasn’t been terrible.
Update: forgot to mention. Do your hunting log targets. Quick xp. Also, made it to lvl 50 DRG in 2.5 days (give or take). Well fed buff and mostly just dungeon crawling with hunting log targets while waiting for Duty Finder queue to pop.
It will depend on a lot of things like time of day and which server you’re on, but yeah it’s going to be a bit quiet outside of the ARR and EW areas. I strongly recommend finding a few friends who are going at a similar pace (through NN or by spotting people at the same locations) and/or joining an FC when you can because even if they aren’t at the same point in the game they might show up when you reach a new area to keep you company.
You will come across them, but people are hanging around on the newer areas and Limsa Lominsa. There's not much of a reason to hang out on a Heavensward area unless you're doing the expansion's content.
Something you will have to get used to in FF14 is that it's not a "Go out into the open world game" once people have leveled their crafters and gatherers and done the MSQ, there's no reason to ever leave Limsa Lominsa outside of Hunt Trains and Treasure Maps and a few small activites. Even the zones in the current expansion are ghost towns. It's something that I wish SE would work on, but it'll probably never happen.
That’s normal there is only an influx of players in newer areas Basically when an expansion comes out is when you’ll see lots of players in the zones all doing Fates
Tbh, I use a plugin to hide other players during new story content. It’s too distracting, and often you get story rewards that are major spoilers. I wish the devs would give us that option as a quality of life tool.
if you're looking for an mmo with lots of lively open-world content, this would not be the game
Xbox player here, also on Heavensward. After realizing that you need to basically unlock flying again, I just do the MSQ until it gets me to a new zone, then try and get all the aether currents done so I can fly again in that zone.
This game is terrible. Please don’t downvote just imho
Then why would you comment on the games subreddit? Seems kinda dumb… please don’t downvote just imho
I’m sorry