Will there be any more forms of transportation added?

[DR2D2]

I know there are Chocobo's and warps(both outpost and craig) for getting around quickly, but i am wondering if there will ever be a "shuttle" service which runs from city to city and also makes stops in each of the zones? When u get Rank 5, u could be allowed access to this train(or have to pay say 100k for a pass). Even better-there could be raids on the train that could both take gill/items or also give items/gill depending on some things(SE could work that part of it out). I say this because even with chocobos and warps, it still seems to take too long to get to zones. Im suggesting this because it seems like any time i try to do a mission or quest it takes me 3x longer than it could take(due to foot/chocobo travel)

[queenuma]

warps(both outpost and craig)

Damn you Craig! You never warp me!!!

Seriously we've already got Airships to take us between the starter cities and Jeuno so I don't really see a need for another transport method in these areas. The only thing I would like to see is a Jeuno tele-taru that dumps you somewhere near Whitegate. Yeah I know we have Olduum rings but 20 hours is a long time to wait between uses.

[Susurrus]

This is a joke right?

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Only if its Doomtrain. :P

[DR2D2]

This is a joke right?

no joke. Im wondering because it seems like lately all of the missions and quests are taking 6-9hrs. An example is when I did my quest to unlock SMN:me and 3 others started the mission at 5:00pm. By the time we finished the mission it was 12:30am. The dragon fight took 1min and 40 sec.(so that wasn't the reason it took so long). The main reason why it took so long was because we had to chocobo from the Craigs to the spots we needed to goto. While I realize that part of the game is getting to the locations needed, I also dont think it should take 30 min just to get to a spot either(espically if u are in the middle of a mission or quest). Maybe a compromise could be to offer the use of a "shuttle service" if u are doing a mission(it can only be used to get to locations needed for the mission and u can only use it to get to the location-not back to the city). I just feel that the travel time is making it difficult to do any of the quests/missions in a reasonable time frame(should not take more than 30min total for travel time)

[DR2D2]

no, this is not a joke--just getting upset at how long quests and missions are taking to complete(seems like 80% of the time it takes to complete a mission/quest is due to travel). Im not saying there shouldn't be any time associated with travel, but how about making it a little more able to complete missions/quests without having to spend 6-12hrs on them(thats all im asking for). A compromise could be that for each mission(at least) u get use of a "shuttle system" to get to the locations for that mission only(and it will not return u to the city) I know this probably wont be used in any updates, but I feel if a "shuttle system" were in use, more people would play FFxi(as u take out alot of the time constraints which turn people away from these types of games(ffxi, wow, ect....)

[DR2D2]

sorry-i double posted-my bad--sorry again(they kind of go together-lol)

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Any time you have a train/shuttle/ship that goes along a route, it has to stop a reasonable amount of time at each stop for players to board. It would have to be at least a minute or two. And if you're going to have "raids" on the train, there would have to be significant transit time aboard the train between the stops. Why do you think the boat ride between Mhaura and Selbina takes so long? If it was a short ride, you could never fit in a pirate attack or take down Sea Horror.

Say there was a train between San d'Oria and Windurst. It has to cross 8 zones. If it had to stop at each zone for a couple of minutes, and included some transit time in between each stop, would it actually be any faster than the existing methods of travel? Don't forget to add in how long you might end up waiting if you arrive at the station just as the train was leaving San d'Oria / Windurst. If you were trying to take it just from zone-to-zone, you might have to wait a while for a train that's heading in the right direction.

Make up some reasonable numbers and do the math. I think you'll see that Teleports + Chocobos still end up being as fast, if not faster.

PS. the SMN flag quest just takes a long time. Period. Shuttles won't make it faster, since you have to wait around for weather conditions anyway.

[DR2D2]

What i am proposing is not an unlimited use train(such as the ferrys and airships) but rather a sort of express(1-way) type traine(maybe similar to the BC warps(where only the members of the party can get into the circle). Im not saying have a train for say regular travel byt rather to help streamline the time it takes to do the missions somewhat. Im looking for a way to do the missions in a time frame that doesn't require me to devote a whole evening for just 1 mission. Other than travel time in missions, I don't have a problem with the travel time-just with the missions it seems like more time is spent on getting to the location than is actually spent doing what is required for the mission

[DR2D2]

Im at work and sometimes get things merged together-up top i was reffering to the DRG quest(the 1 where u start in Sandy, then go accross the world to the maze of s.,then goto the dragon's spine in Sarg. champ, then go back accross the world to Sandy, and then goto Ghelsba). As u can see, if there were a shuttle train, this quest would take 1/3 the time(the longest part would(and should be) finding the spot to dig for the egg). As i said I started at 5:00pm, and almost ran out of time(I had to be to work at 9:00am and wanted to turn in by 2:00am).

[Neomage]

I'm fine with it the way it is. The only thing I could really ask for is Bastok's OP warp actually being next to bastok, and a warp taru in jeuno that warps you to whitegate.

The travel required to do these things is why I loke FFXI so much. Ok, I'll admit, the Promyvions where going a little to far, but dungeon crawling missions is part of the difficulty of the mission. Personally, I would just think it would be boring if, say on Khimera 13 for ToAU, you immediately get warped to the BC, kill the thing, then have a BLM D2 you back. Certainly it would make it easier, and less deaths from stuff like Wamouras, but it is not that bad. Mabye if you visited the area before you could use a special item or pay gil to warp to the destination, but your first time there you'd better walk(of tele/choco/w/e)

[DR2D2]

I was thinking the shuttle could be like the staging area warps(where u warp to the staging area and do the mission form there). I realize there are advantages to not having a shuttle system the same way u have the ferrys and airships(leveling up, and farming are 2 examples), but having an "optional" shuttle system ,to at least get to the zone for the mission, would allow people with limited time to still be able to do the missions. Once a player reaches rank 5, the other missions should have an option of warping to the zone(as long as u are a certain level(kind of like the outpost warps)), but u should only be able to shuttle to the zone line(and no return shuttle). Im saying there should be a limited optional shuttle service for missions only(remember the missions are involved enough without the travel time). The only other option would be to allow tempory use of the in-game maps for the mission that a player is currently on(or have the location show up as a marker on the "key item maps"). I know this shounds like I want to make the game easier, but what I want is to make the travel less time consuming when doing a mission or quest.

[DR2D2]

[quote=Onionsoilder;667177]
but dungeon crawling missions is part of the difficulty of the mission.

This shuttle would still require u to get through the dungeon(it would get u to the zone line only). Also, the shuttle would not get u back(it would only be a 1-way shuttle)it would only by-pass getting from the starting city to the dungeon zone

[Ameroth]

I'm not convinced your proposed "shuttle" idea is good. At all. So far the only argument you've had for it is that you like to try and do missions when you know you have limited time.

I agree with the others. Airship, OP warps, Crags, chocobo.... At the most, your gonna have a 10-15 minute ride/run to any place you're gonna need to be going. If that 10-15 minutes really is TOO long for you, I'd advise a new MMO.

[DR2D2]

. At all. So far the only argument you've had for it is that you like to try and do missions when you know you have limited time.

.


I guess im upset at the fact that it seemes like doing the missions and quests is all about getting there instead of actually doing the mission. I agree some of the mission should involve having to travel, but why do missions have to be 80-90% travel and only about 10% actual mission activity? I guess I should have asked if any of the future missions realised will have the same travel involvment as the current missions seem to have. I apologize for the mix-up.

[Jei]

I'd love to see flying chocobo. Like FF5. We already have a purple chocobo... maybe they can learn to fly.

[Illuen]

I'd love to see flying chocobo. Like FF5. We already have a purple chocobo... maybe they can learn to fly.

We got purple chocobos? When? *would kill for a purple choco*

[Neomage]

Blue = Purple(I think)

since day 1 blues have always looked more purple to me then blue...

EDIT: But it would be interesting if certain chocobos could learn special abilities, like Black chocobos could be ridden in dungeons with half riding time, Blue chocobos could swim, Red chocobos could... umm... walk thought the lava in ifrits? XD

[Illuen]

Ahh.

LIES AND UNTRUTHS, MURPHIE!


/cry

[Eohmer]

Umm, don't you think we have enough already? Geez...

[Jei]

There's light and dark blue. The dark blue looks almost purple to me.

[Murphie]

Ahh.

LIES AND UNTRUTHS, MURPHIE!


/cryWhat do I have to do with this? :(

[Armando]

There's light and dark blue. The dark blue looks almost purple to me.Fair enough. I still can't decide if Adaman armor is closer to blue or purple after all these years. Let's just call it Blurple.

[Haggai]

Im at work and sometimes get things merged together-up top i was reffering to the DRG quest(the 1 where u start in Sandy, then go accross the world to the maze of s.,then goto the dragon's spine in Sarg. champ, then go back accross the world to Sandy, and then goto Ghelsba). As u can see, if there were a shuttle train, this quest would take 1/3 the time(the longest part would(and should be) finding the spot to dig for the egg). As i said I started at 5:00pm, and almost ran out of time(I had to be to work at 9:00am and wanted to turn in by 2:00am).
Nine hours to do the Dragoon unlock quest? Did you walk the whole way?

This is assuming you don't have WHM36+ main or sub, or have a WHM friend. I can't imagine this whole quest taking any more than four hours MAX. This is Chocobo the whole way, no teleports.


Sandy walking and talking (15 min)
Travel Sandy > W.Ronfaure > La Theine > Jugner > Batallia > Jeuno > Sauromugue > Meriphataud > Tahrongi > Maze (1 hour)
Find point, get egg, and warp back to sandy (15 min)
More walking and talking (15 min)
Travel Sandy > W.Ronfaure > La Theine > Jugner > Batallia > Jeuno > Sauromugue > Meriphataud (50 min)
CS with egg at spine and Warp back to Sandy (10 min, max)
Walk and talk yet again (15 min)
Go out to Ghelsba and kill dragon (20 min)Now thats three hours and 20 minutes, throw on another 40 minutes for backtracking and dilly-dallying, and that makes four hours. This is being generous on the riding times, assuming that not everyone has perfect riding skills. I put pit stops in Jeuno to get new chocobos, as not everyone can make it Sandy > Maze of Shakrami on one 30 minute chocobo (it can be done).

Access to Teleports makes travel time a joke, as the Maze is right next to the Crag of Mea, and Crag Chocobos make getting to the spine in Meriphataud a snap.

If you're from San d'Oria, Outpost warps also make this extremely easy. OP > Kolshushu for the Maze, OP > Aragoneu for the Spine.

-----------------------

Summoner on the other hand can take 9 hours easily. Heck, with bad luck, it can take a few days. Getting the ruby to drop without Treasure Hunter can take forever, and gathering all colors can take forever, too.

[Murphie]

I think the DRG quest too me all of 20 minutes as a WHM. When I've done it in the past as other jobs it took a bit longer, but certainly not anywhere near nine hours.

[Raydeus]

I'd like seeing a Revolver kinda cannon that would fire you into space so you could visit the Zilart space station and even the (Moon).

Now that would be nice indeed.

[Karinya]

Haggai: You're assuming that whoever is doing it has the wits to set HP in Sandy and bring a method of warping. Also, someone still trying to unlock advanced jobs may not have very many outpost warps available, even if they are from Sandy.

On the other hand, someone who isn't even using all the transportation options that are *already* in the game probably shouldn't be asking for new ones to be added.


A reasonably quick way to get to Al Zahbi that doesn't have a 20 hour recast would be nice, so that everyone wouldn't be forced to set HP there and add to the congestion and lag. Aside from that I don't think we need that much new transportation - the options we have are pretty good, if you actually use them.

Maybe when the TAU mission storyline is finally finished, one of the rewards will be the ability to teleport from your home country to Al Zahbi, like an outpost warp. It does seem to be moving in the direction of greater connection between the old world nations and the Empire.

Alternatively (or in addition), if commissioned officer ranks are added for Assault, a 1/1 16:00:00 item with Teleport-Salaheem's Office would be appropriate and useful.

[Haggai]

Haggai: You're assuming that whoever is doing it has the wits to set HP in Sandy and bring a method of warping. Also, someone still trying to unlock advanced jobs may not have very many outpost warps available, even if they are from Sandy.
I never included outpost warps in the four hour max. That was for those who have it available.

To me, not setting your HP in Sandy and using warp to get back for this quest is plain dumb if you are going everywhere on chocobo. Anyone can get an instant warp scroll in Sandy, just visit an embassy. And if you don't want to spend the Conquest Points, you shouldn't be complaining on how long it takes.

Even if you don't warp back to Sandy, that will (at max) double your travel time. That's eight hours, still not nine.

I just can't fathom how it took nine hours.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Now thats three hours and 20 minutes, throw on another 40 minutes for backtracking and dilly-dallying, and that makes four hours. This is being generous on the riding times, assuming that not everyone has perfect riding skills. I put pit stops in Jeuno to get new chocobos, as not everyone can make it Sandy > Maze of Shakrami on one 30 minute chocobo (it can be done).
I can attest to the numbers being very generous. Not only can I do Sandy > Maze in under 30 minutes on Chocobo, I can easily do Sandy > Windurst on one chocobo as well (ever done the return-this-chocobo mini-quests?)

A mission based, teleport-to-the-BC approach wouldn't help much with the two big examples given by the OP: DRG flag quest and SMN flag quest. The DRG fight doesn't come until the tail end of the quest, so that would be an express warp from Sandy to Ghelsba. And it would certainly not help the SMN flag quest in any way.

[Armando]

I have to side with Haggai on this, too. Scrolls of Instant Warp aren't a big investment in any way, and not picking an efficient way to travel is the person's own fault. Even a Lv.30 player can get around just fine; I used to make it from Windurst to La Theine/Ronfaure zone line in the 30 minutes my chocobo lasted (I say used to because, of course, I don't have the need to do so any more.) It's not particularly hard to make it from Sandy to the Maze in 30 minutes as long as you don't take the long routes about the zones; his estimate of 1 hour is more than generous. If the person really cares that much about how much time it'll take to do the mission, then the steps would look more like...

1. Walk and talk, 15 minutes
2. Sandy to Maze, 30 minutes.
3. Excavate and Warp, 15 minutes.
4. More walking and talking, 15 minutes.
5. Sandy to Drogaroga's in Meriphataud, 30 minutes.
6. Cutscene and warp, 10 minutes (and that's generous.)
7. Walk, talk, 15 minutes.
8. Beat dragon, 20 minutes

That's 2 and a half hours using only resources available to any Lv.20 player. Yeah, some missions/quests will take 2-4 hours of travelling if you're going pure chocobo, but that's still nowhere near as bad as the OP makes it out to be, and anyone that cares that much about the travel time will try to get the outpost warps ASAP.

[Haggai]

A mission based, teleport-to-the-BC approach wouldn't help much with the two big examples given by the OP: DRG flag quest and SMN flag quest. The DRG fight doesn't come until the tail end of the quest, so that would be an express warp from Sandy to Ghelsba. And it would certainly not help the SMN flag quest in any way.
Teleport-to-the-BC would take some of the difficulty and fun out of some missions. Think of Mission 5-2 where you need to trek through Xarcabard and all of Castle Zvahl Baileys and Keep just to get to the BC, that's half the fun.

Plus if you're just teleporting everywhere you go, you're kinda taking the fantasy out of Final Fantasy. To me, Final Fantasy worlds are designed as if they could be based on a planet in the far reaches of the universe. Having to run to the Throne Room makes me feel like FFXI is a semi-realistic world.

[LyonheartLakshmi]

Teleport-to-the-BC would take some of the difficulty and fun out of some missions. Think of Mission 5-2 where you need to trek through Xarcabard and all of Castle Zvahl Baileys and Keep just to get to the BC, that's half the fun.

Plus if you're just teleporting everywhere you go, you're kinda taking the fantasy out of Final Fantasy. To me, Final Fantasy worlds are designed as if they could be based on a planet in the far reaches of the universe. Having to run to the Throne Room makes me feel like FFXI is a semi-realistic world.
I totally agree. If they made it so that you were insta-ported to the BC for every mission/quest battle, it would all feel very "get her done". The last game I played that felt that way? It would have to be the last disc of Xenogears. It was basically one boss fight after another, tied together with CSs. It felt very lame and anti-climactic.