Letter From The Producer LIVE Part XVII Q&A

25 Aug 2014
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liveletterxvii

During the 14 hour boradcast, Naoki Yoshida conducted the XVIIth letter from the producer live!

You can check out the full Q&A below which includes such amazing news as Triple Triad coming to the Gold Saucer!

Q1: In patch 2.4 you’ll be introducing a Japanese-esque job, ninja, but will you be adding other Japanese-esque furnishings or other elements?

A1: Despite the fact that many of the Doma have come over, they really haven’t started bartering for real, so not that much will be implemented at that time, but we’ll add some.

 

Q2: I’ve noticed a lot of the recent content requires a lot of time to complete (The Hunt, Zodiac Weapons,etc.). Are you going to be focusing on this type of content in the future?

A2: I believe I mentioned this in a previous interview, but we see FFXIV as something akin to a theme park so the plan is to have a wide variety of content. The reason it seems like there has been a lot of this type of content recently is because we wanted to prioritize the implementation of content that requires a party. That’s why it may appear that the implementation of solo content seems to be lacking. Party-focused content tends to take a lot of time to implement and we are now finally starting to catch up on the implementation process. While it seems like we have been only focusing on party-focused content recently, we want to make sure to satisfy both the casual and hardcore players so we will do our best to have a great balance of both.

 

Q3: When are patch 2.38 and 2.4 planned to be released? Also, can you tell us anything about patch 2.4?

A3: We’re planning to release patch 2.38 around the timing of the Tokyo Game Show. As for patch 2.4, the team is working as hard as possible to ensure you don’t have to wait too long, so please hang in there a bit longer.

In patch 2.4 you’ll be able to fight Shiva. The details about patch 2.4… well… I think you’ll hear some stuff during 14-hour stream, so be sure to stick around.

 

Q4: Instead of only having Coil or extreme primals end-game content, can you increase the amount of casual content? How much other content will be added moving forward in proportion to the end-game content?

A4: By definition, end-game content is content for MMOs that does not end. With that said, elements of housing content can also be considered end-game content, and moving forward we’ll be adding a variety of things.

Of the things we will be adding, we’ll be adding content that you can participate in easily, for example, the new class and job we will be adding in patch 2.4 and also the Gold Saucer that is coming in the future.

 

Q5: Can you tell us anything about the new race?

A5: The new race… Well, the animations are basically finished, but we think we’ll announce it around the time a certain NPC reveals their face.

 

Q6: Are we able to play the content in the expansion pack even if we have not completed all of the Coil of Bahamut?

A6: Yes, you will be able to play without completing the dungeon!

 

Q7: In the future, will we ever be able to go to the “Chocobo Forest” that is mentioned in the information for the “Draught Chocobo” in the minion guide?

A7: In FFXIV, Ishgard is the place that breeds and raises chocobos, and they only export the males at the moment. The “Chocobo Forest” In the older FINAL FANTASY series games was made into something a bit newer, and it won’t exactly be like it was in the past.

 

Q8: It would be awesome if there was a community event where we could design an item and the winner of the contest would have the item implemented in the game.

A8: While the content can be done through the official forums, a lot of the characters that appear in the FINAL FANTASY series have strict regulations on what they can and cannot wear. Even if we receive an awesome design, there’s a chance that we will not be able to implement it within the game. Therefore, we have think about if we just want the players to give us an image of the item and let the development team design the actual item, or reveal the regulations and let the players design their item based on them.

 

Q9: Will you be opening up an Eorzea Cafe in other regions besides the Kanto region in Japan?

A9: We’ll be discussing this as we check out how things are going at the moment.

 

Q10: Is there anything you can reveal about the expansion pack?

A10: We have finalized the title of the expansion pack and in the process of working on the artwork. In addition, we just finished building a mock-up of the field. We will be releasing more information in the future so please stay tuned!

 

Q11: Do you have any plans of releasing a new soundtrack?

A11: Nothing has been confirmed just yet, but there seems to be plans that are progressing.

 

Q12: There is no Roegadyn within the main group of the Scions of the Seventh Dawn. Will we ever see one in the future?

A12: Yes, you will.

 

Q13: Will you be adding new reward items for players that already have 500 commendations?

A13: We haven’t decided on the timing just yet, but we are making some to add.

 

Q14: I find it hard to get a party via Duty Finder for fights like Cape Westwind, The Striking Tree (Hard), and The Whorleater (Hard) because there are no important reasons for completing them a second time. Is there anyway you could add rewards so we can have more people participating?

A14: We will look into the current situation and make the necessary adjustments to the duty roulette and the category to make sure this doesn’t happen.

 

Q15: We’ve already had collaboration events for FINAL FANTASY XIII, FINAL FANTASY XI, and Dragon Quest X, but will there be other collaborations in the future for Square Enix games or other companies’ games?

A15: Though it’s planned to take place a bit in the future, we are in the midst of planning the next collaboration event. Due to the fact that FFXIV is spreading globally, it’s a bit tough to use things that can only be understood by Japan, so we’re thinking we will have more collaborations with our own titles. Additionally, we’ll be paying closer attention to whether tying two games together will really make them more interesting.

 

Q16: Are there any plans to separate the restrictions for the Second Coil of Bahamut (Savage) and the normal version?

A16: In patch 2.4, the normal and Savage mode of the Second Coil of Bahamut will be added to the Duty Finder and the restrictions will no longer be there.

As for the implementation of future Savage modes, we would like to make that decision based on how many players are actually playing the content. If we do decide to add more Savage modes in the future, we will consider either separating the entry restrictions or keep them the same.

 

Q17: Will you ever release Ultima Weapon (Extreme)?

A17: Our content schedule is pretty filled up at the moment, so I think it would have to be implemented a bit in the future, but we’d like to look into adding this.

 

Q18: Currently, once you complete the Coil of Bahamut, you are unable to challenge it until the reset. If we are in a FC or LS with more than 8 players, it’s hard to sync the progression of everyone in the FC/LS. Is there anyway you could change the once-a-week system so that we could help out our fellow FC/LS members?

A18: As for the once-a-week system that we currently have in place, we are indeed looking into the matter, but we haven’t been able to find an alternative system to take its place.

 

Q19: Can you tell us anything about Fan Festival?

A19: Following right after the North America Fan Festival on October 17, Europe will be holding theirs, and then Japan’s will take place later. Both the NA and JP Fan Festivals are scheduled for two days, and we’ll be having different content each day. In addition to panels and cosplay on the stage, we have a lot of plans for games and other plans on the show floor for everyone to participate in, and we also are planning to have goodies and a lot of other stuff.

 

Q20: I love the blue mage job that appears in the FINAL FANTASY series. Will the blue mage job ever be implemented in FFXIV?

A20: I personally think the blue mage job is an interesting job because it requires learning an enemy’s ability and it would probably be a lot of fun to play if it implemented. However, it’s difficult to think about what role they will play in a party so it will require a lot of thinking if we do decide to implement the job in the future.

 

Q21: Will you ever bring back the player survey you used to do for version 1.0?

A21: At that time there was no forum to receive player feedback, so we gathered feedback through surveys, but now we are collecting them all the time through the forum, community sites, and by for Letter from the Producer LIVE. Because of this, I think it’s important to keep continuing the Letter from the Producer LIVE first and foremost.

 

Q22: Currently, the summoner job is a DoT-focused job, but I want them to be more of a pet-focused job. Are there any plans to change the design of the summoner job?

A22: Controlling the pet would require a lot of player skill so it might be hard to find a good overall balance.

 

Q23: Will you have periodic censuses for FFXIV: ARR?

A23: We conducted one last year for Tokyo Game Show, and we are currently collecting and preparing various data for this year’s Tokyo Game Show as well.

 

Q24: Are you planning to make additions or expansions to the Wolves’ Den in the future?

A24: With the implementation of Frontline, there has been a good percentage of players who started to try out PvP for the first time, and I’m thinking with the percentage we’ve been seeing it might be a good idea. However, for the moment we’d like to keep increasing the amount of people participating in PvP, so I’d like to focus on Frontline for now.

Once a bit more people get involved in PvP, I’d like to make adjustments to the Wolves’ Den by adding rankings and rewards to make it more competitive.

 

Q25: When are you planning to add the next step in the Zodiac Weapon storyline? Also, what’s the item level of the next upgrade?

A25: While I cannot go into the item level just yet, I can say that the next step in the storyline will be added in patch 2.38!

 

Q26: There’s currently an NPC that mentions a strange train. Do you have any plans to implement a quest based on what the NPC is referring to?

A26: While it may not necessarily be the about the story that has been mentioned, we will continue to add lore-focused content and riddle-type quests in the future.

 

Q27: After enhancing our Zodiac weapons, I’d like to glamour them with the Zenith or Animus look, so could you add some replicas of these items?

A27: It might be possible to do this as long as they don’t have any battle-related differences.

 

Q28: With the Novus version of the Zodiac Weapon, we are able to attach a desired set of stats to the weapon. Will the stats ever be reset in the future when they are upgraded?

A28: No, the stats will not be reset.

 

Q29: Do you have any plans to ease the difficulty of obtaining the cosmetic gear such as the swimwear that was released in patch 2.3? They are very difficult at the moment to obtain.

A29: I do feel that they are a bit too difficult to obtain at the moment and I would like to make adjustments.

 

Q30: Are there any details that you can reveal about the Gold Saucer?

A30: We are planning to implement chocobo racing and the “Triple Triad” card game. Other than that, we have plans to implement a basketball shooting-like mini-game and an active event that will take place within the Gold Saucer. Please stay tuned!

 

Q31: Can you make it so elite marks randomly spawn in dungeons to boost the attractiveness of instanced dungeons?

A31: If we were to make elite marks spawn in dungeons, unless we made the spawn rate extremely high I don’t feel that it would fulfill this purpose. Also, I think players would continue to reset the instance if nothing spawns, so it would be difficult to balance. We’ll consider the feedback to add some random occurrences to dungeons.

 

Q32: I would like to see new battle content that requires a full party and/or alliance. Something along the lines of the combination of hunts and guildleves.

A32: If I understand correctly, something like the currently implemented treasure hunt? So you would like to play as a group, but not be interrupted by other players in the same field. I will be sure to take this request back to the development team.

 

Q33: Will you continue to add content that relies on FATEs in the future?

A33: We’ve been receiving all of your feedback, and we’ve been easing up on the FATEs that do not occur as often. While we can’t guarantee that we won’t add content like this in the future, we will take it into consideration.

 

Q34: Can you increase the frequency of hot fixes and fine tune PvP more?

A34: The development team would like to make adjustments to PvP values as much as possible, but we’d like to have the lead programmer Kasuga talk about how patches are done in the latter half of the show.

 

Q35: Are there any plans to add a new tank or healer job?

A35: As for the implementation of new jobs in the 2.0 series, ninja will be the last one.
For anything beyond the 2.0 series, please wait for future announcements!

 

Q36: In a previous Letter from the Producer LIVE you mentioned that you might be making changes to the class/job system. Can you tell us about this?

A36: Right now there is no information that we can share. However, there will be changes as we will be increasing the level cap.

kasuga

Q37: Kasuga, please give us an overview on what you are in charge of.

A37: Generally, I’m in charge of overseeing the engineer-related tasks. To be a little bit more specific, I make the decision for larger issues, assign tasks, and manage the schedule, etc. There isn’t anything specific that I worked on directly recently, but I’m also in charge of investigating bugs and looking into any other issues that are happening on the live servers.

 

Q38: Kasuga, can you tell us the status of the DirectX 11 client?

A38: We’ve essentially finished the drawing aspects. Next, we’ll be looking at expressions possible with DirectX 11 as well as how to achieve expressions that we couldn’t with DirectX 9.

 

Q39: Kasuga, I have enough gil to purchase land, but there aren’t enough open spaces. When are you planning to add more land? Also, is there any information you can reveal about personal housing?

A39: I apologize for the wait. We are continuing to look into the matter. As for future plans, we will be adding more land and implementing personal housing in patch 2.38. Please note that we will continue to look into how much land we will be able to add in the future even after patch 2.38.

 

Q40: Kasuga, with loads of characters focusing on hunting S rank elite marks, the monsters often disappear when fighting them. Do you plan on adding any countermeasures for Hunt congestion?

A40: We already implemented countermeasures as we heard this previously, but the situation continues where you may not be able to see the monster. We’ve just determined the problem and will be fixing this in the next patch. I apologize.

 

Q41: Kasuga, do you have plans to implement open-world dungeons like there were in 1.0?

A41: From the lead programmer’s perspective, if Yoshida wants to implement it, we will think about how we can implement it.

 

Q42: Kasuga, reflecting back on the past year, what’s the one thing that remained in your mind?

A42: There are a lot of really tough memories, and I really remember the trouble during the North America Early Access period where I wasn’t able to go home for days.

 

Q43: Kasuga, when will be able to transfer to the Shinryu World?

A43: We’re just waiting for the final approval from Yoshida. We should be able to open the World up so please stay tuned!

 

Q44: Kasuga, I would like to use the PlayStation®4 second screen support to type text into the PS4 version (a feature that let’s you input text remotely).

A44: While we currently have no plans of implement support for this, we may look into it if there’s enough use for it.

 

Q45: Kasuga, I mainly play on a Mac. Do you have any plans on introducing a Mac version?

A45: There are still some minor bugs, but we did get the game to run on Mac. We are at the point where we are deciding if it will actually be a wise business move or not.

 

Q46: Kasuga, please tell us the race, gender, and main job of the character you play privately.

A46: He’s a male Roegadyn. I used to main paladin, but I often get a lot of emergency calls from the office while I’m in a dungeon and had to stop many times in between. Therefore, I had to change my main job to something else.

 

Q47: What kind of items are decided immediately while developing?

A47: It depends on the scale of the matter, but we decide who’s in charge of what and how long they have to develop it.

 

Q48: Kasuga, is there anything you want to tell Yoshi-P?

A48: Well, I pretty much tell him everything I want to say normally… But I guess I’d just remind him to take care of himself.

 

Q49: Kasuga, what’s the first thing you wanted to fix when the development of FFXIV: ARR started?

A49: It’s hard to pin-point one thing because I felt like a lot of things were missing from various places. Simply put, everything!