Letter From The Producer Live XXV

25 Oct 2015
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It’s time for another Letter From the Producer Live! This one comes out of Hiroshima and covers even more information about the upcoming Patch 3.1

Let’s dive in and see what was covered!

The following information was taken from the official forums. We’ve added pictures from the stream in some parts.

Quest-related:

  • New beast tribe quests for the Vanu Vanu
  • Level Adjustment Feature – Monster strength will be adjusted according to the level of the quest. Rewards can only be received with the job you accepted the quest with.
  • The requirements to undertake Thok Ast Thok (Extreme) will be changed.
    Originally you needed to clear the The Limitless Blue (Extreme) first, but it will be possible to challenge this battle without clearing it.
  • Certain portions of the Aether Current quest will be changed so that they can be obtained by progressing through the main scenario quest line.

User Interface-related

  • Messages displayed in the center of the screen will be hidden during cutscenes.
    Players will be able to change the system message settings so that messages such as retainers returning from ventures, and items sold on market board will be hidden during important cutscenes.

Zodiac weapon-related adjustments

Adjustments will be made so that soul resonances and soul attunement can be earned even when clearing content with an undersized party.

Additionally, the next Zodiac weapons will be known as “Anima weapons,” and they will be introduced in Patch 3.15.

If you’ve already completed a Zeta weapon, you’ll be able to get an advantage towards an Anima weapon of your choice. If you’ve completed two Zeta weapons, you’ll be able to get an advantage towards two Anima weapons.

Exploratory Missions

Q1: Are there any daily or weekly reward or restrictions related to challenging the content?

A1: There is no restriction on entering. This content will allow players to explore without worrying about clearing the content. The maximum time you can remain within the area is 90 minutes.

There is a 120 minute interval since you first entered until you can enter again. For example, you explored the full 90 minutes, then there will be 30 minute cooldown time. We can adjust this cooldown based on player feedback, so please try it out and let us know through the forums.

Q2: You mentioned that there will be other parties on the islands we are exploring, but does that mean there will be battles to claim monsters and treasure chests?

A2: There will be no difference between the enmity system that is currently in place for FATEs. You’ll be able to earn rewards by doing damage to the monster’s HP.

Q3: Are there any lotting rules for the items that are dropped?

A3: It will be possible to select from loot master, regular loot, and all greed when departing for exploratory missions from your free company’s workshop. When departing from the landing area in Ishgard, it will be limited to greed only. It will also be limited to greed only when entering as a party.

Q4: Are there any limitations or rank requirements for the airships we can use for exploratory missions?

A4: In order to depart on an easy mission, you will need rank 10. For a hard level mission, you will need to have discovered the island previously on an exploratory voyage.

Q5: Roughly how long will we be playing on a single island? Will it be easy for people that do not have a lot of time to participate?

A5: A maximum of 90 minutes. After entering, you will not be able to re-enter for 120 minutes. If you are exploring for 90 minutes, you’d have 30 minutes in between when you can enter again.

Q6: What kind of bonuses are there for using a free company airship in exploratory missions compared to entering using the Duty Finder?

A6: First, there are two ways to enter exploratory missions. One way is to enter using an airship built by the FC, and the other is entering after accepting a request from Haillenarte in Ishgard.

When challenging the content from Haillenarte, you’ll need to talk to an NPC, so that will be handled via the duty finder.

In addition to this, there are Easy/Normal/Hard difficulties for exploratory missions. The maps are the same; however, the monsters will have rank numbers 1 through 6 instead of levels.

The FC route will be able to challenge the Hard mode.

When entering with an FC owned airship, players outside of the FC may also be invited. However, this will require having two members from the FC who own the airship to be in that party. Players are able to fly up to 3 airships, so another benefit FC can get is that they can enter with three full parties, up to 24 players.

Q7: What’s the minimum number of people that can participate as an FC? Is there a limit to how many people can ride on a single airship?

A7: At the minimum, 2 players, and a max of 8 people can ride on an airship.

Q8: Will it be possible to meet up with FC members who are already out exploring?

A8: While it might be possible to randomly bump into them on the same island, you cannot indicate what specific island to land on.

Q9: Will it be possible to ride on an FC airship that is already deployed on a voyage?

A9: No, it will not be possible. Airships heading out on an exploratory mission will return after 20 minutes.

Q10: You mentioned that we could trade unwanted equipment we find for points, but how exactly will we be able to use these points?

A10: You’ll be able to use them on new flying mounts, materials necessary for new crafting recipes, red scrip materials, shards, materia, and more. You can also just desynthesize the equipment.

Q11: I would like to participate in both fighting and gathering, would we be able to change our class/jobs while exploring?

A11: Yep!

Q12: You mentioned that gatherers can take part in exploratory missions, but do we gather existing items, or special items?

A12: The majority of the items will be materials, so just think of this as gathering in a new area. The gathering (stat) needed is set pretty low, so you should have no problem gathering with the gear you have once when you first hit level 60. However, if you start gathering while others are fighting, it may cause problems to other party members, so make sure to communicate with other members before gathering.

Q13: I think it’d be convenient to be able to earn esoterics while exploring islands, but will this be possible?

A13: When starting an exploratory mission, you can obtain esoterics by completing three of the objectives listed on the map.

Additionally, the starting point for each party will be different every time, and there will always be a new type of aether current at the area in which you arrive. Attuning to three of these will grant you the ability to fly. You’ll need to do this every time you start an exploratory mission.

Regarding aetherial gear dropped from chests in exploratory missions
The main attributes will comply with the item level’s stats, but the parameters will be random. There are gold/silver/bronze chests.

House sharing feature
Players can share the house up to 3 other players.
Players can accept up to 2 house sharing invitations.

Automatic reclamation of housing
Houses that have not been entered for more than 45 days and land that has not had a house built on it for more than 45 days will be automatically reclaimed. The time for this can be found in the Timers menu. Furthermore, after 35 days have passed, an email will be sent to all FC members (and owners of private houses) informing them. If you have been subject to automatic reclamation, you will be able to receive an 80% refund in gil for the price you paid for the land from the Resident Caretaker in the housing ward. You will also be able to retrieve indoor and outdoor furnishings that you are not destroyed upon removal. You will need to retrieve your refund and furnishings within 35 days after your house has been reclaimed.

Automatic reclamation after 45 days is the result of testing based on player data.

Flying mounts such as pegasus and wyvern will be introduced.

New minions will be introduced. The ever-popular paissa can be obtained from Vanu Vanu beast tribe daily quest!

Idling camera
This new feature allows players to enjoy characters and environments from different angles. Idling camera is like a screensaver where it’ll focus the camera on various objects near the player randomly. This feature will also apply a depth of field effect. Please try it out in different areas, you might find something new!

Group pose feature
I believe it was sometimes difficult to pose for commemorative pictures, so it will be possible to use this command to capture everyone’s poses perfectly. It will be easier than ever to take a picture striking that perfect pose, so please try it out!

Difficulty adjustments to certain dungeons and trials
We will be re-adjusting various 2.x dungeons and trials, such as Garuda, for new players.

Players will be able to try on several different pieces of gear at once. With this feature, players will be able to coordinate their gear easier.

Addition of new mini-games
We will be adding the 1.0 gathering system as new mini-games in the Gold Saucer.

A Gold Saucer category will be added to the weekly Challenge Log, and it will be possible to plan out how you earn you MGP.

Ninja’s Mudra
We’re implementing an adjustment to address the lag behavior. This will depend on the player’s environment, so we cannot guarantee the overall speed will be faster; however, it should feel much smoother than before. Please try it out and leave us your feedback.

Additionally, as part of a job adjustment, we’re making detailed adjustment such as ninja/paladin’s TP, and other adjustments to bard and astrologian.

Void Ark
It will be possible to purchase enhancement materials with an item known as ancient coins (name pending). While it’s a bit difficult at the moment to confirm this for sure, we are planning to start off by implementing the enhancement items for armor and accessories that can be purchased with Allagan tomestones of esoterics. Weapons will be a bit in the future.

The Minstrel’s Ballad: Thordan’s Reign
This will be a different from The Minstrel’s Ballad: Ultima, and it will be closer to an “extreme” difficulty. I believe it will be more difficult than Ravana extreme. It’s at a difficulty that can be enjoyed by those who have cleared Alexander Gordias (Savage) area 1. Originally we had planned to created 13 phases since it was Knights of the Round, but ultimately we made 10. We adjusted the battle so that it would be easy to clear for the main scenario, but the Minstrel’s Ballad: Thordan’s Reign is closer to the original balance planned by the developers. There are really good weapons on tap as rewards, and I think this will help those that are currently stuck on Alexander Gordias (Savage) area 3 and 4. Naturally, this isn’t a raid, and it can be cleared by those that have not challenged savage.

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(Item team lead Hayashi Yousuke joined the broadcast.)

Q14: In general what does the item team in charge of?

A14: Our team creates items such as equipment and crafting materials. There are about 500 to 800 items per patch. Also, for Patch 3.0, we had about 2,000 items. We also create quest rewards and item exchange shops.

Q15: What is your favorite minion, and which minion was the most difficult to create?

A15: The fighting action between Wind-up Louisoix and Wind-up Bahamut. It was the day when the game data needed to be finalized and this was an order from Yoshida, so it was implemented extremely quickly.

Q16: Can you tell us of any secret minion features we haven’t discovered yet?

A16: If you cook close to the fat chocobo minion that you can purchase with MGP, it will start doing it’s sniffing animation more frequently.

Q17: Do you plan on making adjustments in the future to items such as Phoenix Down, elemental materia, and potions, which are not used very frequently by players?

A17: Since there is a high possibility that balance is destroyed when using Phoenix Downs in high-end battle content, we’ll be keeping them as they are currently.

Q18: Do you have plans to implement a feature, such as a book that records items you have obtained once, and you can drop that item but still use it for glamour? With this feature it’ll free up the inventory space.

A18: Yoshida: We have no plans for this. We would increase the inventory space if this was possible.

Q19: Do you have any plans to introduce primal minions?

A19: Yes. We’ll start by adding an Ifrit minion in Patch 3.1.
(Images were shown of several primal minions, including Ifrit.)

Q20: In a previous interview, Yoshida mentioned that racial gear might become dyeable, but how is this progressing? Also, would it be possible to make Allagan, High Allagan dyeable for glamour purpose?

A20: We’re planning to add this as a crafting recipe in the future.

Q21: Do you have plans to implement a new community item?

A21: Of course! I promised to do this on stage during Fan Festival 2014.

gaelhat
(Images of the Gaelacat Cap were shown.)

Q22: When gathering shards, do you have plans to add a bonus which increases the yield depending on the gatherer’s level?

A22: It won’t increase the yield every level, but the trait added in Patch 3.0 (Nymeia’s Ward) which increases the yield for items without HQ. The proc rate is 10%.

Q23: When will you be implementing a furnishing that plays the music from the game we want to listen to?

A23: This has been planned since the dawn of A Realm Reborn. While we already have the spec sheet and music data, the developers have not yet completed their adjustments. However, we’d like to push for around Patch 3.2, so we’ll keep you updated.

Q24: Do you have plans to add 3.0’s Y’shtola and Ysayle’s hairstyle?

A24: We’re planning to introduce a set of equipment and hairstyle which will allow players to look like NPCs as Mog Station optional items. Minfilia’s hairstyle and equipment will be added. The price hasn’t been decided yet, but this one is female-only equipment.

minfilia

(Showed an image of characters dressed as Minfilia.)

Q25: When will you be implementing a bent version of the bunny ears from the Gold Saucer?

A25: (An image of the bent bunny ears was shown.)

Lord of Verminion

Q26: Do you plan on implementing an observer mode so that we can watch matches between other players?

A26: While I can’t promise which patch we will be implementing it, we do have plans to do this.

Q27: Are the minions earned from pre-order bonuses or optional item strong? I’m worried owning this or not will affect the outcome greatly.

A27: There aren’t any rare minions that cannot be obtained at the moment that will be overpowered when compared to others.

Q28: Yoshi-P, Hayashi, what are you favorite minions?

A28: (Yoshida) Baby Opo-opo.
(Hayashi) Tiny Tapir. I received this minion from a player I met in Eorzea. I’m especially fond of it because I received it despite it being quite difficult to obtain at the time.

Controls for Lord of Verminion
When four of the same minions are nearby, they can use a special ability. You can recover a minion’s HP by returning them to your gate. You won’t be able to attack your opponent while inside the gate; however, they won’t be able to attack your minions either.

Minions have special abilities, depending on the special ability they will be able to deal greater damage to things such as shields and Arcana stones. There aren’t many minions in the tutorial; however, in the actual game you’ll have many minions, so it’ll be important to pay attention to the entire field during the match.

Q29: It seems like we’ll be able to have rated matches depending on our rank, but are there any penalties for disconnecting before you lose or other unsportsmanlike conduct?

A29: If you are disconnected during a match, you will automatically lose.

Q30: New minions will be added in Patch 3.1, but will we be able to have fun battling with just the minions implemented up until now?

A30: Of course.

Q31: When using minions that have multiple characters, such as Minion of Light, or Wind-up Leader, will only one character appear or all of them?

A31: The Wind-up Leader minion will be the character associated with your Grand Company at the time. If you are not part of a Grand Company, you won’t be able to put it on your minion hotbar. As for the Minion of Light, you can add each character separately (warrior, white mage, and black mage).

Q32: Do Tank/DPS/Healer roles exist for minions as well?

A32: No. There are only minion types.

Q33: Are there any growth type of feature which increases the player’s or minion’s level by battling repeatedly?

A33: No. Please obtain many different minions to try out.

Q34: Would it be possible to obtain existing minions as a prize?

A34: No. Please earn them through the existing in-game content.

Q35: Are there any minions which can be obtained only through tournaments?

A35: There are minions which you can obtain through tournament achievements. As a countermeasure to win-trading, which is mentioned a lot for Triple Triad, we have implemented a rate matching feature which will match players with close rank points.

Q36: Will there be any new achievements added for Lord of Verminion?

A36: Yes, new achievements will be added.

Q37: In order to win a match, which is more important: rarity of your minions or the number of minions you posses?

A37: Out of these two choices, it’s probably easier to adapt to different minion types with the more minions you possess. However, it’s not the case where you won’t be able to win because you don’t have a particular minion.

Materia-related changes in Patch 3.2
It will not be possible to use advanced materia melding for primary stats on equipment created by crafters. We will be making adjustments in the future so that advanced materia melding can be used to enhance sub-stats.

From Patch 3.2, crafted equipment will become more powerful that what it has been up until now. Furthermore, accessories will be implemented at the same time as the high-tier equipment that can be created by crafters. Additionally, materia slots will be added to raid equipment and the equipment that can be purchased with the various tomestones, so you’ll be able to add materia to boost the sub-stats that you prefer.

Many of those attempting instanced raids in the early stages tend to use advanced materia melding on accessories, which lead to tanks being required to meld STR or VIT. Due to this there were times where the melded accessories were better than the accessories which dropped from clearing the instance. In order to resolve this issue, in Patch 3.2 we will be making adjustments that will change the damage calculations of tanks into a more appropriate state.

As an overall plan moving forward, we will be making adjustments so that a burden is not placed on any particular role in order to challenge a high-difficulty raid.

FINAL FANTASY XI Collaboration Event
Around Wednesday, November 11th, around the time when Final Fantasy XI is receiving their grand finale, we’re planning to hold a collaboration event. It isn’t similar to the event we have done previously, this new event was created to match the scale of the grand finale, so please look forward to it!

FFXIV Official Art Book  Vol 2

Throughout the development of Final Fantasy XIV, various artwork has been brought to life by the hands of artists. This volume features stunning art and illustrations, such as concept art, character sketches and world designs from patch 2.4 through Heavensward. (Will also have artist’s comments in  both Japanese and English)

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The Art of Ishgard -Stone and Steel- will be available in Japan on December 24th. The book will come to North America and Europe in early February 2016!