Twinfinite was at E3 2018 and we had the opportunity to sit down with Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida. Without a major new expansion to talk about this time, we decided to dive into a grab bag of various topics including fan questions from the FFXIV community! There’s a little something for everyone this time. Without further ado, let’s jump right into the full Q&A!
Note: Yoshida is being translated by an interpreter and the content has been lightly edited for clarity.
FFXIV at E3 2018: Burning Questions About Anything and Everything
Twinfinite: Achievement hunters have noted the extreme amount of time needed to complete all of the leve achievements. Would a solution such as allowing people to maybe buy leve allowances with gil or some kind of other currency be possible?
Yoshida: He (Yoshida-san) has a friend that works at Ubisoft, and they actually enjoy the grind. We have set the bar really high of course, and they have been working hard every day to get to that achievement. Yoshida feels that we should have [achievements] that are challenging in that aspect for people who like to do stuff like that, people who are completionists, people who want to complete that achievement. Of course it’s understood that some people might feel that it’s too much of a grind, or they might not enjoy the process. I think it’s nice to have that kind of content for those people who enjoy doing the grind. If it we were to making it purchasable, people might complain “oh well that’s pay to win.” So no plans for making any sort of changes to that at the moment.
But that friend at Ubisoft… they were able to obtain that achievement, finally! But afterwards he mentioned [tongue-in-cheek] I want to kill the guy who set those numbers and made that calculation! We understand that it’s a very tough process to get that achievement.
Twinfinite: Now that Bard can play music, other jobs are wondering if one day they will get their own out of combat job actions? Do you think this is possible, and do you have any ideas that you’d like to try out one day if you have time.
Yoshida: So because the performance action is something that a Bard can do, and was implemented as sort of a Bard’s job action, people have might gotten the impression that this was assigned to a particular job. But, the thinking behind it was actually quite different, the opposite actually.
We wanted people to able to play music in the world of Eorzea and from that idea came: How do we make that happen? Oh, we have happen to have a job called Bard… what a perfect way to implement that idea! And it sort of matches that roleplay aspect of a Bard, being able to perform, and so that’s how it came about.
If we were to think about other actions that we could do in the realm of Eorzea, so for example, we wanted to be able to allow our players to pantomime, then from there, they [the dev team] would take that idea and think: OK so how do we want to get this to happen? Which job would be most appropriate for this action? Or do we want to have everybody to be able to use this? Will we have to create a new job just so we would be able to accommodate this? Etc. etc.
So we think about what the gameplay experience is going to be first; and then sort of tailor it to what we want to achieve. So it might not be in the best interest to think about: Oh what job will get an out of combat action next? Rather, think about what new ideas the development team will have for out of battle actions.
Twinfinite: A quality of life change I often see requested is the ability to repair all, and not just repair all equipped. One button that would repair everything you have. Is this something that is possible? Or are their limitations?
Yoshida: Technically speaking it is possible. Of course it wouldn’t be instant, we would probably have a command put in, and window pops up with a progress bar saying “we are repairing all of your items” [laughs]. If that’s what people are envisioning it’s technically possible.
Interviewer’s note: So it’s technically possible, but it doesn’t seem like it’s actively being worked on… so get on the official forums and make sure the team sees that you want it!
Twinfinite: We’ve seen some classic Final Fantasy XI gear sets slowly added over time to Final Fantasy XIV. Is this a trend that will continue, and if so, are there any in particular that you or the team would like to have added.
Yoshida: Of course, we will be having an update to The Forbidden Land of Eureka content in the Pagos installment and we will be featuring XI as well there. So there will be some gear added in that installment as well.
As far as the second part of the question, if they were to specifically comment on what it is, it would take away from the fun of the players that like the content. So he [Yoshida] would encourage players to try out the content, play it, and find out for themselves.
Interviewer’s note: My next question was the following: Have the developers considered a feature that would allow players to put buy orders on the market board instead of just sell orders. For example, I could request 500 pieces of lumber at 200 gil each.
However, I think this question was a bit misunderstood and the answer didn’t address the whether or not that feature [specifically for the market board] would be possible. Because of the limited amount of time to complete the interview, and that I wanted to get through as many questions as possible, I didn’t follow up. His original response to the question was lengthy and I didn’t want to take up any more time on this question and potentially still not get answer. As you can imagine, going through an interpreter adds a lot of extra time to each question.
That said, if you’re curious as to what he did say, he spoke in great deal about a scrapped roleplaying feature that is now back on the table and planned for 4.4 albeit in a different form using the recently added guest book feature. This feature is one where people could roleplay a simulated buyer/seller crafting relationship where one person puts in a request for items through the guestbook, such as potions or food, and the crafter can complete the delivery. Neat for roleplayers if it happens!
Twinfinite: Lots of players have a close attachment to Ishgard after Heavensward and are starting to miss it. Are there any plans to possibly add content that lets us spend time with some of popular Ishgard characters like Estinien, and check in on how Ishgard is doing since the end of the Dragonsong War.
Yoshida: The development team and Yoshida of course understand how Ishgard was popular to players and I’m afraid we’re not able to delve too much into detail. With the Warrior of Light continuing in their adventure, they will be involved in yet another large fight. Eventually, we might see some of the familiar characters and there might be instances where they shine in the adventures. So we hope that the players continue to look out for opportunities like that.
Twinfinite: One of the best parts of FFXV was the ability to listen to your music wherever you wanted to. Any chance we could have a orchestrion walkman?
Yoshida: [Laughs] Our sound director, and how he approaches composing music for Final Fantasy XIV, is that we make sure that the music matches to the gameplay experience of whatever content our player is currently tackling. And so, the music that is composed we feel is the best and most optimized for whatever situation our players are in. [FFXIV’s take on the position of] having music available whenever and wherever is not optimal for our format.
And technically speaking too, because it is a MMORPG, having a whole library of songs available at your control is more difficult [to implement] than a standalone tile that doesn’t require you to be constantly online, constantly transmitting data. So if this were maybe a standalone game, perhaps, but yeah…
Twinfinite: OK I’m a Summoner, so I’m going to ask two quick selfish Summoner questions. The first is, of course, the mandatory question I have to ask: Is there any update egi-glamours for Shiva, Ifrit [etc.] [Yoshida laughs] will be added anytime soon? Or is it being considered, at least?
Yoshida: The development team does acknowledge that is about time to do our next thing, but we’re not going to reveal what that next thing is going to be just yet.
Twinfinite: Final [Summoner] question, is about the direction of the Summoner job in general. I know it’s too far away to talk in any certainty about major job changes for any potential future expansions, right. However, I really enjoyed what Stormblood did with summoner as far as demi-bahamut. From a design perspective, building up combos to unleash Bahamut, is very fun and is more in line with the traditional view of Summoners from my perspective older Final Fantasy games. Temporarily bringing in a powerful summon to do a lot of damage, and then it leaves. Is this something that you also enjoyed and would want to see it continued in the future.
Yoshida: I’m afraid we’re not really able to say anything at the moment… we’re not able to specifically pinpoint on how the different jobs are going to be handled moving forward. All we can say is that we revealing information as the become available. But, it is understood that a lot players who do utilize the Summoner did enjoy that Demi-Bahamut summon. And so, the development team will take that to heart, and investigate: What else can we do to be an enjoyable experience for our players. Although, if we were to consider some kind of summon we have to be mindful of the size… [laughs]
***
That was a meaty part one. Move on over to part two for a quick tour around current content and what’s potentially come including Knights of the Round Ultimate, Eureka and more.
FFXIV at E3 2018: Around the Horn On Current Content
Ed McGlone from Twinfinite: At the beginning of Stormblood, you let everyone know that the number of dungeons added in each patched would be altered. As a player, I have felt quite satisfied with the quality of the dungeons and do not feel expert roulette has been negatively impacted. Can you discuss in some detail how this change has benefited the development team? Are there any specific content additions that would have been delayed, or difficult to add had that change not been made?
Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida: Yeah definitely. With being able to allocate development resources with the shift in our pattern for releasing dungeon content, where we have our even number of patches to have two dungeons, and our odd patches to have just one, we did alleviate [amount of work] by not having to make that extra dungeon.
The Forbidden Land of Eureka content is something that we were able to work on, concentrate, and put in more effort. If we were making two dungeons as we were previously doing, I don’t think we would have been able to achieve such a large scale content. Same goes with the Ultimate battle series as well, or the Heaven on High that’s going to be released very soon as well.
We were able to reallocate those development resources to bring more new gaming experiences, and looking out how many players are actively participating in those activities is definitely a good sign for us that not only was it beneficial for our development team, but it has reflecting really well into the game as well.
Twinfinite: Although I’m not yet ready to take them on, the Ultimate battles have been incredibly well received by the hardcore, raiding community from what I have seen. What can we expect going forward? Should we anticipate a hypothetical 5.0’s Ultimate to come from Heavensward content such as Knights of the Round?
Yoshida: So with the ultimate series, we have not set any limitations or boundaries actually. Just like the players are sort of speculation or imagining what kind of battle content is coming up next, the development team is also thinking about: What kind of monsters could we bring out? How can we express their ultimate strength? How do we pose a great challenge to our players?
So with the existing content that we have gone from Bahamut to Ultima so people might get the impress that we have been drawing from A Realm Reborn, so logically speaking, the next would probably be from Heavensward. But again, we’re not setting any sort of limitation on what sort of content we will bring. It all falls upon the members creating that raid content, and we’re waiting on them to bring us, the idea of what kind of ultimate encounter that we’re going to bring. So we actually don’t have a clear plan on it just yet.
Yoshida does acknowledge though that he has seen the comments and requests about how people would love to see a Knights of the Round Ultimate battle. There are many different knights within the Knights of the Round of course. It would probably make for a really good, interesting battle.
Twinfinite: There were players that were at first upset with how Eureka turned out in terms of the slower pace of play. But one addition that has been well-received has been the challenge logs. Are there plans to add other features from outside eureka such as maps or daily hunts to speed up leveling and also provide more variety?
Yoshida: So what’s interesting with The Forbidden Land of Eureka is that unlike other content in Final Fantasy XIV, this is intentionally made so that you are putting in the time. It’s something that players should be taking their time in, and experiencing the content.
Additionally, it’s not a content that all of the players are going to take on. It’s something that really requires player skill. So if we do incorporate elements that speed up a player’s level, it might kind of defeat the purpose. Those that want to take the time, might feel like things are by too quickly so it’s not as satisfying. But, that being said, of course we are monitoring the situation and will be making certain adjustments when they are needed and as necessary to make sure that causing players a great deal of stress. We don’t want players to get too frustrated.
Twinfinite: Under the Moonlight recently added a number of job adjustments. Following this patch, I’d like to get a sense of what your current feelings are about the state of job balance in the game. Is there anything in particular [jobs] that need more attention right now?
Yoshida: I think we have to understand first and foremost, in an MMORPG, we believe that the job balance with the different jobs in Final Fantasy XIV, the balance will never be fixed or finalized.
And so, with each content that we release through our patches, unfortunately there is some sort of disparity that does show up depending on what job is being utilized. Some may feel that certain jobs are more advantageous over others and vice versa. But, as developers we want to make sure that we’re monitoring the situation and that it doesn’t cause too much stress on the players and make very fine adjustments with each patch. There isn’t a patch where we don’t [at least] make some kind of adjustment to the jobs.
But looking at it from a developer perspective, what we currently have he [Yoshida] does feel that we are at a fairly good state. But, that being said, I’m sure every player wants their particular job to be the best, to be the strongest. So our battle to achieve job balance is going to be an unending battle.
Twinfinite: What is current feeling on the state of crafting and gathering? Are you satisfied with where everything is? Or is there anything dramatic you’d like to see added in the future?
Yoshida: Looking at the system in general for crafting and gathering, he feels there are no big issues, so that’s fine. But, he does notice for brand new players to attempt crafting or gathering, the bar is a little high for them to jump right in, so that is a challenge that the development team wants to overcome and they are making preparations to address that.
So that’s from a system perspective. But on top of that, we also want to consider content that makes it fun to be a disciple of the land or disciple of the hand, for those classes to specifically enjoy in terms of content and we are making plans for that as well. So we will be revealing information once it becomes available. So I think that’s something that fans might want to look forward to as well.
Twinfinite: What are you most looking forward to? What are you working on that you feel comfortable talking about that has you most excited? If you could pick one thing…
Yoshida: Definitely the main story. Because of course we are numbered Final Fantasy title, how our story unravels is a very important element of the game and with our current patch that released, patch 4.3, so many people were surprised by it, they had emotions through the story. So we want to continue that, we want to provide the best scenario possible for our players out there. So that’s definitely something that we’re passionate about and something that we hope the players stay tuned to also.
Published: Jun 18, 2018 01:58 pm