Early this morning in the U.S., the official Final Fantasy XI YouTubechannel released the results of their recent Q&A with players in a special bonus Digest.
Final Fantasy XI producer Akihiko Matsui and director Yoji Fujito answered six questions from fans. Off the bat, via the first question, they addressed future job adjustments and gave a surprising answer.
The question asked if they had plans to resume monthly job adjustments, and if so, which ones. They answered by letting players know that rather than resuming the monthly job adjustments, they are planning one big update that will balance and impact all 22 jobs at once.
The answer to this question also ties into the timing of the long-awaited reforged Empyrean Armor +2 sets. The next question asked when players could expect the equipment to be released and they responded by saying that it’s being worked on and that it will release after the previously mentioned adjustment for all 22 jobs.
While that doesn’t make the timeline clearer without knowing when the job adjustment will come, the justification they gave does make some sense with the team saying: “The significance of the Empyrean equipment would differ before and after the job adjustments, so we would like to make adjustments on the equipment after the job adjustments have been completed.”
While the wait may end up being painful, it is exciting to know that the development team is working on shaking up the current job balance. While the balance is in the best shape that I can recall in my 18 years playing FFXI, there are definitely still a few jobs, such as Black Mage, that could really use some love.
Here’s a quick rundown of the other questions that were asked during the digest:
- The question of whether more Mog Wardrobe space would be added was brought up again during this Q&A.
- They stated that they are working on it and are currently going through trial and error to find a way to add more storage sometime “this year or later.” They acknowledged that they know the demand is high for this.
- A player asked if it would be possible to create a synergy recipe that could combine all the crafting torques.
- They acknowledged that it was a good idea and they would have liked to make it happen since it would have a positive impact on storage, but stated that it would that’d it be difficult to implement as it would have a negative impact on balancing when it comes to recipes that require subskills.
- Ambitiously, a player asked if The Voracious Resurgence questline would allow players to visit new lands at some stage in the storyline.
- Unsurprisingly, they didn’t want to give any hints as to where the story may take players. The fact that they chose to answer this question at all is interesting though.
- Finally, they addressed a question asking when they are planning to reveal the omelette sandwich recipe.
- This one was unfortunate as the recipe is currently in the game and known as The Voracious Resurgence, so kind of a wasted question. The developers wanted to keep it a secret, though, and let players discover it for themselves. It’s out there on the wikis if you want to know, we won’t spoil it here.
That’s the rundown of the recent Final Fantasy XI developer Q&A. They concluded the digest by stating that they would like to do more in the future and that they felt the passion for FFXI from the western players.
If you’d like to watch the video yourself and get the full Q&A experience, you watch it down below.
