[Corrderio]

FINAL FANTASY XIV fans the world round, the tenth Letter from the Producer has arrived for your viewing pleasure!

Pore over the complete letter.

[Corrderio]

Letter from the Producer, X (05/20/2011)

Hello again, all fans of FINAL FANTASY XIV!

Today’s letter marks the tenth entry in the series, which is still going strong thanks to your support. As always, I’ll endeavor to keep the latest information flowing to you, so keep watching this space!

It’s been a while since I last updated our list of changes, so I figured it was due for a good clean up. Like last time, I’ve grayed out the items already implemented and noted what patch they were released in. New entries to the list are appropriately marked as -NEW-. The Battle System section was getting a bit large, so I made a separate category for enemy and field changes. This time around, the list contains additions planned for up until summer 2011. You see what I did there with the bold font for emphasis? But anywho, without further ado, feast your eyes on the list in its entirety! (Remember, these are our plans until summer 2011!)



Now here’s the accompanying commentary. On the hot topic of battle, as our lead battle planner Akihiko Matsui posted on the forums the other day, major changes are in store heading into summer, such as the introduction of auto-attack. Now, to make Matsui stop his incessant poking (he’s still at it!), let me put it this way—the theme of the overhaul to the battle system is reward effort, reduce monotony. Let’s see if that holds off the pokes.

Think of the satisfaction you get when taking out an enemy solo by a stroke of brilliance. Or the supreme exhilaration you feel when pwning entire hoards of foes by playing out your party role to perfection. Now, in contrast, imagine a person who, with only half his heart in the battle, struggles to dispatch the enemy. This kind of range in experience is what we’re aiming for with the reformed battle system—a system that rewards effort and innovation. Revisions to the Armoury System and battle algorithms will be spearheading the changes, along with the introduction of the job system. We’re pressing forward with changes catering to both solo and party play, so you can rest assured whatever your playing style.

1.18 will see levequest balancing go into full swing, starting with revisions centered on rewards. As for crafting and gathering, we’re tweaking existing recipes and adding brand-new ones for crafter gear ahead of the summer. I’m pleased to say we’ve concluded our feasibility study for the Materia crafting system (though the name is still tentative), and will soon hammer out the details for the UI and start working on the data.

Now, there’s one new item on the list that fans of the FINAL FANTASY series wouldn’t have missed: the long-awaited battle with the primal Ifrit is on the way! But that’s hardly where it ends. We’ll be summoning forth more and more primals in the future, so keep an eye out for further announcements.

A number of plans made at the beginning of the year will soon be ripe for release. Among these are the shiny new job system (a proper system, mind you, not just renamed classes), an in-game achievement system related to Lodestone character histories, and new modes of transport to address the mobility issue. Once our current plans progress to the next stage, I believe it’ll be possible to unveil a longer-term update schedule. (We’ve been giving chocobos a lot of thought, but it’s hard to establish a timeframe before we define exactly what needs to be done.)

And that about does it for this letter. For next time, I’m planning to write all about our progress on auto-attack, and hope to be able to present the feature to you in fully animated glory rather than with dull screenshots. (Note to self: have Lodestone crew implement video embedding on the website.)

Thanks for reading! Catch you next time and/or on the forums!


SOURCE: http://forum.square-...v/threads/11012

[FoobarHades]

Glad to see some progress being made. And I can't wait for elaboration on the new job system being implemented. It's about time!

[CerGoltana]

Not sure why this guy thinks that after 10 letters, people actually give a fuck about the game yet, especially since it hasn't even been released for the ps3, which most of us have been waiting for (as well as the game to not suck anymore). Idk, I for one have been waiting for the game to just finally get good, but all this shit about telling us what you plan to do kinda annoys me. How about you just do it and stop writing all these down-to-earth letters in an attempt to appease your fans (or those who haven't jumped ship yet). Thats Why I like the way they are handling ffxi: they put out update details, and then just do it. They don't put out 5+ letters about making improvements in the game which take almost a year to implement. Or fuck, maybe they do, but it seems shit moves quicker with FFXI because its just simple shit that they notice and fix, without having to elaborate on why it needs to be fixed. Except for that shit about Apkallu and CFH...

I'll give them this though, I'm impressed they're planning on finally adding auto-attack (I'm not impressed actually), and want to focus more on actually doing something notable during battle instead of clicking macro pallettes and listening to poorly synched sound effects.

Sorry if I sound like a negative nancy, I haven't had my protein shake for the day...

[Velhart]

CerGoltana, on 20 May 2011 - 11:20 AM, said:

Not sure why this guy thinks that after 10 letters, people actually give a fuck about the game yet, especially since it hasn't even been released for the ps3, which most of us have been waiting for (as well as the game to not suck anymore). Idk, I for one have been waiting for the game to just finally get good, but all this shit about telling us what you plan to do kinda annoys me. How about you just do it and stop writing all these down-to-earth letters in an attempt to appease your fans (or those who haven't jumped ship yet). Thats Why I like the way they are handling ffxi: they put out update details, and then just do it. They don't put out 5+ letters about making improvements in the game which take almost a year to implement. Or fuck, maybe they do, but it seems shit moves quicker with FFXI because its just simple shit that they notice and fix, without having to elaborate on why it needs to be fixed. Except for that shit about Apkallu and CFH...

I'll give them this though, I'm impressed they're planning on finally adding auto-attack (I'm not impressed actually), and want to focus more on actually doing something notable during battle instead of clicking macro pallettes and listening to poorly synched sound effects.

Sorry if I sound like a negative nancy, I haven't had my protein shake for the day...

Kind of sounds like you want them to wave a magic wand and fix everything in a week. They are not just making adjustments, all these changes are pretty much considered a revamp. If it is good or not is up to you. Also to note, a lot of spots on his chart have already been done, and they actually have improved the game. Is the game worth 50 bucks and its 15 a month? No way in hell. Is it worth 15 bucks and free to play till pretty much next year? Well, the leveling experience is not bad to say the least.

[Nudecke]

I really like the new job system that they are implementing. One of the biggest problems with game play is that all the combat classes have a randomly chosen set of traits and abilities. Conjurer has healing AND damage magic while the only other magic class only has debuffs. Being able to specialize will really be able to strengthen the classes. In the pugilist discipline, they'll have a "ninja" like job which uses its enmity gathering abilities and its evasion abilities and then they'll have a "monk" job that uses its damaging and support abilities. And with three of the melee disciplines sharing hate gathering abilities and damage avoiding abilities, they should be in a better situation with tanks than ffxi. I really look forward to this change; it should add a huge amount of dimension to the game.

[Corrderio]

Velhart, on 20 May 2011 - 06:08 PM, said:

Kind of sounds like you want them to wave a magic wand and fix everything in a week. They are not just making adjustments, all these changes are pretty much considered a revamp. If it is good or not is up to you. Also to note, a lot of spots on his chart have already been done, and they actually have improved the game. Is the game worth 50 bucks and its 15 a month? No way in hell. Is it worth 15 bucks and free to play till pretty much next year? Well, the leveling experience is not bad to say the least.

While what you say is true I do have to admit that the lack of what's coming in 1.18 is a bit of a let down. I know he doesn't have everything down, but at the same time he has to have some things ready for the patch he could share.

Also am I the only one that wishes he didn't mention jumping in the letter? Due to the flamewar it brought back from the grave?

[phunk]

Is it good yet?

[Derock]

phunk, on 21 May 2011 - 12:38 PM, said:

Is it good yet?

No, but it's getting better.

[Velhart]

phunk, on 21 May 2011 - 12:38 PM, said:

Is it good yet?

The interface is solid, but no content still. I would say if you feel like you may play this in the future, and I strongly emphasize the word "if", I would get the game now while it is 15 dollars, beats paying 50 for it then turning out you hate the game. Thats only if you want to give it a try. It is technically free to play right now, but if you have something better to do with your 15 dollars, I wouldn't blame you really.

[CerGoltana]

Velhart, on 21 May 2011 - 06:36 PM, said:

The interface is solid, but no content still. I would say if you feel like you may play this in the future, and I strongly emphasize the word "if", I would get the game now while it is 15 dollars, beats paying 50 for it then turning out you hate the game. Thats only if you want to give it a try. It is technically free to play right now, but if you have something better to do with your 15 dollars, I wouldn't blame you really.

Its not f2p, never has been, and never will be. Because I could simply work overtime at my job, spend my time working out, sleeping, or selling items on ebay, playing this game actually costs me valuable time, and you might be able to stretch, money. This game is fray, but not free

[Velhart]

CerGoltana, on 23 May 2011 - 06:47 AM, said:

Its not f2p, never has been, and never will be. Because I could simply work overtime at my job, spend my time working out, sleeping, or selling items on ebay, playing this game actually costs me valuable time, and you might be able to stretch, money. This game is fray, but not free

Sounds like a personal problem. If you are not paying beyond the cost of the software itself, it is free to play. I wouldn't take a general statement and turn it into a personal one.

[Derock]

CerGoltana, on 23 May 2011 - 06:47 AM, said:

Its not f2p, never has been, and never will be. Because I could simply work overtime at my job, spend my time working out, sleeping, or selling items on ebay, playing this game actually costs me valuable time, and you might be able to stretch, money. This game is fray, but not free

You are dumb as hell. Really, really, just brain numbingly dumb. Reading your posts not only makes me want to destroy all of KI, but it gives me a deep burning desire to start a new regime that's only goal is wiping humanity from the face of the earth. Every time you make a post I feel my colon let lose.

[Corrderio]

Derock, on 23 May 2011 - 04:56 PM, said:

You are dumb as hell. Really, really, just brain numbingly dumb. Reading your posts not only makes me want to destroy all of KI, but it gives me a deep burning desire to start a new regime that's only goal is wiping humanity from the face of the earth. Every time you make a post I feel my colon let lose.

You act like there's anything to destory

[phunk]

Velhart, on 21 May 2011 - 06:36 PM, said:

The interface is solid, but no content still. I would say if you feel like you may play this in the future, and I strongly emphasize the word "if", I would get the game now while it is 15 dollars, beats paying 50 for it then turning out you hate the game. Thats only if you want to give it a try. It is technically free to play right now, but if you have something better to do with your 15 dollars, I wouldn't blame you really.

Sold =)