Letter from the Producer, XXII (12/21/2011)

[Anthonystar]

Letter from the Producer, XXII (12/21/2011)
Hello everyone! Yoshi-P here with another post for all you FFXIV-ers. Well, looks like we’re already here at the end of 2011.

I’d first like to apologize to all of you who have been looking forward to 1.20. We had to delay the patch because of some last-minute bugs, and things ended up being a couple days later than we intended, but we hope you all enjoy playing over the holidays! We’ve also received a lot of feedback from you guys on the difficulty of getting triggers for the new moogle battle, so we’ll be making some changes to that in patch 1.20a, which will be out before year’s end.

As some of you know, September 2011 marked the one-year anniversary of FINAL FANTASY XIV’s release. This month marks another anniversary of sorts—it’s been one year since I came onto the project in the roles of producer and director.

It’s honestly been the quickest, toughest, and funnest year of my game-developing life. Being able to communicate with so many players and develop the game with all of your support was a first-time experience for me, and it’s truly been both encouraging and reassuring. So let me give you a nice, big thank you for that!

I’ve made impossible demands on the development team, operations team, and other departments related to FFXIV during the Earth’s latest orbit around the sun. Every time I have, I’ve told them it’s all for you, the players, and every time they’ve risen to the occasion and really given it their all. Thank you!

2012 will see us making even larger strides and will prove to be an even bigger test for FFXIV.

We’re already working on content for the year’s first patch, 1.20b, and developing the job system, job quests, and new dungeons (there’s two of them!) slated for 1.21 at the same time, so our schedule is absolute pandemonium at this point. (Job-specific weapons are lined up for after 1.21, and we’re making sure getting them will entail a bit of difficulty! )

As we ring in the New Year, we’ll also be ringing in the start of base QA on the battle system for the version 2.0 client. In addition, we’ve already begun tackling memory issues as we work on the new UI, and tasks for the new rare item lotting system are underway, too. We’re also examining some new race and gender additions, and it’s looking like we’ll be able to bring in a few new customizable options in time for 2.0’s release (I fielded some questions on this in the LIVE letter). Mockups for player “estate” areas are moving along, and we’re now working on some of those artsy details. So that’s pretty much where we’re at. Together with our regular updates to the game in 2012, I’ll continue to bring you reports on our progress with 2.0. I hope you all look forward to them!


http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/topics/images/ad/46/2204_0.jpg
(Oh, btw, here’s a look at the exclusive gear sets for the new jobs coming in patch 1.21. )


I’d like to wrap up this letter by thanking you all once again for both playing FFXIV, and inspiring and encouraging the whole team here in 2011.

We’re determined to keep on keeping on as we move into the New Year, and to have fun while we do it.

See you soon!
Happy holidays everyone! And I hope to see you all in Eorzea!
Talk to you next letter, or on the forums. See you soon!

I'm sold now that I see jobs in game SS.

[Cayos]

Yea, the jobs look awesome. Especially DRG. Kind of reminds me of DRK too.

Since you didn't post it, here's the original link: http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/33685?p=490995#post490995

and the SS of the jobs:

http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/topics/images/c5/ce/2205_0.jpg

[solracht]

dat drg

[Elona]

Good to hear they are changing the moogle trigger system before end of the year, change it to Ixali Willowknots! =P 1.21 seem to have plenty more to do than just one primal fight, he doesnt mention in it in the letter but wasnt Garuda scheduled for 1.21? If thats the case then its garuda, few dungeons to raid, job specific quests and hopefully quests for "AF", unless they releasing it in later patch with weapons. AF looks great ingame too.

[Rocl]

Oh man I need CNJ50 before the update for sure now '~'

[Anthonystar]

Good to hear they are changing the moogle trigger system before end of the year, change it to Ixali Willowknots! =P 1.21 seem to have plenty more to do than just one primal fight, he doesnt mention in it in the letter but wasnt Garuda scheduled for 1.21? If thats the case then its garuda, few dungeons to raid, job specific quests and hopefully quests for "AF", unless they releasing it in later patch with weapons. AF looks great ingame too.

I believe garuda was 1.22

Edit: Yes if you look @ road map to 2.0 it says 1.22

[Elona]

I believe garuda was 1.22

Damn, thats gonna be about april/may. No wonder he didnt mention it.

[Fievel]

Oh holy fucking yes, AF looks so good.

[Alkar]

Mages looking great. Btw I doubt the'll change to something the Ixali drop, they're saving them for Garuda for sure.

[Lucavi]

Not gonna lie, seeing a glossy drg makes the heart feel all warm and fuzzy. That paladin is boss as well. Its too bad SE can't allow other companies to hire their design team to handle the graphics, while another, smarter company handles the actual combat/gameplay mechanics.

[Celeras]

I wish for once that they would post a screenshot above my cellphones resolution.

[Jamison]

(Job-specific weapons are lined up for after 1.21, and we’re making sure getting them will entail a bit of difficulty! )

Making me wonder if it's even worth going to the trouble of farming moogle/ifrit.

[Gokulo]

You could still use them while soloing on classes D;

[Jamison]

Fair point, I'd forgotten about that for a moment.

[shidobu]

lol... inlove with archer atm..

And if my char was a guy and having to wear that bard/archer af ill pass.

BUT MY BITCH IS GONNA BE SO KAWAII

and mnk pug af is automatic get. Fucking dress must have it....

[Kurokikaze]

Sweet Jesus that DRG/PLD AF looks absolutely awesome in game.. Cannot wait. >_<;

[Deelo]

BLM is too sexy

[Nama]

Af looks great but I'm not so sure how much I'm gonna like the monk outfit on a dude.

[Neoscrilla]

Af looks great but I'm not so sure how much I'm gonna like the monk outfit on a dude.

Subligar!

[vadre]

I luvre the BLM and BRD AF, they look amazing :D

I just wish the picture was a better quality :( When is 1.21 expected to come out? I seem to remember it being February-ish.

[Gokulo]

Yeah, I think the road map mentioned early Feb, but can pretty much assume it's gonna be mid-late more likely.

[Patriarch]

I refuse to get excited.

But man, this does look cute.

[TacoTaru]

AF armor looks great, but yeah I agree with the resolution thing. Maybe if the official forums pester them enough we'll get a higher resolution of it.

[Fereydoon]

Harp on the bow makes me giggle.

[Raldo]

Making me wonder if it's even worth going to the trouble of farming moogle/ifrit.
Assuming they make it all single-player mode like they did with the class quests... I would hope that a weapon you can get solo would be vastly inferior to Ifrit/Moogle weapons. I have a feeling it's going to outdo the crafted weapons though unless you get lucky with materia (or unless they make them pre-level50 weapons, ugh).

Again, just an assumption.

[Kuroikage]

I hope they trump ifrit and moogle weapons and can be done solo... for the lulz.

Everyone will rage out and it will be glorious.

[Lucavi]

Sweet Jesus that DRG/PLD AF looks absolutely awesome in game.. Cannot wait. >_<;

Why do we always have the same tastes/interests?

[Spider-Dan]

Hmmm. I was expecting the bowharp to have extra strings on the bow, not a harp pasted to the top. Oh well.

Also, WAR and DRG look like they should be BST and DRK, respectively.

[Lucavi]

Drg doesn't look anything like it should be drk. Play FFIV, look at Drg and Drk, then say the same thing. Just because its not the flowery blue tights of XI doesn't mean its suddenly spawned from a The Cure concert.

[Shade]

Whoah... I don't really care about anybody else in the shot, but DRG sure won the badass lottery over here.

[Kurokikaze]

Why do we always have the same tastes/interests?

/highfive

No but seriously, DRG AF is fucking GDLK. Too DRK? Fuck you son.

[Makwa]

DRG reminds me of Kain from FFIV. WAR looks cool, like a barbarian-pirate sorta thing. Can't wait.

[Corrderio]

Loving the DRG armor, but knowing my luck I'm stuck on something I hate.

[Lucavi]

DRG reminds me of Kain from FFIV. WAR looks cool, like a barbarian-pirate sorta thing. Can't wait.

That's exactly what it should remind you of. I'm not ready to pay for this game yet, but seeing things like that goes a long way towards dredging up a little interest in this corpse of mine.

[Balb]

This is going to look ridiculously good with some shading and the graphics overhaul. Very nice.

[Alkar]

Kain was the first real Dragoon in the series so it's not a surprise they decided to make this DRG look similar. Black Mage and White Mage also look very similar to the classic looks from early FF games.

[Fereydoon]

Kain was the first real Dragoon in the series so it's not a surprise they decided to make this DRG look similar. Black Mage and White Mage also look very similar to the classic looks from early FF games.

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Ricard would like a word with you!

[Alkar]

http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Ricard would like a word with you!

I said real Dragoon. Ricard is only a Dragoon in name and he doesn't have any of the specific abilities his successors had.

[manako]

Haha I love everyone else's reaction to the AF, I think its a good test to see your prefered job. I can't wait for Kain armor, he was totally my favorite growing up! That lance better have better stats than ifrit weapon, its too hot not to use. I also still have a soft spot for whm though :o

If they are smart they will put stats on the weapons that are job/class specific while making them a bit weaker than ifrit/moogle. This way the weapons are situationally better, or we'll be doing tests to figure out which is better when they come out :P I hope they make the armor better than what is available crafted, because its fun to wear a (visually) matching set and that was never really possible in FFXI until much later.

[TacoTaru]

Does anyone have links/pictures to all the currently dat mined AF armor? Someone in LS the other day said BLM, PLD, BRD, WHM and MNK had all been mined, but I've only seen PLD and BRD. Maybe it's just because of the picture size, but the WHM armor looks a little bland.

[Lordender]

Yeah, thats all nice and dandy but doesn't mean shit if they can't make all classes desirable. Nothing is going to say fuck you if they don't figure out how to balance all of those classes and the encounters so one isn't stacked.

[Takiwaki]

Yeah, thats all nice and dandy but doesn't mean shit if they can't make all classes desirable. Nothing is going to say fuck you if they don't figure out how to balance all of those classes and the encounters so one isn't stacked.

Totally agree, unless the battle change being talked about for v2 is totally different and is a drastic change. No pretty armors is gonna make the game better.

[Fievel]

I'm surprised we made it three pages without one of you coming in here to bitch about everything. Isn't there a thread for you to go do that in? That way you don't have to shit on every single thread that pops up.

[TacoTaru]

I think every thread has a requirement that Lordender needs to come in and remind us what he doesn't like about the game at least once. Bonus points if someone comes to say that the only reason people are still playing is to be the best/richest/elitist for when the game relaunches.

[Neoscrilla]

I'm surprised we made it three pages without one of you coming in here to bitch about everything. Isn't there a thread for you to go do that in? That way you don't have to shit on every single thread that pops up. http://assets.diylol.com/hfs/895/6f6/1eb/resized/that-day-meme-generator-not-a-single-fuck-was-given-that-day-986f5a.jpg?1310230811.jpg

[Raldo]

Does anyone have links/pictures to all the currently dat mined AF armor? Someone in LS the other day said BLM, PLD, BRD, WHM and MNK had all been mined, but I've only seen PLD and BRD. Maybe it's just because of the picture size, but the WHM armor looks a little bland.
I know I've seen someone swapping the .dats in and showing the MNK gear off in the in-game environment, and I've also seen just a model-viewer version of the BLM gear, but sadly, the closest thing I can find is this. It's a red colored version of the BLM gear. This .dat has apparently existed in the game for quite some time, so maybe they were still juggling the idea of being able to dye your gear back then.
http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/3564/modelviewer201107221222.png

And just for shits and giggles, here is a model of a tricorne with a fake moustache! I found it while trawling for those other pictures.
http://www.onion-knights.com/Kalce/2011/05/ModelViewer-2011-05-05-14-09-20-65.png

I did not obtain these pictures, so I don't know where they came from.

[Niiro]

I said real Dragoon. Ricard is only a Dragoon in name and he doesn't have any of the specific abilities his successors had.
People really need to stop using Kain as an example of what DRG is and somehow always has been. He was neither the 1st DRG nor was he the first example to use spears and jump. The only thing special about Kain is he was the 1st DRG in the series on a console advanced enough to have a visually distinct sprite and be in a game with characters.

Look Ricard's concept art and, aside from being very stylized and distinct, tell me it's not strikingly familiar.

Ricard defined DRG's appearance and lore, FF3 gave the job it's role and most iconic ability. Kain contributed nothing to the DRG image but a concept for the AF in XI (and Bartz's DRG outfit in V) nor anything to it's function. He's just a fan favorite character (for some reason). DRG continued to evolve after him and throwbacks to his name have been novelties.

[Lucavi]

Kain took everything and ran with it. That's all there is to it. He's the best dragoon, period. Best sprite, best look, best theme, best jump animation, best jump sound effects... best everything. Ricard was cool; he's the granddaddy of Drgs. Drg in FFIII started the jumping thing. FFV's Drg had lancet, which was nice. None of them were Kain, however. None of them evoked the same imagery as Kain bodying Cecil in 2-3 jumps; none evoke the same nostalgic feelings of joy when you finally first got Kain back in your party; none of them evoked the same feelings of annoyance and anger towards Golbez when Kain betrayed you, and none of them were as boss as a fully-upgraded Kain dominating the Lunar Subterranean with his Holy lance.

People don't have to stop using Kain as an example of what a Drg is, because Kain is the example of what Drg is. He's the poster-child for Drg, is the best example of a Drg, and honestly, shaped people's memories of Drg far more than any other Drg ever has, past or present. For most people, he was the first Drg they ever came across. Nobody knew who the fuck Ricard was, because Ricard didn't exist outside of Japan for years after people first saw Kain. Nobody pays attention to FFIII or FFV's Drgs because they didn't exist outside of Japan for years after people first saw Kain. You have no one to blame but Japan themselves, if you're somehow miffed that Kain is the pinnacle of what Dragoon means to many FF fans.

I can't believe I have to explain this. It should be common knowledge by now.

[miokomioko]

I am pining for those badass lion-head Monk weapons...

http://images.bluegartr.com/bucket/gallery/b1530c95a32361eac9aa3ee010068222.jpg

Also, I am glad I picked a female character. Psyched on the yellow Chun-Li outfit with the feather headband.

[Raldo]

Oh damn, I missed that completely! I looked at her left hand, thought it looked like Sainti from XI (http://www.ffxiah.com/item/18745/adaman-sainti), and didn't bother to look closer. I never did watch the live letters.

[blythe]

Does anyone have links/pictures to all the currently dat mined AF armor? Someone in LS the other day said BLM, PLD, BRD, WHM and MNK had all been mined, but I've only seen PLD and BRD. Maybe it's just because of the picture size, but the WHM armor looks a little bland.
MNK

http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/223/ffxiv1318101946.jpg
http://forum.neko-sentai.com/showpost.php?p=219442&postcount=231
There's some BLMs floating around too. WHM is the only one that hasn't been mined iirc.

[Niiro]

Kain took everything and ran with it. That's all there is to it. He's the best dragoon, period. Best sprite, best look, best theme, best jump animation, best jump sound effects... best everything. Ricard was cool; he's the granddaddy of Drgs. Drg in FFIII started the jumping thing. FFV's Drg had lancet, which was nice. None of them were Kain, however. None of them evoked the same imagery as Kain bodying Cecil in 2-3 jumps; none evoke the same nostalgic feelings of joy when you finally first got Kain back in your party; none of them evoked the same feelings of annoyance and anger towards Golbez when Kain betrayed you, and none of them were as boss as a fully-upgraded Kain dominating the Lunar Subterranean with his Holy lance.

People don't have to stop using Kain as an example of what a Drg is, because Kain is the example of what Drg is. He's the poster-child for Drg, is the best example of a Drg, and honestly, shaped people's memories of Drg far more than any other Drg ever has, past or present. For most people, he was the first Drg they ever came across. Nobody knew who the fuck Ricard was, because Ricard didn't exist outside of Japan for years after people first saw Kain. Nobody pays attention to FFIII or FFV's Drgs because they didn't exist outside of Japan for years after people first saw Kain. You have no one to blame but Japan themselves, if you're somehow miffed that Kain is the pinnacle of what Dragoon means to many FF fans.

I can't believe I have to explain this. It should be common knowledge by now.
Aside with not agreeing with....most of that, he was the first DRG on a 16 bit console and the first for most NA players to see, the nostalgia factor is huge, yea, I get it, it's also seriously blinding.

Loving the character is fine (I didn't) but wanting the image of DRG to revolve around him is just irritating at this point. Kain as a character was weak minded and envious and his sprite color was best left in the cartridge era; not everyone loves him so much and we'd like to see a realized DRG not tainted by the purple tin of nostalgia.

(thankfully even SE has realized this)

[Lordender]

Kain took everything and ran with it. That's all there is to it. He's the best dragoon, period. Best sprite, best look, best theme, best jump animation, best jump sound effects... best everything. Ricard was cool; he's the granddaddy of Drgs. Drg in FFIII started the jumping thing. FFV's Drg had lancet, which was nice. None of them were Kain, however. None of them evoked the same imagery as Kain bodying Cecil in 2-3 jumps; none evoke the same nostalgic feelings of joy when you finally first got Kain back in your party; none of them evoked the same feelings of annoyance and anger towards Golbez when Kain betrayed you, and none of them were as boss as a fully-upgraded Kain dominating the Lunar Subterranean with his Holy lance.

People don't have to stop using Kain as an example of what a Drg is, because Kain is the example of what Drg is. He's the poster-child for Drg, is the best example of a Drg, and honestly, shaped people's memories of Drg far more than any other Drg ever has, past or present. For most people, he was the first Drg they ever came across. Nobody knew who the fuck Ricard was, because Ricard didn't exist outside of Japan for years after people first saw Kain. Nobody pays attention to FFIII or FFV's Drgs because they didn't exist outside of Japan for years after people first saw Kain. You have no one to blame but Japan themselves, if you're somehow miffed that Kain is the pinnacle of what Dragoon means to many FF fans.

I can't believe I have to explain this. It should be common knowledge by now.

Its funny you mention that, Kain vs Cecil, DRG vs DRK early before Cecil becomes a PLD how that rivalry carried over to early XI when the flame wars between DRG and DRK broke out.

[Takiwaki]

I really like the mnk boots. /sigh

https://picasaweb.google.com/data/media/api/user/Takiwaki69/albumid/5638574986725152369/photoid/5688695997359607714/1?authkey=Gv1sRgCKGsjr6p157XuwE

[Lucavi]

Aside with not agreeing with....most of that, he was the first DRG on a 16 bit console and the first for most NA players to see, the nostalgia factor is huge, yea, I get it, it's also seriously blinding.

Loving the character is fine (I didn't) but wanting the image of DRG to revolve around him is just irritating at this point. Kain as a character was weak minded and envious and his sprite color was best left in the cartridge era; not everyone loves him so much and we'd like to see a realized DRG not tainted by the purple tin of nostalgia.

(thankfully even SE has realized this)

I hardly think its blinding considering that SE went in an entirely different (and shitty) direction with Drg in XI. Lets compare the two, shall we?

IV: Heavy armor (same as paladin, essentially), shield, high vitality, relatively high health, Double damage on Jumps, with quadruple damage on flying mobs, and a healthy modifier for jumps.

XI: Armor lighter than many mage and thf armors (check drg AF stats compared to other AF), pathetic modifiers for physical damage, a flying rat that lowers the actual dragoon's damage by "splitting" it between a flimsy PC attacker and an even more flimsy NPC attacker, weak jumps with average modifiers, specialty jumps, an ability to fuse the flimsy PC attacker with the even more flimsy NPC attacker (said flying rat) that grants additional abilities.

I'm not seeing a whole lot of similarities outside of spears and jumps. I hardly think SE, or anyone else is "blind" in the way you're thinking about it. You can't even factor in Kain's personality, since XI's Drg has no personality. Its just you, and whatever you do.

Your "purple tin of nostalgia" reference would have held water if SE had actually strengthened dragoon from its previous incarnation in IV, but they wound up drastically crippling the job. Piss poor armor, dependancy on a flying bird with even less armor and low health to add additional damage, terrible modifiers for damaging abilities... I don't think I need to continue.

[Niiro]

I was not at all talking about how effective DRG was in gameplay, not sure where you were getting that impression from.

Edit: also in a twist of irony, you got the most damage out of Kain in IV by giving him the Avenger sword and just letting him wail away (for bosses you could use the Holy lance and cast berserk on him), jumping removed your 2nd highest DEF character from the enemy's available targets and was no more efficient for damage than attacking twice (Avenger/Berserk even eliminating the delay for inputting an attack command, aside from hitting harder). That's kind of been the problem with Jump since it's inception, taking twice as long to do twice the damage, it's only value being to avoid damage, but if you want DRG to have good defense you don't want them out of the way so mobs target your weaker characters, etc.

[Lordender]

See what happened in the older FF games DRG's were awesome, they did big time damage!

Then DRG's came to FFXI and then this happened:

http://images.bluegartr.com/bucket/gallery/9c7c2ddd7be2a126b2cdaf67d1e947e6.jpg

[Aratharn]

Curious how the MNK AF will look on males.

[solracht]

See what happened in the older FF games DRG's were awesome, they did big time damage!

Awesome to shine the boots of my Mystic Knights and little else, you mean.

[Lucavi]

Mystic Knight existed in a single FF game, realistically. We haven't had En-bio and En-flare since FFV.

[blindSharingan]

Not my pics not sure why the head is censored on some of these lol...

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s97/blindSharingan/paladin2.png

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s97/blindSharingan/bard2.png

http://i150.photobucket.com/albums/s97/blindSharingan/monkm.png

[Takiwaki]

Wow at brd pants and shoes lol

[Niiro]

I'm not quite sure what to make of MNK, for every bit that fits there's another that seems.....disjointed.

Liking the shoulder pads.

[Lonely]

Warriors looks so terrible, from what I can assume on the above pics the Monk and Bard look horrible on Males.

Also
Fuck yo nostalgia Fang was THE BEST and the FIRST DRAGOON of the WHOLE SERIES haters gunna hate

[Takiwaki]

Warriors looks so terrible, from what I can assume on the above pics the Monk and Bard look horrible on Males.

Also
Fuck yo nostalgia Fang was THE BEST and the FIRST DRAGOON of the WHOLE SERIES haters gunna hate

Is it just me or they didn't even bother to change the armor for male and female sexes at all?

[Alkar]

See what happened in the older FF games DRG's were awesome, they did big time damage!

Then DRG's came to FFXI and then this happened:

http://images.bluegartr.com/bucket/gallery/9c7c2ddd7be2a126b2cdaf67d1e947e6.jpg

How about Summoner? lol.
Now that I think about it I wonder which look they'd pick for Summoner in this game. Would be nice to see some job looks in the future resembling past FF characters.
Oh and on the Kain debate, his inclusion in Dissidia was quite clear. He is THE Dragoon of the series, no ifs and buts allowed.
Sure, he wasn't the first to be considered part of the Dragoons nor the first to Jump but he's the first real character with this class and also a huge part of both FFIV and TAY.
Same could be said about Rydia but she has strong competition, at least in Japan.

[miokomioko]

I'm not quite sure what to make of MNK, for every bit that fits there's another that seems.....disjointed.

Liking the shoulder pads.

Besides possibly not being entirely finished, a lot of these screeenshots don't do things justice because they are lacking the color/texture information. Also, who knows if there's polygons that are currently invisible because of their lack of said textures.

The entire style of Monk/Black Mage/Dragoon makes me really look forward to the lore and questlines involved. Hopefully Dragoons are dark and spooky because of an unholy pact with the taboo Coerthan dragons, and who knows what kind of undisclosed martial arts dojo or such is represented by the lion heads all over the Monk gear (I'm hoping it's tied to Gridania because of the yellow/animal theme and all).

[Lucavi]

Looks like they just ripped the entire Valor set and HDed it, which is just fine by me, as I loved the look before. The FF series needs more armor with surcoats and tabards.

[Ragnus]

I used to be a Marauder/Warrior like you but then I look an arrow to the knee.

[Niiro]

Is it me or does the WAR gear look a lot like the Garlean Darth Vader guy's armor (especially the helm)?

Whatever his name was.

[Fereydoon]

Is it me or does the WAR gear look a lot like the Garlean Darth Vader guy's armor (especially the helm)?

Whatever his name was.

Nael van Darnus? Or the other one?

[Spider-Dan]

Drg doesn't look anything like it should be drk. Play FFIV, look at Drg and Drk, then say the same thing.
Since you insist:

http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101119015206/finalfantasy/images/d/d4/Kain_Highwind_menu.pnghttp://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101119015158/finalfantasy/images/8/8f/Kain_Highwind_battle.pnghttp://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110202022216/finalfantasy/images/5/53/Kain-SNES-FieldSprite.gif

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101119014723/finalfantasy/images/f/f7/Cecil_Harvey_-_Black_Knight_menu.pnghttp://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20101119014716/finalfantasy/images/2/24/Dark-knight-cecil.pnghttp://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110202023015/finalfantasy/images/0/0c/Cecil-SNES-FieldSprite.gif

http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/topics/images/c5/ce/2205_0.jpg

Which one of those is blue/teal and which is purple?
Which one of them has horns?


Just because its not the flowery blue tights of XI doesn't mean its suddenly spawned from a The Cure concert.
Irony.

[Niiro]

Nael van Darnus? Or the other one?
The guy from the closing cutscenes with the zomg meteor he had the horns and stuff on the side of his helmet iirc and the color scheme is similar.

edit: found an SS

http://images.bluegartr.com/bucket/gallery/4b37500ebe81a1e2a0942c1cc44cd257.jpg

I haven't seen a more close-up detailed pic of the AF but yea the horns and the colors seem similar.

[solracht]

Dan, post Cecil/Kain Dissidia/Amano artwork, makes it even more obvious.

[Senji]

Is there an AH yet?

[Seravi Edalborez]

Is there an AH yet?
You can buy from wards search menu and see past 20 transactions. That's about as AH as it will get til 2.0

[Lordender]

PLD looks bad ass
DRG is bad ass
BLM is bad ass
WAR is wtf
MNK is wtf
WHM is bad ass

[Kaylia]

Is there an AH yet?
Sorta, except that you can only buy items, and the search kinda suck.

Selling item however might result in a lost a sanity (still need to go to your retainers, figure out the price, repair the item, sell it).

[Arximiro]

I like how the MNK af looks on male, maybe it's just me though. Still waiting on the primal fight and/or dungeon that PGL/MNK is awesome on!

[Aratharn]

WAR looks good on galka

[Kuroikage]

WAR looks good on galka

It better look good on Elezen F, and I'm starting to get pissed that in official SE stuff they hardly get any representation at all. (This is mostly me being pissed at the XI team since I'm remembering back to all the times I didn't see Elvaan F on anything)

[Raldo]

I couldn't figure out at first why I thought the MNK looked good on women but not on men. I finally figured it out. That white overcoat thing looks like an apron in the .dat swap pictures. I hope that's an incorrect coloring, since the official picture shows the lalafell in all yellow, and I like that much better.

[miokomioko]

Yeah, I mentioned earlier that a lot of the unreleased gear and mob data currently in the game lacks the appropriate color/texture information. So, when they are displayed, the game and/or the model viewers just make it white... which never does it justice. For example, the first looks we had at the BLM armor and Batraal models, were all white.

[manako]

Yeah, I mentioned earlier that a lot of the unreleased gear and mob data currently in the game lacks the appropriate color/texture information. So, when they are displayed, the game and/or the model viewers just make it white... which never does it justice. For example, the first looks we had at the BLM armor and Batraal models, were all white.

The worst offender for me are the belt buckles on the PLD armor... so gross looking.

[TacoTaru]

Anyone wanting that picture...success!


It's not taken at the highest resolution, but we were able to get a larger size of the image to share with you guys. Enjoy! :)
http://na.square-enix.com/ffxiv/job_pose.jpg

[Lucavi]

Glorious Drg and Pld. Dunno how monks are kicking with all that... what looks to be... iron on their feet.

[Spider-Dan]

Dude, that is Cecil's freaking helmet. DRG, my ass.

[Gokulo]

Quite disappointed with WHM though, where's the cape :o

[blythe]

Quite disappointed with WHM though, where's the cape :o
I have a feeling the cape is why WHM is the only job not done yet/in the game.

From the concept art looks like they hadn't decided how to deal with it: http://wdl.square-enix.com/ffxiv/download/en/FFXIV_2.0_Specs_EN.pdf

[manako]

WHM crown is meh, maybe it would show better on someone with darker hair without bangs. I do like the sort of capelet addition to the torso of the robe but I really don't understand why they can't have a special case for whm where they get a hooded robe instead of 2 peices of armor. I hope they tweak the way the bottom of the WAR armor animates, it looks really fake without cloth physics. I do enjoy the DRG armor, but agree that the helm is totally off and not detailed enough.

it also looks like the belts are class specific :)

[Patriarch]

Serious dislike for how childish everything they are introducing looks.

Also I question some people who are worried about belt buckles, when there are so many more pertinent areas of the game to be worried about.

[Cayos]

High res SS:

http://na.square-enix.com/ffxiv/job_pose.jpg

[manako]

Serious dislike for how childish everything they are introducing looks.

Also I question some people who are worried about belt buckles, when there are so many more pertinent areas of the game to be worried about.

which was a comment on the dat swapped images not being final art, having absolutely no impact on the actual game. Sorry I don't see the value in complaining overly much, I think we have enough people who have that well covered ;-)

[Seravi Edalborez]

*complain about unimplemented feature/shitty feature/feature any decent MMO has*
*still isn't in the game*
*repeat*

It's not that we don't acknowledge it, but there's new, minor stuff to critique in the meantime.

[vadre]

Loving the AF, although i'm slightly disappointed BLM's didn't end up getting goggles like in the art, I thought it gave it a sort of modern edge that reflects on the kind of setting Eorzea is what with it's more-modern-than-medieval situation.

Still, it makes him look like Robel-Akbel so I'm happy with that.

[Elcura]

You should just ignore fffffff. He never has anything good to say, or anything smart to say, or anything productive to say.

[Corrderio]

Loving the AF, although i'm slightly disappointed BLM's didn't end up getting goggles like in the art, I thought it gave it a sort of modern edge that reflects on the kind of setting Eorzea is what with it's more-modern-than-medieval situation.

Still, it makes him look like Robel-Akbel so I'm happy with that.

Maybe I'm missing something, but what do you mean by goggles? All I've seen in the concept is the decorated mask.

[Siya]

"(Oh, btw, here’s a look at the exclusive gear sets for the new jobs coming in patch 1.21. )"

I haven't really followed 14 since... ever. Bought the CE and played til level 20 but yeah... Anyways are the adding new jobs or revamping them to be the classic MNK/WAR/DRG/BLM as opposed to PUG/MRD/LNC/THM? Have they/Do they plan to make the areas much less linear? I hated the forest area which was just a maze with no real open area ;/. Personally I'd love FFXI-HD

[Corrderio]

1. Classes will remain as they are. Jobs are unlocked by having one class to 30, and another to 15 (EX: Yoshida confirmed to unlock PLD, you need to be a 30 GLA, and a 15 MRD). The difference is classes can mix and match abilities whereas a job has a set skill set that can't be changed, exclusive actions, and more specialized in their role.

2. They're planning on redoing all the zones around 2.0.

[manako]

"(Oh, btw, here’s a look at the exclusive gear sets for the new jobs coming in patch 1.21. )"

I haven't really followed 14 since... ever. Bought the CE and played til level 20 but yeah... Anyways are the adding new jobs or revamping them to be the classic MNK/WAR/DRG/BLM as opposed to PUG/MRD/LNC/THM? Have they/Do they plan to make the areas much less linear? I hated the forest area which was just a maze with no real open area ;/. Personally I'd love FFXI-HD

the jobs will get unlocked, and then overlay the appropriate class, at least that is what they are telling us :) . I think of it like black mage -> black wizard etc.. They are only planning the changes to the environments for version 2.0

[vadre]

Maybe I'm missing something, but what do you mean by goggles? All I've seen in the concept is the decorated mask.

If it's just a mask, then I pretty much just mistook what's on the concept. Goggles are great though, more goggles cannot be a bad thing.

[miokomioko]

lol, goggles. The BLM concept (and model) have always had an eyepatch.

[Aratharn]

"(Oh, btw, here’s a look at the exclusive gear sets for the new jobs coming in patch 1.21. )"

I haven't really followed 14 since... ever. Bought the CE and played til level 20 but yeah... Anyways are the adding new jobs or revamping them to be the classic MNK/WAR/DRG/BLM as opposed to PUG/MRD/LNC/THM? Have they/Do they plan to make the areas much less linear? I hated the forest area which was just a maze with no real open area ;/. Personally I'd love FFXI-HD

Read this:
http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com/pl/teaser/index.html

Links at bottom have concept art/changes planned/roadmap to 2.0.

[Alkar]

They're going to let us choose if we want the hood up or down in 2.0 for the WHM AF so I'm happy with that. It looks so simple yet great.

[Corrderio]

They're going to let us choose if we want the hood up or down in 2.0 for the WHM AF so I'm happy with that. It looks so simple yet great.

That's pretty badassed. Wonder if WHM will get a belt or something so it has 5 pieces of armor like everyone else.

[Cichy]

So I wonder if belt will be a AF piece also? I guess it has to be. I can see feet, hands, legs, and belt being quests while head and body the 2 dungeons they implementing.

[TacoTaru]

Unless they've reversed their position on the hood thing, this is what was said during the live letter:

Q: You're displaying concept art in the slideshow behind you. I noticed that the white mage was shown with her hood both up and down. Will players be able to toggle between these looks?
A: We're nearly at the final stage of implementation. Testing continues, but we've been informed that this will be very difficult to implement.

Not to say it won't happen, but doesn't sound very promising for a yes.

[Alkar]

Unless they've reversed their position on the hood thing, this is what was said during the live letter:


Not to say it won't happen, but doesn't sound very promising for a yes.

My bad, should've quoted their new comment about this:

When it launches, it won't be possible for WHM to wear their hood and the WAR to put down their mask, but the dev. team is working their hardest to get the specs just right so that you guys can choose which way to wear them in version 2.0.

Either way WHM gets a head piece, it's a crown.

[TacoTaru]

Oh neat!

[Lucavi]

Dude, that is Cecil's freaking helmet. DRG, my ass.

Those aren't Cecil's Greaves. That's Wyrm AF all the way, baby!

[Spider-Dan]

Those aren't Cecil's Greaves. That's Wyrm AF all the way, baby!
I guess FFIV Kain is no longer the point of comparison (after your essay on why he defines Dragoon)? Fine.

http://images.wikia.com/ffxi/images/0/0b/DRGRA.jpg
http://images.wikia.com/ffxi/images/8/8f/DRKRA.jpg
http://viperbeam.com/ffxiv/quoteDRGunquote.png

horns- check
random spikes- check
heavy plate armor- check

It's DRK with a lance. Sorry if that disappoints you.

[Fievel]

Who the fuck cares? Seriously?

[Corrderio]

Rep response about WHM hood/WAR helmet:

When it launches, it won't be possible for WHM to wear their hood and the WAR to put down their mask, but the dev. team is working their hardest to get the specs just right so that you guys can choose which way to wear them in version 2.0.

[Kuroikage]

Can we just start calling it Darkoon so you fools can shut the hell up?

[Draylo]

Really liking the BLM look, needs to be on a hume though as Taru are inferior mannequins to show case gear! Also the WAR looks like BST gear to me but maybe I'm just used to FFXI, way better than FFXI WAR AF though lol.

[Niiro]

http://images.bluegartr.com/bucket/gallery/b3d12162e739f6354c9d8774d9eb4676.jpg

Hoping it's not just me seeing the similarities and really hoping it's intentional, could make for some interesting story.

[Kuroikage]

Gonna go out on a limb and say it is coincidental.

[Seravi Edalborez]

Seems more fitting of Highlanders / Ala Mihgans, with the fur touches. Like Raubahn in Uldah's company. Similarities are there but seems more barbaric than Garlean armor.

[Raldo]

Hoping it's not just me seeing the similarities and really hoping it's intentional, could make for some interesting story.
I hope you're right! They did say that the WAR gear has a mask on it (that you can't bring down until they make it work in 2.0 -- server limitations). To me, that makes it seem likely.

[Niiro]

Seems more fitting of Highlanders / Ala Mihgans, with the fur touches. Like Raubahn in Uldah's company. Similarities are there but seems more barbaric than Garlean armor.
Ah, it does resemble Raub's getup quite a bit too (his crazy bull horned helm).

I can still hope I guess, not that I should.

[Rocl]

I def see more Raubahn there

[Niiro]

Stop crushing my dreams.

[Crab_Cake]

It better look good on Elezen F, and I'm starting to get pissed that in official SE stuff they hardly get any representation at all. (This is mostly me being pissed at the XI team since I'm remembering back to all the times I didn't see Elvaan F on anything)

Agreed. Though there was this Vanadiel Tribune story (http://www.playonline.com/ff11us/guide/development/vt2/16/index.html) (click Aly's Escapades). (Though technically that wasn't done by SE themselves but just fans writing for the tribune right?)

[plue]

Why does the BLM seem to not have a face?

[Fievel]

Why does the BLM seem to not have a face?

Mask

[miokomioko]

The collar comes up really high, and they hat has a built-in mask thing that has one eye revealed, the other covered. An eyepatch/mask hybrid.

[blindSharingan]

Bard

Just noticed the quiver is a horn type instrument. Wonder if it's just for looks.

[Patriarch]

You should just ignore fffffff. He never has anything good to say, or anything smart to say, or anything productive to say.

Ah, I see. Because I don't share your affection for artwork that attracts little girls, my posts are moot. I like your logic sir.

I would like everyone to follow what Elcura says. Let's not talk about our opinions of the game, and the state that it is in. Instead, let's post about each other, and what we think about ourselves. This way we can be "productive". We will get far.

[Neoscrilla]

Why does the BLM seem to not have a face?

http://www.ghostfire.net/chibi/s00105-blackmage.png

[Ambrosia]

I love the look of Dragoon. Also love the look from Archer, looks like a set that Aion or TERA would make. White Mage and Paladin looks like standard stuff, just high rez (not saying its a bad thing). Black Mage seems to be a copy paste from that NPC from WotG. Marauder looks like something out of Skyrum.

I used to be a Final Fantasy Game just like you, then I took a knee to the Tanaka.

[Egon]

I used to be a Final Fantasy Game just like you, then I took a knee to the Tanaka.

Made me lol way to much.

[Sagacious Sundi]

Can we just start calling it Darkoon so you fools can shut the hell up?I prefer Drag Knight.

[Seravi Edalborez]

It's clearly Dargoon.

[Edidas]

would love to see marauder with scythe

[Fievel]

It's clearly Dargoon.

Dargoon is probably the best I've heard.

[Nariiko]

I used to be a Final Fantasy Game just like you, then I took a Yoshida to the Tanaka.

Fixed

[Raldo]

Just noticed the quiver is a horn type instrument. Wonder if it's just for looks.
I bet even the harp on the bow is just for looks. Quiver model comes along with the bow (see: fur on quiver with moogle bow).

[miokomioko]

The bard concept art had an actual flute/horn wind instrument of some sort entirely separate from the bow/quiver. I think that quiver is just fancy like that. Perhaps an actual instrument will eventually be an off-hand item like XI's since their primary is obviously going to stay as a bow. I don't think we'll see a song animation or anything of the sort until maybe 2.0 considering that Swiftsong is currently just animated via a glowing hand.

[millionsknives]

Why is there not more of a shitstorm going on about the state of Archers AF. It looks like a joke! /emo

Other then that, I think the rest are exceedingly cool

[Rocl]

Because it's a Bard