These details are all floating around, but I'm going to go ahead and translate/post this anyway. Let me know if you guys find any value in this or if it's all just rehashed info. Four parts, I'll post as I translate each.
Original JP Source: http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs...22_640817.html
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Producer Letter LIVE from Sapporo - Item Level 115 and Much More
Yesterday, the development team of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn held a fan event (FATE) in Hokkaido. The producer and director Naoki Yoshida was on hand to and a "Producer Letter LIVE" was broadcast to discuss a lot of previously unknown information about patch 2.2, "Through the Maelstrom," set to be released on March 27.
This was the 13th LIVE broadcast, following the previous Osaka broadcast, which served as part 2 of the discussion of content for patch 2.2, including beastman daily quests, a new Hildibrand storyline, new equipment, and other new elements such as the Glamour prism.
Additionally, Kazutoyo Maehiro (event director and main scenario writer) appeared as a special guest. In his own corner area he answered questions from players about the storyline.
Following the close of the event, the official preliminary patch 2.2 notes were posted on the home page. The final patch notes will be posted on March 26, just prior to the maintenance and patch implementation.
A More Detailed Description of Glamour Prisms, Retainer Ventures, and Gardening
In the second large scale update, patch 2.2 (Through the Maelstrom), in addition to the new primal battles with Leviathan, new turns of the Binding Coil of Bahamut, and other new battle content, a variety of new systems are also being implemented.
Players have high expectations for these, especially for the new system which will change the appearance of equipment by utilizing a "Glamour prism." The producer letter LIVE began by addressing some questions about this system.
The glamour prism system allows the projection of the appearance of one piece of equipment onto another piece. Equipment projection is limited to the jobs and classes by which the item can be equipped, for example you cannot equip project warrior armor onto black mage armor. Further, it isn't possible to project the appearance of higher item level items onto lower item level items. Equipment obtained from seasonal events can be projected.
Items which occupy multiple slots, such as a cowl which occupies head and body, can be projected as well.
The catalyst required for projection will be dependent on the item level. Catalysts can be synthesized by crafters. The appearance will be shown as soon as you choose the base equipment and the equipment for which you want to project the design. A "+" mark will be attached to the equipment icon in your character data, and the name of the equipment which served as the source of the appearance will be shown on the item details. The projected equipment will not be lost in the process, and can still be registered in gear sets.
Another new feature being added to retainers which currently serve for storage and sales is the "retainer venture."
This will allow you to obtain items in real time via requests given to your retainer. In order to participate, a player will need to have completed the main scenario and an additional quest which allows the player to use ventures.
Upon clearing the quest, it will be possible to set your retainer to a gatherer or a battle class. From the retainer screen in character data, you'll be able to use weapons and equipment in accordance with their class. A fee called a "venture chip" will be required for the requests, and these are available through beastman daily quests or in exchange for Grand Company seals. Real world time must also pass for the request to complete, with some taking as long as eight hours. It is possible to cancel in the middle of a request, but the utilized venture chips will not be returned. You will still be able to view the markets and retrieve or deposit items with your retainer.
Initially, the available rewards for ventures will be limited, but as the retainer grows with experience and completes certain quests, the amount of items available will gradually grow. Among these items are certain rare items that can be obtained only through retainer ventures. In order to obtain these items, it will be necessary to fully outfit your retainer with equipment. However, if, for example, the player's black mage is level 30, it will only be possible to grow the retainer up to level 30.
In addition, with patch 2.2, you'll be able to add additional retainers. This will have an additional fee of 200 yen ($2) per 30 days and can be completed through Mog Station.
Gardening is a new system which will be available to free companies which own housing. By planting seeds in a field installed at the free company house's garden, eventually players will be able to harvest items. There are three field sizes available (small, medium, and large), and the number of plants that can be planted in each is different. It's possible to place a large field on a small plot, but a larger house will allow for more gardens.
After planting the seeds, you must take care of the plants by fertilizing and watering them. Anyone can care for the plants and there's no disadvantage to over-caring for the plants (they won't die), so you can do it to your heart's content. After about three to five real time days, the items obtained from the seeds can be harvested.
Additionally, for plants that are next to each other, there's a certain probability that a rare species will be formed. By repeatedly crossing species of high rarity, you can obtain species from which rare items can be harvested. The authority to plant seeds and/or remove the seedlings can be set by the free company leader.