Dengeki Uncovers New Info (8/29)

[Elmer the Pointy]

Usually I just post everything to the JP Media Collection thread, but this weekend Dengeki had a good amount of interesting and new stuff to share.

Dengeki Online - Developer Interview

Dengeki Alpha Report, Developer Q&A

Through their experience with the alpha build and a discussion with the developers, they are able to find out a couple new and interesting things.

• All 4 languages will have a simultaneous release
• Auto-translate function is planned. They want to improve it, but not too much so as to make it confusing
• Skill level will determine what equipment you can wear. There will be a skill cap.
• Crafting can be a full-time job this time around. You skill-up just like a battle-oriented job and have unique Guildleves tailored to your class.
• One aspect of FFXIV is that adventuring isn't limited to grinding off enemies. For example, a player could become a "high level" Weaver without engaging in a single battle.
• Weapon durability will be present to balance crafting and battle-oriented jobs. Crafters will depend on battle-oriented jobs for backup, while those jobs will rely on Crafters to repair weapons
• 3 starting nations, Limsa Lominsa, Ul'dah, Gridania
• Free-roaming NMs with special drops are a maybe, large-scale HNM content planned for Guildleve
• Players cannot steal monsters involved in someone else's Guildleve
• Voice acting for cut scenes - all versions will be in English, other languages will get subtitles
• There will be a trade function, but they are planning to build something new and different from XI's Auction House system.
• They hope to make use of Square Enix IDs and Security Tokens for FFXIV logins

There's some other stuff in there I may have missed, so check it out

[Null]

I thought I'd stick with the same sig for forever but now I'm tempted to switch to the "I'm with Elmer" sig.

Many thanks.

[100percentile]

For players who seek shiny loot, the amount and variety of equipment is set to be increased by leaps and bounds above Final Fantasy XI. There will also be unique pieces of equipment obtainable through participation in special events.

Awesome. Just what I wanted to hear.

[Rulke]

[*]Voice acting for cut scenes - all versions will be in English, other languages will get subtitles[/list]

There's some other stuff in there I may have missed, so check it out

Wow, thats some news. I wonder what made them choose that? I guess many other nations are more mutilingual than perhape the USA is.

And of course, thanks for all this info Elmer. You hear it all the time, but you rock!

[Silenka]

Wow, thats some news. I wonder what made them choose that?

So they don't have to listen to people whining about wanting the JP track and how much the voice actors suck comparatively.

[Stilzkin]

Guess this means guildleves aren't instanced which makes me happy.

[Enygma55]

Yea the battle system looks a lot like the original Secret of Mana style. Freedom to switch weapons and waiting to charge up the gauge gives you stronger atk for that weapon.

This will definitely give battles a constant flowing tactical feel.

[SamanosukeShiva]

woot, many many thanks elmer!

[Agito]

Wait./ So people with Crafter type classes are going to have to group up with the Fighting classes (optional) for hard battles/missions/guildleves and such? That would be weird.

[Trocian]

[*]Voice acting for cut scenes - all versions will be in English, other languages will get subtitles

What, so even the JP version will have english VA but with JP subtitles?

[Celeras]

Up for debate, the XIVcore translation(lol i know, but they did it first this time so you know it isnt stolen ;x) says that there will be English and Japanese voiceovers and everything else will be subtitled.

Wait./ So people with Crafter type classes are going to have to group up with the Fighting classes (optional) for hard battles/missions/guildleves and such? That would be weird.

In addition to them being able to repair gear, I can definitely see them maybe being a support-type class giving buffs. Like blacksmithing enhancing heavy armor classes or some shit... not sure what a fisherman would do ;o

[BRP]

I hope the VA isn't for all cutscenes, just important ones. That could slow things down.


EDIT: So is there going to be just two battle jobs - Physical and Magic?

[Hyan]

EDIT: So is there going to be just two battle jobs - Physical and Magic?

Mmm, what else is there?

[Trocian]

EDIT: So is there going to be just two battle jobs - Physical and Magic?

Physical jobs would include Warrior, Paladin, Ninja, Ranger ect.
Magical would be BLM, WHM, RDM. You get the idea.

There won't just be two paths to take.

[Annemade]

[*]Voice acting for cut scenes - all versions will be in English, other languages will get subtitles

Assuming FFXIV has version updates like FFXI, if there is voice acting for all cutscenes (missions and quests, etc), this could really blow out the size of updates to be really large when new quests/guildleaves get added.

But if they restrict the voice acting to just missions (and not quests), it shouldn't affect the size of the updates because they will probably already be on the game/expansion DVDs.

Bigger updates might mean more congestion and slower downloads during update time (depending on how they decide to distribute updates).

[BRP]

Yes, I know Trocan

Mmm, what else is there?

I am sure they could think of something if they tried hard enough. I've already have lol. Tactics and negotiation/monster training are outside the realm of attacks and spells. I am just curious if they will settle with splitting everything into two paths.

[Elmer the Pointy]

Wait./ So people with Crafter type classes are going to have to group up with the Fighting classes (optional) for hard battles/missions/guildleves and such? That would be weird.

Speculating here, but from what they've said so far, it sounds like maybe there could be Guildleves for Blacksmith where, for example, you need to retrieve a rare ore from Mt. Firey. If there are tons of monsters living there, you would want some Warriors backing you up.

Up for debate, the XIVcore translation(lol i know, but they did it first this time so you know it isnt stolen ;x) says that there will be English and Japanese voiceovers and everything else will be subtitled.

Checked the interview again... Tanaka definitely said as it stands now, they are planning on having English voiceovers for all versions and subtitles will differ for each language.

[Hyan]

How'd 'tactics/negotiation'-class work in the game? As some kind of debuffer?

[BRP]

How'd 'tactics/negotiation'-class work in the game? As some kind of debuffer?

It really doesn't matter, since this is not what the thread is about and it is not what my question is about.

[SilverBreeze]

Assuming FFXIV has version updates like FFXI, if there is voice acting for all cutscenes (missions and quests, etc), this could really blow out the size of updates to be really large when new quests/guildleaves get added.

But if they restrict the voice acting to just missions (and not quests), it shouldn't affect the size of the updates because they will probably already be on the game/expansion DVDs.

Bigger updates might mean more congestion and slower downloads during update time (depending on how they decide to distribute updates).

Doubt it.

Seriously FFXI with its 56k connection speed was the only MMO I've ever played that ever had problems distributing the patch on patch day. Other MMOs usually announce and give out the patches days or weeks in advance, use peer-to-peer sharing, and other things. The bottleneck for FFXI was PlayOnline and the shitty download speed you got when everyone was trying to bum rush the servers at the same time. It shouldn't be a problem this time around if Square has learned anything from FFXI or other MMOs.