Letter from the Producer, V (03/03/2011)

[Hyan]

You lazy bums.

http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com...16083b634f7678

Well, my stint in London has drawn to a close, and I'm now making my way to L.A. At the London office, I had the chance to speak with a few people from FFXIV's French and German fan sites, and enjoyed what I felt were some very meaningful exchanges. Unfortunately, I couldn't meet up with representatives from one of the German sites due to some transportation trouble on their end. But I'll be back in Europe before long, so we'll have to get together then!

Japan to England to America in the span of a week. It's all got me feeling a bit...off. Maybe it's because I'm not the type of person who sleeps much to begin with, but I'm not really feeling the jet lag, per se. I'm just worried that if I stop to take a break or slow down, it'll hit me all at once. If anyone out there knows a cure for this nonsense, let me know.

As I mentioned before, I left the results and analysis of the second Players' Poll out of my last letter to try and keep it short, so that's seems as good a place as any to start.

I'm writing this at 30,000 feet again, so I may not be calm, cool, and collected. But my interpretations of the poll data were all made while I still had two feet on the ground, so they should be solid. (Seriously, I really hate planes.)

Poll responses numbered in the tens of thousands again, and I'd like to thank everyone who participated. Let's get right to it, shall we?



1. What do you feel are currently the most significant issues with the battle system? (up to three answers)
http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/to...5e5b044a5b8020
JP NA GB FR DE
Spamming actions. 21.3％ 16.3％ 16.4％ 21.4％ 16.1％
Lack of class uniqueness. 21.5％ 22.6％ 23.2％ 21.0％ 19.1％
Lack of party-based battle tactics. 10.9％ 19.3％ 20.6％ 13.5％ 12.4％
Insufficient effect from attributes. 16.9％ 14.4％ 13.7％ 13.1％ 21.4％
Lackluster battle animations. 15.3％ 13.4％ 13.7％ 15.4％ 13.9％
Cumbersome Battle Regimens. 14.1％ 14.1％ 12.5％ 15.6％ 17.1％

For Question 1, we decided to list up several points of concern the dev team and I had, and allow you to select multiple responses. It looks like the end result is that you feel all of them are significant issues. We'll do our best to address them all. In particular, the lack of class uniqueness seems to be prevalent in all regions. As this relates closely to core elements such as battle strategy, party composition, and attributes, we will be giving it top priority. It is going to entail a huge overhaul, including balancing the distribution of actions across classes, but we'll be looking to see what we can do, and then doing it! The result will be less monotony of actions, and once those changes have been finished, we'll move onto reworking the Battle Regimen system.

2. What type of class role would you like to use in combat?
http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/to...bfc5a3825066d6
JP NA GB FR DE
Tank (protect allies by holding enemy enmity) 17.3％ 19.1％ 16.5％ 16.9％ 14.3％
Melee (attack enemies at close range) 39.8％ 33.8％ 32.9％ 32.3％ 37.0％
Ranged (attack enemies at long range) 21.2％ 20.9％ 23.5％ 25.1％ 25.6％
Healer (heal allies with restorative abilities) 11.5％ 12.7％ 13.8％ 13.2％ 12.8％
Buffer (support allies with enhancing abilities) 10.2％ 13.5％ 13.3％ 12.5％ 10.3％

You guys love your melee attackers, don't you? I guess it's to be expected, considering Matsui (the battle team leader) tells me that melee attackers have been the most popular classes in FFXI, too. Personally, when it comes to MMOs, I'm more of a ranged man myself. I've logged more than my fair share of play time online, and have played every kind of class, but whenever asked what my main is, I always say caster first. At any rate, we'll be taking the results from Question 2 into consideration when making system changes to help encourage party-based play.

3. How frequently would you like to engage in party-based play?
http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/to...e3d2d9d78d69f0
JP NA GB FR DE
I'm a solo player. 20.7％ 9.5％ 9.6％ 13.6％ 6.4％
Just on the weekends. (between 1–3 hours) 17.8％ 8.9％ 8.1％ 6.1％ 10.5％
Just on the weekends. (more than 3 hours) 11.9％ 9.9％ 9.8％ 7.1％ 11.6％
Weekends and weekdays. (between 1–3 hours) 39.5％ 31.3％ 35.5％ 30.0％ 43.1％
Weekends and weekdays. (more than 3 hours) 10.0％ 40.4％ 37.0％ 43.2％ 28.4％

At first glance, Question 3's results look to be an overwhelming desire for party-based play, but looking closely at the regional breakdown, Japan in particular has a strong showing of players who prefer rolling solo. I imagine for many people it might go something like this: real life obligations at school or work → can't play for prolonged periods of time → log into a game with mostly party-based content → spend time looking for a party → end up losing actual game time. I'm well aware of these issues, and promise not to let vicious cycles like this dominate FFXIV's gameplay. I'm on it. ☺

Though we're revising the battle system with a focus on making it fun for parties, the solo/party orientation and recommended ranks of game content will be clearly defined, and future adjustments and additions will take all types of player lifestyles into account. To take guildleves as an example, there is a certain comfort in knowing that if I go to this aetheryte or that counter, there is something to do. I'm of the opinion that there is nothing better than the ability to pick up the game and play even when you only have a little bit of time to do so, and this will continue to be an important element in the future. Of course, to make party play as enjoyable as possible, we're going to be coming up with some new specs and begin implementing them when possible.

4. What types of game content would you like to undertake while in a party? (up to three answers)
http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/to...1ef705710647ad
JP NA GB FR DE
Ranking up. 17.9％ 21.5％ 20.7％ 15.1％ 17.2％
Farming/gathering. 5.7％ 1.5％ 1.4％ 6.7％ 1.7％
Questing. 11.5％ 16.6％ 16.4％ 14.7％ 9.8％
Guildleves. 6.6％ 7.7％ 7.8％ 5.2％ 10.9％
Behests. 5.4％ 6.4％ 6.2％ 6.8％ 10.8％
Small-scale player versus environment (PvE) content. 25.6％ 20.1％ 20.6％ 28.5％ 20.8％
Large-scale player versus environment (PvE) content. 21.6％ 20.2％ 21.1％ 19.2％ 24.4％
Player versus player (PvP) content. 5.7％ 6.0％ 5.8％ 3.8％ 4.4％

5. What types of game content would you like to undertake while playing solo? (up to three answers)
http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/to...cd442e6384e6dd
JP NA GB FR DE
Ranking up. 20.8％ 17.6％ 16.1％ 14.9％ 10.6％
Farming/gathering. 24.0％ 20.0％ 19.8％ 21.6％ 29.2％
Questing. 17.1％ 20.1％ 20.5％ 22.7％ 15.4％
Guildleves. 9.5％ 9.5％ 9.3％ 9.0％ 10.3％
Behests. 1.8％ 1.7％ 1.9％ 1.6％ 1.8％
Synthesis. 20.1％ 17.4％ 18.0％ 20.4％ 26.1％
Small-scale player versus environment (PvE) content. 4.4％ 8.9％ 9.5％ 5.4％ 3.4％
Player versus player (PvP) content. 2.4％ 4.8％ 4.9％ 4.3％ 3.2％

Questions 4 and 5 were aimed at party and solo play, respectively. These tremendously informative results will go a long way towards serving as a barometer of sorts for future content balancing. We will draw heavily on this data when considering the necessity of forming parties, the presence of in-game features to aid in doing so, and other such differences between solo and party play. These differences seem to attribute in part for the strong showing of the solo PvE content option. Also, the solo play response for farming/gathering is extremely valuable feedback for the dev team, and I’m thinking that this is something we can tie into the in-game companies we have planned!

6. In addition to enhancing class differentiation with essential attributes and distinct appearances, we are also looking into introducing class and rank requirements for equipping gear. How do you feel about the implementation of such a system?
http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/to...f7a8e1de6dcb6b
JP NA GB FR DE
I am for it. 70.6％ 68.3％ 73.1％ 85.1％ 82.7％
I am against it. 14.6％ 10.7％ 10.1％ 9.1％ 10.8％
Either way is fine with me. 14.8％ 21.0％ 16.8％ 5.8％ 6.5％

The overwhelming majority seems to be in favor of an item system with an emphasis on class uniqueness, much like the results from Question 1. As I mentioned last letter, this is something that we've already started on, and we'll be implementing the changes over time together with adjustments to item stats.

7. The fatigue system currently in place aims to prevent excessive "grinding" of skill and experience points. Have you felt the effects of this system while playing?
http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/to...fcf4ed57d1d012
JP NA GB FR DE
Yes. 72.1％ 61.5％ 63.4％ 60.6％ 65.2％
No. 27.9％ 38.5％ 36.6％ 39.4％ 34.8％

No doubt many players experienced this to a greater extent after the changes to skill and experience point calculations introduced in 1.15. I can't give any particulars about the timing, but once we rework the foundation, we'll be touching up this as well, so please bear with us.

The bonus point allotment system was intended to be a means by which players could customize their character's individuality. The free distribution of attribute points has given rise to certain problems, however, such as compatibility issues with the Armoury system, and the lowered effectiveness of the attributes themselves. In particular, this lowered effectiveness of attributes also extends its influence to items, and is therefore something that we feel must be rectified. To do so, we are currently looking into the following two options:

1. Removal of the bonus point system, and the addition of automatic allotment of attribute points based on class.
2. Removal of physical levels, and the addition of class-specific allotment of attribute points for each class based on rank.

8. Would you prefer option 1, option 2, or the current system?
http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/to...5aa07412d8d96b
JP NA GB FR DE
Option 1. 28.5％ 27.9％ 29.0％ 35.1％ 23.6％
Option 2. 58.9％ 54.6％ 52.9％ 46.4％ 39.3％
The current system. 12.6％ 17.5％ 18.1％ 18.5％ 37.1％

To be honest, I'm genuinely surprised by the response to Question 8, as are Matsui and Gondai on the battle team. We certainly didn't think that over 50% of players would be for doing away with physical levels. This would entail some pretty big changes tied in with enhancing class uniqueness. But we're coming to realize now that most of you seem to be saying you're fine with radical changes as long as they make the game more fun. We'll definitely refer to this data when coming up with new specs, and will be implementing them when we can!

9. If the current target claiming system were done away with, would you be in favor of a system that rewards skill, experience, and loot only to the party that first deals damage to an enemy? Or would you be in favor of skill, experience, and loot being distributed amongst all parties that contributed to an enemy's defeat?
http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/to...26ad1b5441822d
JP NA GB FR DE
Skill, experience, and loot going to only the first party to deal damage to an enemy. 53.5％ 40.0％ 39.8％ 39.6％ 55.7％
Skill, experience, and loot going to all parties taking part in an enemy's defeat. 46.5％ 60.0％ 60.2％ 60.4％ 44.3％

Player opinions are pretty evenly split on this one, and the regional breakdowns are varied a bit as well. I'm kicking myself for not having put in a third option combining the other two: Skill and experience going to all parties, and loot going to only the first party to deal damage to an enemy.

I personally think that this mixed option (skill/experience to all involved parties, loot to only the claiming party) makes sense. Well, the official FFXIV forums will be going live shortly, and I'd very much like to open this topic up for discussion there to hear your opinions. I'll be posting, too!

10. If the current target claiming system were done away with, would you prefer for content such as dungeons and battle to be converted into instances as much as possible?
* "Instances" refer to those events and areas that can only be occupied by a single party, or certain characters, at once. This serves to prevent players from competing with one another for the same enemies, for example.
http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/to...96074756711197
JP NA GB FR DE
Yes. 80.1％ 76.9％ 75.9％ 88.8％ 87.5％
No. 19.9％ 23.1％ 24.1％ 11.2％ 12.5％

This data is somewhat representative of the response seen to Question 9 data. The people have spoken. As such, we'll be operating under the premise that new PvE content, such as dungeons containing sought-after loot, will be instanced. By instancing content in this way, we'll be able to reduce claim wars and counter-camping and all that. There's also the added merit of enabling the level design team to work with a clear theme in mind, and create much more engaging and challenging content.

So, what did you think of the second Players' Poll results? I really can't thank you enough for all of the valuable opinions. The data has really helped us map out the direction in which to take the battle system from here. All that's left to do is to finalize the specs and start writing the code. But after-the-fact adjustments and reworkings being what they are, it simply isn't possibly to fit everything that needs to be done in a single monthly patch. And so we're planning to release every big change over the course of two smaller-size updates. You'll be able to start seeing the changes to the battle system come spring, so please be patient just a bit longer!

My next letter will be sometime after the Game Developers Conference, when I'm back on Japanese soil. Patch 1.16 will be live by then, and I'm planning on diving into the topic of in-game companies! All of the system-side preparations have been made, and it's almost time for Eorzea's radical transformation to begin!

Well, I have to man up through two more flights (L.A. to San Fran, and San Fran to Tokyo). Keep me in your prayers, everyone! It's times like this a little FF Levitate spell would come in handy...

See you next post! ☺
FINAL FANTASY XIV Producer & Director, Naoki Yoshida

[Zettofaia]

I wasn't expecting another letter today, after all it's only been a couple of days since Yoshi-P wrote the last one!

I found questions 9 and 10 to be the most interesting (and scary, I guess), I'm really worried about his vision of the new claiming system because I still can't picture what he's trying to do with it, it all seems very vague (I think that's exactly why it's almost 50/50, unless I'm the only one who doesn't get it...).

That aside, while I'm actually glad the voting turned in favor of instances, I think it's crucial that they keep filling the world with NMs that cannot be cockblocked by other players like in XI, having focus mainly shift to instances might make the world feel a bit empty/dead, which could affect the "adventure" experience some of us are looking for.

[Shuichi]

I think, or rather I hope, that the top level gear will be put in instances and then other very good or close gear will be available via world HNMs. From my own experience, I can only think of trying to finish the Black Belt quest in FFXI (pre KS99) and that was not fun. Top level gear should be found in instances, that's just my personal opinion.

[Elrina]

I like the third option he gave for the claiming system. Share skill/experience, but let the loot go to the initial claimers. I can think of some ways people could grief each other with it later during pure mob grind parties or something, but I'm sure they've thought of that as well, and will have something in mind for it (even if it's just by making enough other options that offer exp that mob grinding isn't necessary or efficient anyway).

We've all hashed out all our worries and arguments regarding instances already. I think we should just see where he takes it, even if it's focused on instances for now, and hope more will come eventually.

I was surprised that he was surprised so many people were against physical levels, but I think it's a good thing that it's making them think deeper into the overall changes and sees that our desire for the game, class system and combat to be fun to play is paramount, no matter what changes are required.

I quoted this in another post in another thread already, but I think this is something especially noteworthy about potential changes, along with the recent information of the two design routes being considered for implementing the traditional jobs:

In particular, the lack of class uniqueness seems to be prevalent in all regions. As this relates closely to core elements such as battle strategy, party composition, and attributes, we will be giving it top priority. It is going to entail a huge overhaul, including balancing the distribution of actions across classes, but we'll be looking to see what we can do, and then doing it!

I'm reeeeeeeeeally curious as to whether he means just balancing the distribution of new actions, or balancing the distribution of what's allowed to be cross-classed, or balancing the re-distribution of some class abilities to correspond with larger changes to the actual class system. Or possibly (more or less) all three.



And the first thing I noticed from the letter is that he forgot to put in anything regarding the future of synthesis. He had mentioned information being in the fourth letter originally, and stated specifically in the fourth letter that he would be addressing it in fifth letter. Now the fifth letter is out, I see nothing about any future synthesis concepts, and it seems the next letter's topic is already decided. Not that I don't want to hear about the in-game companies, I do, but damn, where was the information about crafting?

[Blasta]

Nice, another funny letter

I found questions 9 and 10 to be the most interesting (and scary, I guess)

I'm not scared at all. I surely was surprised, but there is no way in hell that the 2nd option (question #9) will go live in a patch, ever (On world spawns). Hes even kicking himself for not adding 3rd option. Imagine multiple companies busting the same mob, MPKing the shit out of others cause of the massive TP feed etc.

[Reapz]

I voted to have stuff instanced but hope that doesn't mean EVERYTHING will be instanced now, nice to have a mix like XI did but putting the best gear etc in instanced content so competition isn't too fierce for years and years to come (Nidhogg/Aspid/KB I am looking at you!)

[Groovebox]

I'm very pleased with the results... there is nothing wrong with instanced content, if they are banking on a PS3 release, they need to make the game pretty casual all-around. There is nothing exciting about botting world NMs, etc.

[Shuichi]

I don't think that everything will be instanced, just the MOST sought after gear. To quote Yoshi P:

By instancing content in this way, we'll be able to reduce claim wars and counter-camping and all that. There's also the added merit of enabling the level design team to work with a clear theme in mind, and create much more engaging and challenging content.

There's still plenty of ways of making the world seem filled with adventure and danger (and it looks like that's something they are already working on, i'm looking at you hamlet defense), without the constant camping. When I get home from work, I would like to be able to get a team together and actually do something and instances grant that chance.

[Jamison]

Could an option be that loot (and experience too, I suppose) is proportionally dealt out depending on percentage of damage done? So if item X drops, party A may have a 45% chance for it to appear in their pool, parties B and C might each get a 20% and several other parties each have 5-or-so-% chance?

While I like the idea of even a small group getting a small chance, if people really didn't like that then you could make a threshold where every group that does over 20% damage gets a chance or something.

[Vice-Admiral von Titsling]

I imagine for many people it might go something like this: real life obligations at school or work → can't play for prolonged periods of time → log into a game with mostly party-based content → spend time looking for a party → end up losing actual game time. I'm well aware of these issues, and promise not to let vicious cycles like this dominate FFXIV's gameplay. I'm on it. ☺

Everybody chill out, he's got this?

Glad to see the strong showing for getting rid of physical levels.

[Gulkeeva]

I wasn't expecting another letter today, after all it's only been a couple of days since Yoshi-P wrote the last one!

I found questions 9 and 10 to be the most interesting (and scary, I guess), I'm really worried about his vision of the new claiming system because I still can't picture what he's trying to do with it, it all seems very vague (I think that's exactly why it's almost 50/50, unless I'm the only one who doesn't get it...).

That aside, while I'm actually glad the voting turned in favor of instances, I think it's crucial that they keep filling the world with NMs that cannot be cockblocked by other players like in XI, having focus mainly shift to instances might make the world feel a bit empty/dead, which could affect the "adventure" experience some of us are looking for.

Dead feeling from lack of people or lack of hp?

http://neko-sentai.com/images2/nidd.jpg

That brings back memories...

Anyway I myself rather have it feel semi empty and dead but having my friends/ls with me killing a NM then 50 people sitting around humping your leg waiting for you to die (or lag people out) because you luckily claimed an NM and possibly trying to kill you with adds or something in the area

[Shuichi]

Dead feeling from lack of people or lack of hp?

http://neko-sentai.com/images2/nidd.jpg

That brings back memories...

Anyway I myself rather have it feel semi empty and dead but having my friends/ls with me killing a NM then 50 people sitting around humping your leg waiting for you to die (or lag people out) because you luckily claimed an NM and possibly trying to kill you with adds or something in the area

Ahhh...the memories! That pic made me LOL.

[Kurokikaze]

I've seen my fair share of that. DO NOT WANT. Really happy that there was an overwhelming response in favor of instanced content cause I am NOT going through that shit again.

As for the loot/exp question being almost an even split... I saw that coming. When I first saw the question it was like picking the lesser of two evils because I knew in which direction each question was going and immediately saw flaws with both. /looks up

Spring is around the corner; looking forward to these changes. Also, fuck yea for getting rid of Physical level. So fuckin useless.

[Patriarch]

ya ill miss the hnm days too

all the chumps returned in ffxiv, and now we have instances!

[Cichy]

Doesnt mean that HNMs like that will never return, I hope they dont but right now they gotta add stuff everyone can enjoy to revitalize the game population. My thoughts after reading the letter were "I hope that guys plane doesnt crush with all this travel or we're fuckeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!"

[Corrderio]

Pretty nice info. Hopefully by touching up the fatigue system he means getting rid of it.

[Hyan]

Also, fuck yea for getting rid of Physical level. So fuckin useless.

At the moment.

Pretty nice info. Hopefully by touching up the fatigue system he means getting rid of it.

Of course they will, it was always just a matter of time.

[Mioko Lockheart]

The instance seen kind of scares me im all for instances becoming a major endgame event, but people that want to camp HNM the gear should be the best in the game or equivalent to the hardest instances. For the people that are dedicated and want to stand at a camp for 3-5 day every 15 or 30 mins should be rewarded more then people that are lazy who want to show up at a set time and play for 2-3 hours spamming an instance with their group

[Mioko Lockheart]

Saying people are lazy was a little harsh for those people, and the ones who don't have the play time which i understand like in FF11 einherjar give players another means to obtaining the gear but the best gear shouldn't be obtained from instances like in WOW the world feels empty and i think takes away from those classic fights against Tiamat and Dark Ixion to name a few

[Kurokikaze]

Did Miokomioko make a new account or something? And talk about goggles..