Comments from the Devs

[Grey Jorildyn]

One would think that if they can hide one slot of gear, they can hide them all. Can't they just implement the entirety of the /display command and just be done with it already then?

[Corrderio]

I generally don't have a problem with them randomly fixing some minor issue that could have waited, but I never knew this was even a problem for anyone.

It wasn't until swimsuits were announced.

[Lucienne]

This is not only proof of her being a Roegadyn, but an official explanation of why some Roegadyn names are facerolled in appearance.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...tion-gods-sent

Edit: It's also a very interesting piece of Roegadyn lore. I was quite happy when I seen this since... well... I'm a Roegadyn

Thank you! That was really interesting indeed.

The names are fake germanic then, and the last names with son/daughter endings follow the pattern of old nordic last names. It would have probably been wise to have the parts of the names separate, Ahld Skyf doesn't look half as obscure as two words really.
It does get easier when you devide the names in two parts.

[Lucavi]

It wasn't until swimsuits were announced.

Yeah, that makes sense, but couldn't you just... unequip the items while you're rocking your speedo?

[Jojimbo]

Yeah, that makes sense, but couldn't you just... unequip the items while you're rocking your speedo?

You can't unequip a weapon though, have to have a weapon/tool equipped at all times.

[Lucavi]

Ooooooh, that's right! I forgot all about that... erm... "limitation". Forgive my ignorance.

[Niiro]

Not even slightly true. Though I would like to see Viera and other races.

Yes, granted they had to make the new models from scratch but they had a cheat sheet of face models/hairstyles to start from and they didn't need to come up with any race concepts save what to make female galka look like.

[Elcura]

but they had a cheat sheet of face models/hairstyles to start from and they didn't need to come up with any race concepts

Time taken to create a concept pales in comparison to what it takes to make a 3D model. It has nothing to do with cheating, saving time or resources. It would basically be the same even if they had a whole bunch of new races to make. The only reason they stuck to the races was brand identity. Don't get it twisted into thinking that suddenly SE is being lazy because they haven't made new races. The effort required to convert XI races to XIV is equal to making new races where it counts.

[plue]

Time taken to create a concept pales in comparison to what it takes to make a 3D model. It has nothing to do with cheating, saving time or resources. It would basically be the same even if they had a whole bunch of new races to make. The only reason they stuck to the races was brand identity. Don't get it twisted into thinking that suddenly SE is being lazy because they haven't made new races. The effort required to convert XI races to XIV is equal to making new races where it counts.

Sorry to disagree, but to me it feels like Niiro is right. They had to make the race models whether using new or old races, it was just easier to use old concepts and cut a corner that way. Also, to me it's seem that coming up with a new race concept would be quite a challenge to be honest (maybe I'm just not very creative), and thus an easy way to use the "brand identity" scape goat.

[miokomioko]

There was no corner cut. These aren't actual copies. Even with their obvious overall similarities, they are different down to a lot of details and all of that shit had to go through concept stages just like any other new generic half-human/half-animal race would have.

I wouldn't call it "brand identity" but it was specifically done this way to appeal to XI players.

[Spider-Dan]

So wait... you're saying that making a variant (and a slight one, at that) on Hume/Elvaan/Tarutaru/Mithra/Galka was just as time consuming as coming up with five new races from scratch would be?

That's absurd. It's obvious that corners were cut.

[miokomioko]

So wait... you're saying that making a variant (and a slight one, at that) on Hume/Elvaan/Tarutaru/Mithra/Galka was just as time consuming as coming up with five new races from scratch would be?

Pretty close, yeah. After taking into account modeling, texturing, animation, writing, et cetera... do you actually believe that the sketch concept stages of this process have any significant affect on the total time and money spent on creating the player models?

Holy shit, did I just travel back in time about a year?

[Spider-Dan]

Effectively, what you are saying is that simply making FFXI-HD would be just as resource intensive (from an art standpoint) as FFXIV has been, because you have to remodel everything anyway.

Must be nice to have a creative design budget of zero.

[Elcura]

Also, to me it's seem that coming up with a new race concept would be quite a challenge to be honest

It really isn't. All you need is a few key words and descriptions to make a new race concept on a deadline. Short, cute, glassed eyes, pointy ears. Or hell, my favourite. Like "XXX" but, "XXX". Unless the director is wasting time or is really busy, you could bang out 5 race concepts in an hour (talking about descriptions only).

Give that to a concept artist.

So wait... you're saying that making a variant (and a slight one, at that) on Hume/Elvaan/Tarutaru/Mithra/Galka was just as time consuming as coming up with five new races from scratch would be?

Making concepts is cheap and easy compared to making a 3D model. A concept artist can get a concept done in half a day. The amount of time needed to create a concept pales in comparison. You could have 1 guy, by himself, doing all the racial concepts.

In the end, it's just a naked body with additional features or different proportions. Hell, even I could do 5 variations of a human in a day. What do you think a professional can do?

Stuff like clothes, general look and tone of the entire game will take time, but I've seen concept artists design beautiful areas with great detail in just a day. These are hard working, often under-appreciated people in the business. They work fast. And I mean fast.

To a good artist who already has a description of the race (like I said, key words or like X but with X), the time taken is basically the same.

Effectively, what you are saying is that simply making FFXI-HD would be just as resource intensive (from an art standpoint) as FFXIV has been, because you have to remodel everything anyway.

You cannot simply take low poly models, import them into a 3D program and press the "Make HD" button. While you would save a bit of time by not needing to create a new look and feel for all the clothes, you would still ultimately need to create everything from scratch.

The clothes, monsters, weapons, characters, environments, etc all need to be redone. So no, it's not as resource intensive, just like 9 is not as high as 10.

[Lordender]

I believe corners were cut and the whole "we want XI players to feel at home so heres the same races in HD but we'll make the lore different behind them." was an extremely BS excuse because the bottom line is they spent an absurd amount of time like 5 years on crystal tools. This explains why 13 had no substance, poor story, felt rushed even in the interviews the dev's kind of hinted at not being able to do 13 justice hinting at it being rushed and hope 13-2 will deliver on the front of being a more polished completed game.

Outside of stunning graphics everything about 14 failed, you can tell where SE spent all of their time on. Server software is garbage, game engine garbage, content garbage, classes garbage.

The races in XI were cool, they had interesting lore behind them but come on, don't tell me you want to make the XI players feel right at home with the same races in HD but have a cluster fuck class system and all those things that came about that has been beat to death since release.

[miokomioko]

This sure is the first time a Final Fantasy title pulled characters, monsters, models, races, lore from a previous title. They must have done it just to cut corners.

[Elcura]

I believe corners were cut and the whole "we want XI players to feel at home so heres the same races in HD but we'll make the lore different behind them." was an extremely BS excuse because the bottom line is they spent an absurd amount of time like 5 years on crystal tools. This explains why 13 had no substance, poor story, felt rushed even in the interviews the dev's kind of hinted at not being able to do 13 justice hinting at it being rushed and hope 13-2 will deliver on the front of being a more polished completed game.

Outside of stunning graphics everything about 14 failed, you can tell where SE spent all of their time on. Server software is garbage, game engine garbage, content garbage, classes garbage.

The races in XI were cool, they had interesting lore behind them but come on, don't tell me you want to make the XI players feel right at home with the same races in HD but have a cluster fuck class system and all those things that came about that has been beat to death since release.

So, SE can only have a brand identity if the game doesn't suck? Got'cha.

[Lucavi]

Do you disagree with "Outside of stunning graphics everything about 14 failed, you can tell where SE spent all of their time on. Server software is garbage, game engine garbage, content garbage, classes garbage," Elcura? I'm not touching the concept vs. 3D debate, as its irrelevant to anything that has to do with either the enjoyment of, or the success of the game, financial, critical, commercial or otherwise.

[Gokulo]

Dunno if this was posted before, but I found at least this part interesting:

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...431#post272431

We are working on being able to cast spells without going into active mode, so if auto-attacking is unnecessary, you can participate in battles using only your arsenal of spells. Passive/Active modes affect a lot of other functions, so we're sorry, but the adjustments will take a long time.

[Niiro]

This sure is the first time Final Fantasy title pulled characters, monsters, models, races, lore from a previous title. They must have done it just to cut corners.

Yup, like Ivalice's races are used in different games cause they all take place in Ivalice.

Just like how this game takes place in Vana-wait a minute...

So, SE can only have a brand identity if the game doesn't suck? Got'cha.

Um.......yes.

People that enjoy FF titles don't appreciate it when they're roped into buying a turd because they're milking the brand familiarity.

Familiarity is fine as long as the game can stand as a decent title on it's own.