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  1. #1
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    Yoshi-P Interviews with the Japanese Press - Needs Translations

    4Gamer: http://www.4gamer.net/games/092/G009287/20111016006/

    Google translate: http://translate.google.com/translat...20111016006%2F


    Famitsu: (Apparently a teaser for the real one which comes out later in the next issue): http://www.famitsu.com/news/201110/17051988.html

    Google translate:
    http://translate.google.com/translat...F17051988.html


    Game Watch Part 1: http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs...17_484268.html

    Google Translate: http://translate.google.com/translat...17_484268.html


    Game Watch Part 2:
    http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs...17_484272.html

    Google Translate: http://translate.google.com/translat...17_484272.html


    Game Watch has been translated by Reinhert: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...hl=en_US&pli=1


    Stanislaw is currently translating these, thank him!

    Work in Progress.

    The original translation and new progress will be posted here before I update this. http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...-GAME-Watch%29

    Current as of 12:39 AM EST

    4Gamers:

    Quote Originally Posted by Stanislaw
    In October 14th, 2011, Square Enix made a massive announcement over their MMORPG title "Final Fantasy XIV" (for the PC/PS3). Within it, they announced their intention of billing customers for the game sometime during late November or early December of 2011, and also announced that they will be introducing a brand new FFXIV for players to pay a year late, sometime during the Third Quarter of 2012.

    It is rather unprecedented for a company to continue offering services to their game while at the same time creating, in essence, a new game to replace the old. But not only did they do that, they had also released a detailed Road Map for the future ahead.
    What is their intentions behind these announcements? Where is the future of FFXIV headed to? To receive answers to these questions, we decided to ask Square Enix's FFXIV Producer/Director, Mr. Naoki Yoshida.

    -Building Trust with the customer base with the new updates under the direction of the new Development Team, and the parallel development of the 'New FFXIV'-

    4 Gamer:
    Thank you for your time today. It seems that you made a big announcement on October 14th, 2011 concerning billing as well as other important announcements. Would you like to tell us your intentions of making them?

    Yoshida Naoki (will refer to Yoshi-P beyond this point):
    I will answer these questions step by step. First, after we switched over to the new Development team on December of 2010, we went over all the major problems that were plaguing FFXIV. We went over this quite extensively the whole of December. We have already let our player base know this, but as a result of these discussions we had decided that unless we completely overhaul the server, the map and the UI, it will be impossible for us to offer our services in this game 10 years from now. That's how it all began.

    4Gamer:
    We at 4Gamer picked up these things through your earlier interviews with you too.

    Yoshi-P:
    However, even if we had come to that decision, there are of course players who continue to play this game to take into consideration. I consider these players as very important customers not only for FFXIV but for Square Enix as a whole, and these sentiments were shared by not only the Management/Development Team, but also our higher ups in the company.
    Therefore, we had decided as long as there are players who continue to play the game and support us, we will: 1.) never terminate the game and 2.) Reach a set standard of quality with the current game and continue to offer the game for free until we had an extensive, workable plan to rebuild this game. These two decisions then became our policy. We reached this decision on January of 2010. So, this means these 10 months since January, we had been working in not only providing a steady stream of updates to the current game but at the same time were reworking the basic, key aspects such as map revision that would be implemented in the new FFXIV.

    4Gamer:
    I see. But this reworking of the game from the ground up, it seems that this was first brought up to our attention only after your announcement just earlier.

    Yoshi-P:
    Indeed, this is the first time we made an official, complete announcement over our reworking of the game, but we have communicated to our playerbase that we were working on Map/Server/UI revisions before.
    However, it is true that we have been relatively vague over how were were going to accomplish this task, including how we were going about with the new FFXIV. We came to this decision because, if we had, from the start, announced that "We will continue to provide updates to the current game, but at the same time we're also making a new and improved FFXIV!", our customer's opinion over this topic would be mixed at best. It'll cause the playerbase to worry over issues such as "Is the Development team really capable of doing this? Wouldn't they slack off making updates for the current game in favor of the new FFXIV?". Worst case, they might think "Bah, impossible." and lose faith.
    FFXIV, when it was first released, made a huge impact - which unfortunately for us was largely negative. Our FFXIV launch was essentially a failure. To wipe off that impression, the only thing we could do as developers was though the building of trust with our releases of new in-game content and our new Development stances. We have been working our hardest to accomplish this.
    If I can get the message across to our playerbase that we are giving it our all for them, that will make me happy.

    4Gamer:
    Indeed. Looking back, it's kind of hard to believe you had been working on these two projects in sync with the amount the updates you've made to the game.

    Yoshi-P:
    We had also been working on the implementation of a new graphics engine, new servers and plans and designs for the new UI in parallel to all that.

    4Gamer:
    So your statement of "Not getting enough sleep" is...

    Yoshi-P:
    Yeah, I've been giving it my all with these updates and new designs. *laugh*
    If you'd allow me to explain our hesitancy over announcing these plans until now from a different angle, it was necessary for us to build a level of trust between the new Development team and our customers. Just because the game is under new management doesn't mean the customers will be instantly relieved. It also didn't help that I, who was never involved in the development of FFXI and had little to no exposure to the media, be suddenly named as the man responsible for the new FFXIV team.
    This sort of undertaking is unprecedented for Square Enix, and even possibly the online gaming industry, so it was only natural for us to think that if a new guy like me suddenly started babbling out promises we wouldn't be trusted so easily.

    4Gamer:
    Indeed you have a point there. You were a relative unknown in the industry before, so I suppose it's natural for everyone to be worried if such announcements were made at start.

    Yoshi-P:
    Exactly. First we had to build up trust and provide some proof that we can do these things. If we don't come up with a realistic plan, people will just say "SE is spouting empty promises again".
    This is why we decided to continue working with updates to the current game while cooking up the plans in the background, and we decided the time was ripe to make the announcement since we felt that we came up with a presentable plan.

    4Gamer:
    And so you felt that this October was when you decided the plan was presentable. However, even when you say you're under new Development, human resources must've been stretched. How did you managed to do everything in parallel?

    Yoshi-P:
    Well, we had lots of human resources at disposal from the start. We simply divided into two teams: one in charge of management of the current game, and another team - mostly programmers - who were in charge of making plans and do the coding for the new FFXIV. We also have the full support from Hashimoto's Technology team within the company too. In addition, core members in our Development team such as Hashimoto, Takai, Minagawa, Matsui, Kawamto and myself, as well as the team involved with game design and game features are heavily involved in both teams.

    -With the arrival of the 'New FFXIV', what of the costs already dedicated to the current game?-

    4Gamer:
    What kind of approach did you take with the development of the new FFXIV?

    Yoshi-P:
    I had explained this several times before too, but under the direction of our new Development team, we treat the 'planning phases' very, very seriously in order to reword not only the game itself, but how we manage the game. This was and is especially true for the new FFXIV. Under the direction of our Technical Director Hashimoto, we had decided to suspend all new coding/programming until March of 2011. We had decided that until we had a solid plan that would allow us to do what we wanted to do, until a plan was laid out to solve issues such as servers, game engine and graphics core came into light, no coding/programming was allowed. Quite the impressive management technique by Hashimoto. We at the Dev team took a step back so to not rush things and contributed well into planning everything out.
    Until March... well, I guess it's still true even today, but I continued to explain and convince our staff about my vision for FFXIV in the future. For example, one time I explained to my staff "I want to provide a such and such service, so the server must be designed in a way that will allow for 'worldless' content.", and then come up with plan, determine costs associated with said plan, and then draw up a scheduled to implement the feature.
    After to 'Go' sign lit up after April of 2011, we're at full-coding mode. Because we made a very detailed plan beforehand, everything is going very smoothly.

    4Gamer:
    You mentioned servers being worldless just now. I feel it's one of the centerpieces to the earlier announcement. Care to elaborate on that topic further?

    Yoshi-P:
    In order to continue operating a long-term MMORPG, it is necessary to design servers that can withstand at least 10 years of service. FFXI and the FFXIV of now treat one game server clusters as one game world, but when one takes the future into account, I believe it is necessary to design servers that can 'jump' the boundaries of different worlds.
    In an MMORPG, different players play the game at different paces. This creates player hierarchy, and hardcore players are the frontrunners of the pack. However, there are always players that start playing the game at a later date, and you also have to take into account that casual players will never be as dedicated to the game as hardcore players are. This in turns creates a feeling of being 'left behind' among many players who aren't frontrunners in the game.

    4Gamer:
    And I suppose there are players who say 'Meh, why start this game from scratch now when everyone's so far ahead ahead?'.

    Yoshi-P:
    Yes. On top of that, it's only natural in an MMORPG that the older the content is, the harder it is to gather people to play with. When that happens, say when you start the game afresh, situations where you cannot find people to play with in early content will become commonplace.
    In order to avoid such situations, it's ideal have a strong matching system where you can party up/join up with other people who are looking to do the same thing from multiple worlds. If we don't design the servers to handle such a system, it might be fine for the first 3 to 4 years, but after that it will most definitely be difficult.
    However, if you ask us if such a system is possible with our current servers, taking into account issues like response and data we found the answer to be no. Then, by considering various factors such as the costs of planning/implementing such a system, how long it'll take and if it's ultimately worth doing such a thing alongside providing services to the current game and compare it to the pros/cons of giving up and keeping the current servers as is. In the end, we came to the decision that while we'll make further corrections to the current critical issues, we will rebuild the server system from the groud up to make various other features possible.

    4Gamer:
    And that brings me to the next question: How are you treating the FFXIV of now? Can you implement the current content, as well the content you have planned out, into the new FFXIV?

    Yoshi-P:
    A common misconception I would like to clear up here is that, while the word 'new' implies that everything will be changed, the old FFXIV and the new FFXIV are essentially the same games. The battle systems already in place and will be in place in the future, Grand Company, etc... it is all the feedback we've received from the playerbase that be used and be reflected in FFXIV is what I call 'new'. But on the other hand, when we do switch over to the new FFXIV, you can say that from a developer cost standpoint that some of the time we've dedicated into the old FFXIV will be wasted.
    Take the UI, for example. Under the new FFXIV, the UI will be totally revamped and be replaced with the new UI engine. However, this doesn't mean that we're slacking off in improving the UI we have now lest we make our customers feel unsatisfied with our product. Therefore, we will continue to make improvements to the current UI by reflecting on customer feedback, and continue to provide updates. Things like that won't change.
    And then, by taking all the feedback we've received up to that point into consideration, we will replace the old UI with the new. But if you ask: "But what about all the resources you've spent in making the old UI?" the simple answer is "We're throwing it away". We're remaking everything as we go along, because I feel that is the stance we must take in order for us to continue provide services, and express our sincerity as Management/Developers - even our sincerity as a company as a whole - that we are prepared to do whatever it takes to make a satisfactory product.


    Updated 12:19 PM EST

    -The experiences you can't experience anymore after are already beginning-

    4Gamer:
    Well then, we'll like to move onto our next topic, which concerns the start of billing near the end of 2011. Why did you decide to make this announcement now at the same time you released information about the new FFXIV?

    Yoshi-P:
    The new FFXIV client's development, artwork included, is proceeding at a very nice pace. We can actually see the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to revisions like the server, UI, maps, and lot other issues that's got the playerbase worried.
    At the same time, the current FFXIV has also reached a threshold where we've begun to show the "Final Fantasy-ness" in this MMORPG with the release of patch 1.19. Further groundwork to show this "Final-Fantasy-ness" is also already in place, so except to see more of this in the coming updates compared to simple in-game revisions. I treat an MMORPG as an MMORPG not only on the basis of gameplay but also on the basis of basic, should-be-implemented services/features, and I feel we're at the 50% mark at the point we released 1.19. However, we won't start billing our customers until after patch 1.20 is released. With patch 1.20, we plan on tackling issues such as PC search and adjustments to make a better market ward system and eventually auction house system, which will be key features necessary in filling the other 50% so that we can provide better services to our customers and so this game could be in its minimal state. We won't be shy in spending/using vast amounts of costs and human resources to accomplish this task.
    Therefore, we would like to ask our playerbase to take into account our work we've put in thus far, as well as looking into the content that will be offering in patches 1.20 and beyond to decide if they want to pay in order to continue playing this game.

    4Gamer:
    So you're saying that you've come to the decision of billing because you've finalized your plans for the new FFXIV as well promised to update the current FFXIV with new content?

    Yoshi-P:
    With FFXIV going through a lot after its initial release, before we actually implement billing we will suspend the automatic payment option on all player accounts. We ask the players to see/experience the content we offer at that point of the game, look over our plans for the future, and if the players decide "Hey, this is kinda fun. I guess I'll play.", then we ask them to switch automatic paying back on. We decided to take this step as to avoid charging customers automatically who were unaware of this October announcement when billing stats happening.
    Also, had we announced our intentions for billing this game at any later date, the timeframe between the announcement and the timing of billing would've been too short and put our customers at an disadvantage. With letting the playerbase know of our - the Mangament/Development, and the company of Square Enix - commitment to the game that is FFXIV, it will please me greatly if the players decide to continue to play and enjoy this game.

    Updated 12:38 PM EST

    4Gamer:
    I see. So you're saying that you timed this announcement with hopes that players would see how the game is developing from patch 1.20 onwards.

    Yoshi-P:
    With that said, never before had an MMORPG been revived after failing at launch - the exception being the game of games who decided to incorporate Item RMTing. That's what the challenge here is. If we stick with the norm, we will never succeed.

    4Gamer:
    I see. But it's almost a year before the new FFXIV comes rolling along. Seems to me you'll need to implement not only updates, but a way to keep players entertained until that time.

    Yoshi-P:
    Yep. We will of course continue to implement various content to the current game, but we've also implemended several scenario-related gimmicks over the past year so we plan on offering services you'll never be able to enjoy ever again. To pit it mildly, it's like we're doing seasonal events, only that this one is a year long.

    4Gamer:
    So depending on what happens with those events, at the end it will lead into this new world?

    Yoshi-P:
    Hmm... well, you say it's a new world, but Eorzea is still Eorzea. We will be remaking all maps, but the names for the areas/features will still be the same, so it's more like letting the players experience a changed world.
    In this year-long 'seasonal' event, we plan to spend a whole year on letting the players find out what the "Seventh Umbral Era" really is, provide explanations to why the world is changing, and what will happen to the adventures of before. To put it in another perspective, this scenario can only be played and enjoyed by people who choose to play the game over the next year.

    4Gamer:
    That's an interesting thing you're attempting there. It's like you're taking full advantage of the re-launch. On the other hand, surely the current players must be wondering if any of their accomplishments over the course of next year would have any sort of impact in the new FFXIV, yes?

    Yoshi-P:
    If you mean wiping characters, then no. I said this before, but I haven't even given that topic a thought. When we first tackled the task of remaking the game, one of the fundamental principles was never to wipe character data. If we change that now, the entire plan will fall upon.
    No matter how high the hurdles, we decided to never stop FFXIV service. And as long as we don't stop the FFXIV service, we will never wipe character data. If we couldn't do that, our conclusion would've been to stop service altogether in order to remake the game from scratch.

  2. #2

    Man what happened to good old Elmer...

  3. #3
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    From what little information I can obtain from google translate engrish, there's some interesting information scattered throughout those interviews. They're all after the V2 announcement, and Game Watch Part 1 even talks about how Yoshi-P decided to start developing V2 in January.

  4. #4

    Gah... Reinhart is out of commission till the afternoon too <,> I should link em on his thread to this post.

    *Edit: beaten*

  5. #5
    Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
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    This is a bit off topic, but someone just translated a Yoshi post on the forum:

    http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...l=1#post398536

  6. #6
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    Seems you posted it bad twice >.<

  7. #7
    Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
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    Wow what the fuck, i'll just link to the post, it must be too long.

    Edit: On my tab when I preview/posted it, it looked fine and wasn't cut off.

  8. #8
    Ridill
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    The opening of new language-specific servers (our current plan is to have both language-specific and global servers in operation)
    What the heck O.o

  9. #9
    the whitest knight u' know
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    People really wanted this that bad? I prefer servers that are generally active at all hours of the day, regardless of language, instead of being dead in the middle of the night/early morning.

  10. #10
    Ridill
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    Well, in XI people complained all the time because the JP community could be pretty horrible to others D; While I didn't play XIV that much, it didn't seem the case here. And the only reason I'd like regional servers is if they were actually located here, and we know that's rather unlikely.

    Billing after 1.20:

    With that in mind, I will like to say that we will only start billing for this game after patch 1.20 is released, which is scheduled for sometime during the first half of December. For 1.20 we will finally like to absolve the two big issues of "PC search" and "Market search" - especially Markets, to make an "System" that we can call an "Auction House" possible for the future. These changes are taking place before server revisions so difficulties are present, but we are continuing to tackle the issues at hand to make these changes possible.

  11. #11
    New Odin
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    Talking about server clusters 'n shiznits

    Idk

    20 000 people on a single cluster or something instead of 5k people on a single server?

  12. #12

    AH in 1.20? Ok I'll play lolol.

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by miokomioko View Post
    People really wanted this that bad? I prefer servers that are generally active at all hours of the day, regardless of language, instead of being dead in the middle of the night/early morning.
    This opinion is the vast minority, believe me.

    Unless you work somr weird hours, it is always preferable that an overwhelming percentage of your server's population is active during your server's timezone. Just listing servers without any rhyme or reason as to how or why to maks the best selection for you is fucking retarded. The JPs don't want to talk to you, neither do the frenchies or the germans. They wanna be where their people are the majority and where everyone speaks their language.

    It all makes sense from a player and developer standpoint. Knowing strict prime times allow you to make emergency fixes at the best time to avoid interrupting service. It allows you to easily see the population breakdown too and a multitude of other things. I am 100% in support of timezone/language-based server selection. I've got nothing against the other cultures but they really don't want to play with us Americans. That's been true since XI with very few exceptions on the whole.

  14. #14
    Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.
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    Some guy on the official forum is translating all of the articles:
    http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...-GAME-Watch%29

    He's doing it in steps since there's so much to translate, if you are keeping track of it early.

    This guy is slow.

  15. #15
    New Odin
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    I've got nothing against the other cultures but they really don't want to play with us Americans.
    What a load of bullshit.

    Somewhat agree about the JP's though.

  16. #16
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    Quote Originally Posted by Burningthought View Post
    Some guy on the official forum is translating all of the articles:
    http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...-GAME-Watch%29

    He's doing it in steps since there's so much to translate, if you are keeping track of it early.

    This guy is slow.
    So sorry. =P

  17. #17

    Quote Originally Posted by Stanislaw View Post
    So sorry. =P
    Thanks for the translations.

  18. #18
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    Quote Originally Posted by Grey Jorildyn View Post
    This opinion is the vast minority, believe me.

    Unless you work somr weird hours, it is always preferable that an overwhelming percentage of your server's population is active during your server's timezone. Just listing servers without any rhyme or reason as to how or why to maks the best selection for you is fucking retarded. The JPs don't want to talk to you, neither do the frenchies or the germans. They wanna be where their people are the majority and where everyone speaks their language.

    It all makes sense from a player and developer standpoint. Knowing strict prime times allow you to make emergency fixes at the best time to avoid interrupting service. It allows you to easily see the population breakdown too and a multitude of other things. I am 100% in support of timezone/language-based server selection. I've got nothing against the other cultures but they really don't want to play with us Americans. That's been true since XI with very few exceptions on the whole.
    I've played in American Linkshells my whole FFXI career with very few exceptions. I also never had any issue with JPs in XIV so far. They're all willing to party up as far as I'm concerned.
    If people like to isolate themselves good for them, I'll stick to multi-language servers unless my LS says otherwise.

  19. #19
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    Thanks for translations Stan.

  20. #20

    Quote Originally Posted by Grey Jorildyn View Post
    This opinion is the vast minority, believe me.

    Unless you work somr weird hours, it is always preferable that an overwhelming percentage of your server's population is active during your server's timezone. Just listing servers without any rhyme or reason as to how or why to maks the best selection for you is fucking retarded. The JPs don't want to talk to you, neither do the frenchies or the germans. They wanna be where their people are the majority and where everyone speaks their language.

    It all makes sense from a player and developer standpoint. Knowing strict prime times allow you to make emergency fixes at the best time to avoid interrupting service. It allows you to easily see the population breakdown too and a multitude of other things. I am 100% in support of timezone/language-based server selection. I've got nothing against the other cultures but they really don't want to play with us Americans. That's been true since XI with very few exceptions on the whole.
    So what about people in the UK? When it comes to the English speaking population of XIV, most are NA. If you split regions, suddenly I have a hell of a lot less people to speak to or play with. I never play EU servers in any games because most of my friends or people I want to play with are NA.

    If it's a choice between vastly better performance or a populated, regional server with people I can talk to or do stuff with, I'll pick the latter. I don't care how good the game is, I'm not playing it if there's no one to play with.

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