Letter from the Producer LIVE Part II (10/25/2011)

[Elcura]

So you just have some gut feeling that everything's gonna be groovy great this time around? That's worked out well in the past, especially concerning pet classes.

That's not the point, the point is that I believe if DRG sucks to the point where everyone is complaining about it (like they were in XI), that Yoshi would fix it faster than the guys who did XI would. That's all. It has nothing to do with how I feel DRG is going to be implemented in the first place, or how pet classes work in general, or even if Yoshi can fix it effectively. I just want to believe he would try and do something about it faster than XI did something about it.

Sometimes I think you argue for the sake of it.

[solracht]

So you just have some gut feeling that everything's gonna be groovy great this time around? That's worked out well in the past, especially concerning pet classes.

Square Enix has showed that they don't know how to balance anything, it's not exclusive to pet classes. It's not "especially" either, don't fool yourself. Ask any BLM that tried to exp during TOAU, or any returning RDM main who came back to Abyssea last year. What about PLDs and NINs who kept on trading places for the wanted tank? SCH?

If DRG is to be gimp, it will be. Wyvern or no wyvern. Shooting the idea down because it sucked in XI makes no sense to me. Following that logic, I don't want PLD to be a tank in this game either. They won't know how to balance it! I don't want RDMs to get healing spells either, wouldn't want to be forced to put the sword away.

That said, I don't want a dirty flying rat anywhere near my Kain armor. They can give the master+pet job to a different class.

[Cayos]

I'll gladly take a wyvern, but I won't care if we don't get them. Regardless, I plan to main dragoon when it comes out, just like XI.

[Gulkeeva]

I always liked the wyvern and dragoon combo, though it may make the dragoon weaker, this isn't XI 5 years ago, it wouldn't (or shouldn't) take too long for Yoshi to realise Dragoon is too weak and improve it.

Of course, I'd love to see a wyvern fight Ifrit. Would die so quickly lol

They could do it like Warcraft, where pets take -90% "aoe" damage so the pet dies in most any situation unless it becomes the target of a monster.


also... I'd like a magitech mount mmm FF6 nostalgia

[miokomioko]

Why couldn't they have answered a question about the "Legecy" items... >:|

[Hyan]

I wonder what's the battle plan from now on

We know the basic stuff coming up for the next year and a half or so I guess

This month they will probably advertise 1.20 mostly tho.

I hope we'll see increased flow of information 2.0 wise starting Jan. Probably no vids before E3 but I'll take pics.

[Lucavi]

That's not the point, the point is that I believe if DRG sucks to the point where everyone is complaining about it (like they were in XI), that Yoshi would fix it faster than the guys who did XI would. That's all. It has nothing to do with how I feel DRG is going to be implemented in the first place, or how pet classes work in general, or even if Yoshi can fix it effectively. I just want to believe he would try and do something about it faster than XI did something about it.

Sometimes I think you argue for the sake of it.

I argue (on this topic) because its an extremely important topic to me, not only as a Career Drg main, but also as a fan of the Dragoon class throughout the years. I argue because the last thing I, and many other career drgs, want is a brand new FF MMO with drgs once again as the bottom of the barrel class for much of the game because of some ancient-minded devs that have no idea how pet classes work in MMOs. I won't argue your point that Yoshi will fix things faster than the old guard, but that doesn't exactly make me feel comfortable, considering I've never seen anything related to him and how he handles pet classes.

I'd rather the entire thing simply not be an issue and just keep Dragoon far away from being associated with a pet class, especially given SE's track record.

[Crab_Cake]

Only reason Dragoon sucked was because SE was stubborn and never made buffs or anything good affect pets.

Yoshida can be depended on, no worries.

Here are a few small ideas (for FFXI) that they could have easily done to balance wyverns:

1. Make gear affect your pet. +15 attack also adds +15 attack to pet.

2. Make things like Curaga + Bard Songs affect Pet.

3. Make Wyvern Breath deal more damage.

4. Make Pet more durable or can be summoned more easily (BST's jugs for example had 3k+ HP at level 75. They just needed to make wyverns have the same amount).

Really I'm sure Yoshida can do something like this for FFXIV. Only reason it didn't work out in FFXI is because SE was so stubborn (or PS2 limitations?) and pets couldn't be cured or buffed or anything.

IMO I think the old team didn't really know how to balance FFXI in general (I mean currently isn't DNC and THF kind of crappy still?) so it's not pet jobs in general just the old team. Yoshida + new team will probably do things right IMO.

[Hyan]

They never, ever had much of a reason to balance anything. Because they live in a bubble where it's okay not to. In a bubble where the UI the game uses is fine because everyone is used to it and accepts it for what it is.

That's not to say that only devs are in this small bubble though. They wouldn't be if the playerbase wasn't keeping them company there. They are one lazy bunch, never really demanding for anything beyond bitching on the interwebs while gladly paying the sub fee each month. Just throw them the content bone and think up some cool abilities once in a while and the status quo stays.

Obviously that bubble burst on September 30th 2010 and since then they have been forced to be generally more aware about what's going on elsewhere. It's no longer considered 'okay' so now they will take the matter more seriously. That's a given, doesn't guarantee success but nonetheless they will give a damn now.

[Elcura]

Obviously that bubble burst on September 30th 2010 and since then they have been forced to be generally more aware about what's going on elsewhere. It's no longer considered 'okay' so now they will take the matter more seriously. That's a given, doesn't guarantee success but nonetheless they will give a damn now.

Pretty much. They have to care now, and they have to continue caring and listening because I don't think people will (though I'm probably wrong about that) go back to the old ways of living in the dark. If Dragoon is a pet class, I do believe it will get fixed if its too weak.

I personally loved DRG because it was a pet class, and I loved PUP for the same reason. I wouldn't care either if DRG wasn't a pet class though, if I didn't like it I wouldn't play it. Though I think personally it wouldn't be hard to balance the pet to be better if it made DRG weaker as a result. Most of the time the issue is survivability and compatibility with the rest of the party.

[miokomioko]

There's really no need for Dragoon to have a pet other than people just being used to it from XI (which is the first instance of it being as such). It's just going to complicate things. As soon as you add a permanent pet, you have to nerf the player themselves to balance their damage output... then you need to buff the pet to make it not so flimsy... then you end up having a ton of abilities/effects/gear just for the pet... then it's a fine line between it turning into a "pet" job and the combo/crit job that they had originally planned.

Just say no.

[Vuitton]

All of this DRG drama, I think, is unnecessary, as this game isn't being developed by XI's developers. Additionally, this game has no pet class currently. Any commentary regarding DRG in this game involving XI's management (Tanaka) and unbalanced pet classes is superfluous, as neither have anything to do with XIV. If anything, there should be optimism solely because of Yoshida being at the helm of things, who has done nothing but improve the game since he took over.

(Not to mention Lancers are pretty nice already.)

[Zzsark]

I would love to see the wyverns not make an appearance as a permanent pet but rather involved in particular TP moves/abilities. Heavy breath attks (maybe with dmg +debuffs) and combos with the drg. Could be cool. Make them big and menacing rather than the tiny things they were in XI. Then they could balance the moves themselves rather than nerf the drg as a whole. Either way I'm very excited to see how jobs play out and the quests associated with them. That PLD sword is hot.

[Lucavi]

All of this DRG drama, I think, is unnecessary, as this game isn't being developed by XI's developers. Additionally, this game has no pet class currently. Any commentary regarding DRG in this game involving XI's management (Tanaka) and unbalanced pet classes is superfluous, as neither have anything to do with XIV. If anything, there should be optimism solely because of Yoshida being at the helm of things, who has done nothing but improve the game since he took over.

(Not to mention Lancers are pretty nice already.)

I disagree simply based on the fact that Yoshi has already suggested that if there's a demand for Dragoons to have a wyvern, he'll put it in. I understand how everyone can have faith in Yoshi based on his track record, but I cannot. Not yet, at least. I certainly hope to be proven wrong, though. Nothing would make me happier. I simply haven't been proven wrong too many times when its come to FFXIV yet, which is not a good thing. I'm a cynic, but I believe I deserve to be, based on what we were originally given with this game.

[Quanta]

I think that, if they add wyverns, it'll likely use the AI Companion system they're proposing that everyone will have access to, and only being available when your job is DRG, so you'll likely have to make a decision between your beloved steed who carries you into battle and your winged rat when you need something to fight with you.

[luciferu]

* The one without last name is each PC’s buddy
* 1 buddy can be called per P, if there are 2 PC and they call their buddies can form a 4 player Light Party


Wyverns can be Dragoons' exclusive buddy, can't they?

[millionsknives]

Quit bitching about pet wyverns. Tanaka couldn't understand how to balance pet jobs, we have no idea if Yoshi understands how - he may make them awesum.

[Jamison]

Even if perfectly balanced, not everyone (myself included) would want to have a pet wyvern.

[Amastacia]

I disagree simply based on the fact that Yoshi has already suggested that if there's a demand for Dragoons to have a wyvern, he'll put it in. I understand how everyone can have faith in Yoshi based on his track record, but I cannot. Not yet, at least. I certainly hope to be proven wrong, though. Nothing would make me happier. I simply haven't been proven wrong too many times when its come to FFXIV yet, which is not a good thing. I'm a cynic, but I believe I deserve to be, based on what we were originally given with this game.

I think Yoshi has done a good job of setting expectations and meeting them thus far on what he's changed since launch. The only one that SE has struggled with is frequency of patches, but I'm willing to give them some wiggle room on that, since SE cannot afford to put out glitchy, majorly broken updates. I'd rather wait (for now) so that they can QA more thoroughly before release. Hopefully with 2.0's launch, they'll be able to afford a bigger QA team and thus not deal with patch delays.

I also get the impression that on the DRG+wyvern thing, they'll consider it if enough of the community asks for it (imagine that... devs listening to the players), but warning up front that it may not be a good idea or that people who're asking for it will have to take bad with the "good".

I will say, though, that I don't think DRG+wyvern would be balanced. The devs are still struggling in that regard without pet classes in the picture, and it's one more variable to have to worry about. Just judging by the way Yoshi answered the question, I doubt they'll be in the game when jobs are released, so it will at least give people a while to play DRG and realize they don't need a wyvern.

[The Blackrose]

DRG was incredibly hot post toau, wtf are you guys smoking really

No shit, and not even post-TOAU.