Interviewing Yoshi-P at E3: What Would You Like To See Asked?

[Burningthought]

Double posting on purpose (sorry).

Massively's E3 interview is up: http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/06...naoki-yoshida/

Interesting tidbit already:

The guildleve system, for example, will still be a part of the game, but it won't work in the way it currently does. The system will change significantly, and it will no longer be the only option for solo leveling, as the game is also adding a much larger quantity of quests akin to a more traditional MMO experience. Players will have familiar touchstones to fall back upon, but the differences will be massive.

[drwaffles]

I hope 2.0 doesn't end up being just another WoW clone with a pretty but superficial Final Fantasy sheen on it. I certainly don't want XI v.2, but it would be nice to see something that breaks away from the tired 'traditional' MMO style. I get that they want to appeal to a wider audience, but as we've seen time and again simply copying WoW is not a recipe for longevity.

[LD]

Well, the WoW stuff that's become industry standards, like the content finder, are probably gunna give it a bit of a "me too!" feel. Things like roaming HNMs and Chocobo Raising are always gunna make FFXIV noticeably different, but stuff like that might not be universally liked, even within the established community. In terms of core gameplay and interface, it's been trending towards a complete WoW clone, but I'm hoping that enough of what FFXIV was supposed to be will remain in 2.0.

I'm hoping SE continues to refine the large-scale PvE they've been taking wide swings are since Besieged.

[Gokulo]

This is also very good:

One of the major concerns that the team had regarding the game were the long gaps between relevant bits of story. Rather than a steady series of story quests, players would often perform a story quest, level, and finally reach the level required for a new quest... only to have forgotten what happened in the previous quest. Increasing the overall number of quests allows the team to ensure that there are fewer spaces between major story installments as well as keeping players involved in sidequest stories. Version 2.0 is set to include a large number of extra options for players to interact with the world and the plotline.

While this is interesting:

Moving on from strictly mechanical questions, the issues of several players regarding physical server locations was noted. While Yoshida could make no firm comment at the time, he stated that the team is well aware of the issues regarding time zones and lag most notable for European gamers. He also noted that gamers affected by these issues should look for some announcement regarding it within the next two months.

[Lucavi]

I hope 2.0 doesn't end up being just another WoW clone with a pretty but superficial Final Fantasy sheen on it. I certainly don't want XI v.2, but it would be nice to see something that breaks away from the tired 'traditional' MMO style. I get that they want to appeal to a wider audience, but as we've seen time and again simply copying WoW is not a recipe for longevity.

So instead of saying "I want what WoW does good, but everything else different", tell us what, exactly, it is that you want in the game. "Something different" isn't good enough. "Something that breaks away from the tired 'traditional' MMO style" isn't good enough. We had both of those in XIV, and they didn't turn out too well.

Honestly, no game out there that isn't EVE hasn't captured a recipe for longevity if you're trying to compare them to WoW, and EVE still has neither the critical or commercial success, nor the subs that WoW has. You're either speaking based on the amount of time the game has been out and running, in which case a few games are right alongside WoW, with some games still running that have existed for far longer, or you're speaking about the amount of sustained critical acclaim and popularity of a game compared to WoW, in which no game has come anywhere close. Looking at both of these points, I really don't know what the point of your statement about copying WoW was; MMOs that didn't copy WoW have died; MMOs that copied WoW have survived, and everything in-between.

[Rionel]

It's never straight copying every game element that's ends up working out, due to obvious reasons.

Rather, you should copying the things/features that work incredibly well. Because if it works that well, why wouldn't you?

I think a good example is the old version of FFXIV shows that they were trying -too- hard to make FFXIV different from FFXI because they wanted to make it absolutely different in every way.

I think for MMOs there are just some systems that, despite being copied quite often, are just staples of the genre. Like, why would you not want to input something like an AH system like from FFXI for item buying/searching (which FFXIV improved upon a bit, which is a good example of taking what was already good and making it better)?

I'm a little too tired to elaborate, but yanno. Moderation in everything.

[drwaffles]

Looking at both of these points, I really don't know what the point of your statement about copying WoW was; MMOs that didn't copy WoW have died; MMOs that copied WoW have survived, and everything in-between.

And that's a bit of a sad state of affairs, don't you think? Everything becomes the same and originality is stifled, as is the case with virtually all of the cultural mainstream. Practically speaking you're right, of course; it makes sense to go down the tried-and-tested route when your sole motivation is your bottom line. But there's no need to jump down my throat for a bit of articulated wishful thinking.

[Psion]

And that's a bit of a sad state of affairs, don't you think? Everything becomes the same and originality is stifled, as is the case with virtually all of the cultural mainstream. Practically speaking you're right, of course; it makes sense to go down the tried-and-tested route when your sole motivation is your bottom line. But there's no need to jump down my throat for a bit of articulated wishful thinking.

When it comes to UI? yes, yes, it does make sense to copy the best features. That' doesn't mean you can't try anything new; it just means you take the old and built upon it to make it even better.

Final fantasy is going to be different enough when it comes to storyline, aesthetics, and is bound to have it's own differences in how combat works, among other things. As it is, it's different from other MMORPGs in that you can be any class/job you want to be, and change them on the same chracter. I wouldn't worry about FFXIVs creativity being stiffled simply because they're using the best features of other MMOs to deliver their own content. That's like worrying about all stories in the world being the same because they all use books as an interface. The truth is, the books are just a way to convey the originality, and don't need to be very creative on their own. Though of course, in recent times, even books are getting an upgrade, thanks to the internet, ebooks, audiobooks, and so on. But that doesn't change the fact that for the hundreds of years before, books didn't change much, while the stories put in said books didn't suffer for it.

Trust me, they're going to be putting in their own novel systems in place eventually, and some we're going to bitch about, and some are probably going to be copied by other MMORPGs. stop worrying about it so much. The story and aesthetics alone ensure it's not going to be a WoW clone.

[Corrderio]

All I could really think of when I seen this pic was "He'd look awesome if they turned him into a Zombie using that ZombiU game"

Pretty good interview, though there's a few topics I wish you got a chance to ask him.

[Grey Jorildyn]

I totally agree. A UI is not defined on a per-game basis anymore, but by genre. It is evolution to always build the most perfect way to interact with a game system and UI is the way we do that. No one playing FPS games bitches because CoD looks like MoH. It's the way it is.

The familiar interface also assists in the accommodation of players across the genre. It will be a lot easier for a WoW or Aion player to come to FFXIV when the UI resembles something they've seen, felt, and interacted with before. That said, the UI should never stifle tue creativity of the development team, only give them a baseline to work with in terms of playability and accessibility. You could argue that is stifling in itself but I think it's worth the tradeoff.

[Psion]

Yeah, if there's one thing i've learned from playing minecraft, its that sometimes, your limitations are quite important to creativity. In that game, when i tried to just make a house, it came out looking bad. When i decided, OK, i'm going to build my house here on this mountain, without destroying the original beauty, using wood as the base, using a certain style, and going only to a certain size.. thats when it looked far better.

If you have no limits, you cannot have any creativity, because limits are what define your art. That doesn't mean you can't have too many limits: if you limit yourself too much, you crash into them at every corner trying to create your vision. But having some defined rules, and sticking to them (unless there's no possible way for you to bring your vision to life using the limits you set, nor think of something better, in which case you cheat ) is how you create a work of beauty, instead of just a hazardous mismash of content.

So don't fret about them copying WoW in some aspects, especially the UI. Theyre doing it to bring out their own creativity, not stifle it.

[Siatdiat]

Great interview. This really gives me some faith that 2.0 is going to be as different as I have hoped. I may have to pay for this shit game for 3 months now so I can get legacy status in the future...

[Datonare]

Well if you haven't started paying yet, I believe you missed the cutoff of May 31st to attain Legacy status.

[Gokulo]

The cutoff was 31 May to register the game. Counting the free month I think it means he still has time to pay if he had played before.

[AidenCarby]

Legacy status? Also, maybe it's just cause I'm all about FFXI's endgame...I really want them to bring back Dynamis, Limbus, something similar to sky/sea. Assaults were pretty cool, just bring back the good shit and add-on to what you already have in store imo.

[Gokulo]

http://lodestone.finalfantasyxiv.com...gn.html#legacy

[Siatdiat]

The cutoff was 31 May to register the game. Counting the free month I think it means he still has time to pay if he had played before.

When does the 2.0 beta start? Is it so sure that it will actually start on time at that?

[Raldo]

When does the 2.0 beta start? Is it so sure that it will actually start on time at that?

Whether or not beta actually starts on time, they're confident enough to release an official statement:

In order to fulfill the requirements for the Legacy Campaign, a player must register his/her copy of the game no later than Thursday, May 31, 2012, and have subscribed for a minimum of 90 days beyond the conclusion of your free trial period.

That places the beta at the start of October. I am skeptical, as always.

[Gokulo]

Well, during all E3 interviews Yoshida said they are on-time with 2.0 right now, planning a short alpha test for September.

[Burningthought]

Well, during all E3 interviews Yoshida said they are on-time with 2.0 right now, planning a short alpha test for September.

Not to mention that they're moving the entire team to 2.0 dev after 1.23.