Again, not translating the points that are already included in the ridiculously long Game Watch interview I translated earlier, but there was quite a bit of new stuff covered here that wasn't talked about in either the Game Watch or the Dengeki Online interview.
He talks here about the new storyline, the Leviathan battle, and a new retainer feature called "Dispatch," which seems to be a quick and dirty way to give some utility to high IL gear after it gets outclassed.
Part 1: Main storyline
Run us through some of the highlights of patch 2.2 which you plan to release in March.
Yoshida: The threat of the Garlean empire is gone for now, but the story of patch 2.1 was intended as a sign of things to come with some dark activity brooding behind the scenes. In patch 2.2, Leviathan will finally be summoned, so there will be a lot of chaos around Limsa Lominsa.
With a new primal impacting the world, will each of the three city-states be taking action?
Yoshida: Now that the threat of the Garlean empire is gone, the focus of each city-state has begun to shift. You'll begin to see a more unpleasant, selfish side of Eorzeans now that they have gone through the experiences of the Seventh Umbral Era.
Is the Maelstrom at the center of the main scenario?
Yoshida: Limsa Lominsa will play the leading role in the story of this patch. As an example of what's in store for the future, when Ramuh is summoned, the focus will shift to Gridania and the group of Sylphs who worship him.
So the story revolves around the primals?
Yoshida: Not quite...the primals have just been summoned near the city-states, so the city-states are forced to take action.
Will the focus shift to Coerthas for Shiva?
Yoshida: I'll leave it to your imagination for now. (laughs)
Will any new characters make an appearance?
Yoshida: Yeah, not only new characters, but the story will also continue to expand with the city-state of Ul'dah. Alphinaud's Youth [[?]] will also make its first appearance.
Hasn't he already become the leader of the Scions?
Yoshida: He may not fully become the leader, which will be become evident in the next update. (laughs)
I get the impression that the story will be much more serious with this patch.
Yoshida: Yes, but on the other hand, we'll have new activity centered on crazies like Hildibrand.
Will The Chosen One born in the beastman daily quests have any impact in the future?
Yoshida: The Chosen One of the Sylph tribe will be involved with Ramuh, so you can look forward to learning more about that in future scenarios.
Will any of the storylines that were discussed for the original FFXIV that never made it be added into A Realm Reborn?
Yoshida: For the most part, we've already gone through the decision-making as far as which story elements to exclude, so we probably won't be focusing on these in the future. That said, I wonder if we should make exceptions like delving deeper into the scene where Niellefresne appeared in a view from F'lhaminn's past. We'll think about it as we continue to publish new content.
Part 2: Leviathan
What will be the rewards from the hard Leviathan primal battle?
Yoshida: The hard mode will be the primary focus of the main scenario. One of the rewards will be an important item beneficial to the progression of the main scenario. It probably won't be dropping something like a strong weapon.
Will it be possible to attack the boss from behind?
Yoshida: It's designed to be able to attack from both the flank and the rear. Although it looks like you can't attack it from behind, we've set it up in such a way that you'll be able to trigger actions from behind.
It looks like the ship which forms the arena can tilt significantly.
Yoshida: One part of the strategy will involve getting the ship to tilt like that.
For the hard battle, do you intend to make it easier than King Moggle Mog XII?
Yoshida: For the hard Leviathan battle, we've tweaked it to about the same point that King Moggle Mog was adjusted to in patch 2.15. It'll be at a point where it will be easy for most players to defeat it in their first two or three tries as long as they understand the strategy, even with players new to the fight. We felt that the battle against King Moggle Mog when 2.1 was first introduced was a bit too hard, which is probably because it was originally developed for the original FFXIV.
Yeah, back then we were mainly using kiting tactics.
Yoshida: Yeah, since most of the elements of the fight involved moving around, it became unintentionally difficult to complete the fight without running around. That said, we've already adjusted the difficulty of this in patch 2.15.
Part 3: Dispatch
Will any new elements be added for retainers in 2.2?
Yoshida: We'll be bringing back the ability to hire additional retainers for a fee from the original FFXIV. Also, we're planning on adding new features which allow you to do more than just store items with the retainer.
Will this be a useful new feature?
Yoshida: Yes, it will be a new feature called "Dispatch." You'll be able to determine the retainer's class and job, then pay them a tip and tell them the item you're interested in obtaining. After that, you dispatch your retainer. When the retainer returns, they'll get experience for each item they obtain, and as their level increases, you'll be able to equip them with a variety of gear.
Will the retainers be able to wear equipment designed for adventurers?
Yoshida: Yeah. As their level increases, they'll be able to equip higher level equipment, and be able to retrieve even rarer items.
Will the type of items that can be obtained change with the role, class, or job of the retainer?
Yoshida: If you're looking for items obtained from monsters, you should choose a battle class. If you're after items which can be obtained from gathering, then it would be better to choose a gatherer class instead.
Part 4: Economy, Future Content Patches
Will the Binding Coil of Bahamut and Crystal Tower series be completed by the end of version 2.0?
Yoshida: We're talking about implementing a new raid when the expansion pack is released. However, if we ended Crystal Tower at that time, we'd have a lot of unused ideas left on the table.
So you're planning to be updating multiple raids at the same time?
Yoshida: I think we will continue to update Crystal Tower even after release of the expansion pack.
So then on the flipside, do you have any plans for the next highest difficulty content which will replace the Binding Coil?
Yoshida: Actually we've already decided the theme and the title. Further than that, it'll have definite FF feel to it, and I think everyone will see what we're aiming for.
Do you plan to continue increasing the maximum item level with each patch in the future?
Yoshida: We won't be increasing it with every patch. It will be something like every 2 or 3 patches.
Do you have plans to keep the economy stimulated for the patches where the item level isn't increased?
Yoshida: Well to touch on that, we'll be significantly raising the item level in patch 2.2, but then patch 2.3 will be a fairly large content patch, and there should be a ton of business opportunies that come about with that new content.
So the economy won't come to a standstill like it has right now?
Yoshida: Actually, I think a major cause of that was a shock created by the way we mishandled the housing implementation in patch 2.1. When everyone saw the prices and started saving their gil to buy a house, it inevitably caused market stagnation. This, in turn, made it more difficult to accumulate gil, creating a downard spiral with the economy. We'll make sure that a situation like this doesn't happen again in the future.