Fan Fest 2008 Live Coverage

[Antithesis]

Q&A looks done.

[thetruepandagod]

what an amazing use of a last question....

[Sephiroth_Owa 13]

So this update shit we already know about the good shit to come.

[Alathar]

Can you change 72 hour waits to 70 hours?

We'll have to take it back to Japan.

Excellent

[Hapernack]

Will someone there kindly slaughter the dumbasses who wasted all the Q&A?

[Antithesis]

No Job Adjustments or Other important questions answered. Pathetic.

[Hyan]

Salvage drop rates... m(__)m

[Rocl]

tl;dr DNC tier 2 merits & Salvage drop rate up

[Amastacia]

Sigh @ lack of questions about underpowered 1h DDs. 2h needed a fix badly, but is balancing both really *that* hard to do?

[Elites]

lol @ the smn avatars...what is up with smn's. Who gives a flying fuck, wasted.

[Lebzile]

Anyone got a picture of the DNC af2 yet?

[edit]

Nevermind, I saw it now. @@

[ByeByeTasai]

lol Watch them decrease Salvage drop rates to compensate for a recent exploitation of a glitch.

[Antithesis]

Here the interview:

Attending: (Left to right) Yoji Fujito - Planner, Kouichi Ogawa - Director of Wings of the Goddess & Treasures of Aht Urhgan, Hiromichi Tanaka - Producer, Ganiman - FFXIclopedia, Mizuki Ito - Planner (back), Gahoo - FFXIclopedia (front), Mitsutoshi Gondai - Planner, Akihiko Matsui- Battle Director, and Sage Sundi - Global Online Producer.

Also in attendance were representatives from IGN and Stratics.

http://www.ganiman.com/images/fanfes...terview_01.jpg

Will we be able to access Tavnazia [S]? FFXIclopedia
Ogawa: There are no current plans to add this zone, but it is possible in the future.

Are there plans to add more avatars for the Summoner job? IGN
Gondai/Matsui/Ito: Not in the December patch. We are in the process of creating 2 new avatars. One will be a "Large big pet".

Are there any plans to introduce any mobile phone interface to the Auction House or other parts of FFXI? Stratics
Tanaka: FFXI was not initially designed for mobile use. It would require a lot of overhaul to FFXI. We are not thinking of adding this to the game.

Fort Karugo-Narugo has a soccor field looking area in the the dat files. What are the plans for this? FFXIclopedia
Ogawa/Ito: Everyone is kicking around the idea of using this area. Nothing specific to mention yet. It's on the drawing the board.

All other mage jobs besides White Mage have some way to gain mp, either through job trait or spell. Are there any plans to introduce a form of White Mage MP recovery? IGN
Gondai: The new White Mage weaponskill from the Nyzul Isle Mythic Weapons gives White Mage a unique way of regaining MP. We are considering tweaks to have White Mages and Red Mages attack more.

What kind of experience can we expect to see from dungeons? Stratics
Fujito: There are lots of different themes to the Moblin Mazes. The mazes may or may not have mobs, so experience points can vary depending on the maze's "theme". No experience will be recieved from mazes without mobs, but there will be other benefits.

Is there going to be another mog bonanza or similar event? If so, when we can expect it? FFXIclopedia
Tanaka: We wanted to make this a regular event, but there are legal issues surrounding it. We are going to introduce a different format to address these kinds of issues in the future - not the next patch. Please look forward to it, it will be coming.

Are there plans to allow for skilling up duing Campaign Battles? IGN
Ito: We cannot allow skill ups in campaign battles due to exploits - think the BRD exploit. "Do besieged for skill ups"
Fujito: Moblin Mazes may be used for skill ups.

Many MMOs have borrowed features from each other. Are you considering to borrow ideas from other MMOs? Or does SE think it is doing a sufficient job on it's own? Stratics
Tanaka: Our philosophy is that players try a lot of MMOs before settling on one. Changes to FFXI are based on player input, so changes to FFXI my indirectly come from other MMOs.
Matsui: The trend in MMOs is for very fast paced battles. XI is different and has been working well for us.

Maruna-Kurina has hinted at the possibility of certain beastmen NPCs (Boodlix, Kaiser Behemoth, Eurytos, Raigegue R d'Oraguille) being influenced by the Allied Forces. Can they be recruited and what is the method? FFXIclopedia
Ito: We intended to make this work. We ran into some problems with the implementation. It is not implemented in the game right now. It will not be in the next patch, but we are trying for the future.

Some gear is not unique, in particular the gear obtained from ZNMs. What is the process for picking gear designs? IGN
Matsui: Scheduling is the key and trying to fit things into the patch calendar. Planners submit a desire for new graphics, and if there is time then we can implement. If not, then we re-assign old graphics.
Gondai/Ito: With respect to the ZNM gear, we will "enter into negotiations" with the design team for new graphics.

Puppetmasters appear to be worthless in parties. Are there any plans to improve? Stratics
Matsui: We realize pet jobs need work. We are planning changes for the future.

What is the status of mythic weapon acquisition? When do you expect the first to be completed? Any more adjustments planned for these quests? FFXIclopedia
Ogawa/Ito: We do not have plans to change how mythic weapons are aquired.
Gondai/Ito: Even at the fastest projected rate, in prime conditions - keep in mind that different servers will have different amounts of Alexandrite - it can take 1-2 months, but in a typical environment it will take 6 months or more.

Other MMOs have official forums. Are there plans to give FFXI official forums? IGN
Sundi/Tanaka: We considered this at first, but we were worried that the forums would mostly be Japanese. FFXI is a global game. We decided to leave it to regional sites where the community managers could participate.

Are there plans to drop PS2 support because of it's limitations to allow for better upgrades on other platforms? Stratics
Tanaka: We have a responsibility to continue support to the PS2 players. We cannot just drop it. Unfortunatly this is an inherent flaw in a multi platform MMO.

What use does Dark Ixion's horn have? It is a 100% drop, and has no craftable or questable use. FFXIclopedia
Gondai/Ito: A purpose will be considered.

Pankration is missing some mobs such as Hippogryphs and colors from mobs like Lycopodiums. Are there plans to add these? IGN
Ito: YES! However we cannot release any details about this.

Are you aware of what percentage of players use a controller versus a keyboard? Stratics
Tanaka: There is no real data collected on this, because there are PC users who may use a controller. We have no grasp of these statistics.

When do you plan on having the complete WotG storyline released to the playerbase? Will we be able to access the Walk of Echoes zone outside of
cutscenes, and if so, when? FFXIclopedia
Ogawa: The December patch will expand to the climax of the storyline, but there will not complete the storyline. A few more patches will follow to complete it. The Walk of Echoes zone will become accessable.

Are there plans to add additional furnite to display items that can assist with storage? IGN
Fujito/Ito: Yes, we are trying to work with this idea. Something may be coming soon.

Are there plans to translate the Creator's Voice blog into English - or have another English blog seperate? FFXIclopedia
The Vanafest content in the Creator's Voice blog was translated, but this was a one time feature. If the blog's author learns to speak and write English - maybe.

Mini expansions are a new style of releasing new content. Is this going to be how expansions will be delivered from now on? Will we going back to "bigger versions?" IGN
Tanaka: The reason we did the smaller expansions, is that digital downloads are the current trend. We will monitor this and the results will influence this decision.

Are there plans to revisit the conquest system and add refresh, regen and/or increased food duration? FFXIclopedia
Gondai/Ogawa: Refresh and regen would not normally be available to low level players in these zones. The new Fields of Valor system will be featured in the low level zones and pick up where they leave off, meaning higher level players will be back in these zones. Regen and refresh will be available from items.

There are 20 macro books and 20 jobs. Are there any plans to add more jobs? IGN
Tanaka: They have some ideas for new jobs, but only time will tell If they get added. If they add new jobs they will simply add new macro books.

What are the inspiration for zone design - such as Promyvion zones? Stratics
Ogawa: This is a difficult question. The designers have artistic freedom with few parameters to meet.

Are there any upcoming changes to the campaign system? FFXIclopedia
Ito: There will be changes. More information will be releaved at the development panel tomorrow.

There are FFXI related books in Japan. Any plans to make them available in North America? IGN
Daisuke Yamamoto - There are novels in Japan that they are planning on making available here, but there are legal issues they are dealing with.

Any plans on helping Red Mages get to the front lines? FFXIclopedia
Gondai: - Not in the December patch. The patch afterwards will feature job adjustments, including of Red Mage.

Summoner pets can participate in level 1 and level 2 skillchains. Any plans on allowing them to participate in level 3 skillchains? IGN
Tanaka/Gondai: This is something they originally thought about. Future plans are secret.

[ronin sparthos]

No AV questions? Say it ain't so.

[Melios]

No AV questions? Say it ain't so.

They already asked about AV last year.

[Sonomaa]

all questions were apparently pretty bad, the 72hr one was mine, matt said the questions were pretty weak and he chose the strongest ones

[Lordender]

lol

[Jkun]

MY PUP ISN'T WORTHLESS FFFFFFFFFF

But I'm all for improvements, lol.

[Rocl]

No AV questions? Say it ain't so.

Hearing they weren't allowed to ask about AV or PW

[Weeks]

I guess Stratics's status as a premium/preferred/whateverthefuck site is even more of a joke after they wasted a third of the Q&A with their inane questions.