Final Fantasy XIV regional servers (Official FF14 if you can't post in Advance Forum)

[Gryffes]

Really wouldnt be surprised if it was 2-6 player co-op FF, semi-persistant client side type of deal.

It would be more likely than another fullscale MMO.
That said I'd love to be pleasantly surprised.

[BRP]

Is someone defending FFXI current situation by referencing past Final Fantasys? Don't be silly, every single Final Fantasy has been broken as fuck and would be unplayable if they were more centric on the battle system. FFXI is actually has one, if not the, best battle system of the series.

[Pikarya]

Official link for the conference is up E3 2009, E3 Coverage, E3 Conference - G4tv.com

[Katarzyna]

It's bullshit they won't allow cameras....

By the way Hiroko, the feed on the link says it no longer exists, so here's another one: SE Live Blog Feed

This just in: SE is considering other hardware, including Microsoft Hardware for XIV.

I'm copy and pasting the whole thing into notepad. I'll post the transcript when it's over.

[Aro]

possibility for other hardware (Micro)

"11:56 Q: What are the ties to Final Fantasy XI, if any?
11:58 A: While you may have noticed that some of the same type of races appeared in the trailer, the world of FFXIV is different from FFXI. The reason that we made the races similar to the FFXI races is so FFXI players could choose a similar type of race in the new game. For example, in movies, you might have an actor that plays many different roles. Please, think of it that way."

[Loan]

The G4 blogger seems to be looking forward to the FFXIV info more than anything.. Seems confident we're going to get some more info about the game.. PC starts with FFXIV, saying that it is coming out for PS3 and PC..

[Diumis]

Personally, I hope most of this game is nothing like FFXI. Otherwise you might as well be playing FFXI and they're bound to make the same stupid mistakes that led FFXI down this road of no returns.

Regional servers would be nice, but it shouldn't be enforced. I think that's what made FFXI kind of hard. It's like "You don't like dealing with NA? Tough you're going to have to" There should be options to play with NA on NA servers or join multi-cultural servers. Maybe by incorporating some kind of system where your character can be on multiple servers?

Although, people make it sound if you have regional servers you wont be able to play at 3 am anymore, but think about this: If each current FFXI server has a select few people who like to stay up that late and play from NA, then what would be the result if those NA are suddenly on one server together? More people obviously. Now it may not provide you with the amount of people you'd get from having another regions, but it's not necessarily going to be dead

[Aro]

"12:02
Q: Will combat be more action oriented or turn-based?
12:02
A: We cannot talk about the battle system at this time."

Here we go . . . >_>;

[Loan]

"A: As with WoW, we want to aim a bit for the casual user."

Here we go is right..

[Loan]

Sweet.. PS3 and PC available from start..

[LD]

Good Lord...


The earth bucks 'neath my feet and I fall again into the abyss...




Definitely FFXI-2, at least in terms of design. I know that galkan mohawk too well, plus the fight on the boat was very familliar. Whether it's the same world or not, only one thing really matters: Will we be able to copy/transfer our characters in some way or another?

[Wolfknight]

Really wouldnt be surprised if it was 2-6 player co-op FF, semi-persistant client side type of deal.

It would be more likely than another fullscale MMO.
That said I'd love to be pleasantly surprised.

if for site mention monthly fees I'd agree possible, since seems unlike to be that style with monthly fees[unless much lower than XI's fee].

[ⒻⓊⒸⓀⓎⒺⒶⒽ]

Q: What happens to Final Fantasy XI now that we're moving to FFXIV? Are you going to phase it out or continue to publish new content for XI? How will the development team be split?
A: XIV does not take place in Vana'deil.

Has to be the most 'wut' answer so far.

Also: The current plans are to have worldwide servers that are cross-platform and cross-region. There's your answer.

[Loan]

Definitely FFXI-2, at least in terms of design. I know that galkan mohawk too well, plus the fight on the boat was very familliar. Whether it's the same world or not, only one thing really matters: Will we be able to copy/transfer our characters in some way or another?

They confirmed that you can't transfer your character because it is a completely different game, with a different job system..

[Katarzyna]

Entire transcript of the blog:

11:53 This is Brian Leahy from TheFeed.
11:54 It seems like this is very much about FFXIV.
11:54 Update on exclusivity confusion.
11:55 Please be patient as this is going to be translated from Japanese.
11:56 FFXIV will be coming to the PS3 & PC. They are currently considering other hardware (including Microsoft hardware!)
11:56 Q: What are the ties to Final Fantasy XI, if any?
11:58 A: While you may have noticed that some of the same type of races appeared in the trailer, the world of FFXIV is different from FFXI. The reason that we made the races similar to the FFXI races is so FFXI players could choose a similar type of race in the new game. For example, in movies, you might have an actor that plays many different roles. Please, think of it that way.
11:59 Q: What happens to Final Fantasy XI now that we're moving to FFXIV? Are you going to phase it out or continue to publish new content for XI? How will the development team be split?
11:59 XIV does not take place in Vana'deil.
12:00 A: The development for FFXIV started 4 or 5 years ago with primary ideas. Development started a few years ago, while FFXI was still being supported. FFXI will continue to be supported. There is another year of content planned. There are no plans for the near future to stop development on FFXI.
12:01 Q: What influence have games like World of WarCraft have on the development of FFXIV?
12:02 A: As with WoW, we want to aim a bit for the casual user. However, we don't want to make a copy of WoW. We believe we will have things that are unique and will stand out from that game.
12:02 Q: Will combat be more action oriented or turn-based?
12:02 A: We cannot talk about the battle system at this time.
12:03 Q: FFXI has evolved a lot over the years, especially in the areas of player accessibility and the ability to solo. Will you carry over features like level sync and other features to FFXIV?
12:04 A: Yes. All of the knowledge and experience we gained from FFXI will be used in the development of FFXIV. At the launch, we intend to have content for solo players as well as large-scale battles. We want a wide-variety from the start.
12:04 Q: Are you planning a simultaneous worldwide release or will it be released in Japan first?
12:05 A: Yes. At the launch, this will be a worldwide simultaneous launch on PS3 and Windows PC. English, Japanese, German, and French versions released at launch.
12:05 Q: Will all servers be worldwide or split by territory?
12:07 A: The current plans are to have worldwide servers that are cross-platform and cross-region. We will do a beta test and look at the balance and player experience. We want to look for a good balance between region and cross-region play.
12:07 There's your beta!
12:08 Q: Will you be taking feedback from your FFXI users?
12:09 A: Yes, we still get a lot of feedback from our FFXI players and will continue to take feedback as we move into beta. The game will change as it goes.
12:09 Q: Will you try to move players from XI to XIV or will they be separate communities?
12:09 (I'm on my laptop + 3G now )
12:10 A: It's up to the community themselves. We envision users that will hopefully play XI one day and XIV another. They will be independent, but users are free to play both.
12:10 Q: Are there plans to localize the game in Spanish?
12:11 A: Currently, there is no Spanish version in development. We'll consider it if enough Spanish-speaking users demand it from us. Getting good translators in Japan is hard, but if there's enough demand we will consider it.
12:11 Q: How can users transmit this demand?
12:12 A: We will conduct marketing research.
12:12 Q: Is there any special element in the MMO genre that you will improve with this game?
12:13 A: Our plan from the beginning was to make the best Final Fantasy game available. That is our vision for XIV. Then we thought, how can we make the best FF game and we came to the conclusion that it would be an MMORPG. It was decided to make the best FF first, then led to the decision to make it an MMORG and use that genre.
12:13 A: However, we are trying to implement a lot of new systems that other MMO's haven't used in the past.
12:14 Q: Why did you decide to make a new game rather than continue to evolve FFXI?
12:16 A: It all comes down to, originally, FFXI was designed for the PS2. It then moved to PC and Xbox 360. A lot of people have asked for a port to the PS3. With an MMORPG of this size, you have to develop new content. Porting to a new technology would take a lot of effort. Instead, we decided to use that time to make something new.
12:17 Q: Yesterday's trailer that was shown, was that running of a console or was it pre-rendered?
12:18 A: There were parts that were pre-rendered and parts that were running on the in-game engine.
12:18 Q: Is that the quality you're aiming for? The scene with the Galka fighting, is that what you're aiming for?
12:19 A: Yes, that is the part that was running in-engine.
12:19 Q: In that scene, we saw many parties and many enemies. Is this the new focus: many parties fighting many enemies?
12:20 A: I cannot say too much, but we hope to have battles that are many vs. many and many vs. one.
12:20 Q: What would you like to emphasize with this game? What is different from FFXI?
12:22 A: For FFXIV, the keyword that we've been using is "The Growth and Development of the Character." We will have the same type of storytelling and high-quality graphics. We also want to expand and create new in-game systems. The player can grow & develop in a more natural way without putting too much weight on the player. We will expand the job system to make it fairly different from the one in FFXI.
12:23 A: Another very important concept that takes a different direction from FFXI, for FFXIV we want to make it so the player can choose to play solo, in a party, 40 minutes, all-day... there will be content for ALL of those play styles and systems for all of those play styles.
12:24 Q: On the beta process, will current XI players get in?
12:25 A: As with the actual release date of the game, we don't have a concrete beta schedule yet. We will have a beta and look forward to more information about then shortly.
12:25 Q: Will FFXI characters be portable to XIV in any way?
12:26 A: The game is completely different. There will not be any XI character transfers to XIV. However, the character design is familiar and XI players will be able to create a similar character.
12:26 A: We will NOT be using PlayOnline, but friend lists will transfer over.
12:27 Q: If I'm new to the MMO genre, why would I choose FFXIV over other games?
12:27 A: We believe that players will fall in love with the world & story that we have created.
12:31 Q: I've been seeing information that the title is free to play, is this true?
12:31 A: No pricing has been decided at this time. It is still TBD.

(Yes, I know it's in advanced, but it's going in between 2 threads and multiple posts. Feel free to update the OP with this.)

[yodaa]

I personally hope XIV isnt regional i enjoy playing w/people from other countries, makes the game more interesting. Also i dont think they should allow char transfer from XI.

[Freijah]

It would suck if I had to play other Europeans, can you imagine the misery?

[Cream Soda]

12:14 Q: Why did you decide to make a new game rather than continue to evolve FFXI?
12:16 A: It all comes down to, originally, FFXI was designed for the PS2. It then moved to PC and Xbox 360. A lot of people have asked for a port to the PS3. With an MMORPG of this size, you have to develop new content. Porting to a new technology would take a lot of effort. Instead, we decided to use that time to make something new.

ps2 limitations

[Angeluzun]

Well at the very least we can be glad the whole "character transfer or gtfo" ppl can now go quit ffxi and nvr touch xiv. Yet I somehow doubt they will follow through on that.

The question about adding spanish actually made sense to me. Not that I'd actually prefer speaking/writing in it, but I know it would def bring a decent amount of ppl into the game.

Also, the fact that they made it clear that they wish for ppl to play both games (as unrealistic as that sounds) tells me they aren't going to drop ff xi as soon as FF XIV is released. Yes, there's a high likelihood that once WotG is done there won't be any new material released for xi but that doesn't mean the game is dead. Slowly crawling to its grave, absolutely. But not dead.

And thank god no regional-specific servers are going to be in effect. I actually like the multicultural aspect of ffxi, even if I can't understand a work of kanji. And if indeed they have learned from their experience as they claim to have, a badass auto-translator would be required. This is only helped more with the fact that there won't be the 2yr JP head start which led to the JP ONLY effect we have had since the dawn of Vana'Diel time. And lastly, there is no reason to expect the JP's of FFXI to be the only JPs who will play XIV which would potentially cull out some of that self imposed segregation.

Oh and I <3 the fact that they admitted to being capable of learning! :D

[yodaa]

i hope they release XIV for all at the same time and not delay a few years in between, hate how we have to wait last for everything!XD