Collection of FFXIV News from Media Sources

[Lucavi]

The newest thing I learned is that he's paying attention to thinks like Dungeon Finder and the like. If nothing else, that's a start. I wonder what he honestly, truly thinks about XIV after playing so many other good games. Everything he played received commercial and critical success, and then he becomes in charge of XIV, which has been slammed left and right from everywhere that isn't Famitsu, and they haven't even released a review of it.

[Riposte]

Who is a fan of this crap? Seriously. Right now, who is a fan of FFXIV? I can't see too many people bothering to put the work in to keep a FFXIV fansite relevant. Even BG's section is on life support for now.

So no, BRP, I cannot. Fan sites are only fan sites when the fans are fired up about it or nostalgic about it. Its too new to be nostalgic and its too bad right now to be fired up. I haven't heard of many fan sites dedicated strictly to "going through the motions", so yeah, go figure.

You can continue to complain about the game as loud as possible with no purpose other than being loud, but that doesn't change anything. If they didn't want to suck, they should stop running a fan site. Otherwise they fucking suck if they can't keep up with even basic demands.

[kisada]

i think there's a lot of important stuff here that basically describes how they currently view the game, especially their priorities. quite a bit of this stuff wasn't very clear before, either.


the UI stuff is really important imo. they're gonna be focusing on creating a good UI before prioritizing content. and that one comment about concentrating on one issue at a time is also very telling. so instead of getting these updates where there's a mishmash of stuff that's half-assed, they're gonna try to give us big time improvements piece by piece. personally i'm ecstatic about this. btw is it me or does that sound like a little bit of a dig at the previous staff?


and the test server thing: they thought it was a waste to make one even though this is SE's new flagship MMO. pretty much infers quite a bit just how they were unwilling to go the distance on this game. i'm glad to see that he wants to change that.


one other thing i thought was really important: he mentions a couple times about increasing direct feedback and communication. i wonder if they'll set up a new site specifically for player feedback instead of trying to glean through many popular forums. someone made a joke of it in another thread, but i could see why it'd hard for them to get to the heart of the issues when they have to sort through so much garbage. i'd love it if SE could just set up a uservoice.com account and we could suggest/vote our priorities in ourselves.

also i know it has nothing to do with the enormous issues the game has but: "His favorite FF is FF7 and he wants to somehow bring the powerful atmosphere and the impact of FF7 to FFXIV." i would love to see if they could generate that feel and atmosphere they're talking about into an MMO world.

all in all i feel a lot better about this game than i did before reading about this stuff.

[AndyFox]

These things do give me some hope that this game will turn into something in the near future. Like most, I'm just playing so that I won't have to start from scratch when there's actually something to do. I was 13 years old when FF7 came out. It was my first FF game and my first RPG; before then I had just played platform games and shooters and the like. FF7 is what turned me on to RPG's in the first place and caused me to play all of the FF's. If it's this guy's inspiration I can only hope it shines through in his work. In a way, FF7 was my inspiration to play both this and FFXI so I'm glad it's his inspiration as a developer. I'm eagerly anticipating the Jan 1 post, let's hope it's not a big letdown.

[Olo401]

http://ffxiv.zam.com/story.html?story=24641

Elmer, I am disappoint.

[sruon]

This interview was realized on November 19 with a bunch of french websites and Tanaka/Sundi. It only got published yesterday for god knows what reasons.
Source: http://www.ffring.com/news/FFXIV-not...6d4836739.html
This is the latest interview Tanaka has done before getting the boot

A large part of it is outdated/olde but for nostalgia sake...

Spoiler: show

Final Fantasy World : It looks like the game is still kind of in beta phase. Was the game released too early?

Hiromichi Tanaka : It is true that it is a way to see the current situation, but since it is a MMO we want it to last at least five or ten years. Launch isn't the final form of the game, it is simply the starting point we all have to go through, be it as a dev or a gamer. Thanks to all the feedback we're getting, we're improving and completing the game experience constantly.
We truely do hope that this will be a long-term project.
Sage Sundi : We've come today because we wanted to tell everyone that we receive their feedback and we seriously read them. We want to prove that we work together.

Final Fantasy Ring : Two massive (lol) updates are planned for the next few weeks. In your opinion which will be the most crucial?

Hiromichi Tanaka : I'd say the UI. November update brings a lot of changes, as small as they are, are very important. They concern mostly the slow UI issues. Targetting system as well has been modified, it is a lot easier to use now. We still have plenty to correct, but I can assure you that when you'll test the new interface, you'll notice the differences.

Final Fantasy World : Do you intend on adding an Auction House?

HT : I'm still convinced the Auction House was a real perk for Final Fantasy XI economy. But, as it released a lot of informations to the player, it had an exponential deflation effect on every servers. If from a buyer's standpoint it was interesting, sellers had a lot of troubles. We imagined this new system in an attempt to offer more possibilities to sellers. If they're smart enough, they could amass a small fortune. That is why we decided to change the transaction system.

Final Fantasy World : Do you intend on expanding Eorzea soon, by giving access to Ishgard or Ala Mhigo for exemple?

HT : More than half of the dungeons are hidden. They're already in the game but we haven't opened them yet. As the story progresses through version updates, we will unlock them. As for Ishgard, it is a special case. It won't be opened so soon so we hope you can be patient before accessing it.

Final Fantasy Ring : MMORPG are often terribly designed for consoles. Did you remake the UI specifically for the PS3?

HT: Current UI is very close to FFXI's and this was done in an attempt to make FFXI players feel at ease when they switch to XIV. As in FFXI, we wanted the game to have the same playability with gamepads than keyboard/mouse, but since the PC version was released first, players used to western MMOs on PC were disoriented. That is the reason why we're planning to add an UI dedicated to keyboard/mouse on top of the one for gamepads. We plan to add this earlier next year.

Final Fantasy World : You explained recently that the PS3 version was pushed back because textures/data had to be reprogrammed, will this affect future updates as well?

HT: It is only at the beginning that we need more time to optimize data. Once the game will be launched, all the data will be stored on the server so, everytime we'll do an update, PC and PS3 will share the same data. Thanks to this, there won't be any delay in updates.

Kingdom Hearts Destiny: To encourage FFXI players to try XIV, you offered bonus items. Will you do this again?

HT: If the occasion presents itself again, we will do it probably. For now, the next probable occasion will be the PS3 release, so we're thinking about it.
SS: Since this kind of reward is meant to be special, we won't do it often, because it has to remain special. But I promise you we'll think about it.

Few details about Final Fantasy XIV

Because of schedule issues, we couldn't ask the twenty questions we had prepared. That being said, we obtained certains infos while talking with Square Enix team.
Content:
-Chocobos and Airships will be added in a close future. Interactions are planned : they won't only be means of transportations.
-A PVP mode will be added : it will be possible to fight one or multiple other players at the same time.

Port:
-PS3 version is far from complete, the PC version has been ported but there is a lot of optimization to go through before it gets released.
-A trophy system will be added in the PS3 version
-It will be possible to use a keyboard on PS3 (lol...really?)
-No agreement has been found with Microsoft for a X360 release for now

Edit: The news publisher told me that since their Q&A session was shortened they couldn't ask all the questions they had prepared and thus had to continue by emails, but with all the events, Tanaka couldn't answer and they just decided to publish it as it was.

[Lucavi]

You can continue to complain about the game as loud as possible with no purpose other than being loud, but that doesn't change anything. If they didn't want to suck, they should stop running a fan site. Otherwise they fucking suck if they can't keep up with even basic demands.

Who cares? The sites suck because the game sucks. Move on.

[Seiji Okita]

eorzeapedia has posted there translation of the 4gamer interview (well the first part of it anyways haha) and its in the traditional Q&A format if your interested.

Mr. Yoshida does indeed seem sincere in his will to return bifrost to the land of midgard... if you catch my drift hehe

http://www.eorzeapedia.com:80/2010/1...t-1/#more-6316

[Achitophel]

Who cares? The sites suck because the game sucks. Move on.

lol I DON'T LIKE THIS GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Hyan]

Seems that the productor and sundi are currently in London for interviews and such...

First one I've come across: http://forum.finalfantasy14.eu/viewt...hp?f=20&t=1407

It's a bit hard to read though.

EDIT: Since when has BG been an 'official' fansite? lol.

err, maybe not. It's still listed as their fansite in the lodestone though.

[solracht]

Well, it should be me, thanking you for playing the game because playing the game itself is very hard work,

I lol'd.

[Hyan]

http://ffxiv.jeuxonline.info/?idNouvelle=30236

Another french interview, google translation:

JeuxOnLine (JOL): You said in your first letter that you were not really known in the gaming industry, can we have some information about your past and present work?
Naoki Yoshida (Yoshida): As a developer, I accounts for 18 years in the trade and worked at first, various RPGs, but these titles were certainly not brought to Europe, then I also worked on Bomberman. It's been 7 years since I work for Square Enix. I am currently working on online games but I can not tell you for now.

JOL: Wow, Bomberman ... it's great! * Laughs *
Yoshida & Sage Sundi (Sundi): * laughs *

JOL: So how did you become the director of Final Fantasy XIV? What were your previous successes?
Yoshida: Probably because I worked in the latest draft of [the company] and as a game designer - that is my job at the base - I think I've earned the trust of society. I'm also a hardcore MMORPG player, I love MMOs! Apart from that, I think being a good leader, but it's a bit weird for me to talk, I therefore ask Sundi what he thinks of my position as director and why I was chosen.
Sundi: This is undoubtedly a good leader, but more importantly, he is very approachable, therefore, people can easily contact him and he will listen to what you have to say and then make a decision. .. sociable character is very important.

JOL: I see what you mean, but since you've worked on so many games like Bomberman, how do you see Final Fantasy XIII [in whole]?
Yoshida: In my opinion, it is sorely lacking in content: a main frame and solid foundation. For example, the combat system, it certainly is interesting, but it is far too complicated to understand and there are too much scattered. For example, the identity of each class is something difficult to understand and all this does little to help players to be motivated. At least that's what I think!

JOL: Well, let's say you get the project XIV, who had a ... I say strange start, and you seem very confident about his future. Where did you get that confidence?
Yoshida: I think it's fun. This is the main element that motivates me, because thanks to this project, I get to talk to so many people I can talk a lot and besides that, I like MMOs. I also like the challenge that presents itself! I do not know where does this confidence, but many people say "please, do not commit suicide because of Final Fantasy VII" * laughs * but it is not difficult for me, I take really enjoy doing this.

JOL: I hope it is not in your future plans to kill yourself anyway! * Laughs * About Final Fantasy XI, you announced a lot of content. Do you plan to change what has been done so far? Or will you follow the planned schedule?
Yoshida: The changes do not affect the entire contents, and it does not disappear, but some things will be revised to be more suited to the solo game or other game in the group is what kind of changes you'll probably in most cases. But to achieve this goal, we really need to ensure that the combat system works well to give clarity to the roles of each class with the combat system balanced. Once the combat system will be ready, the basic content will be much more balanced and we can finally add content at will. We try to do things in order.

JOL: Without transition, our team is trying somehow to follow your news but compared to other companies, Square Enix is sorely lacking communication. Do you plan to improve this weakness?
Yoshida: In order to improve what you're talking, we've already started doing surveys and writing a newsletter. On 8 March, we plan to open the official forums, we hope a lot of discussion and myself I will post on these forums there. There will be lots of active discussion and I'm really looking forward to watching it. But not only I'll be there, but the development team will also present: they can see what happened on the forums recently, and if necessary, they will post and give their opinion. Whole aspect will change enormously.
Sundi: As you can see with the Producer's Letter, we try to keep you informed regularly. Before, we give you much information at once and then we stayed quiet for a long period. The players did not like. From now on we will try to stay regular so that our players feel involved in [the work].
Yoshida: But just to remind you, March 8, the official forums will not open "really", it will be a beta version and it is certainly what you see with the final version.

JOL: You mentioned the official forum ... it will begin on March 8, therefore, but there is a problem: the forums are already in place, and players already have their own community. In your opinion, what are the benefits of an official forum in relation to existing forums, or as JeuxOnline ZAM?
Yoshida: Previously, when we wanted to get feedback and comments from our players, we should look at several different forums and then collect the information but it will be easy from now through the official forum, intended only to players, although others can read it. But participation will be reserved exclusively to the players. We firmly believe that we will have specific advice directly from our players, and why we set up this forum is to ensure that we have is the real thoughts of players to ensure that we take the right decisions. It is, in sum, why we believe that the official forums will be beneficial.
Sundi: Although we have official forums, other forums, for example, you will be more active on issues such as the discussion on classes, crafting, etc.. it is normal and natural for players to have multiple forums to talk about different things. Everything should not really be condensed to a single official forum.
Yoshida: You can talk about what happens on the official forums on other forums and it will also be interesting [for us] to see, so it is natural to have official forums, fans.

JOL: Previously, we discussed a story about the relationship between fansites and Square Enix. Where are we?
Sundi: For now, it is true that the U.S. sites seem to grow compared to the European Communities, but this is not really the case. We obviously work with the French and German communities and we are really pleased to welcome you today for this interview. The various status does not necessarily change our attitude towards the communities, we want to do more with our players and we want to continue developing in that direction. Please keep a good partnership with us and we will undoubtedly have many opportunities in the future.
I would add, for example, on the official forums, we can not really reveal content that is not implemented yet in the game, but we sincerely hope that fansites can debate, discuss, whether of history or of all that is around the gaming fansites can speak more easily and thoroughly as we can not do that officially. The importance of fansites is given to sharing information as we noted above.
Yoshida: It is not possible to cover all the topics on the official forum, forget the word "official" is more about how we communicate with you and we really, really talk to the players and listen. We believe that talking with you and your community is the best way to approach the players, so we thank you for being there, being present and taking your time to move here and share this interview with us. We are delighted to be able to contact the community directly, and believe us, we really want to go!

JOL: We were concerned at the base, first the Lodestone and the official forums, but after what you just said, I feel that you want to forge stronger links between players and developers, not through the official forums, but through Fansite?
Yoshida: Yes, we want strong ties with our fans, we want and we will sort (have: If there will be discussions on boiling fansites, I am delighted to participate in the discussion and comment on this you talked to have, as I said, a really direct communication between us and the fans. I sincerely want that kind of relationship with the players.

JOL: I'll stop bothering you and ask you the last question, one that we always ask, but can you tell us something very important about Final Fantasy XIII ... or even Square Enix?
Yoshida & Sundi: * laughs *
Yoshida: Something interesting ... hmmm ... know that this is the first time we've talked about the release date of the official beta forums ... In itself, this is already a scoop!
JOL: Okay, well, maybe something more then? * Laughs *
Yoshida & Sundi: * laughs *
Yoshida: I usually write everything on the Producer's Letter, so I do not really have much to hide. I am sincere about this, really! Anyway, know that I share with you something I take very seriously the presence of Chocobo. I know I did not mention it, so, maybe the players think that we ignore this point, but it really is not. I think very carefully about this, so please stay tuned! We are talking about with our team.

JOL: Thank you so much!
Yoshida: Although we can not say when. * Laughs *

So he has worked for Hudson Soft Company? Cool.

March 8th for the forum beta.

And wtf at the interview, he mentions every FF but XIV.

[Zettofaia]

It feels like he's been talking about XIV throughout the whole interview, could be a translation error?

[Hyan]

Yeah looks like it.

[Corrderio]

Not too bad, although I would like to know more about redoing/renaming classes without screwing stuff up, and the final decision for what a company will be.

EDIT: Chocobos also, I'd kill to see if they're planned.

[Zettofaia]

http://forum.finalfantasy14.eu/viewt...hp?f=20&t=1407

Finalfantasy14.eu :

Hello Mr. Naoki Yoshida,

Let me introduce myself, my name is Jérôme Lallemand. I’m the webmaster of the finalfantasy14.eu website and i’m here to represent all the fans from the french community.

Since your arrival as the director, we can see everything changing rapidly and it’s impossible not to notice your implication into the development of Final Fantasy XIV. We would like to thank you and your team for all the efforts you are putting into the “revival” of the game.

Naoki Yoshida :

Well, it should be me, thanking you for playing the game because playing the game itself is very hard work, but we really appreciate you playing final fantasy 14 for us and the Final Fantasy 14 team and the whole development team and Square Enix really appreciate your help.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

I’m going to ask you some questions, i will start with the ones about the game itself and then we will talk about the forums you are planning on creating.

Allright, let’s get started!

Who are you?

Naoki Yoshida :

Nice to meet you, my name is Naoki Yoshida, producer and director of Final Fantasy 14. I have been working on several games in the past, but as a developer I have 18 years career for the game industry. For 14, it still has a lot of issues we need to solve and also there is a lot of updates I'd like to implement in the game, so what I'm really trying now to do is make sure all changes are done in a speedy manner and also properly. So I really appreciate all your support.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

Do you play FFXIV?

Naoki Yoshida :

Yes, absolutely.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

Do you know why you have been chosen by the CEO of Square Enix to be the Final Fantasy XIV director?

Naoki Yoshida :

First of all, it is a bit difficult to answer by myself, I have been working on several large projects in the past, and also at least in Square Enix I have a reputation for game design quality and leadership for the game.

Saori Hill : I forgot to mention this earlier, but the most important part is he is a hardcore MMO player. He really loves MMOs.
Because it is difficult to answer Sage Sundi would like to answer why he thinks Naoki Yoshida has been selected.

Sage Sundi :

Because of this project, not telling you the players but the development team wants to talk about problems and raise issues, he really has approachable personality so people can come to him and talk to him, and he will listen properly. He can really see the big picture, but also details as well, he's like a computer, he can do everything by himself, that's why at the moment he is both producer and director. He can see the whole picture and the small details at the same time. This is someone we really need for this project.

Naoki Yoshida :

In addition to that, I can work without sleeping.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

Your letters, you are at your third one, are always welcome with lot of excitement within the finalfantasy14.eu’s community. It’s a very good initiative and everyone can feel closer to the developement team. Actually you mentionned in your second letter that some people blamed you for being too familiar, on the contrary we think that it makes you more sociable, like if we were talking to one of our friends. Is that what you wanted us to think? That the community is like a big group of friends or even better, a big family?

Naoki Yoshida :

Because we want players to enjoy MMOs for a long time, and we want them to look forward to get into the world and also look forward to the new content updates, it is very important for the players and the development team to communicate all the time. If the players are thinking something then maybe the development team can make sure we can implement something unpredictable which will give surprises to players. Also, if there is something that the players are really requesting then we can make sure that can be implemented so listening is very important. Just point of view, yes it can be like a family relationship but in a way it is more like a fellowship. More than a friend, it is really like a strong bond between the players and the development team. Sundi always tells him that I can write in a more friendly manner, but some players may think that he's too casual, because 14 is a very difficult situtation they think stop being too friendly by focusing on the game, so some people take it in different ways.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

Thank you and please try to keep going in that approach, it’s really a benefit to have someone in who we can trust and to see a real person that takes contact with us.

How do you see the future of Eorzea and more particularly the high level areas?

Naoki Yoshida :

Of course we do want to implmenent high level content, but before that we want to make sure we have a proper battle system in place. If the battle system is not working, then you can't enjoy the high level content. So at the moment, we are also making a lot improvements to the user interface, but at the same time we are working on the content and making sure once the battle system is ready, then we can implement high level content as well. It won't be in the near future, maybe around spring time hopefuly, you can see more end game content.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

When do you think FFXIV will really be operational?

Naoki Yoshida :

Because he is a hardcore player, it is really difficult to be satisfied with a MMO, he really wants to put a lot of things in the game. And also Sundi was saying because it's a MMO, it's never going to be completed, there's always going to a lot of additional stuff added to the game. But at the same time, around spring time, he really wants to make sure there's going to be a route or stream from the early stage and the end game content, so people enjoy the beginning and the end, going through this stream.

Hopefully, this will be around spring time and then you can really see what it's going to look like. And for this, Naoki himself and all the development team is not sleeping, so please cheer us.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

What do you want to do right now to motivate the current player to play more or better yet, make new people come into the game?

Naoki Yoshida :

For the current players, we really want to make sure we have enough content especially for the mid-level and also the high level content. For the mid-level probably around rank 25 onwards, we really want to make sure there's enough content. Also, as you've seen before on the producer's list, you can see the late content we want to put in, so that's kind of content we really want to make sure to give the current players. At the same time, for the players who have already left and to bringing in new players, we need to make sure the early stages of the game is ready, like the user interface and the tutorials, and making sure understand they are needed for the game, and by showing different quests, players should be able to understand their need in the world of Eorzea. So when the two points are ready, then we can probably have a welcome back campaign and make sure truly enjoys the game once again.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

Do you think about going back to a FFXI gameplay style if the game still doesn’t do well in a few months?

Naoki Yoshida :

Because it is a Final Fantasy game, we really need chocobo and airship, even if the game is not regarded by number of players, we need chocobo and airship because it is a Final Fantasy series, so we will bring those content in the game but that doesn't mean we want to bring the same way as FFXI. We will have a unique way of implementing these content to FFXIV, because it is especially for FFXIV. Even for a Bahamut, please look forward to how we are going to do it. It's not going to be same as FFXI, but we are definately going to implement them. We know it's very important, so we want to make sure it's has an original meaning to chocobo and airship.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

What do you think about adding to the game that other MMORPG currently on the market (that are doing pretty well) don’t have?

Naoki Yoshida :

If there are special content which really benefit FFXIV, like for casual or beneficial then we definately use it as a reference, and we can consider how we can implement that in FFXIV, but we don't want to copy everything because that's not going to make FFXIV unique. So, some areas, yes we will certainly observe MMOs, and see if it makes sense to implement in FFXIV, but we will sort of make sure there is unique content in regards to our MMO.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

As the first poll’s result showed, a majority of players want quests. How are they written?

Naoki Yoshida :

Square Enix(Nishida Iwao?), they are working on these new quests and making sure the players can feel that they are needed in this world, and make them exciting to do adventure in the world of Eorzea. So they write these quests, and then we implement them. When we make quests, we make sure what this quest is going to mean so if it is targetting certain level of people, like rank 30 or rank 50 or is this quest going to be for everyone, and also does this quest need to have battle content related, so that is something that we first discuss and make sure it's going to be relevant to the story line. And then, we also have NPC task control, the programming team will make sure if there will be programming in the game. Also, another thing which is very important is to make sure this quest has good reward, so by doing this quest, what does the player get, so the reward is very important when we think about a quest. We need to make sure it makes sense to play that quest to get that reward. And then we create it and add a patch to the game, then release it.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

In your planning, you mention quest related to the main storyline. Are you planning to add some unrelated?

Naoki Yoshida :

This is exactly what we are working on now. From the next patch onwards, I'm sure you will notice there's going to be a lot of quests added to the game. And not only for the main storyline, but also there will be a quest which explains the background of story of the monsters or the NPCs, so you can really understand how Eorzea is working. So you will get a lot of background stories for classes as well, so it should be interesting to look forward to those quests.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

The name, balance and usage of different classes are going to be modified to make them more unique. Have you already planned on adding new classes or are you planning on the current ones only?

Naoki Yoshida :

First of all, we are only thinking of current classes only. The reason behind that is because if we can't have a good balance with the current number of classes, if we add another one, this is going to be unbalanced as well. So we want to make sure there's a good balance first, then if there's something missing we will add a new class.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

What are the changes that players are expecting the most?

Naoki Yoshida :

Opinions vary world wide, but when we really think what is in common, most probably the battle system and the class balance, as long as those two issues are solved, other things can be solved as well. So I think these are the two areas the players are asking to be changed. But we really want to understand what you are thinking and what you think needs to be changed, so once we open the official forum, we would love you to tell us what you think as much as you like.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

What do you think FFXIV will be like when all the changes you have planned will be done? Should we expect a totally different gameplay than the one we have now?

Naoki Yoshida :

Some areas we would like to keep as we, for example guildleves has very good potential and people do like it. Well at the moment, to be honest, that's something only thing at the moment the guildleve system, but we do think it's very important and very useful for the players that don't have time. Even if they only have half an hour, or one hour, as long as they go to the aetheryte area or the counter, they can still find something to do and decide I'm just going to one guildleve quest and going to bed. That makes it much easier with the guildleve system. So we think you should keep the guildleve system in the game. At the same time, the battle system doesn't make sense. You don't know the balance of the party, and killing any monsters, that kind of battle system or balance is something maybe we need to make issues or big changes.

One thing I can tell you is that you are going see a difference, Eorzea is not going to be peaceful as it is now.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

Have you taken any measure against RMT and botting? It’s easily noticable that they are quite a lot already.

Naoki Yoshida :

We had to stop the STF activity because we have a new team, and started working two weeks ago. And when Sundi is back in the office after this business trip, the team will report to him like what has been done among the STF team. The GMs are also helping the STF team looking into the bot issues, so this area you will see improvements. Before RMT botting, there are also hacking problem. As you may already noticed in the last patch, we have made changes to the billing side, and if we see a difference in the login patterns, then we will block that account so it looks like it's kind of working and of course we will keep an eye on it, but hopefully the compromised accounts will decrease.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

Should we expect the PS3 version for 2011?

Naoki Yoshida :

We will definately give you information about how it's going, but at the moment I can't talk about the release date or anything like that, we are just not at that stage yet. But as long as we have a better idea when it's going to be ready or the progress, then as soon as we have information, then I will share it with you, so please look forward to all the information and please forward that to your community as well.

The Forum Part:

Finalfantasy14.eu :

While waiting for The Lodestone’s forums, what ressources do you have to gather player’s feedback?

Naoki Yoshida :

For now, we are visiting all the different the community sites and getting information from all the different community sites, and try to make sure we have a fair view. With the official forum, we do believe that we can have a really open discussion directly with the development team and the players, and we are looking forward to this as well. Forum will open second week of March.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

According to the planning, the official forums will open in March, is it going to regroup both Final Fantasy XI and XIV communities?

Naoki Yoshida :

It's going to be two seperate forums for XI and XIV. So each forum will be linked to each official website. Of course there will be French and German forums as well.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

Are we going to be able to leave feedback to the developpement’s team on those forums?

Naoki Yoshida :

Yes, definately. They will reply to those comments as well.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

Do you plan on adding different options that will make those forums unique compared to the other ones we can find for other games?

Naoki Yoshida :

The forum will be released in March, it's still a beta forum, a beta version. Of course there will be minimum requirements. If you have any ideas for unique features, we'd love to hear your opinions to make sure we can implement it in the proper forum and can release it in the future.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

Is it going to be possible to access it from the PS3’s navigator?

Naoki Yoshida :

Yes, we trying to make sure it is going to be accessible from the PS3 browser, but this is a beta version so there might be issues.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

Is the french community going to have their own forum with their own management? Or are they going to be a part of the whole thing?

Naoki Yoshida :

There will be French forum, German forum, English forum, and Japanese forum. All the forums will be seperated, and also you will have your own French community moderator and representative so you will have a dedicated staff for the French forum.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

Thank you for your answers to all these questions.

I completly agree with all the work you are putting into the developpement of the game and i personally push every player to try the FFXIV experience until the end but since a few weeks i noticed that the french community is slowly falling apart, even the highest level players with who i planned to continue on playing have decided to stop temporarly or for some, permanently.

Naoki Yoshida and Sage Sundi :

Sorry Sorry Sorry

Naoki Yoshida :

We think it's very important to make sure our current players are enjoying, even the players leaving, the current players can sort of tell them it's fun and enjoyable. So we think once it's ready, then those players can bring back their friends, and we can officially tell them the game you will enjoy it, please come back. First of all, we want to make sure you, and all the players are enjoying the game now, we want to make sure you are having fun and that is quickest way to make FFXIV more exciting.

Finalfantasy14.eu :

Have a good day and thank you for the invitation.

This makes a lot more sense, not sure if it's a different interview or just the full version of the one Hyan posted, but it has some really interesting points regardless.

Looks like Yoshida's aiming to complete the battle system overhaul/class balance by Spring. He also mentions a bunch of representatives for each forum/language.

[Hyan]

Ah yes, I only posted a link to that one. Good to have it in full here as well.

From the sounds of it fansites from every region are getting an interview (ZAM possibly eorzeapedia and core).

[Lucavi]

I'm happy about the peace part. That's one of the things that everyone seems to enjoy about Rift; the fact that battle is always around you and always a threat, and its that oftentimes chaotic nature of the game that can make for the most fun.

XIV was so peaceful when I played that it startled me. The towns were 100% safe from anything, the birds were always chirping and the wind was always gusting and blowing. The only threat you ever had was the ill-placed mob pathing in front of your way, and all you had to do was wait for it to pass. That doesn't sound very "adventurer-like", unless your idea of an adventure is going a few miles down the road to get some tree sap to repair your home.

[Spider-Dan]

The world in XIV is not at war. Vanilla FFXI was just as "peaceful."

Personally, my complaint would be the opposite; walking out of the starter city as a rank 40 character only to get ganked by a random R57 mob that's standing almost directly outside of the city is not the kind of "excitement" I look for in an RPG.

[Lucavi]

XI was just as peaceful, yes, and it was out in 2004, and I've played games set in war afterwards, which were fun, so yeah, I'd rather have a world at war than not. Looks like the new guy agrees, since he keeps hinting about how less peaceful the world will be in the future.