Fostering Skillful Play

[Okipuit]

Greetings!

Below is a message from Producer Akihiko Matsui in regards to the version update delay as well as his thoughts on game play.

Hello, Matsui here.

I apologize for the version update delay.

The fix and testing procedures have been completed, so all of the new content, including the new Salvage, will be ready after the maintenance scheduled for 2-4 am tonight (9-11 am PST). Please hang on for a couple more hours. m(_ _)m

Also, I apologize to those of you who have been wondering why I haven’t been posting on the forums this week. I felt that there was a lot of discussion going on about the version update and thought it would be best not to bring up new topics for you to discuss since they could get lost in the midst of the version update.

With that said, I would like to write a bit about my ideas on game play.
(This isn’t very different from the post I made during the FFXIV battle reform. However, I believe this is important information to share with FFXI fans, so I would like to reiterate these points.)
　
I personally believe that game play is nearly synonymous with fostering skillful play.

Without different levels of skill involved, a game isn’t really a game, and I believe that a major factor in the enjoyment of playing games is being rewarded for playing at a high level of skill. (Although it may be more difficult to explain the fun of finishing off collections or completing specific tasks.)

The joy felt when defeating a very strong enemy or completing content that is considered challenging is proportionate to how strong the enemy was or how difficult the content was.

However, I don’t believe that this is the only aspect of fostering skillful play.

In addition to things like being able to perfectly time the stun of an enemy's powerful ability, there are many different levels and ways in which users have foster skillful play. You need to gather equipment and meds, know the right farming spots for your parties, and various other aspects.

Looking from this point of view at the recent FFXI, I feel that the varieties of fostering skillful play are becoming too skewed.

For all of you who love and enjoy playing FFXI, I would like increase the ways you experience the joy of being rewarded for playing well. That said, we will be adding a variety of ways to foster skillful play and we’ll also be making adjustments.

We will strive to improve the game so that users can continue to love FFXI and make lasting memories.

Thank you and best regards.

P.S.
From tomorrow, I need to focus on posts related to version updates.
I have been looking over all of the other hot topics and spoken with the rest of the development team members so that we can respond; however, I would like to make the priority threads related to the version update for now. Thanks for your understanding.

[Alhanelem]

This sounds like a really fancy way of saying "NERFS INCOMING!"



In all seriousness, there are only a handful of fights and content types in this game where brute force won't get you through it, or isn't the best way to get you through it. I think voidwatch did a decent job of making skill level a bit more important again, with its complex system for weakening the enemy and improving rewards. The real challenge in improving this though, is to make enemies more challenging without pigeonholing players in to just 3-5 jobs. This needs to be addessed both by adjusting jobs and also by making certain enemies more vulnerable to specific jobs. For instance, we have the elemental circle. What if there was a 'job circle" where enemies of a particular job were specifically weak to players of another job? (In retrospect, this would have to be disabled for ballista for balance, but I think it's a good idea at least as far as pve is concerned)

[SpankWustler]

Thanks to the Producer Bro for writing this in the first place, and thanks to the Community Bros for posting it here. It's cool to have this kind of information.

I wonder how to extrapolate anything concrete from this, though. One way I could interpret it is that all end-game content being similar to Legion, with a its huge focus on Stun, would be way too myopic for Matsui's taste. Another interpretation is that we can expect lots of stuff to have a degree of Stun resistance that will put the Paramount Mantis to shame.

Another interpretation, maybe the most accurate, is that the statement is purposefully vague and that players should just expect varied content in the future. But, the statement about Stun is pretty specific for a mission statement about battles in general.

So, I'm curious about something. Did Matsui have anything in particular in mind with the statement of "I feel that the varieties of fostering skillful play are becoming too skewed" or is the whole post meant to be a very broad statement about the virtues of variety?

[Alhanelem]

Shocksquall rotations.

wait, people actually use this? let me in on the fun!

[Helel]

Ranger

Recycle

Adjustments

Please.

[Trumpy]

wow Rosina hasnt even posted since August but her name is still being dropped lol.

[SpankWustler]

wow Rosina hasnt even posted since August but her name is still being dropped lol.

Sadly, "a well-timed hundred fists" was the first thing that came to mind when I thought of "FFXI skills that don't exist". Sadder yet, I went with it. Saddest of all, I took 15 seconds to check that post for grammatical errors and that wasn't enough time to feel ashamed enough to just delete it.

Edit: Or, the post I was replying to can be deleted and I can go back and delete it, after all!

[Umichi]

This sounds like a really fancy way of saying "NERFS INCOMING!"



In all seriousness, there are only a handful of fights and content types in this game where brute force won't get you through it, or isn't the best way to get you through it. I think voidwatch did a decent job of making skill level a bit more important again, with its complex system for weakening the enemy and improving rewards. The real challenge in improving this though, is to make enemies more challenging without pigeonholing players in to just 3-5 jobs. This needs to be addessed both by adjusting jobs and also by making certain enemies more vulnerable to specific jobs. For instance, we have the elemental circle. What if there was a 'job circle" where enemies of a particular job were specifically weak to players of another job? (In retrospect, this would have to be disabled for ballista for balance, but I think it's a good idea at least as far as pve is concerned)

i don't think you understand what he's trying to say.... the game balancing isnt the issue he wants to adress. it's how we used to play and how we play now that he sees as the problem.

[Mirage]

I think he just wants the gameplay to become less one-dimensional. Make it so that it is more beneficial to utilize a bigger portion of the abilities available to us on each job than we currently do. It might even mean a buff to some of the forgotten abilities in the game.

I am hoping it means we'll get more fights where brute force max dps Victory Furysolution spam with super buffs isn't the way to win everything.

[Rekin]

I think he just wants the gameplay to become less one-dimensional. Make it so that it is more beneficial to utilize a bigger portion of the abilities available to us on each job than we currently do. It might even mean a buff to some of the forgotten abilities in the game.

I am hoping it means we'll get more fights where brute force max dps Victory Furysolution spam with super buffs isn't the way to win everything.

Give the mob moves that aren't OMGWTF, fix enmity, give it massive -PDT, fix enmity, remove 30min timers on fights, fix enmity, make enfeebles worth something, fix enmity, increase damage bonus from SCs and MBs, and finally fix enmity. I think I covered most of the important issues that causes the current trend.