Greetings,

To coincide with the April 2016 version update, Producer Akihiko Matsui held another "Freshly Picked Vana'diel" to go over some of the new content and discuss other topics pertinent to adventuring. The following is a digest of what was discussed.

Quote Originally Posted by Akihiko_Matsui View Post

Hello. Matsui here.
Thanks for tuning into Freshly Picked Vana’diel 25, which focused around delivering various information about the April version update

For those who were unable to watch the broadcast, I’ve compiled a digest of what was discussed if you would like to catch up.



Table of Contents:

  • Announcement regarding the change of the director
    (1:36～)
    As of April 1, Ito will be leaving the project, and Fujito will be taking over the role of director. We’ll continue developing the world of Vana’diel with this new team structure.
  • Freshly picked
    (7:13～)
    This segment focused on specific aspects of the April version update that I felt should be communicated, so with that said, I would like to talk about Ambuscade and mounts.
    • Battle content: Ambuscade
      (8:52～)
      I challenged Ambuscade along with director Fujito, and I had intended to go about doing in the following way.
      • Enter into Intense Ambuscade’s normal mode based on the survey held.
      • Show off a super close loss at the end of a difficult battle in order to rouse the adventuring spirit in our seasoned adventurers.
      • Then let everyone know to be at ease, because if you select Ambuscade’s normal mode (the dragon battle), you’ll be able to win.
      • Select Ambuscade’s normal mode, and win gloriously.
      • And finally, show a wonderful performance in battle at a difficulty that matched my preference.
      BUT… It turns out I forgot to turn off the invincibility debug setting, and I also didn’t have the Ambuscade Primer Volume Two key item. A lot of things didn’t go as planned, so I apologize to everyone who watched in real-time. I would have beaten the dragon too…
    • Enhancement examples of job-specific capes
      (26:39～)
      The video showed of an enhancement example of a job-specific cape prepared by Shirai from the marketing team. By using Abdhaljs Thread/Abdhaljs Dust/Abdhaljs Sap, it’s possible to make enhancements in stages. Ultimately, these can become the highest rank of equipment for the back equipment slot. Definitely give Ambuscade a try to obtain this equipment.
    • Mounts
      (32:21～)
      This is a brand-new transportation system that allows you to ride through fields while mounted on monsters. As long as you meet the requirements, you’ll be able to ride them anytime by selecting them from the main menu. We’re planning to expand the areas in which mounts can be ridden gradually in a future version update.
    • Misc.
      (35:54～)
      We also implemented the ability to link emotes with alter egos, a command to mute the background music and sound effects, Mog Wardrobe 2, and two tiers of item display. The two-tiered item display will prioritize loading items in your inventory and wardrobe, while the rest of the items in storage will be loaded afterwards. With this change, equipping armor and weapons as well as using items can be performed much quicker than before right after you change areas.
    • The secret memos of Fortuna Shirai
      (39:07～)
      This segment focused on promotional announcements, so I guess the secret memos aren’t so secret anymore.

      The Egg Hunt seasonal event has just come to a conclusion as of today, but we are in the midst of two different campaigns, so please be sure to take advantage of the bonuses.
      →The Spring Alter Ego Extravaganza
      →April 2016 Login Campaign　*The campaign period has changed to Monday, April 11 at 8:00 a.m. (PDT).
      Also, we setup a special page for shifting to the Windows version of FFXI, so if you are planning to make the move from PS2 and Xbox 360, please be sure to read it over.
  • Directly Picked Vana’diel & What If Vana’diel…
    (43:37～)
    In this segment, we utilized the survey feature of Nico Nico Live Broadcasting to directly explain certain tidbits of knowledge that may be common knowledge to some, yet a mystery to others. We also explored aspects of Vana’diel that could have been!
    (45:35～)
    Starting off with “What If Vana’diel…” first, there was a time that Siren was planned to be an avatar in Adoulin.

    When the main scenario of Seekers of Adoulin was approaching the final chapter, we were closely working on the plot of Rhapsodies of Vana’diel at the same time, and from a story progression standpoint we just couldn’t add Siren to Adoulin.

    After implementing Adoulin we did manage to add Cait Sith and Atomos as avatars, but this is not to say that it was a replacement.

    (47:01～)
    Continuing on with the questions asked during Directly Picked Vana’diel.
    Question 1: “What person is connected with Siren?”
    Viewers answered with the following:
    1. Sih Renaye: 44.9%
    2. Rala Renaye: 18.9%
    3. Ikhi Askamot: 16.9%
    4. Arciela V Adoulin: 19.2%
    The answer is “Sih Renaye.” Actually, this portion of the story was touched on previously a bit on the official site in the lore spotlight, Geomancers: Wielders of Nature’s Force.

    (54:53～)
    Question 2: “How old was Arciela when her father, Ghalcimus, disappeared?”
    Viewers answered with the following:
    1. 10: 29.6%
    2. 11: 39.1%
    3. 12: 23.7%
    4. 13: 7.6%
    The answer is “13.” Arciela’s father, Ghalcimus, mysterious disappeared; however, he was actually carried off into the past, and during the Crystal War he earned fame under the name of Duskraven.

    In the 879th year of the Crystal Era, Ghalcimus gathered knights with superior fighting skills from the Order of Adoulin, and set off on a campaign to explore the wilderness. After getting caught up in an unexplainable event, he was whisked away to a time in the past. He then took on the name Duskraven and played a role in the Crystal War as a mercenary. Legend has it that the Dusk Raiders he led were in fact the knights of the Order of Adoulin.

    During the development of Wings of the Goddess, one of the plans we had for campaign NPCs were the twelve knights known as the Zodiac Soldiers. Of these, only Duskraven was implemented while the rest were cut, but “twelve” was a keyword that was used with the twelve orders of Adoulin.
  • Future plans
    • Crystal storage NPC and food effect duration information
      (1:01:48～)
      We’re planning to implement an NPC that will allow you to store crystals, as well as addition help text for food item effect duration. To start off, we will first be addressing popular foods such as sushi and items sold by the NPC “Curio Vendor Moogle.”
    • Heading into the 14th anniversary of FFXI
      (1:04:22～)
      While I can’t tell you all of the details just yet, we will be doing something special for the anniversary that is approaching. Naturally, we will be holding another Mog Bonanza as well.
    • Future mounts
      (1:05:23～)
      The next mount to be implemented was decided via survey on Nico Nico, and between a bomb mount and a crawler mount, the bomb mount won the popular vote.
    The next version update is schedule to be implemented in May. I’ll see you again around then!