Greetings,

To coincide with the September 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, everyone!
Matsui here. Thanks for tuning into Freshly Picked Vana’diel 28.

For this month’s broadcast we streamed the day prior to the version update and focused on giving insight into the content that would be implemented.

If you missed the stream or just want to check out the information once again, I’ve compiled a digest of all the content.



Table of Contents:

  • Version Update Overview
    (6:25～)

    This segment of the show revolved around information about the larger parts of the September version update. We explained about this month’s Ambuscade challenges as well as the newly added Master Trial.

    • Ambuscade
      (7:08～)
      Director Yoji Fujito took on the new Ambuscade challenges, so if you’d like to see the result of that please take a look at the video.

      This month’s Regular Ambuscade challenge is against a single gnole. While gnoles typically have varying power depending on the moon phase, we removed this trait for Ambuscade so it can be challenged with ease.

      When challenging this with only a few people, it’s a good idea to use alter egos of non-human character to guard against the gnole’s special trait “human killer.”

      (15:49～)
      Fujito also tried his hand at this month’s Intense Ambuscade challenge, which is against a group of Mamool Jas. The strategic point of this challenge is removing the aura that surrounds each monster.

      We introduced the new AAGK alter ego, but Fujito fell in battle instantly, so we weren’t able to show him off in full. Get your hands on this alter ego and try out his power for yourselves.

      (22:22～)
      The rewards for this month are tickets which you can exchange for previously available Ambuscade armor. There are also tickets for the HQ versions of the armor. If you missed out on any piece of equipment from prior months, please put these tickets to use!

    • Master Trials
      (25:33～)
      We introduced the new master trial, “Sealed Fate.”

      (26:43～)
      This battle is against Omega and Ultima. It’s at a difficulty where not just anyone can beat it, so we hope you can win after repeating through trial and error.

      (28:12～)
      The reward this time around is a pair of hand-to-hand weapons. As usual, it is a piece of cosmetic gear for lock style, and can be used by all jobs.

    • Mounts
      (31:01～)
      At long last we implemented Fenrir as a mount. To obtain it, you need to complete the quest “The Moonlit Path.”

      We’re planning on expanding the areas in which mounts can be ridden as we move forward, and in the next version update it will be possible to ride mounts in Adoulin areas.

    • Other Adjustments
      (41:17～)
      In addition to the above content, we also made various other adjustments and went over them on the stream.
      • Synthesis adjustments
      • Porter moogle confirmation system
      • Addition of physical damage types to the auto-translate dictionary
      • Expanded monster AoE ability adjustment to all areas
      • Addition of “Active Effects” added to the key item menu

  • Directly Picked Vana’diel
    (44:41～)
    As usual, during this segment we used a survey tool to interact directly with viewers.

    Question #1:
    “How many Hallmarks do you aim to get each month?”

    Viewers answered with the following:
    1. 1,050+: 17.1%
    2. 8,500+: 6.8%
    3. 14,500+: 41.2%
    4. 20,000+: 27.0%
    5. 50,000+: 7.9%

    Based on the results of this poll, it seems that most aim to get a full set of the HQ armor each time.
    1,050 is the amount needed to get a full set of NQ armor, and 8,500 is what is needed to get up through the HQ legs.

    While the points required to fully enhance a cape are quite high, getting a full party together and beating the very difficult mode will yield a good amount of points, so definitely give this a try if you have yet to do it.

    Speaking of Hallmarks, we tallied up the total amount of Hallmarks earned by all players during the month of August…

    355,247,725
    *Tally based on the period from August 3, 2016 to August 31, 2016

    We also looked at the total number of Hallmarks earned to date (9/4), and it is 4 times the above number!

    (50:05～)
    Question #2:
    “How do you primarily earn your points?”

    Results:
    1. Regular Ambuscade: 56.8%
    2. Intense Ambuscade: 33.0%
    3. Equally between the two: 10.2%

    (51:56～)
    Question #3:
    “How do you normally challenge Ambuscade?”
    1. Solo: 40.6%
    2. Party: 59.4%

    The results of these polls are very useful for the development team, so thank you to all who participate each time! The questions this time around were quite simple, but we’d like to start asking some deeper questions!

  • Fujito’s /shout
    (56:15～)
    This is a new segment with Director Yoji Fujito that is primarily about campaigns and future announcements.

    (56:51～)
    →September Login Campaign / Beat the Heat Campaign
    The September Login Campaign starts a bit later than usual. We’ll be adding time to get points to compensate.

    We’re also holding various in-game campaigns this month as well.
    Based on everyone’s feedback, we’ll look into the campaigns for October and November.
    (1:03:49～)
    →Future version update
    We’re currently in the midst of planning new battle content that is separate from Ambuscade and Master Trials. Hang in there a bit and we’ll be able to show it off soon.

The next Freshly Picked Vana’diel will take place in two months, and since it will fall in November, the month of XI, we will be delivering even more information than usual!

I’ll see you all then!