Letter from the Producer, XLIV (03/19/2013)

Hello again to all of you eagerly awaiting FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn. I've been up to my neck in work preparing for phase 2 of the beta test, but I thought it was high time I sent out the forty-fourth Letter from the Producer!

The beta test is well underway, and the team is working hard to implement more features while addressing your feedback. All of you gamepad lovers better grab your favorite controller, because we're making final adjustments to the system so you can test it out in phase 2!

With 100,000 testers already playing the game, we've had severe server congestion every time we start up the servers, and I apologize for the trouble it's caused. One good thing that's come from this, however, is that we've been able to spot problems that didn't show up in the alpha test, and we've managed to fix them as quickly as possible. These issues wouldn't have been resolved without your help.

However, there's still room for improvement in stabilizing the servers. We've implemented measures to alleviate FATE-related performance issues, made adjustments to the frontend server, and addressed server load issues in the starting zones. Bear with us for another weekend of phase 1 testing.

As I mentioned earlier, gamepad functionality will be ready for testing in phase 2, which is scheduled to begin in early April. Right before that begins, I'll be making an appearance in another LIVE letter, so don't miss it! We'll also be adding testers to put more pressure on the servers, so if you're not a beta tester yet, you'll have a chance to join in the next phase.

Keep in mind that testing the gamepad is the focus of the second phase, so the available content will be mostly the same. In my last letter I briefly mentioned guildhests, which are based on behests from Version 1.0. After reading your feedback, we decided to adjust this system so that you can attempt them at a lower level. Guildhests are scheduled for phase 3, and I hope you'll be ready when they're finished!

It wouldn't be fair to keep talking about things like this without showing you some amazing screenshots, so...

<img src="http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/topics/images/65/ef/9023_0.jpg">

<img src="http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/topics/images/65/ef/9023_1.jpg">

<img src="http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/topics/images/65/ef/9023_2.jpg">

Here's a look at guildhests. It's an easy way to party up with friends, and can be enjoyed before you tackle dungeons later on, so look forward to group play even in the early levels.

Well, it's time for me to get back to work. I think I hear my gamepad calling me.
See you next time, on the forums, or in the Beta Test! :)