Letter from the Producer, XVII (09/01/2011)

Hello everyone! Yoshi-P here with another post for all you FFXIV-ers. Hot one day, cold the next. The weather’s been getting kinda funky on the cusp of the seasons here. Hope you’re all managing to stay in good health while enjoying your time in Eorzea.

We’re firing on all cylinders heading into the next patch, and there’s been some late nights and weekends spent here at the office. The encouragement we’ve been receiving on the forums has us doing everything we can to get things done.

Lemme start things off with a screenshot of one of the new airships taking to the skies come 1.19.

<center><img src="http://static.finalfantasyxiv.com/topics/images/03/fe/1139_0.jpg">
Looks like that one’s about to whisk some players off into the Gridanian twilight. Nice.</center>
Sorry for the long wait, but they’re finally coming to Eorzea in 1.19, together with chocobo mounts, to help make traveling around the realm more enjoyable. Ride a “horsebird” to get wherever you need to go by land, or book passage on an airship to fly the quickest routes between Ul’dah, Gridania, and Limsa. Airship voyages themselves will take only mere seconds, though there will be sweet little cutscenes accompanying departures and arrivals.


Aaand now on to the update list. Changes coming in 1.19 have been detailed on the Lodestone in some Topics and forum posts, so as I mentioned last letter, this is just a list of changes slated for 1.20 and beyond. There’s a couple healthy-sized ones among them, so I’m looking to update the list again with a more detailed breakdown of those sometime after 1.19 goes live. Without further ado...

Quests

<table width="600" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" align="center" class="ta01"><tr valign="middle" align="center" class="th01"><td width="12%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Patch</td><td width="25%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Planned</td><td width="32%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Current Tasks</td><td width="31%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Notes</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td01"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">Ongoing</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Quests revolving around the danger facing Eorzea</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Planning and release of quests</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td01"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">Ongoing</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Storylines and world quests</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Development and release of supplemental storylines and world quests</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td01"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.21</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Job-specific quests</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Creation of quests to unlock jobs and their abilities</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5" align="center">-</td></tr></table>

New Content

<table width="600" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" align="center" class="ta01"><tr valign="middle" align="center" class="th01"><td width="12%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Patch</td><td width="25%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Planned</td><td width="32%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Current Tasks</td><td width="31%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Notes</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center" rowspan="3">1.20</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" rowspan="3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Second primal battle</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Release of second primal battle quest</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">Release of second primal battle (continued from 1.19)</font></td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Release of cutscenes for second primal battle</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">Release of second primal battle (continued from 1.19)</font></td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Release of second primal battle</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">Release of second primal battle (continued from 1.19)</font></td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center" rowspan="2">1.21</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" rowspan="2">New instanced raids</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Third release of instanced raids</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Fourth release of instanced raids</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.20</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Achievements</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Setting and release of achievement system</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">Additional changes planned post 1.20</font></td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">Ongoing</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Caravan escort</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Release of high-level caravan escort duties</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.21</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Hamlet defense</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Release of hamlet defense duties</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr></table>

Guildleves

<table width="600" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" align="center" class="ta01"><tr valign="middle" align="center" class="th01"><td width="12%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Patch</td><td width="25%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Planned</td><td width="32%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Current Tasks</td><td width="31%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Notes</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td01"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">Ongoing</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Grand Company leves</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Addition of a new leve type issued by Grand Companies</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td01"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">Ongoing</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Balancing of guildleves</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Adjustments to leve difficulty and rewards</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5" align="center">-</td></tr></table>

Behest

<table width="600" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" align="center" class="ta01"><tr valign="middle" align="center" class="th01"><td width="12%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Patch</td><td width="25%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Planned</td><td width="32%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Current Tasks</td><td width="31%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Notes</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">Ongoing</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Balancing of behests</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Adjustments to behest difficulty and rewards</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr></table>

Company System

<table width="600" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" align="center" class="ta01"><tr valign="middle" align="center" class="th01"><td width="12%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Patch</td><td width="25%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Planned</td><td width="32%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Current Tasks</td><td width="31%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Notes</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td01"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">Ongoing</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Grand Companies</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Addition of Grand Company ranks and items</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5" align="center">-</td></tr></table>

Enemies and Non-instanced Areas

<table width="600" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" align="center" class="ta01"><tr valign="middle" align="center" class="th01"><td width="12%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Patch</td><td width="25%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Planned</td><td width="32%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Current Tasks</td><td width="31%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Notes</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">Ongoing</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Balancing of enemy attributes</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Adjustments to enemy parameters and reexamination of drops</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">Ongoing</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Adjustments to environment collision detection</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">Ongoing</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Balancing of enemy distribution</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Adjustments to distribution of enemies in several areas</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">Ongoing</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Design and release of additional NMs</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Continued release of NMs</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr></table>

Battle System

<table width="600" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" align="center" class="ta01"><tr valign="middle" align="center" class="th01"><td width="12%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Patch</td><td width="25%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Planned</td><td width="32%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Current Tasks</td><td width="31%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Notes</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td01"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.20</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Redistribution of crowd control actions</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Reexamination of distribution of crowd control actions across classes</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td01"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.20</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Battle system adjustments</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Tweaks to balancing done in 1.19</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td01"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.20</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Reworking of crowd control</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Implementation of rules for overlapping crowd control actions</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5" align="center">-</td></tr></table>

Armoury System

<table width="600" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" align="center" class="ta01"><tr valign="middle" align="center" class="th01"><td width="12%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Patch</td><td width="25%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Planned</td><td width="32%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Current Tasks</td><td width="31%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Notes</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.20</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Reworking of rules for setting actions</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Automatic setting of current class's actions<br>Addition of rules and conditions for setting actions of other classes</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.20</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Disciple of War & Magic actions</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Balancing and release of actions for all Disciple of War & Magic classes</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.21</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Groundwork for job system</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Completion of groundwork during 1.20, release in 1.21</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.21</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Job-specific gear and abilities</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Release of job-specific gear and abilities together with job system</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr></table>

Items, Synthesis, and Gathering

<table width="600" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" align="center" class="ta01"><tr valign="middle" align="center" class="th01"><td width="12%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Patch</td><td width="25%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Planned</td><td width="32%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Current Tasks</td><td width="31%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Notes</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td01"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">Ongoing</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Addition of new recipes</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Continued addition of recipes in line with new synthesis concepts</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td01"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.20</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Reworking of HQ crafting</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Reexamination of and adjustments to HQ crafting</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5" align="center">-</td></tr></table>

User Interface (UI)

<table width="600" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" align="center" class="ta01"><tr valign="middle" align="center" class="th01"><td width="12%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Patch</td><td width="25%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Planned</td><td width="32%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Current Tasks</td><td width="31%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Notes</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.20</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Achievement window</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">Design and implementation of a UI window for achievements</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.20</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Achievement system UI</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Implementation of graphic notification and fanfare for achievements</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.20</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Title Window</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Design and implementation of a UI window containing titles earned from achievements</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td02"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.19a</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Pop-up help</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Implementation of pop-up help windows</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3" align="center">-</td></tr></table>

Markets

<table width="600" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" align="center" class="ta01"><tr valign="middle" align="center" class="th01"><td width="12%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Patch</td><td width="25%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Planned</td><td width="32%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Current Tasks</td><td width="31%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Notes</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td01"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center">1.20-1.21</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Improved item search</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5">Planning of tasks aimed at improving search function</td><td bgcolor="#f6efe5" align="center">-</td></tr></table>

The Lodestone

<table width="600" border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="1" align="center" class="ta01"><tr valign="middle" align="center" class="th01"><td width="12%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Patch</td><td width="25%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Planned</td><td width="32%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Current Tasks</td><td width="31%" bgcolor="#f5cca2">Notes</td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td01"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center"> Post 1.20</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Community Page</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Release of a page containing Community information</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">Planning an easy-to-view page that combines Lodestone top page and My Page features.</font></td></tr><tr valign="middle" align="left" class="td01"><td bgcolor="#f8dfc5" align="center"> Post 1.20</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3">My Page</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">-NEW-</font><br>Revisions to History accompanying release of achievements</td><td bgcolor="#fffaf3"><font color="red">Character History will be redesigned to coincide with the release of in-game achievements.</font></td></tr></table>

* View the <a href="http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/threads/20998?p=292495#post292495">list of planned changes for 1.19</a>.

Well, time to get back to it. I’ll keep posting letters up until release to keep you updated on where we’re at, so keep an eye out!

Talk to you next letter, or on the forums. See you soon! :)