Translations (JP to English)

[Soukyuu]

[ Gamewatch Interview | 121228 | Source ]

-- What were your impressions from the live broadcast?

Like I said in the broadcast, I was pretty nervous. The reason is not the broadcast being live, I've had experience with this with the producer letter live. The reason was that this broadcast was the first that wasn't aimed solely at FFXIV players, so there were also people not interested in ffxiv watching, so I was rather worried about the results. Luckily the viewers seemed to be excited so in the end it was fun. However, in case the servers crashed, there were bound to be some people saying "this is definitely going to fail". It's like when you host an event in DQ to defeat the Demon Lord and the servers crash in the middle of the battle, people would definitely label it as a failure. So it was pretty bad when it really happened.

-- How was it to be appearing together with Hiroyuki-san?

It was a lot of fun. I was tempted to invite him to a drink after this. I've been keeping an eye on 2ch ever since I got into the gaming industry, but it's the first time I spoke with him directly. I was wondering how the reactions from the live broadcast would be and looking forward to it.

-- Seeing the touch interface was interesting. Will it also be usable in battle or for chatting?

For chatting, a keyboard is definitely necessary. For a full tablet interface a software keyboard will be needed, so there are a lot of things to be done before the tablet UI can be completed. However, the touch interface of win8 is surprisingly easy to implement. Also, since we wrote our engine to be flexible, integrating touch was easy to do as well. I didn't know about it until last night when I came by our devbooth and saw it and was like "Ah, that nice". They said "we wanted to increase the precision before showing it..." but I replied with "Well, I'll be taking this to the nico broadcast tomorrow." *laugh*

-- Since when have you been thinking about a touch interface?

Autumn of 2011. Or rather, since E3. It was one of the various co-operations we had not only with Microsoft but also a lot of other companies. [I just can't seem to get this part over correctly D:] There are a lot of negotiations going on with regards to the launch of ARR. For a successful launch, simply releasing the package is not enough, I think we also have to do a lot of negotiations and generate enough buzz. Since there has been only little PR so far, we are going to increase it to reach new customers.

-- Do you plan to implement the touch UI at launch?

No, it won't be there at launch. The way it is now is just for us to evaluate the tech and to work with several manufacturers. Basically, what I'm thinking about is to be able to play FFXIV at home on your hi-spec PC, on a notebook before a business trip and on a tablet while travelling.

-- You said there is going to be a "very high" preset, but will there also be a "very low" one?

The "unknown ultrabook" *laughs* I showed the touch UI on actually has lower specs than the worst machine with core2duo. I think that the fact it was still able to run the game is quite satisfactory. Setting the minimum specs below that wouldn't make any sense.

-- Any chance the specs will change in the future?

Since the main goal for Alpha was to stress-test the servers, we first selected people with powerful PCs, slowly inviting people with weaker hardware to find some sort of balance. We will be continuing with this approach in the future, welcoming a lot of feedback from low-spec players, so a change in minimal specs is highly possible. Same can be said for the high-end specs: the very-high preset is still being tuned, so the requirements will rise. There won't be any major changes in specs overall however, so if you go by the alpha specs, you should have comparable performance later on. Lowest spec is definitely core2duo and 8800GT.

-- You announced the abolishment of anima, but how will this affect the airships/ferries/mount systems?

The reason for this will be told in the main story, so basically, you will be able to use ferries and airships when you want to travel. Teleport will serve as a "fast travelling" method. For example, if you arrive in Gridania and your friends tell you "there is a FATE in Ul'dah!" and you realize you have no anima left, that'd be quite disheartening. For that reason, I think it's fine to be able to leap around the world freely.

As for ferries and airships, I'm thinking of attaching them to some content. For example an event where the airship gets attacked by sky pirates, something like that should be interesting I think. For the ferry, something like a kraken or another sea monster attacking could be implemented. That way, there should be some reason to use a ferry or an airship. What's left are mounts, which should have some use as well. I think mounts can be counted as a way to add atmosphere to the world and as a means to explore it once, and beign able to switch to fast travel after that. As a next step, I'm thinking of incorporating ferries and airships into battle content.

-- What about making monsters arrive in town by ferry/airship?

That's a possibility, if we prepare the zone accordingly. FFXIV uses navigation meshes for path-finding, and there has to be one for each zone where you want to let the monsters fight.

-- What will the scope of beta be like?

I'm thinking of having nearly everyone in beta after the final stage of phase 3. Not just "tens of thousands", but "tens of ten thousands globally". However, with datacenters being spread across timezones, the total numbers will be spread out, as well.

-- What are the plans for CBT and OBT ending, respectively?

There will be periods after the phases to allow for corrections. This is in case we will receive more feedback than expected, so think of it as a buffer to be able to proceed with the next stage on time. If you look at the roadmap we released on December 27th, you might get the impression of "this will sure take a while". However, from our perspective we are still at the starting point. Our goal is not to merely satisfy current players, but also new users. This is why our testing should be on a level that people comparing [FFXIV] to other MMOs won't be a problem. So, once we have that, phase 4 will be the start of OBT.

-- Please tell us more about the goals set by the beta roadmap released on December 27th

Once we commence the beta, our goal will be to get in touch with as many people as possible. Starting with phase 3, free companies will be introduced, so that communities can be created. We won't rush the release of course, but I think even people wishing for that will be able to get a good impression of the game at that stage. The alpha that ended on the 27th already had a scale way beyond a normal alpha, so there is no way we can keep a traditional scale of an anticipated MMO this time either.

For example, it will be possible to use the character data from FFXIV 1.x, basically playing the beta as a lv50 character. This will lead to a certain separation of perspectives between players, so I hope everyone can have fun while playing together and give us a lot of direct feedback again.

Yesterday, an alpha player asked me "what do you think about the danger of the community falling apart because of the long waiting period?" via /tell. I replied with "It's painfully clear to me". However, just as I've been telling the media, our goal is to be able to satisfy our customers. If we have to put up with a period where people will be losing interest, then so be it. Because I believe that if something ends up being genuinely interesting, people will definitely come back. We are tempted to release faster ourselves, because we don't want to lose after all. We want to make a game that is able to win, or at least one that can fight for itself.

-- You did not announce the beta schedule in the live broadcast, what are the plans?

I can't tell you more than you can get from reading the beta roadmap *laughs*. Mid-february. The roadmap also describes all the details of each phase. If you are interested in what each phase will be focusing on, please take a look at the roadmap.

-- How many worlds will there be in beta?

In phase 1 there will be 5-10 worlds, with more worlds being added with each following phase. We are going to increase the limits depending on the amount of people wanting to play. Looking at official release, since we are using the same server infrastructure as DQX, we will be monitoring our respective user count and adjust the server numbers accordingly. Since we're the same company, there shouldn't be any problems with managing this. However, it's different for the datacenters overseas since they are hosted by outside companies. We will do our best to make sure there will be no problems with that either, though.

-- In the large-scale monster killing event [shown in the nico broadcast], the monsters were appearing and disappearing, will this be fixed in the beta test?

This is because in the alpha version, there is no priority for a model to be displayed. When we were testing the server load, there were no problems with, say, 100 models being displayed. However, with the niconico event, there were about 1000 players concentrated in one spot and because monster models are not prioritized, this is how it ended up. Party members will have highest priority, followed by monsters on the hatelist as well as linked monsters, with other free company members being last on the priority list. This will be implemented in beta.

For beta and onward, in case the model display limit is reached, player models will be removed from the display list in favor of monster models. At the moment, the display limit is set to 100 models, but there is a concern of memory usage. It should not be a problem for high-spec PCs though, so even limitless should not be a problem. We thought of increasing it to 300 or even 500 as long as the load doesn't become too heavy. It is still fixed at 100 for now, but removing it won't be a problem.

[Reinheart]

Translating. Unless Rein already is :P

(will edit here)

Good morning, if you're doing you can finish it
I was gonna do it now but checked the forums before I started thinking you may be onto it already, and I was right

EDIT: I'll just do it for practice/fun, got nothing better to do... company made me take my vacation days I never used up before I lose them at end of the year. I'll compare them to yours just to see, I know your English is much better so would be good for me to compare and learn.

[Starlord]

Good morning, if you're doing you can finish it
I was gonna do it now but checked the forums before I started thinking you may be onto it already, and I was right

You can proofread his post!

[Soukyuu]

Done :P
First attempt at a full text translation... sure takes a while.

Good morning, if you're doing you can finish it
I was gonna do it now but checked the forums before I started thinking you may be onto it already, and I was right

EDIT: I'll just do it for practice/fun, got nothing better to do... company made me take my vacation days I never used up before I lose them at end of the year. I'll compare them to yours just to see, I know your English is much better so would be good for me to compare and learn.

Haha I don't know about my English being better, but your Japanese surely is better than mine so feel free to correct my translation if you find any mistakes.

[vax]

Nice, Thanks Soukyuu <3

[Reinheart]

Source: http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs...28_580546.html

** Note: Translation done for the interview portion only, first section of article basically talks about the nico nama live broadcast that was already talked about on the forums.

** This is same stuff Soukyuu translated above, just my version... as I'm bored and got nothing better to do... so ignore it if you don't want to read the same thing over.

----------------------------------------------

Please tell us your impression being on Nico-nico Live Broadcast

Y: It’s pretty simple. I was tensed up a bit since it was a live broadcast. I have been doing live broadcasting such as Producer Letter Live with FFXIV players as an audience, so even if there were happenings during the broadcast it was alright as it gave that feeling that it’s all part of it being live. However, the live broadcast this time was somewhat more official as there were audience other than the regular FFXIV players. People who had no interest in FFXIV were also watching. So, there were worries but luckily the broadcast got pretty exciting and was very fun. But, when the server went down, I was worried thinking “this must be down...” (laugh). In the past during the “Dragon Quest Battle Road” event, right when the event was going it froze at the Evil Lord. Just like then, it was very hard at that moment feeling “Yep, this must be down” (laugh).


How was it being together with Mr. Hiroyuki?

Y: It was really fun, to a point I wanted to invite him to go drinking together (laugh). Since I have been participating in the game development I have been observing 2 channel (JP forums that talks about variety of things.), but this was the first time I talked to him directly. I was really excited thinking “What kind of reaction would I get from the live event?” Last time, during the Windows 8 show, he gave precise comments regarding FFXIV and I was impressed. Already at that time I was looking forward to this event, as I thought we may be able to hear some interesting remarks.


The touch panel was interesting. Can this be used not only for basic controls but for battles and chats?

Y: For chatting you will definitely need a keyboard. If we wanted to make this playable with tablet only device we need to add on a software keyboard. Therefor, to make this as a product it will require a lot more work. However, the touch interface on Windows 8 is very superior. The stuff we showed this time around can be implemented easily. We have developed the rendering engine to be flexible so we were able to get it working without going through a full tune up. I did not realize it was working that much until late last night. I was wondering around the development booth and when I saw it, I said to myself “hey, this will work”, then the staff said “I was going to show it to you once the precision was improved some more” so I just replied “Tomorrow, I’m going to take this to Nico nama, that’s alright, right?” (laugh).


When were you thinking about making it work with touch panel?

Y: It was around fall last year (2011), right around post E3. This is one of the joint ideas, not only with Microsoft but with other major makers. The announcement will be later but we are proceeding with different types of talks towards ARR FFXIV launch. I think it would be better to create some buzz combining different types of stuff instead of just releasing the package. Up until now the PR were bit lame, so from now till sale, we would like to make something big for new customers.


Is it OK to think that we can play FFXIV on a touch panel at the timing of official start?

Y: You won’t be able to play at the timing of official service start. But through PR promotions it’s highly possible to talk with different makers to use only the touch panel controls to go through character make at store fronts. At current stage, it is not to a point where you can play the full game through with just touch panel. But, once the specs follow through we are thinking of making it support full touch panel. With this you can have high spec PC at home, Notebook PC when you’re at another location, and tablet while traveling. We would like to make something like this possible in the end.


For graphic options, the existence of option ‘very high’ settings is now confirmed but will there be ‘very low’ settings as well?

Y: The one that was shown earlier on the “certain Ultrabook” (laugh) was lower than Core2Duo (minimum required specs). I think to be able to see it working with this much quality is pretty amazing.


(Mr. Yoshida shows the touch panel demo with the Notebook PC he calls certain Ultrabook.)

Y: The graphic option here is set to high. I think it’s useless to support something lower so I don’t have any idea for making very low.


Will there be possibility of the minimum required spec for PC version changing at later time?

Y: For the alpha test, the main purpose was to test the server load so at first we selected those with high spec PC, then increased gradually checking the stability. We will continue to do the QA’s on low spec environment so there is a possibility the PC spec will change. For the very high option we are still making adjustments and it looks like it can go much higher. Either way, there won’t be major changes, the spec from alpha test will be the standard for sure and for the lowest it will be Core2Duo. We have confirmed it runs on lower specs but if we look at the bottom there are no limits, that’s why we just set it there. It will run on 8800GT and should be able to run with onBoard cards as well.


Announcement was made for abolishment of Anima. What will happen to those boats and airships which are already existing?

Y: In the main story, we put in where you have to travel out to the world. In that you will ride the boats or airships. Other than that you can use teleport or fast travel to travel. For example, if you’re currently in Gridania and if your friend in Ul’dah tell you “FATE (Full Active Time Event) is going on now. Come here hurry!” it’s sad if you had to say “I don’t have any Anima!” so I think it’s alright to fly around the world to play.

Also, I would like to add contents which gives meanings to riding the boats or airships. I think it’s alright to have an event where air pirates invade requiring you to fight back. For boats, a content where Kraken attacks, also there are other sea monsters. When these type of contents are placed I believe there will be a meaning for boats and airships. Rides should be part of entertainment. Instead of making it where just because you tried it once there is no need to use again, but to add a feeling to travel the world there are boats and airships. Once you use them you can use fast travel next time around. I believe at later timing battle contents will be incorporated with boats and airships.


Is it possible to make monsters appear in boats and airships aside from in-town?

Y: It is possible. As long as we prepare the zone. In FFXIV we took out the idea of path and put in a technology where it uses a navigation mesh to produce traveling route, so if we wanted to make a fights it is possible to do so anywhere.


What is your scope for beta test.

Y: From final stages of phase 3, close to everyone. I am guessing not few ten thousand, but few hundred thousand when thinking globally. This time, the data centers are separated by regions so depending on the time zone it could be where that one region alone having few hundred thousand players. Overall it will be a large amount of people.


What will happen in between CBT and OBT?

Y: Between CBT and OBT we are planning to add a time for corrections. Even if we receive unexpected feedback, we have placed a buffer enough to address those. When you look at the roadmap released on 12/27 0 AM, there will be people thinking it will take some more time until release. We still think that we are at the beginning point. Not only to fulfill the existing FFXIV players, we want those new players to be able to compare with other MMO’s and test it thoroughly. Then after, we are thinking of making phase 4 an open beta.


What was your goal for announcing the beta test road map at 12/27 0 AM?

Y: Once the beta starts, many players will try it out. From phase 3 you can start making communities through Free Companies. It is better to release early for sure, but I believe this way you can feel more completed as the game is being worked on. Alpha test will finish on the 27th. I believe there wasn’t any other alpha tests out there at this scale. Also for the beta test we have in mind will be a beta test you don’t see in other MMORPG’s.

For Example, from mid point you will be able to use your previous FFXIV character and try out the beta at level 50 (laugh). So, this will feel unlike other beta test. I would like for the players to play and enjoy while giving strong feedbacks, and to be able to welcome the ARR launch together.

Yesterday, one of the players from alpha test sent me a Tell asking “if there is some gap in time where players cannot play the game causing the community to leave, what do you think about that?” I responded “I really understand that”. However as I mentioned to other medias already, we are planning to gather a lot more customers than most is expecting so I believe we can repay their favor. On top of that I believe that, if it’s fun, they will come back. We also feel tempted to release early but we don’t want to lose, we want to make this a winning game, at least a game where we can fight.


During the live broadcast you didn’t announce the beta test schedule but what’s the plan like?

Y: I can only say to check out the road map (laugh). It’s mid February. As for the roadmap we explained each phases in detail. What kind of stuff we will be doing during each phase, what we are concentrating on. Please take a look at it.


For beta test, how many worlds are there?

Y: For phase 1 we are thinking around 5-10 worlds. As phases progress to increase the amount, we haven’t set a limit. As long as there are players willing to play we will continue to increase. We will make the decision looking at the amount of player increase during beta test. At the timing of official service start we will once again look into the amount of subscription and make additional adjustments. The server infrastructure can be shared with Dragon Quest X, so we will look at the amount of users in each and apply the infrastructure. In one company we have many large MMO’s running at simultaneously so it is best to utilize this infrastructure. However for the overseas data centers, those will be supplied overseas so we will make sure on those as well.


During the large scale battle event today, the enemy didn’t show up or disappeared. What will happen during beta test for this?

Y: For alpha test version, the priority option for rendering was not added in. It was set where it displays 100 bodies live. For alpha tests goal to test the server load this wasn’t a problem but during the Nico-nama live broadcasting, 1,000 players showed up at Camp Tranquil and it easily went over 100 bodies. Without the display priority option it ends up that way. For the processing algorithm, it’s separated into specific details where party members are top priority, then the monsters the player has on his/her hate list, then the linked monster from that monster, then finally the members of free companies. The priority option specifics are already there so those will be implemented in beta test.

Post beta test, if the display limit is reached for your PC Spec, instead of the monster, it is set so the number of players displayed will decrease. Right now we have a limit set to display total of 100, this was done thinking about the memory load. For high spec PC it shouldn’t be a problem to set the display amount to unlimited. For the process load to be heavy but not getting laggy was due to this limit being set at 100. If you increase this amount to 300 or 500, although gradually it will be heavy. Right now we have the 100 limit placed but I don’t think it’s a problem to take away this limit.

[Kirito]

Why don't you guys consider the translator job always posted on the forum...

[Reinheart]

Why don't you guys consider the translator job always posted on the forum...

If you check that link out for the job position, it's localization, which is totally different from regular translation.
You will need to have skills to write literature, add flavor, all the good stuff to make it interesting. Direct translations for video game doesn't turn out well as different culture has different ways of seeing things, like Japanese jokes won't fly in the US or other countries. So these people need to change them around to fit their region.... I for one don't have that skill, wish I did.

Also secondly, you have to live in Japan for that position. I have a family of my own now with wife and two kids. I don't want my kids to go through what I did, where I was born in Japan, moving over 8-10 times, losing new friends I make every time, then suddenly moving to US (Hawaii) when my English skills wasn't even well enough to speak to others. I struggled enough in Japan for looking like American (back then there were still people running around shoving race cards in Japan, still have them but much much less than when I grew up). I struggled when I moved to Hawaii as I couldn't speak English fully... I could speak, but it was straight out of text book type of English which wasn't good when talking to kids that age... I didn't know any swear words, ended up being called one and not knowing until I got home and asked my parents what it meant. I don't want my kids to grow up the same way, I want them to at least grow up till 18 years old in one location, learn one language fully. Then after let them decide what they want to do with their lives.

Anyways that's my reason for why I'm not taking that LOC Team position
Any other translation positions which is available here locally, I'm up for it. I tried couple with SE already, still trying LOL.

[Kirito]

If you check that link out for the job position, it's localization, which is totally different from regular translation.
You will need to have skills to write literature, add flavor, all the good stuff to make it interesting. Direct translations for video game doesn't turn out well as different culture has different ways of seeing things, like Japanese jokes won't fly in the US or other countries. So these people need to change them around to fit their region.... I for one don't have that skill, wish I did.

Also secondly, you have to live in Japan for that position. I have a family of my own now with wife and two kids. I don't want my kids to go through what I did, where I was born in Japan, moving over 8-10 times, losing new friends I make every time, then suddenly moving to US (Hawaii) when my English skills wasn't even well enough to speak to others. I struggled enough in Japan for looking like American (back then there were still people running around shoving race cards in Japan, still have them but much much less than when I grew up). I struggled when I moved to Hawaii as I couldn't speak English fully... I could speak, but it was straight out of text book type of English which wasn't good when talking to kids that age... I didn't know any swear words, ended up being called one and not knowing until I got home and asked my parents what it meant. I don't want my kids to grow up the same way, I want them to at least grow up till 18 years old in one location, learn one language fully. Then after let them decide what they want to do with their lives.

Anyways that's my reason for why I'm not taking that LOC Team position
Any other translation positions which is available here locally, I'm up for it. I tried couple with SE already, still trying LOL.

Oh I only briefly browsed that offer, since I'm not interested in translation (I'm studying to be an engineer), so I didn't noticed that the living requirement was to be in japan...

[Mevan]

Reinheart, are the links on the first page no longer being updated? Is there a way for me to easily see if new things have been posted?