Thread: Concerns about Content Patch 2.1

Originally Posted by Incredible

Its a lot more then 1 less QQ. Take a look at the hours played on sites like xfire. It only accounts for those using xfire, but with past games it has shown to be pretty accurate for estimating overall numbers. People are playing FF14 10-20% less hours every week. It is going down fast. People aren't going to wait 4-5 more months for more post coil content. CT will only serve to be a new higher item level CM/Prae. The excitement for it wont last as long as people are hoping.

http://forum.square-enix.com/ffxiv/t...=1#post1577447

At this point it is the choose SE make, do they want to keep their 600k subscribers or they want to run a small mmo, my guess would be anyone who play around 6 hours a week will now have 1 character coil ready, turn 1 to turn 4 will takes about 3-10 hours to crack depend on how good your groups are turn 5 will be 1-4 weeks down the line depend how hard you want to push it, so majority of player would reach the end of coil by the time 2.1. Releasing sub top end content will do little to keep the majority happy.
It is probably too late now but they have to make the choose of either invest to make the dev team bigger, so more content to keep players playing or keep the investment small and hope there are enough player stick around to turn a profit on this game.

Rightly or wrongly player will expect more consider your turn over is move than 6million a month on this game and even just 5% of that should be enough to fund an other team to work on contents.

2.1 will be average. Some hope and The misses. Many will plow through it with there style of endgame, for it in a month and then it will be just grinds. So you look like everyone else. Game missing the casino effect , Randomness of stuff, and on any given day you can win a nice jackpot, with a random jackpot. Also you got to many things were everyone just droning around,.

They will get to the same point and everyone looks like the same character. Not there character just a bunch of robotic drones. Missing the uniqueness of your character your grinding.

This is Producer/Director Yoshida here. We’ve been receiving questions about the release date of patch 2.1 as well as requests to split patches into smaller installments. I’d like to take a moment to inform you about our policy for patches and the current status of patch 2.1.

Patch Operation and Cycle

It’s been three months since the launch of FFXIV: ARR. If you’ve have been focusing on a single job and leveled it all the way to the cap, there’s a chance that you’ve hit a dead end in content. We’ve envisioned a two and a half to three month patch cycle for FFXIV, with patch 2.1 originally scheduled for late November.

However, due to my inadequate planning for the massive congestion that occurred at launch, we’ve had to allocate nearly all of the server team’s resources to adding Worlds and data centers, and improving the stability of instance servers. As a result, we’ve fallen four weeks behind schedule.

The FFXIV team employs a “branch” method of development. Simply put, multiple versions of the game are being developed simultaneously. For example, the development team is currently working along the following development lines:

(1) Patch 2.05 Public Testing (Current)

-> The exact same environment as our players.
-> Bug reports you submit are verified in this environment.

(2) Patch 2.2-2.3/PlayStation4 Version Development (Future)

-> The forefront of development.
-> Includes patch 2.2 elements and PlayStation 4 version data.

(3) Patch 2.1 Testing (Near Future)

-> A separate line that includes elements from 2.1 through to (2).
-> Development of all content and systems for 2.1.
-> Debugging and balance adjustments for 2.1.

There are even more test lines than above, but it would get overly complicated, so I won’t touch on them.

Basically, development work on (1) flows into (2), but in order to ensure that 2.1 is properly tested and balanced prior to release, we’ve created a dedicated branch for it, that being (3).

When a patch release date draws near, we create a master branch for that patch wherein the final touches are made (2.1 has already been branched, by the way). In so doing, we prevent patches from going live with unfinished and unstable elements from future patches.

Work on 2.1 has been in progress since the launch of FFXIV: ARR. However, due to the large-scale measures we’ve had to implement to address issues in (1), the branching of (3) from (2) has been delayed.

Moving forward, we will endeavor to stick to our original plan of one patch every two and a half to three months, and commence a steady patch cycle.

Splitting Patches

In a large-scale game with simultaneous development such as ours, the meticulous management of content and programs is critical. The branch method of development allows us to prevent data from getting jumbled up.

For a single patch, 2.1 features an unprecedented amount of content, most of which will add depth and variety to the game. As such, we judged that it should be released all at once.

While it isn’t impossible to release a patch in installments, i.e. 2.1a, 2.1b, and so on, 2.1 doesn’t lend itself well to this. This is because many of the things being planned either require a long time in development, or affect a broad range of game elements. For example:

• Housing system and related UI
• The Wolves’ Den and related UI
• Large-scale update for the Duty Finder
• Full-fledged Party Finder system

If we were to release 2.1 in installments, the risk of unfinished elements accidentally finding their way in would be increased significantly.

It takes a number of days to cleanly separate a branch, and if you include the time needed for debugging and master testing, we’re looking at 7-12 days to prepare it for release. As a result, the time it takes to deliver all of patch 2.1 would be stretched out another 2-4 weeks. For this reason, we've decided to release everything in one batch—ultimately the shortest route in the long run.

Now, I’m aware of the requests to release minor tweaks first—improving existing functions and adjusting jobs, for instance. However, most of the functions being discussed are closely tied to the server code, and requires more work than it seems. And as for the jobs, time is needed to ensure that they are balanced, as well as test them in the context of new content. If we try to push these tweaks out too early, we risk disappointing our players.

Some of you have also expressed the concern that people will leave the game during this downtime. Naturally, we’ve also taken this risk into consideration, and have been monitoring the forums closely. But ultimately, rather than risk destroying balance by splitting the patch, we’ve decided to stay focused on the mid- and long-term enjoyment of our players. Releasing 2.1 in one batch, we believe, is the best way to do so.

2.1 will usher in sweeping improvements across the board, thus laying a solid foundation for the possibility of patch series in the future. We’ll continue to monitor the situation after patch 2.1 and review our operations policy as we go along.

2.1 is just a few weeks away, and we ask for your patience just a while longer. With countless additions and refinements to battles, crafting, and gathering, not to mention the introduction of PvP, housing, and new soloable content, I promise that it will live up to your expectations.

Thank you for your comment on the subject Yoshida-san. Hontoni Arigatougozaimasu. /bow m(_ _ )m

I hope that this will reassure the FFXIV players and wait anxiously for the next Live Letter (as much as I do). We can't wait to get our hands on the content that 2.1 will give us.

Keep up the good work! (^_^ )/

Thank you for info yoshi-p and time line info. Miss your ffxi Road map you use to have. It Was nice for us gamers. Wish you could have one set up on ffxiv.

Hopefully people can realize that complications happen and that releasing content untested is not a very smart thing to do.

Dang, I thought for sure that would actually have a date in it. I guess we're still in the dark.

Thanks for taking the time to tell us all of this, Yoshi-P! Reading all of these posts is just getting me more and more excited for 2.1, but all good things come to those who wait... I guess =P