New Letter from the Producer, XII

[kiraan]

I'm not sure why you want to define who is more skillfull than the other. they can be both skillfull in their own way. Its two different kind of playstyle.
The best way to reward players for using different methods would be to give differents rewards that caters to differents playstyles. Not one reward is better because you used one particular method.

Let's say fo example, you used sneaky tools and skills to get to the end and kill the boss, you're rewarded an item that reinforce this kind of playstyle.
On the other hand you killed everything as fast as possible, you're rewarded something to kill even faster.

As for SP, you could set a fix amount at the completion of the dungeon, and no SP gain for killing mob. The only difference would be the item you get.

So in the end, there wouldn't be a better way to do a dungeon, there would be multiple ways depending on what you want to get to upgrade the playstyle you want to be better at.

Well anyways, we'll see how it works soon!

[syntaxlies]

So if I understand you correctly, you would have the Samurai Girl party get more reward because they killed more monsters. Is that a correct inference?

Also, you have not weighed in on whether the Ninja Boys or the Samurai Girls were more skillful, in your opinion.

if the game was splinter cell i may give the edge to the ninja team for going stealth

[Physic]

Personally, I think they should balance SP across the board by level, and not by mob type. A level 30 will give you nearly the same exp (maybe with some random small digit modifier to make OCD people rage), and/or a mob that is the same level as you. The former system is a static system that nearly all MMOs use; the latter is the system FFXI used in which xp scaled to your level. Personally, it's a system I wish they used more often, as it makes the grind feel more linear, and essentially promotes trying to kill mobs that are intrinsically more difficult for the greater exp benefit they offer.

But seriously, balance the damn SP rewards between mobs. If I see a vast field of rabbits that I can slaughter, I shouldn't be penalized just because they're not coblyns/raptors/efts. I want to KILL DA WABBIT! ...and get great SP while doing it.

they need to get a more accurate number of how difficult a monster is to kill, but making all monsters the same is a bad idea, some are just easier to kill than others. A raptor is simply a harder fight than a squirrel, and Eft no matter what will take longer, it doesnt make sense that monsters of varying skills, strength, defense and hp give the same exp.

They got the idea of different monsters offering different sp right, but they need to balance it more

[Ashthra]

Perhaps, but the disparity in difficulty, especially in a party, is so beyond minimal that if you're NOT killing one of those high SP mobs, you're doing it wrong. If a mob is offering more SP, it should be significantly more difficult to kill, especially in a group setting where you can just zerg the ever-loving hell out of mobs currently.

Or they could make rabbits jack you up if you look at them funny, just like a raptor would. That'd be great to see (again).

[Bayohne]

Got another (late night!) post from Yoshida that I wanted to share with you all. The thread that Yoshida was addressing had questions asking about whether or not leveling up will be necessary based on some comments he stated in a recent interview.

I suggest that if you want to discuss specific points in the below post, you may want to start a separate thread so that this thread doesn't become further off-topic (than I'm about to make it!)

Without further ado, here's the official translation...

Hi all, this is producer/director Yoshida.

First off, I’d just like to say that I am not by any means saying that characters shouldn’t have to level, or that we should get rid of leveling up itself, or that leveling is boring. If there was anyone that took it this way, I apologize. I myself am a huge role playing gamer, I love MMOs, and I’ve even worked on a recent Dragon Quest title, so I understand the pleasure and fun aspects of character growth. With that said, this does not mean that we are getting rid of it.

Of course, when you consider the unique characteristics of MMOs, planning to reach the level cap within a week isn’t entirely accurate. The ideal image is one where if you play every day for 2 hours or so, you will be able to reach the max cap on one class in about 3-4 months. Naturally, if you make detours or spend a whole day just chatting with friends, the distance and time to reach the cap will increase. One of the important things we would like players to think is “if I keep playing, I too can reach the highest rank.”

I was a hardcore EverQuest player and I know of the struggles involved in getting to that point. Truth be told, I really loved it. However, dying and losing 2 weeks’ worth of EXP, going insane trying to make EXP parties... I don’t think those features are important in the future of FFXIV.

While this is only concept phase right now, we are planning to increase the rank cap for growth once every 1-2 years, and will be implementing elements such as additional classes and jobs in the future.

However, I think what you’re all really concerned about is whether or not the end-game content and reasons for growing your character are going to be worthwhile or not. All I can say to that is that I will give it my utmost best!

Additionally, in the midst of the current battle adjustments, I think that rapidly inserting content (specifically battle-related content), when taking into account the overall situation, can be considered a pretty rash decision under normal circumstances. Since the foundation of game design is usually to first focus on finalizing the battle system, and then to implement content that utilizes the finished system, we are running a lot of risks launching the instanced raids and the Ifrit battle at this time. ^^;

I want to state just how much we appreciate all of you that are playing in these conditions, and let you know that we’ll continue with our best effort to implement content alongside the battle and foundational-related fixes.

[Holland]

I am very glad to hear the max cap will not be stagnant for extremes amount of time like FFXI. While I understand first hand how we feel waiting for content, I am glad Yoshida is able to hold it for us ^^. Also, thank you for taking the risk on the dungeons.

[Ashthra]

Doing the math, that's about 9-10 days /played to reach cap. Slower than the current crop of MMOs (which have you hitting cap in 3-5 days /played, if that), but blazingly fast compared to FFXI and EQ era games. Honestly, that doesn't sound like a terrible trade off. Though I wonder how these new jobs will fare with this leveling speed.

[Rentahamster]

yes but once again

killing faster doesnt equal skill

its just killing faster

being higher level, having better gear etc etc, all those equate to the same formula of killing faster, doesnt mean you should get rewarded for it moreso
the fact you are getting sp faster for killing faster is your reward

Careful now, with that line of reasoning, you might begin to realize why we want level restrictions on the dungeons

[Rowyne]

Not even that. Aion has 3 one-player dungeons that are actually really cool and work well. The gear isn't top tier and it's not a 100% drop, but they're good for making money and leveling.

SE could easily put in some solo dungeons to give cool content for solo players.

Aion put in one-man dungeons? When did that happen? o.O

Cool concept!

[Dreamer]

Aion put in one-man dungeons? When did that happen? o.O

Cool concept!

They came with the Balurea expansion, IIRC. While they're really good for gold and XP, I personally hate playing by myself and tend to run them only as last resort, even though as dungeons they're rather neat.