Gamer Escape Interviews FFXI Dev Team Post VanaFest 2012

Hey guys!

We had the chance to ask the FFXI Team some questions on the heels of this years VanaFest 2012- You can check out the full Q&A here-
http://ffxi.gamerescape.com/2012/07/...vanafest-2012/

Honestly I thought they were all good except the last 1.

"Rune fencers and geomancers will have Artifact equipment, Artifact weapons, Relic Equipment, Empyrean equipment, and Mythic weapons."

:(

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Originally Posted by Rezeak

"Rune fencers and geomancers will have Artifact equipment, Artifact weapons, Relic Equipment, Empyrean equipment, and Mythic weapons."

:(

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Sad because they are getting these things or sad because the unmentioned Emp/Relic part?

I thought most questions were interesting.

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Originally Posted by Square Enix, Inc.

Rune fencers and geomancers will have Artifact equipment, Artifact weapons, Relic Equipment, Empyrean equipment, and Mythic weapons.

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This, I have to say, I find an exceedingly odd design choice. Why mythic weapons? That's the least logical thing to do. They'll have to design entirely new weapons for that, whereas they could put them on already existing relics and empyreans.

However, this makes me think. What if the new Salvage takes place on Adoulin? Maybe it'll be connected to the current Alzadaal ruins somehow? I don't know if this makes sense looking at the release date, but they didn't officially announce the release time for the Salvage revamp yet, did they? It's the only explanation I can come up with why these jobs would be on mythics, lore-wise. Unless there is no further explanation and it's just "like that".

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Originally Posted by Arcon

I thought most questions were interesting.



This, I have to say, I find an exceedingly odd design choice. Why mythic weapons? That's the least logical thing to do. They'll have to design entirely new weapons for that, whereas they could put them on already existing relics and empyreans.

However, this makes me think. What if the new Salvage takes place on Adoulin? Maybe it'll be connected to the current Alzadaal ruins somehow? I don't know if this makes sense looking at the release date, but they didn't officially announce the release time for the Salvage revamp yet, did they? It's the only explanation I can come up with why these jobs would be on mythics, lore-wise. Unless there is no further explanation and it's just "like that".

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Your idea actually works with the teleporting as well when you think of it, seeing as the Ruins use that as the main form of movement it would make sense that after a quest we use a new one to tele to the new country.

Why did you not ask about Treasure Hunter?! It's the *only* question worth asking!

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Originally Posted by Modoru

Why did you not ask about Treasure Hunter?! It's the *only* question worth asking!

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SE go out of their way not to answer that. It's probably their company's most-guarded secret. Two people each only know seperate parts of the formula. They pass it on to their kids and their kids only. Either that or they were drunk when they coded it and now don't remember it themselves.

the good info in this interview is that the jobs will get empyrean armors @ launch so the jobs will be usable right at lauch, im a bit releaved, although I call 2 more failed jobs in the same category as rdm sch smn..

Come to think of it, I wonder how their NMs for seals will be, and what +2 items they are on. It is a small, but curious detail. For now all seal NMs drop 4 types of seals and all seals drop from 3 different NMs, this trend has to be broken for these jobs, and will probably seem weird. The same can be said of +2s, all +2 items have 5 jobs on them, so whatever ones chosen for these will break it by having 6~7 jobs on it instead.

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Originally Posted by Demon6324236

Come to think of it, I wonder how their NMs for seals will be, and what +2 items they are on. It is a small, but curious detail. For now all seal NMs drop 4 types of seals and all seals drop from 3 different NMs, this trend has to be broken for these jobs, and will probably seem weird. The same can be said of +2s, all +2 items have 5 jobs on them, so whatever ones chosen for these will break it by having 6~7 jobs on it instead.

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There are ways to add them without upsetting the balance.
New NMs will be added that drop GEO/RNK seals. 5 NMS per Scars zone, each dropping up to 2 GEO and 2 RNK cards.
+2 trials will use the current drops, but slightly different. Non-body armor is upgraded by trading 3 stones + 3 jewels for RNK and 3 coins + 3 cards for GEO, while body armor requires 3/3/2/2 (RNK) or 2/2/3/3 (GEO) ardor stone/jewel/coin/card.

Maybe they'll put all the +2s for RUN and GEO on Isgebind.

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Originally Posted by Camiie

Maybe they'll put all the +2s for RUN and GEO on Isgebind.

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Nice :) Since they'll have to break the current number-of-jobs-on-each-NM rule, I vote they also add more NMs that drop these jobs' upgrade items than current jobs have. It will help with everyone going for them at once. inB4WaaaaaaEasyMode.

Also, I hope the bedpan hat for GEO was the artifact head, and the empyrean one will be less offensive.

Good questions overall. I'm bored with questions about old stuff - I just want spoilers.

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Originally Posted by Demon6324236

Come to think of it, I wonder how their NMs for seals will be, and what +2 items they are on. It is a small, but curious detail. For now all seal NMs drop 4 types of seals and all seals drop from 3 different NMs, this trend has to be broken for these jobs, and will probably seem weird. The same can be said of +2s, all +2 items have 5 jobs on them, so whatever ones chosen for these will break it by having 6~7 jobs on it instead.

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Hmm well in reguards to +2 items i can name a few second tier (KI pop) NMs that currently do not drop but a few get it once and done items (isgebind and the omega whats his name in ule) adding additional rewards to this might be a welcome adjustment in order to bolster third party interest when trying to do them pick up.

I am severely disappointed in the opportunity that they wasted with the island area.

wow thats way more info than Harry & Lloyd gave us :)

Nice info, now let's see GamerEscape clean up its unappealing (and slightly confusing) layout.

edit: I stand corrected, it looks kind of okay now.

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Originally Posted by Nala

Hmm well in reguards to +2 items i can name a few second tier (KI pop) NMs that currently do not drop but a few get it once and done items (isgebind and the omega whats his name in ule) adding additional rewards to this might be a welcome adjustment in order to bolster third party interest when trying to do them pick up.

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If you mean Pantokrator then I would actually see that as unlikely only because its the same kind of NM as Raja & Rani which neither one drop +2s of any kind, not to mention that NM is evil as hell and that would just be torture for the new jobs. As for Isgebind that would make alot of people happy, and would fit with its brothers in the other areas.

Yeah thats who i meant... i guess i could have looked him up. Eh long as you pay attention he's not too bad actually we do runs on him all the time to get new members Z tiaras (not that we be getting new members all the time but anyways) long as you do not damage him at the wrong times.

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GE- How will the new jobs play into current relic, mythic and empyrean weapons? Is it safe to assume that they’ll have relic and empyrean armor as well?

SE- Rune fencers and geomancers will have Artifact equipment, Artifact weapons, Relic Equipment, Empyrean equipment, and Mythic weapons.

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Well..that is disappointing given the fact there are no Gsword mythic weapons and RUN is supposed to use gsword and sword...I highly doubt they will add in one either since they are notorious for not adding new jobs to existing relic/mythic or create new ones for dnc/sch to us as it is I'm not holding my breath they would make a new weapon just to fill the gsword void in mythic weapons.

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Originally Posted by Kitkat

Well..that is disappointing given the fact there are no Gsword mythic weapons and RUN is supposed to use gsword and sword...

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It heavily implies that they might make one specifically for them.

Meh, I'm doubtful on it. Gsword has been missing since the introduction of mythics, for some unknown reason at that, so I doubt they will go out of their way to add it just cause they are adding new jobs. When it comes to SE my glass is half empty on hopes of what they might/should do as apposed to what they will/known to do.

Report my comment and get it removed because you know Im right and you cant take criticism, good job. It doesn't change the fact that you completely messed up a good opportunity to ask real questions, and you completely dropped the ball.

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Originally Posted by Kitkat

Meh, I'm doubtful on it. Gsword has been missing since the introduction of mythics, for some unknown reason at that, so I doubt they will go out of their way to add it just cause they are adding new jobs. When it comes to SE my glass is half empty on hopes of what they might/should do as apposed to what they will/known to do.

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All jobs have their own Mythic, the fact there is no GS Mythic is all the more reason one seems more likely.

I'm also thinking they're indeed adding them to weapons, instead of creating new one(s), but I guess we'll see. ^^;

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Originally Posted by Kitkat

Meh, I'm doubtful on it. Gsword has been missing since the introduction of mythics, for some unknown reason at that, so I doubt they will go out of their way to add it just cause they are adding new jobs.

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empy/relic : one weapon per type, some being available for multiple jobs
mythic: one weapon per job, several weapon off same type (3dags, 3swords....), no mythic GS because drk already have scythe, pld sword.

But no mention of Job emotes for them. :(

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Originally Posted by Ronin

But no mention of Job emotes for them. :(

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Clearly, this outweighs in terms of priority.

Off-topic, but nice sig modoru, those are a similar model to the AKG headphones i use. they need more publicity because they're friggin awesome. :)

Ah yeah, I made this to try something different with my sigs -- you know, a "popping out" effect compared to the usual in-box signatures. I really need to hit photoshop more often, it's been a while.

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Originally Posted by wish12oz

Report my comment and get it removed because you know Im right and you cant take criticism, good job. It doesn't change the fact that you completely messed up a good opportunity to ask real questions, and you completely dropped the ball.

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I didn't report anything.

FrankReynolds,

Probably from the BYE TANAKA! thread...


I'll mannered ! !! !

Greetings,

To answer the question about "why can't these new jobs also use relics?"

The main reason why rune fencers and geomancers will be unable to equip Relic and Empyrean weapons is because those weapons were created and balanced around the jobs that existed at the time. This is also the reason that blue mage, corsair, puppetmaster, dancer and scholar were never given access to relic weapons.

However, as Mythic weapons are job-specific, it won't be a problem to design a weapon that is best suited specifically for rune fencers or geomancers.

As an additional note, when we release content for these new jobs in Seekers of Adoulin, they will be able to earn the equivalent of Relic equipment, Empyrean equipment, and Mythic weapons. We simply used these terms to make it clearer and we haven't officially decided on what names these types of equipment will take.

Camate, could you also ask why they decided to go with using a teleport npc?

When ToAU came out we were given the option to go by boat and teleport, but we aren't given that option for Adoulin. This also takes away fishing routes with large ocean fish, which was my greatest disappointment when reading the interview.

I would of loved having a boat to travel on, and I think Port Sandy has locations which are acceptable to have a ferry. I would like to know why they decided to remove this experience for players when there are already trading routes between sandy and adoulin.

Edit: I understand that there will be fishing opportunities while visiting Adoulin, but unless they are making a type of Manaclipper we will not have access to fishing new large ocean fish.

I can understand not being on Relics, but Empyreans should still be a plauseable option. What if Neo-Salvage fails to increase the potential # of Mythics out there? I think SE shouldn't be too hasty on saying that GEO and RNF aren't going to be on Empyrean Weapons. Course thats just my own personal opinion anyways. 20k an Alexandrite is still a huge turnoff at this stage of the game

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Originally Posted by Camate

The main reason why rune fencers and geomancers will be unable to equip Relic and Empyrean weapons is because those weapons were created and balanced around the jobs that existed at the time. This is also the reason that blue mage, corsair, puppetmaster, dancer and scholar were never given access to relic weapons.

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A very good point raised about this in similar thread:

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Originally Posted by saevel

Big issues, huge issues, ginormous continental size issues.

This deals with GS specifically. Rag is nice and all but what's more important is that it won't get the OaT GSWD which is the next best thing to a Rag. The OaT line is in the EXACT same category as the Emp line, Trial #216 to be exact. Without that RNF (RNK) will be gimp on damage output. At best RNF will tank the same things PLD tanks (I'll let your imagination figure that out), at worst it'll be tanking what NIN's tank. This isn't a "support job" like BRD / COR / SCH / SMN nor is it a healing job like WHM thus it will be evaluated on it's damage output potential. No Trial #216 access and no Rag means it's dead weight and best replaced by a WAR/SAM/MNK/DRK/DRG and possibly a THF/NIN/BLU.

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If "no Empyreans" means "no Magian Greatsword trials" or "only elemental Magian Greatsword trials", then Rune Fencer will begin life with the same chance of success as a premature infant being born into a waiting meatgrinder.

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Originally Posted by Kalilla

Camate, could you also ask why they decided to go with using a teleport npc?

When ToAU came out we were given the option to go by boat and teleport, but we aren't given that option for Adoulin. This also takes away fishing routes with large ocean fish, which was my greatest disappointment when reading the interview.

I would of loved having a boat to travel on, and I think Port Sandy has locations which are acceptable to have a ferry. I would like to know why they decided to remove this experience for players when there are already trading routes between sandy and adoulin.

Edit: I understand that there will be fishing opportunities while visiting Adoulin, but unless they are making a type of Manaclipper we will not have access to fishing new large ocean fish.

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I imagine that they looked at the number of people who use the Ferry between Mhaura and Al Zahbi and realized that making a whole zone for that would not be the best use of the team's or the game's resources. How often does anyone take it? Probably not very often.

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Originally Posted by SpankWustler

A very good point raised about this in similar thread:



If "no Empyreans" means "no Magian Greatsword trials" or "only elemental Magian Greatsword trials", then Rune Fencer will begin life with the same chance of success as a premature infant being born into a waiting meatgrinder.

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You know how to make an analogy.

I mean really, seriously, "balanced" is the main factor??? of a 10 years old content???? A Dagger is a dagger is a dagger.... end of story, there is nothing special about any of these so endgame weapons except their weapon skills which exclusive to each, the stats are comparable. The means to get these weapons however NEED TO BE BALANCED!!! across the boards and stop creating a non sensical time sink for the sake of time sink. Focus on creating fun accessible content, learn from Abyssea greatest strength and stop doing crappy contents that are unwinnable without cheat for the sake of creating a cheap time sink. Let's hope that the change of guard at the team will bring a breath of fresh air that sorely needed, similar how the change of guard at FFXIV is saving the game from being destroyed by a crappy vision of "BARANCE" of the previous team.

With all due respect, the balance of Relic Weapons was thrown out the window with Empyrean Weapons (introduced post-WotG jobs, might I add) . . .

I also (dis)like how not only the original interview specifies Relic and Empyrean "Equipment" rather than "Weapons," but how Camate further muddles things with the phrase "the equivalent of" . . .

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Originally Posted by Camate

As an additional note, when we release content for these new jobs in Seekers of Adoulin, they will be able to earn the equivalent of Relic equipment, Empyrean equipment, and Mythic weapons. We simply used these terms to make it clearer and we haven't officially decided on what names these types of equipment will take.

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...Could this possibly allude to new job specific gear sets for every job with the upcoming expansion? :confused:

That part definitely seems a little confusing.