”Freshly Picked Vana'diel" Digest

Hello,

The other day Producer Akihiko Matsui broadcasted a stream titled "Fresh Picked Vana’diel" where he went over the November version update and plans for the upcoming December version update.

Below is a digest of what was discussed.

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Originally Posted by Akihiko_Matsui

Hello, Matsui here.

How did you like "Freshly Picked Vana'diel"?

Since we decided to do this on very short notice, we broadcasted the stream with that same feeling. We learned a lot from it and will be applying it to the next time we do this.

I apologize if you were unable to catch the stream.

With that said, I wanted to organize the content that was discussed to share with everyone, especially those who were unable to tune in.

I've broken down the content by categories, so please check out the table of contents below to check out what was discussed.

Table of Contents

• Relic, mythic, and empyrean weapon upgrades
• Artifact armor upgrades
• Unlocking the weapon skills of Emyprean and Walk of Echoes weapons
• High-tier battlefields
• Newly added missions
• Monstrosity adjustments
• New special abilities
• Other adjustments
• Future plans for FINAL FANTASY XI
• Announcements for future broadcasts, events, and campaigns

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Relic, mythic, empyrean weapon revamps

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Originally Posted by Akihiko_Matsui

• The number of items required to enhance weapons
  I understand that there has been feedback commenting that the number of items needed for upgrading these weapons is a bit too much. While I realize the difficulty of the content where a lot of these items can be obtained is high, we would like to make opportunities for solo players to obtain these as well, so we’d first like to monitor the situation with the current 300 item requirement.
  
  
• Stats for empyrean weapons post-enhancement
  I understand that there are requests asking for us to slightly increase the stats on empyrean weapons after they have been enhanced. However, I’d like you all to try using them first. With various elements such as the level of the enemies you are fighting, the situation can change, so we would like to make adjustments as necessary based on the results of you using them.

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Artifact armor upgrades

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Originally Posted by Akihiko_Matsui

While currently the item level is 109, we are planning to increase it to 119 in the December version update.

After this, we would like to add upgrade content in a slightly different fashion for relic and empyrean armor.

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Unlocking weapon skills of Emyprean and Walk of Echoes weapons

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Originally Posted by Akihiko_Matsui

We've largely eased the difficulty for obtaining the Walk of Echoes weapons and for unlocking their special weapon skills. Please understand that this is not the beginning phase for the easing of difficulty for creating relic, mythic, and empyrean weapons.

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High-tier Battlefields

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Originally Posted by Akihiko_Matsui

This is the first time that we've implemented a system where you can select the difficulty level and if this system is well received, we would like to add this for various content moving forward.

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Newly Added Missions

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Originally Posted by Akihiko_Matsui

In the latest set of missions, we've introduced a character who has only been shown as a shadowy figure up until now, and you might enjoy some new scenes where Arciela is acting adorably. Also, we think you'll really enjoy some of the scenes where the animation team went above and beyond.

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Monstrosity Adjustments

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Originally Posted by Akihiko_Matsui

With the recent adjustments, we've shaped the basic "monipulator vs. adventurer" content.

However, I realize there has been a lot of feedback about the balance of this content, and we definitely have to continue making adjustments.

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New Special Abilities

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Originally Posted by Akihiko_Matsui

• Red mage's new special ability
  As we are examining the situation in terms of what will happen on the monster side of things, we feel that magic such as sleep, and for some monsters silence, which would completely restrict their actions, have an extreme amount of power and potential depending on how it's used.
  
  While magic such as sleep would be limited to only a one-time cast, we feel there could be adjustments where magic that is not like this can be cast over and over while under the effect duration.
  
  We will not be making it so a red mage becomes a critical aspect for strategies, but we would like to create a balance where having them around makes the battle easier.
  
  
• Puppet master's new special ability
  Considering the individual characteristics for each of the automaton frames, we felt that when it comes to Heady Artifice, instead of making it so there is only a single unique aspect, it would be better off if the ability is strong regardless of which frame you decide to use.
  
  While the ability names and effects are the same as other jobs, the data for each frame is separate from the original abilities and they've been designed for automatons. Additionally, it's also possible for us to make adjustments to each of them.

It’s not like we will never make adjustments to these new special abilities, and if they aren't working at all as planned, we will make adjustments, but we'd like you to try them out in various situations.

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Other Adjustments

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Originally Posted by Akihiko_Matsui

• Content level display
  As there was a lot of feedback mentioning that it was difficult to understand the level of content, we made it so the level we intended it to be is displayed. Of course, this display isn’t for the purpose of restricting it so you absolutely cannot participate if you are not that level.
  
  
• Treasure caskets, NM spawn time, and item drop rate adjustments
  We made adjustments based on discussions that it was difficult for lower level players to obtain equipment. We made the recent adjustments based on the idea that that we wanted to boost the amount of equipment that the system puts out as well as the idea that we wanted players to experience the fun of collecting equipment. We also adjusted NMs so if you go to their spawning place, you could obtain the item you want if you defeat them.
  
  
• Easing difficulty of obtaining magical maps
  There were a lot of times that by the time you obtained a magical map for an area, you had already memorized the geography and really didn’t need the map. As this wasn’t very helpful for adventurers, we decided to make them be sold by NPCs.

We would like to continue to make these kinds of minor adjustments moving forward as well.

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Future Plans for FINAL FANTASY XI

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Originally Posted by Akihiko_Matsui

• Making the game enjoyable with a shorter amount of time
  Moving forward with FINAL FANTASY XI, we will be changing our direction to provide content you can play and enjoy even if you only have a short amount of time to log in.
  
  Currently, we feel there are two large aspects that contribute to the need for time: finding party members and lengthy times moving to content.
  
  Due to this, we will looking to see if we can increase the content where you can play solo and also take on content solo that was once only possible to do with a party of six in order to address the issue where it is difficult to form parties. Also, we will be reducing the content that requires 18 players and aim for implementing content that is focused on six person parties at maximum. In regards to methods for moving around, we would like to make various adjustments for convenience and make it so you can access content within five minutes.
  
  
• Content for FFXI veterans
  One example of the content we have planned is the high-tier mission battlefields that we will be implementing in the December version update. While we won’t be implementing high-tier mission battlefields all at once, a couple of them will be implemented. We’d like to add equipment with really nice stats as rewards.
  
  
• Reduction of the version update gaps
  Original we were implementing version updates every three months, but there were a lot of cases where feedback submitted was not reflected in time. By reducing the intervals between version updates, it will be possible to address your feedback in a shorter period of time.

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Announcements for future broadcasts, events, and campaigns

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Originally Posted by Akihiko_Matsui

• Nanaa Mihgo's concert
  A concert will be held on November 11th at 6PM (JST) at the Akasaka Blitz. Thinking back more than twenty years ago, when I first started at Square Enix the office was located in Akasaka. The tickets are completely sold out, but we are planning to broadcast it on NicoNico, so please check it out if you're able to.
  
  
• Campaign from November 11th (Monday)
  Starting on November 11th we will be holding a special campaign. This one will be slightly longer. We will let you know the details soon enough.
  
  
• Future broadcasts
  We are thinking about holding another broadcast before the next version update. We'd like to discuss various things while showing off recorded videos as well as actual gameplay.

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